Family travel
Room for everyone, at every age.
Family holidays planned around your youngest and oldest travellers: flight times that respect naps, connecting rooms, prams and children’s meals arranged ahead, and days paced so nobody runs out of steam.
Age-aware family planner · who is coming?
Children’s ages
Also travelling
Showing all 26 suggestions. Choose ages to tailor the list.
Your tailored plan
Small details, big difference.
These are the arrangements we make for families like yours. Each one becomes a request on your booking, and its confirmation status shows in your trip hub.
Flights
- Departures that line up with nap time, often mid-morning or early afternoon, so the flight does the settling for you.
- A bassinet seat requested early on long-haul flights. Bassinets are limited and have airline weight and length limits, so we confirm again at check-in.
- Infants under 2 usually fly on an adult’s lap with an infant fare, one per adult. A separate seat with an approved car seat is possible on some airlines.
- Seats together confirmed when you book, not left to check-in, with the window for the child.
- Daytime flights on short trips, so body clocks stay close to home.
- Most airlines charge the adult fare from age 12; some offer student fares with valid ID, which we check for you.
- Wheelchair or buggy assistance requested at both airports, and aisle seats near the front for easier boarding.
Rooms
- A cot requested in writing, a room away from the lift and a fridge for milk or purées.
- A family room or connecting rooms with a bathtub, on a low floor or near the lift for the pram.
- Connecting rooms, so you are a door apart rather than a corridor apart, with extra beds confirmed in writing.
- Their own connecting room, or a suite with a separate living area, so everyone gets a little privacy.
- Lift access, a walk-in shower or grab rails, and a room close to where breakfast is served.
Kit & food
- A pram or stroller checked at the aircraft door on most airlines; we note the model on your booking.
- Baby food, milk and formula are generally allowed in hand luggage beyond the usual liquids limit, subject to screening at the airport.
- Child seats booked with every road transfer. Availability varies by city, so each one is confirmed, not assumed.
- Children’s meals pre-ordered on flights that offer them, usually at least 24 hours before departure.
- A local eSIM or data pack, so they can head out within agreed limits and still see the shared itinerary.
Pacing
- One headline outing a day, with road transfers kept to about two hours.
- Back at the hotel by early afternoon, with pools, parks and beaches between the sights.
- Two experiences a day and a free afternoon every third day. Hands-on activities beat long museum visits.
- Later starts, and one day they plan themselves: a ski lesson, a surf class or the city by metro.
- Shorter walking stretches, more seated sightseeing and a rest day on any trip longer than a week.
Health & documents
- Every child, including a newborn, needs their own passport for international travel.
- If a child travels with one parent or with grandparents, carry a signed consent letter from the absent parent or guardian; some countries and airlines ask for it.
- A small first-aid kit with the children’s medicines and doses your doctor recommends.
- Regular medicines in hand luggage with prescriptions, and travel insurance that declares pre-existing conditions.
The shape of a good day
Plan the rest as carefully as the sights.
Most family holidays go wrong in the afternoon, not the morning. We build every day around a rest window, then fill in around it.
Where families travel well
Gentle places for small legs.
The best family destinations share a few things: short transfers, food children will eat, somewhere to run, and a climate that does not fight you. A few we return to often:
- The Nilgiris. Ooty and Coonoor are cool in summer, and the toy train up the hills is a day out in itself.
- Kerala. A houseboat night, tea hills and beaches on one easy loop: see the Kerala circuit.
- Switzerland. Trains, lake boats and cable cars that do the walking: plan a Swiss family trip.
- Dubai in winter. A short flight from India, with beaches and indoor escapes: explore Dubai.
Before you go
The family-friendly checklist.
Tick things off as you go. Your progress stays on this device only.
0 of 12 ready
Need cover for everyone? Compare family travel insurance. Travelling with someone who uses a wheelchair? See accessible travel.
FAQ
Family travel, without the guesswork.
Can you guarantee connecting rooms for a family?
We request connecting rooms at booking and show you whether the hotel has confirmed them in writing or will only allocate them at check-in. Where a hotel cannot commit, we suggest a family room or suite instead, so you are never relying on luck on arrival.
Does a baby need a passport and a ticket to fly abroad?
Yes to both. Every child, including a newborn, needs their own passport for international travel. Babies under 2 usually travel on an adult’s lap with an infant ticket, one infant per adult, or in their own seat with an airline-approved car seat at the child fare.
How do you pace a holiday with toddlers and grandparents together?
We plan around the two people with the least stamina. That usually means one main outing each morning, a long rest in the middle of the day, short transfers, lifts and seating wherever possible, and a free day on longer trips. Everyone else can add extras without changing the core plan.
What documents does a child need when travelling with only one parent?
Along with the child’s passport and any visa, carry a signed consent letter from the parent or guardian who is not travelling, with their contact details and a copy of their ID. Some countries also ask for a birth certificate showing both parents’ names. Requirements differ, so check the destination’s current rules; our travel documents team can confirm them.
How are children’s prices worked out on family holidays?
Each supplier sets its own rules. Airlines usually charge a reduced infant fare under 2, while older children need their own seat, often at or near the adult fare. Hotels may let young children stay free using existing beds, or charge for an extra bed. Every policy is shown per hotel and per flight before you pay.
Family journeys
Tell us their ages. We’ll set the pace.
From a first flight with a newborn to a three-generation reunion, ATLAS shapes the flights, rooms and days around the people you are travelling with.