First, the best thing to do is get the kids involved in planning your vacation. The more the children know about the vacation, and the more input they've provided, the more fun they'll have. They are likely to be far more cooperative as well, especially when there are things that aren't necessarily first on their agenda. If you are traveling to a certain area, let them choose what sites they'd like to see or let them help with planning the itinerary for that day.

Having spending money on their vacation is very important to children. If they know far enough ahead of time they can start to save and look forward to the trip. You can come up with extra chores to help them save even more money. You may find that your children will be even more helpful than usual around the house as they try hard to earn more money to spend!

A good way to make your kids excited about their vacation is to give them knowledge about the place that they are going to visit. You can do so by buying them books about the place. This way they can also pick out what all they will like to do and see when they reach the place.

In case you are going to a foreign place with a foreign language you can start to teach your children the language. It is not only educational but also gets them very excited and interested. Start with simple greetings such as "thank you" and "good morning" etc.

Right before the vacation (one or two weeks), buy your children their own backpack to pack some of their favorite toys or other things to keep them busy on the trip. Some popular items to include are books, music, papers, pens, crayons and travel games. Allow the children to make some of the choices about what items are going in the backpack.

Older children may be past the toy stage, put a travel journal can be a great opportunity for them to write down details about the trip. Choose the type of journal that lets the child add pictures and other important mementos from the trip - they'll create a scrapbook that they can enjoy for years to come.

You can even take it a step further by buying your kids a cheap but functional camera. This will give them the freedom to click photos of whatever they like on the trip. Make sure you don't end up dominating their choice give them freedom of choice and let them select their own memories.

Always make sure that the hotel you're staying at is a family friendly hotel. If possible, stay at hotels or resorts that have a swimming pool. The pool is a great way for the kids (and adults) to unwind after a long day of traveling or sightseeing.

Travel with children can be as easy as you make it. By using some of the above tips you'll be sure to have the trip of a lifetime.