Travel Planning Guide

The Printable Family Travel Planner is a Vacation Planning Guide to help families plan a fun, easy, and memorable vacation with children.

It includes 65 printable pages with various family travel planning information. There are printable worksheets, checklists, and vacation planner templates.


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Who is this Printable Vacation Planner for?

Is this your first time traveling with children, or do you tend to find family vacation planning stressful or overwhelming? Do you want to make the travel experience easier for your family? But there are so many choices, and you don’t know where to start! Maybe you’re wondering how to plan trips with friends and family.

We have been in these situations and want to show you how to make the travel planning process as stress-free and enjoyable as possible. We created this travel planner for families, and our goal is to help Simplify Your Family Adventures! 

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Printable Family Travel Planner - Vacation Planning Guide

What’s in the Travel Planning Guide for Families?

This Travel Planning Guide has five parts; it will start by helping you to research and book your family vacation and includes a vacation countdown which is a step-by-step trip planning timeline.

The 65 printable page travel planner covers family vacation budget and itinerary planning, with budget tips and daily, weekly, and monthly travel itinerary templates. Printable travel checklists and more are included to help your family prepare for travel.

Research and Booking Your Family Vacation

It begins with the Vacation Countdown pages, a trip planning timeline starting 8-12 months before you travel. It provides details of everything you need to do to prepare for your vacation in the months, weeks, and days leading up to your trip.

Research and Booking Family Vacation

What’s included in the Travel Planning Guide in Part 1:

  • Part 1 of the family travel planner will walk you through how to research and book your vacation so you can decide what the best options are for your family’s needs.
  • This printable travel planner includes a Bucket List Travel Map to identify your top destinations using our Destination Planning tips.
  • We will highlight what to consider when choosing family vacation accommodations while using the vacation planning pages to research and book accommodations.
  • The Flight Research pages will help you price the best flights and make flight and transportation reservations.
  • There is an Important Document checklist and Travel Insurance information.

Family Vacation Budget and Itinerary Planning

It is essential to set a vacation budget to ensure you can cover your vacation expenses. Preparing a vacation itinerary will help you make the most of your time away while ensuring you do the activities and see the most important attractions to your family members.

Vacation Budget and Itinerary Planning

What’s in Part 2:

  • In Part 2, we cover budget tips for a family vacation.
  • There is a planner for establishing a Vacation Budget and pages for tracking your pre-trip payments and the expenses on your vacation.

What’s in Part 3:

  • Part 3 is about itinerary planning to help you create the best plan for your time away and fulfill all your bucket list attractions and activities.
  • We include a month-view Travel Calendar to plan out the dates of your trip.
  • The Week At a Glance page provides a weekly overview of your trip, including your vacation goals, attraction checklist, and foods you want to try.
  • The Daily Plan allows you to create an hour-by-hour itinerary for each day of your trip. You can also record dining reservations for that day and any relevant attractions and transportation details.
  • There is a Sample Itinerary for an 8-day / 7-night trip to London and Paris to help you see the best way to create your itinerary planning page.
  • Use the Meal Planning page to plan out daily meals and snacks and the Dining Reservations page to record when and where you have made restaurant reservations during your trip.
  • Use the Attraction Bucket List page to create a general list of your must-see attractions and their location. Then you can get more specific as you research details about the attractions you will visit and the activities you plan to do during your vacation.
  • The Local Transportation page will help you research relevant details about any transportation requirements at your destination, such as buses, trains, subways, trams, boats, etc.
  • The Photo Planner page is to create a list of the photos you want to take on your family vacation.

Printable Travel Packing Lists for Families

To help you and your family prepare for travel, this vacation planning guide also includes a selection of printable travel checklists and packing lists.

Printable Travel Packing Lists

What’s in Part 4:

  • Part 4 covers packing for your vacation, so you know exactly what your family will need to pack and what to take for days out.
  • Use the Family Outfit Planner to plan out daily outfit needs for each family member.
  • A very detailed 2-page Printable Travel Packing List includes clothing, toiletries, and accessories for a family vacation. Item relevancy will vary depending on driving or flying to your destination.
  • Use the printable road trip planner list that includes all the essentials for a family road trip.
  • For families flying with children, there are detailed packing lists to help you remember everything you’ll need to pack in your carry-on and checked bags.
  • There are templates for a printable travel checklist to create your packing lists.
  • We include a Travel Snacks page to share our favorite kid-friendly snacks most suitable for traveling.
  • The printable vacation planner also includes a pre-trip shopping list for things to buy before your trip. Plus, a Souvenirs & Gifts page for you to keep track of what you want to buy during vacation.

Printable Travel Checklist and Planning Pages

This printable vacation planner is designed for US letter paper size, which is 8.5″ x 11″. It can be used to prepare for a trip traveling with children, helping you stay organized before and during your vacation.

Printable Vacation Planner

What’s in Part 5:

  • Many printable worksheets in Part 5 and throughout the planner help you through the vacation planning process.
  • Use the While We’re Away page for house-sitter and pet care information and a To-Do List to record everything to do before your trip.
  • The Days Until Vacation page is a calendar to count down the days until your trip.
  • Our popular Travel Journal pages are the perfect way for you and your kids to record your favorite memories from the family vacation.
  • And there is a Notes page for additional vacation planning notes and essential travel details.

Video Inside the Travel Planning Guide

Watch this video to see inside our Vacation Planning Guide for Families. Then get access to the Printable Family Travel Planner HERE.

How To Use The Printable Travel Planner

This travel planning guide has multiple printable travel packing lists and vacation planning checklists to help you organize and plan your family vacation.

These digital PDF worksheets are customizable by adding text to the pages; you cannot change the page designs or layout. You can print and handwrite information on these printable travel planning templates.

Consider printing the pages, hole punching, or storing them in a binder with sheet protectors to easily organize your family travel planner. The 65-page Vacation Planning Guide is an instant digital download available HERE.

How to use this Vacation Planning Guide

Travel Planning for Families

Finally, we have many helpful resources if you are planning a family vacation. Read our article to learn more about how to plan a break for the whole family. Help make your dream family vacation come true by following these Tips and Tricks to Saving Money on Vacation with Kids.

If you are planning a vacation, you should check if you require a passport for your children before booking the trip. Learn more in this guide about whether kids need passports.

The last thing you want to deal with during or after a family vacation is a lost baggage claim. But what steps can you take to learn how to avoid lost luggage?

Ultimately, we hope you and your family will find the Vacation Planning Guide most helpful when taking a trip with kids. Use the Printable Family Travel Planner to help simplify your family adventures when traveling with children.

For more about family travel, check out these posts:
Do Kids Need Passports?
How To Plan A Vacation
Parents Guide to Saving Money on Vacation with Kids
How To Avoid Lost Luggage

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Ruth Hutchins grew up in England and now lives in North Carolina with her husband, Doug, and their two young daughters. They always loved to travel, but once having children everything changed because family travel is more complicated. Traveling with a baby may feel overwhelming to new parents. Travel with a toddler can really test your patience, and traveling with kids can lead to utter chaos. However, travel with your little ones doesn’t have to be that stressful or exhausting. On the BE Family Travel blog Ruth shares her parenting wins, and even epic failures about traveling with kids. She provides resources to help you feel empowered to plan a family vacation and travel with your children.