The summer holidays will be here before you know it.

This means that it is time to start planning your getaway. While this can get expensive, you’ll be pleased to hear that there are plenty of cheap ways to travel during the school holidays. This includes heading out on a road trip.

Photo by Alex Jumper on Unsplash

After all, this means that you can avoid inflated airline prices and can instead focus on exploring new parts of the UK. With that in mind, here are some top tips for planning a budget-friendly family road trip.

Ensure your car is up for the journey. Whether you’re going to be visiting busy cities or travelling along the coast, you need to make sure that your car is up for the journey. After all, breaking down in an unfamiliar place is sure to put a dampener on your holiday spirit. In some cases, this could mean that buying a new car ahead of time is your best bet. However, you can still save money in this way by buying audi approved used cars for a fraction of their original price. 

Consider camping instead of staying in hotels. Hotels can quickly get expensive, especially if you are travelling during peak season. As such, you may find that you’re able to save a lot of money (and even travel for longer) by camping instead. If you don’t fancy carrying a tent around with you (or don’t have the space), don’t worry - plenty of facilities loan tents or caravans to visitors. 

Find free things to do. Keeping your kids entertained throughout your trip can be challenging, especially if they’d be happy spending the entire holiday in front of a TV screen. However, travelling throughout the UK means that there’s no shortage of things to do, whether you’re hoping to teach them more about the world around them or engage in some physical activities. Even better, you’ll find plenty of FREE things to do in each location you visit (provided you do a bit of research ahead of time). For example, the majority of museums in the UK are free to enter, although they may request a small donation. 

If you do plan to visit paid attractions, book your tickets as far in advance as possible. This will allow you to access exclusive discounts that make the day out much more affordable.

Pack your snacks ahead of time. Spending a few hours a day on the road often means that you’ll need to buy plenty of snacks. However, motorway service stations are notoriously expensive, which could mean that picking up some chocolate or a coffee sets you back a lot more than you expected. For this reason, you should try to pack snacks ahead of time, so that you can get the best possible value for money.

Final thoughts. A road trip can be a lot of fun for the whole family - and it's also a great way to spend quality time together without breaking the bank, especially if you follow the advice listed above!

*Disclosure- this is a collaborative post*