Travel Guides – Children

There's a great deal of good sensible stuff in this book however a good chunk of it is on health precautions and what to do in case of medical problems. Take care not to rely too heavily on this for the author is clearly not qualified to give medical advice in this way. The explanation on how oral rehydration 'works' is just plain wrong, for example.

Although I havent read this book from cover to cover, I have found it useful to look up some specifics. Again, like others, I have done a fair bit of travelling in my pre-baby life, but travelling with a youngster is not quite so simple. This book has some handy, sensible suggestions and relevant information in relation to issues like organising and planning your trip. As I have have always been such a minimalist, it has made me realise that preparing for delays and entertaining your baby/child is essential and those 1 or 2 extra toys can be a life saver!!!

This book is a musthave for any parents anxious about travelling abroad. No stone is left unturned, from plane to train travel it's all in there. There are also some hilarious stories from the experience of other parents which alone make the book a great read, let alone all the advice in there. Really it's a must for any one planning to travel anywhere with a baby/small children.

I don't know what I expected but certainly nothing this detailed or so well-written. It was fun to read, and completely educational. I don't have children of my own but as a travel writer I need to know what women travelers and mothers can expect. I wouldn't hesitate a single second to offer this book as a gift to parents, or to recommend it without reservation to anyone considering travel with young children. Not only is it practical, it's fun. I learned plenty about attitudes towards children around the world. Well done!

This is an essential handbook for anyone planning to travel with young ones - it's packed with tips to help you deal with the reality of travelling, the stuff that's so easy to forget about in all the excitement of preparation! My copy's already looking well-travelled as I've taken it with me for a couple of European holidays. I used the helpful checklists which reminded me to take a hospital letter and that really gave me peace of mind. Now we're planning to go further afield I know the book is going to make the planning so much easier, and force us to prepare for the worse like losing a passport or dealing with a medical emergency. I really enjoyed the little anecdotes written throughout by family travellers recounting their funny experiences. That helped to make it an entertaining as well as thoroughly useful read. Save yourself a lot of hassle and buy it before you go... or you'll definitely be sorry.

I don't normally write reviews, but felt moved to after reading the couple of really unfair ratings here. This is a great book. It is not a guide to everywhere in the UK, so that you can find some half-baked thing to do with your kids wherever you happen to be. Most parent's will arrange their trips around their children not the other way around - if only for a quiet life! This is a guide for planning your time away around your children so that you can take them to the best of what this country has to offer. Yes, there could be a few more maps, but 2 stars? Un-warrented, and somewhat suspicious... Don't be put off by the negative (commercially-competing?) reviews. This is a fantastic guide to the best of travelling with kids in the UK. But it is more than that, William's information on how-to travel with your kids will make you a better, more fun parent!

Really good book, arrived on time, lots of useful information, will put it to good use.

the book has some good ideas and reviews. however not being from the UK myself, some more maps would be great. the book simply lists the places and assumes that you know where each of the little villages are. If I am going to an area then I would like to see and good map of the area and all the nearby spots so that when reading a review of a new place I know how far I need to travel.

I like the book and the format is easy to use. The problem is that it misses out huge chunks of the country. Whole counties have no information on them and it's not clear until you begin to read the book whether it will cover the areas you want to travel to.

As an avid fan of holidays in the UK we are always on the look out for inspiration on where to go on family holidays and what to do when we get there. Anyone in the same situation should definitely buy this book! It offers an entertaining, inspiring, and informative guide which will provide any family with fun-packed holidays or great days out across the whole of the UK. We now know where the 170 best family-friendly beaches are, 'must do' lists for each area and great ideas for big days out. A huge choice of places to stay and eat for all budgets (including camping with 'pick of the pitches'), 'Action stations' for local activities, loads of free stuff to do in each area and even a list of things to do if it rains! Combine all this with a fresh and colourful layout, an easy-to-navigate format and some fantastic photos and you end up with what has to be the best UK Family Travel book on the shelves. Now my only concern is whether I can do justice to William Gray's guide on how to build the perfect sand castle!!!!

Bought this before we travelled around the world for 4 months with our 4 and 2yr old - we went from the UK, USA, Oz, NZ to Malaysisa and Borneo It really didn't give us anything new we hadn't gained from the general Lonely Planet books. Of course you have to plan, of course you need to make certain some standard facilities are near by and of course you need to think about safety - but a standard trip to London would prepare you for that. We found all the countries we visited geared up to travelling with kids, hotels/restaurants would go out of their way on portion size / healthy eating and most countries have officially sanctioned tourist offices - these were especially useful in NZ and Malaysia. I would recommend this if you've never taken your kids on holiday or you suffer from nerves at the thought of getting on public transport with them. Also, it is another book to carry - and that weight needs to be signicantly valuable!

I'm a fan of the Lonely Planet guides (although generally prefer the 'Rough Guides' format and writing style) and now that we travel independently as a young family thought there might be some useful tips that would help us. Instead, about a third of the book offers advice that is either so obvious its valueless (remember to pack a couple of your children's favourite books and toys - really, I'd never have thought of that!), are too impractical to work (only take two changes of clothes for each child - one to wash, one to wear... her kids must be a lot better behaved than mine, when there's dirt about!), or downright dangerous - a section on travelling when pregnant completely omits to mention the fact that there are no malaria pills that can be taken when pregnant, meaning you have to avoid malarial areas or take the risk.The second two-thirds of the book is a country-by-country guide to travelling with kids. There are three problems here, one inevitable, two not. The first is space - by tackling pretty much every country, few get more than a page which means advice is pretty sketchy and generally limited to a few words about the capital city. There is no advice on specific hotels or accommodations that are well set up for travellers with kids. It was also dispiriting how few local attactions had been sought ought, generally it was a list of the usual zoos, musueums and commercial playparks, amusement parks or water parks. The final gripe was that the tone was unrelentingly positive, almost as if it was propaganda to make people nervous about travel with kids do it. This is fine up to a point, but there was not one story (the country accounts are interspersed with individual traveller stories about their experiences in different places), that was not totally successful. Given that kids get ill/have accidents more often than adults this seemed ridiculously one sided - where were the accounts of trips spent in darkened hotel rooms ferrying the child to and from the toilet after they ate something dodgy on the first day? The long waits in foreign A&E departments, to be treated for a dog bite, after a child petted a stray? To avoid examples of these simply gave the anecdotal notes in the text a rather unreal air.Having said all this, its not totally useless. The guide is okay in a general way, the stories make quite good reading. But if you have any common sense or empathy with your kids, then you don't need this book - by a good country guide for the place you're travelling too instead.

I purchased this book before a move to West Africa and have relied upon it totally with regard to the health of my 3 children, including a baby. It is very well written containing a wealth of down to earth practical advice on all sorts of health issues that may arise. The style in which it is written reassures the reader that the advice is sound, and for the most part, seems to be based upon the personal experience of the writer. I would suggest that any family travelling even slightly off the beaten track should pack a copy of this book.

An extremely helpful manual to reassure and give confidence when taking children abroad. It covers everything we've ever needed when travelling with children on holiday in Europe and in more remote areas of Asia and Africa. I would highly recommend this as an accessible book with advice that is easy to understand and follow. Don't leave home without a copy in your bag!

This book is an excellent reference book to take on any holiday when you are traveling with babies or small chidlren. We took it to Nepal with us when we took our 7 month old baby, Jamie, and it provided to be an invaluable source of information and advice. It is worth reading before you travel as it has useful tips on what to take and what to avoid. It is clearly laid out and well written so that any concerned parent would find it useful. It has excellent checklists that you can use to determine if the symptoms your child has are serious in any way and provides some excellent advice. Everytime my husband was worrying about any health issues I would tell him to read THE book! I would highly recommend it to any parent travelling especially if they are traveling to a remote destination such as within Asia, Africa or Latin America. We still use it now when our son gets ill - one of the best health advice books I have come across - one of a kind!

Excellent points in this book the kids loved it and they can tick off the rides they have been on. The only down side I would say is that there isn't enough autograph pages, they write BIG in Disney :) This is my second copy of the book and I would buy it again

If you are new to travelling with children or feel a little unsure about how to approach trips on a practical level, then this guide is ideal. It covers everything from how to prepare, what type of holiday to embark on and where, as well as how to keep safe and happy. Although generally this is a resource that you will dip into for inspiration and ideas, there is also a great selection of short Travellers' Tales interspersed throughout, which I particularly enjoyed.