Travelling with a toddler isn’t always a walk in the park and travelling for the first time with a tiny baby can feel hugely intimidating. If you live in Leeds and are lucky enough to have Leeds Bradford Airport on your doorstep, there are things you can do to help you get away on holiday with minimal stress. Here are our top three tips:

Get used to the airport by watching the planes!

Leeds Bradford airport is a wonderful one for casual plane watchers and if you have a little one who is engaged in the aviation world and excited by what is going on, taking them to watch the planes is a great way of introducing them to the noise and goings on at the airport. If you head towards Yeadon Tarn (pop LS19 7UR in your Sat Nav), there are two viewing areas that are free to watch planes from and one of them even has an ice cream van at the weekend!

Remember you don’t have to pay for a kiss and drop

Not too long ago, Leeds Bradford airport got some pretty bad press with regards to the ‘kiss and drop’ charge. However, there is now a free parking area that gives you up to an hour to drop off or pick up your loved ones. If you’re travelling with little ones, make sure you have your buggy or carrier handy as it’s at least a five minute walk to the terminal if you’re walking at a brisk pace and little legs can make this a much longer journey! If you don’t fancy the freebie, you can pay £3 to park right in front of the terminal (just be warned after your £3 runs out, this goes up in price quite dramatically!).

Splash out and get the VIP treatment

When you travel with kids, it is always a fight to get organised, but one way to help here is to ensure you have an incentive to get to the airport in plenty of time. Instead of going to Burger King, we’d suggest following our lead and paying for access to the Yorkshire Premier Lounge. We have a full review here but suffice to say that we found it exceedingly relaxing and useful with our toddler when we flew off to Mallorca recently. With food, drink, and entertainment for kids of all ages, it is well worth splashing the cash if you want to avoid the stress of keeping the kids entertained before you board your plane.

We’re always keen to hear your tips so please let us know if you have any hacks about how to get away as stress free as possible from Leeds Bradford airport by commenting below.