Six tips for a long car journey

01 Go driving at night

If you are travelling with children, it is of course ideal if they still sleep a few hours during the trip. For example, leave at two or three in the morning and make a nice spot for the kids with pillows and blankets so they can sleep through. Who knows, you might get lucky and the kids will sleep until you cross the French border! Travelling without children? Then driving at night gives you a nice day ahead. You can have a quiet coffee, lunch or visit a nice village in between. Your Villatent will be ready for you from 4pm!

02 Presents, presents, presents...

Kids love presents. Want to keep your kids sweet while travelling? Then before you go on holiday, stop by the toy shop and stock up on small gifts such as: colouring books, stickers, pencils, etc. Wrap all the presents, put them in a bag and agree with the children that they can unwrap one present every two hours, for example. Success is guaranteed and your children will have another hour or two of fun with their new gift.

03 Some nice exercise!

Sitting still for a long time and not being able to release your energy... that's the most annoying thing about such a long car journey. Your legs get stiff and sore at some point. So stop regularly to stretch your legs. Travelling with children? Make sure they can expend their energy in a playground or in a car park and pack the car with a ball, frisbee or skipping rope within reach.

04 Games in the car

Who hasn't done it in the past? Playing games during the car ride! Think of the animal game, where someone names an animal and the next person has to make up a new animal with the last letter: hedgehog - lion - water rat - tiger etc. You can also play this game with countries or cities.

Another fun game for in the car is ‘Who am I?’. All you need are post-its and a pen. In ‘Who am I?’, everyone in the car thinks up a well-known person for someone else in the car. This can be a Dutch celebrity, a cartoon character or just an old neighbour. The important thing is that everyone in the car should know the person. Then stick the post-it on someone's forehead. Take turns asking a question that the other people in the car can only answer yes or no to. Am I a woman? An actor? Or am I famous from TV? Until the person has guessed who they are.

Another game that makes for hilarious moments is the game ‘No yes, no no’. Here, you ask a person several questions and he or she is not allowed to say yes, no or uhh in his or her answer. Whoever does so is out!

05 Digital entertainment during the car journey

Surely the easiest way to keep your kids occupied in the car remains the iPad, iPhone, Nintendo DS or DVD player. Do you take them with you on the road? Make sure all devices are fully charged before you get in the car. For example, it is also handy to take an external battery with you, so that you can make extra long use of the devices. Did you know that nowadays you can also watch films on Netflix offline? Make sure you have enough space on the iPad and download a number of films (at home via Wifi) before your holiday. In addition, check whether the games you download can also be used offline. Does your child get carsick easily? Then try whether a travel pill will help your child.

06 Leave a day early

Black Saturdays are days when there is extremely heavy traffic on European roads, due to a massive holiday exodus. Want to avoid these black Saturdays? Then you could, for example, drive a day early and spend a night on the road.

With these six tips for a long road trip, you'll arrive at your destination before you know it. The holiday can then begin! Just check in at reception, get your things out of the car and you can enjoy a fresh cup of coffee or a drink in the hammock on the terrace of your Villatent.