Planning a Road Trip To France With Kids: What To Pack

The road trip essentials every family should pack when they’re planning a road trip to France.

Every summer we load up the car, throw the surfboards on the roof (the boys love to surf!) and take a road trip through France. This has become a tradition that we all love, and the journey, the time spent in the car singing and playing games together, is just as much a part of the adventure as being in France.

Road trips are great for family bonding, for spending quality time together, and even learning new things about each other!

Are you planning a road trip to France with kids? Perhaps it’s your first road trip and you have no idea what to pack? Here’s our tried and tested list of road trip essentials that we take on our road trips to South of France:

Heads up! This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!

👉Thinking of visiting France with kids? Read this first: France with Kids: The Ultimate Family Travel Guide (2026)

Essential Road Trip Packing Checklist

First thing’s first, there are some legal requirements if you want to drive in France. Having these things is much more important than checking you’ve packed enough knickers or toys for the kids! So make sure you have:

• A full valid driving licence and car insurance – (you will need proof of valid car insurance with at least third party coverage).
• V5C document (this is a vehicle registration document that proves ownership of your car.
• Passport or ID – you’ll need to carry this with you at all times
• Crit’Air Sticker – If you’re planning to drive into a city with a low emission zone (Paris or Lyon for example) you’ll need one of these that shows your car’s emission levels.
• Warning triangle – This is a legal requirement in case of a breakdown or accident.
• A reflective/high vis jacket – you need one for each person in the car (we got this kit with the warning triangle and high vis jackets, which you can view here)
• Headlight beam deflectors – Because your in a right hand drive car on the wrong side of the road, these will help to prevent glare for oncoming traffic (and are another legal requirement)
• UK sticker – My final legal requirement! You’ll need to have these on the back of your car. We use this magnetic one so we don’t damage our paintwork!

Packing For A Roadtrip With Kids (In the Car)

The key to packing for a roadtrip with kids is to keep everything your kids are going to need while you’re driving close to hand. We always schedule lots of stops (and have lots of unscheduled toilet stops because…kids!) but if the boys want a snack or need a blanket, you want to keep everything where you can reach it. So set up your car for comfort, and try to anticipate these needs with:

• Blankets and pillows – It doesn’t matter how hot it is when we travel, my boys like to get cozy in the back of the car. This also gives them everything they need for napping, which they both do when we drive (it doesn’t matter how old they get, they both love a car nap!)
• Comfy clothes – please don’t try to drive in jeans! Soft cotton and elastic waistbands is the order of the day here!
• Slip on shoes – My boys like their shoes off in the car. So they wear crocs/easy to put on shoes so we don’t spend hours tying trainers at every toilet stop!
• Snacks and drinks – We keep water bottles in the back with the boys and then the snacks in the front with me (so I can regulate them, rather than all the snacks disappearing in the first hour!) Fruit snacks, cereal bars, biscuits and brioche rolls are all popular choices in my house.
• Entertainment activities – books, games, colouring books, and art supplies are all common. Fidget toys are cheap and easy to carry. If you don’t mind the mess, my boys love tupperware tubs filled with lego too. I’ve added a full list of entertainment options below.
  👉I’ve put together a downloadable France colouring book for kids that you can get here.
• Wet wipes – It doesn’t matter how old your kids are, don’t drive without them and thank me later!
• A carrier bag – gather your rubbish as you go along to save a big clean up operation later!
• Carseat organisers – My sister recommended these and we’ve invested in these ones for this summer. Perfect for keeping all of the boys stuff in one place!
• A football – French service stations often have parks/playgrounds, and this is a good way for the boys to run off some energy. But only where it’s safe, of course – not in between cars!

To Screen or Not to Screen?

I know screen time can be a contentious issue, but we always let our boys have their Nintendo Switches when they travel (whether on a road trip or on a plane) – they love having some game time, and it helps to make the long journey feel shorter. When they were younger we swore by the Amazon Fire kids tablets, which meant they could play games AND watch TV shows too.

But we also limit screen time on journeys – they can have their screens, but they also have time without them when we play car games, sing along to our travelling playlist and chatting with mum and dad. I would say for every 1 hour on the screens they have 1 hour without.

Road Trip Entertainment Options for Kids

We love card games like Uno, and Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese Pizza! (If you haven’t tried this with your kids then I really recommend you try it! It’s a great family game!) And the boys have recently discovered the joys of the dice game 5 Up! Card games are great for breaks and for when we arrive in our destination, but I will admit that they’re hard to play on the move – one wrong move and the cards go everywhere!

Easier are colouring and activity books. Sticker books are great (and lovely clean fun) for younger kids. My boys love puzzle books in particular. I’ve put together a downloadable France colouring book for kids that you can get here. I wanted this to be fun, engaging, and educational too!

We also love car games – iSpy, the animal game, the yellow car game….the list of games you can play as you’re driving is near-endless.

Finally, i’m sure there are fancier versions you can buy. But I superglued a lego board to the bottom of a lunch box (a tupperwaretub would work too) so the boys have a lego play space on the go. Half fill the tub with lego, and you’re ready to go! This is my boys most played with travel toy.

Practical Packing For Road Trips

Now that we’ve covered the fun stuff, there are some fun practical things that you should make sure you pack for every road trip, especially during the summer months. These include:

• Sun screen and mosquito repellent (we swear by these bug repelling wrist bands)
• Sunglasses (for driving in the glare)
• Easy access to spare clothes – accidents happen, so keep one set of spare clothes in your boot, but where you can grab them easily.
• Cash or a card that will work in France to pay for toll roads.
• Basic toiletries – Deoderant, tooth brush and toothpaste, and a hair brush so that you can all freshen up after a long journey.
• Charging cables – Our car has charging points in the front and back, so Mike and I can keep our phones charged in the front, and the boys can charge their switches in the back
• Toilet roll. Not all service station toilets have it!

Final Thoughts and Further Reading

Road tripping through France as a family is one of the highlights of our year. The quality time together means so much to all of us. But it only works if you’re prepared. I hope these top tips help you to plan and prepare your own family road trip.

Thinking of visiting France with your kids this year? Check out this further reading to help plan your trip to perfection:

👉Preparing for a Family Road Trip: 5 Important Car Servicing Tips Before You Travel 
👉5 Things to Do in Rouen With Kids : What to Do, Where to Stay in This Beautiful, Underrated French City
👉 Visiting Dijon With Kids. What We Did On Our Day in Dijon, France.

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Heads up! This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!