Everything we'd pack for a family holiday abroad, from documents and medicines to the games that keep everyone happy in the evenings.
Our master holiday checklist on one A4 page. No sign-up needed.
Families flying abroad with checked luggage, especially with children aged roughly 5–14
Packing for a family is mostly about not forgetting the handful of things that are expensive, awkward or impossible to replace once you're away. Clothes are the easy part. This checklist focuses on everything else.
Where we recommend a product, we've linked to our own guide so you can decide whether it's genuinely worth the space. The games are ones we've packed and played on our own family holidays.
Passports for everyone – check the issue and expiry dates well before you travel. For the EU, a UK passport generally needs to be less than 10 years old on the day you arrive and valid for at least three months after the day you leave.
GHIC or EHIC cards – free from the NHS and worth having for every family member travelling in Europe.
Travel insurance details – save the policy number and emergency phone number somewhere you can reach offline.
Booking confirmations – flights, accommodation, car hire and transfers, downloaded rather than relying on hotel Wi-Fi.
Driving licence – if you're hiring a car.
Two payment cards and a little local cash – keep them in different bags so one lost bag doesn't leave you stuck.
Packing cubes – one colour per person makes a shared family suitcase far easier to live out of.
Amazon Essentials 4-Piece Packing Cubes
Good-value starter set for trying packing cubes without spending much.
Digital luggage scales – most useful on the way home, when the cases are full of souvenirs.
Etekcity Digital Luggage Scale
Compact, simple and well established, with enough capacity for normal checked luggage without unnecessary extra features.
Luggage tags – brightly coloured ones also make your cases quicker to spot on the carousel.
Bright luggage tags
Easy to spot on the carousel and quick to tell apart when several family cases look alike.
A spare foldable bag – for dirty washing on the way home, or overflow shopping.
Power bank – a 10,000mAh model is enough for most family days out. It must go in your hand luggage.
INIU 10,000mAh 45W Power Bank
A strong travel balance of 10,000mAh capacity, fast 45W USB-C charging and compact size without moving into bulky high-capacity territory.
Travel adapter – one with USB ports can replace several chargers in the room.
MyTravelPal Pro Universal Travel Adaptor
One grounded adaptor with USB charging, rather than several regional plugs and separate chargers.
Cable organiser – families accumulate a lot of chargers. Keeping them in one pouch makes it much harder to leave one in the hotel.
BAGSMART Travel Cable Organiser
Compact enough for ordinary holiday tech, with enough organisation for cables, chargers and a small power bank without becoming a bulky case.
Children's headphones – volume-limited ones are worth considering for younger children.
Wired kids' headphones
No battery to run flat and nothing to pair. Plug in and go.
Wireless kids' headphones
No cable to tangle on a tray table. Remember to charge them before you travel.
Downloaded films, shows and audiobooks – do it at home on fast Wi-Fi, not at the gate.
Hanging toiletry bag – especially useful when four people share a small hotel bathroom.
BAGSMART Hanging Travel Toiletry Bag
A proper hanging design with useful compartments and enough space for more than a minimal toiletry kit.
Prescription medicines – in hand luggage, in their original packaging, with enough for a few extra days.
Children's paracetamol and ibuprofen – far easier to pack than to find at 2am in an unfamiliar town.
A small first aid kit – plasters, antiseptic wipes, blister plasters and tweezers.
Compact travel first aid kit
A small ready-made kit covering plasters, wipes and the basics without taking much space.
Sun cream, after-sun and insect repellent
NIVEA Sun Protect & Moisture Spray SPF 30 (200ml)
High protection for the whole family, often cheaper to buy before you go than at a resort.
Hand sanitiser and wet wipes
Refillable water bottles – take them through security empty and fill them up airside.
Collapsible water bottle
Folds flat when empty, so it's easy to carry through security and fill up airside.
Snacks – more than you think you need.
Airplane phone holder – lets a child watch a downloaded film hands-free on the tray table.
MiiKARE Portable Airplane Phone Holder
A compact clamp-style holder with 360-degree adjustment for a simple hands-free way to watch a phone during a flight.
A small game for the flight – Dobble is one of the few games we've found genuinely workable on an aircraft tray.
Dobble
A tiny tin with very quick games, brilliant with children and workable on an aircraft tray.
Waterproof phone pouch – keeps your phone, room key and card with you at the pool instead of left on a sunbed.
SYNCWIRE Waterproof Phone Pouch 2-Pack
A practical IPX8-rated two-pack for couples or families who want basic water, sand and splash protection without spending much.
Children's rash vests and sun hats – much easier than reapplying sun cream every hour.
Kids' UV rash vest
Covers shoulders and back in the water, so there's less sun cream to keep reapplying.
Portable fan – worth it for hot destinations, theme parks and queues.
GAIATOP Portable Handheld Turbo Fan
A compact USB-C rechargeable fan with strong airflow and a long-lasting battery, small enough to carry around on hot sightseeing days.
These are the games we've actually taken on our own family holidays. Two or three small ones cover most situations without taking much luggage space.
The Crew: Family Adventure – Marooned in Paradise – our first choice with children from around 8, and our 13-year-old's favourite version of The Crew. We got roughly ten hours of play from it on one holiday.
The Crew: Marooned in Paradise
A cooperative card game with a flip-out board that helps younger players follow what's happening.
Sushi Go! – quick, easy to teach and works well with mixed ages.
Sushi Go!
Colourful, simple and ideal for filling 10–20 minutes without committing to a long game.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza – tiny and chaotic, and reliably gets everyone laughing.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
Barely bigger than a pack of cards, with a surprising amount of laughter for its size.
The Crew: Mission Deep Sea – for older children and adults who want something with more depth.
The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
Compact, cooperative and deep enough to keep older children and adults playing all evening.
Full-size toiletry bottles – decant into smaller ones or buy when you arrive.
Big boxed games – take the cards and leave the box. Our travel games page shows how we pack them.
A hairdryer – most hotels provide one, and some UK appliances aren't suitable for every destination's supply.
"Just in case" outfits – most families come home with clothes they never wore.
A book or a Kindle – a Kindle weighs less than a single paperback and holds a whole holiday's worth of books, so you'll never run out halfway through the trip.
Amazon Kindle
About 158g and smaller than the Paperwhite, so it's our pick for travel. It isn't waterproof, so keep it away from the pool.
Dungeon Crawler Carl: Book 1
Our favourite holiday read: funny, addictive and eight books long. It's for adults, not children.
Games on these lists are ones we've packed and played ourselves. Other products are linked to our researched guides, so you can check whether something is genuinely worth the space before you buy.
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