At this age, your child might call the shots, and want it their way! That’s what we found out about traveling with a toddler between 18-24 months. We were now sharing the trip with our toddler who could communicate opinions with us, and our daily activities revolved around ALL of our desires.

Places for activities

Like I mentioned above, vacation time will be for everyone in the family once your toddler is around 18 months to 24 months. We weren’t prepared for the ideas that our toddler had, on top of our own ideas!

Work in engaging activities

What do toddlers between 18-24 months love? They love playgrounds, places to walk around or watch other kids playing, and places like water parks or play gyms.

Of course, your trip destination may not have all of these. But we were pleasantly surprised that without trying very hard, our Mexico City Airbnb was a 3-minute walk to one of the best playgrounds in the area, and you bet we were there every day!

Find activities that involve animals

Zoos, petting famrs and aquariums: Seek these out while on vacation with a 18-24 month old and you likely won’t be disappointed. If you’ve been reading bedtime books about animals, or if your child has animal toys at home, going to a new zoo, farm or aquarium lets your child see these creatures come to life, all while on your trip.

Our morning at the Mexico City Zoo was one for the books: we did our research in advance, brought snacks, layers, sun hats and a travel camera and were pleasantly surprised with a great excursion for our toddler.

Children’s museums

Your child is finally old enough for the “young child” parts of children’s museums at this age. They may find it interesting to see the larger-than-life exhibits of things like kitchens or farms, or touch + feel exhibits with textures, colors and more.

Children’s museums with a variety of offerings can be good for ages 1 and up, but check reviews beforehand to make sure your child will have something to enjoy in the exhibits.

Luckily, most major cities have a children’s museum, or, if there is no children’s museum, a science museum. While a lot in a science museum will be over your child’s head information-wise, things like exhibits that move, or interactive exhibits where you can look up and all around will be fascinating for a young toddler.

Gardens, parks and hiking

We took our toddler to a botanical garden in Mexico, and while she wasn’t exactly overjoyed, it was a place to walk around and be near interesting types of nature. We got to talk about plants, flowers and trees, and colors. It was also a nice photo op for Mom + Me photos, and Dad + Me photos. We think our toddler’s favorite part was the greenhouse!

Keep in mind that things like hiking may get mundane for toddlers after the first 20 minutes if the scenery doesn’t change drastically. For hiking, come with tons of snacks, and some fidget activities for mild entertainment while your child is in the hiking carrier.

Helpful Tip

Need a hiking carrier or not sure where to start? We tested the best-selling one from Deuter and reviewed it at the Deuter Kid Comfort Venture hiking carrier review.

Value your child’s opinions!

A toddler who feels heard is a happy toddler (we learned this). Closer to 22, 23 and 24 months, your toddler will really “understand” if you say the family will be going somewhere, and if you make promises. They start turning into a real person!

On vacation at this age, depending on communication level, your toddler may be communicating with simple words and desires. They will tell you what THEY want to do!

Keep plans flexible in case you’re heading somewhere and all you hear is, “Playground playground playground” from a little person in the stroller. We learned that if we told our toddler we would indeed go find the playground, that we really had to do it, or else, we’d be lying.

Even post-rainstorm (armed with paper towels to dry the swings) and pre-rainstorm (getting a quick visit to the swings in, right before the rain!), we could be found at the playground in Mexico City, and that was an experience within itself!

Routine and schedule

Toddlers like routine, just like adults do. At 18-24 months, work a routine of expectation into the schedule, to provide some structure for your toddler during the trip.

Your toddler’s routine

Your toddler might expect routine, from being accustomed to one at daycare or with you, or a nanny at home. What we tried to do was to keep each day semi-consistent: wake up, breakfast, head to a cafe for family coffee and smoothies, activity (zoo, museum, shopping), dine out for lunch, nap and then PLAYGROUND!

Routines after jet lag

Keep to a routine (if you choose to) after any jet lag subsides. This is most useful on longer trips of 3+ days). For shorter trips, anything goes, and you may have a set agenda of things you want to see or people you have to spend time with.

Communicate with your toddler

At this age, toddlers can really listen and understand a lot more than we give them credit for! It is such an exciting age.

Here’s an idea: Communicate to your child what you did, what you are doing, and what you will be doing! This is a great way to work on vocabular learning, understanding of things to do in a day and also working on your child’s memory skills.

We were amazed that, because of the effort we put in to communicating every activity with our toddler, that after returning home, she was still talking (at only 20 months!) about the things we did on our trip.