The 30+ best family travel quotes

I love a good travel quote. Yes, some of them can be a little cheesy but you can’t deny that the best travel quotes do a fantastic job of inspiring wanderlust!

Whether you’re in the middle of planning for your next family vacation, just back from a holiday (and looking for travel with family quotes for your Instagram captions!), or just in need of a little travel inspiration, there’s a quote out there for every traveller.

In this post I’ve rounded up some of my favourite quotes about travelling. These include family adventure quotes, famous travel quotes, family journey quotes and more. I’ve also included some of my favourite photos that always inspire me to keep exploring the world.

Family travel quotes

1.”Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.” – Lewis Carroll

This is probably my all time favourite travel quote. I love to travel with my children and want to show them as much of the world as possible. This is also one of my favourite travel photos; it was taken on my daughter’s 7th birthday on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.

2. “Travelling in the company of those we love is home in motion” – Leigh Hunt

We lived overseas for 12 years in Australia, India and Mexico and so I’m a firm believer that home is wherever your loved ones are. This photo was taken at La Lancha, an amazing property owned by Francis Ford Coppola located near the ancient civilisation of Tikal in Guatemala.

3. “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles” – Tim Cahill

Most of the time these three are very good friends! This was shot during our road trip around southern Finland. This is Olavinlinna Castle, famous for its annual opera festival held within the castle walls.

4. “Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best” – Bob Talbert.

I love this family holiday quote. As a parent, I hope that I teach my kids what is – and isn’t – important in the world. This photo was taken on a multi-generational family holiday to Florence in Italy.

5. “Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life” – Michael Palin

Few trip quotes sum up the travel bug as succinctly as Michael Palin. Sam was three when this photo was taken in Durbuy, Belgium, the smallest city in the world.

6. “Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell not stuff to show” – Unknown

As far as I’m concerned, you can never have too many adventures! This is Tess skiing in Finnish Lapland, home to some of the best snow in the world.

7. “The greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories.” – Og Mandino

One of the reasons I love to travel with my kids so much is because it gives us time together. It’s so hard for the modern family to carve out meaningful time together when everyone has so many commitments. Travel gives us the opportunity to simply be. This photo was taken in Akumal, near Tulum in Mexico.

8. “As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was about to happen.” – A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

A brilliant family holiday quote from the world’s most insightful bear. This photo was taken in Tofino on Vancouver Island, one of our favourite places in Canada.

9. “People do not decided to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things” – Edmund HIllary

I was lucky enough to meet Edmund Hillary when I travelled in Nepal in 1993. This is Alfie, exploring the amazing Finnish Lakeland region during the summer.

10. “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

This is such a beautiful travel quote by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minster of India. I love these coloured papel picado banners in Mexico. We lived in Mexico City for nearly six years and had lots of wonderful adventures.

11. “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

I’m a firm believer that children should travel so that they can see and understand how the world works. Here, the three kids are in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland.

12. “Oh, the places you’ll go” – Dr Seuss

Dr. Seuss was a wonderful traveller. His are some of my favourite travel with kids quotes. This photo was taken in San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico.

13. “Two of the greatest gifts we can give our children are roots and wings” – Hodding Carter

This is one of the more cheesy family holiday quotes but I still love it! Here’s Sam aged just 18months in northern Denmark –  where the original Legoland can be found.

14. “May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home.” – Trenton Lee Stewart

My kids love the books by Trenton Lee Stewart and I really like this quote! This photo was taken exploring the Golden Circle in Iceland. We spent a long weekend in Reykjavik, discovering the nearby sights.

15. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness” – Mark Twain

This is possibly one of the best – and most famous – travel family quotes around! The photo is of Tess at the Nordsøen Oceanarium, the biggest aquarium in Northern Europe.

16. “Travel in the younger sort is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience” – Francis Bacon

Here are three happy kids on Wissant Beach in France. On a clear day you can see the White Cliffs of Dover in the distance.

17. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

You will never regret that family holiday! This photo was taken in the beautiful Finnish Lakeland region.

18. “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it’s lethal” – Paul Coelho

Here’s Sam at the amazing Allas Sea Pools in Helsinki, Finland.

19. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein

Here are the three kids sitting on the banks of Lake Saimaa, the biggest lake in Finland and the fourth largest freshwater lake in Europe.

20. “Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves” – Euripides

I’m a firm believer that travel really is the best education. This is Alfie and I at the magical – and very cold – Quebec Winter Carnival.

21. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

This quote to inspire is probably one of the most used; I think it’s a wonderful way to describe travel This photo was taken when we were in Baja California in Mexico.

22. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by” – Robert Frost

I can not believe how young the kids look in this photo! This was taken at Teotihuacan, an ancient Mesoamerican city located on the outskirts of Mexico City.

23. “People don’t take trips; trips take people.” – John Steinbeck

Possibly the only good wildlife photo I have ever managed to take was this one, of a humpback whale breaching out of the waters surrounding Los Cabos, Mexico.

24. “To travel is to live” – Hans Christian Anderson

This is the family travel quote that I live by. This photo always makes me laugh – the kids look so grumpy! We were celebrating the Indian festival of Holi in Jaipur, India in this photo. We stayed at the Diggi Palace Hotel, which organised its own Holi festivities within the hotel grounds making them very family-friendly.

25. “Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller” – Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta was a famous 14th century Muslim traveler and scholar. He is also the author of the Riḥlah (Travels), which describes his travels to almost all of the Muslim countries and as far as China and what is now Indonesia.

This photo was taken at the Taj Mahal in India. We were living in New Delhi at the time and visited Agra for the weekend, treating ourselves to a stay at the incredible Oberoi Amarvilas.

26. “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain.

27. “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

The ancient Chinese philosopher and writer Lao Tzu was a leading figure in Daoism and the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching. This photo was taken at Tikal, the ancient Mayan city-state located deep in the jungles of Guatemala.

28. “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

This photo was taken at Lake Peten Itza, near Tikal in Guatemala.

29. “In the end, kids won’t remember that fancy toy you bought them, they will remember the time you spent with them.” – Kevin Heath

30. “There are no perfect parents and there are no perfect children, but there are plenty of perfect moments along the way” – Dave Willis

This family holiday quote could not be more apt for this photo! Our reindeer safari in Finnish Lapland was such a highlight of a trip crammed full of magical moments.

31. “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

Our trip to Finnish Lapland, where this photo was taken, remains one of our favourites.

32. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddam mountain” – Jack Kerouac

Admittedly, we didn’t climb the mountain to get this incredible view over the Howe Sound, we took the Sea to Sky Gondola. But the experience was just as good!

33. “What child has not travelled by spinning the globe.” – Anon

34. “And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling” – Shanti

I love this photo of the kids in California, they look so small! We had a great family trip exploring much of the Pacific Coast Highway with the kids and I think this quotes sums up our adventure perfectly.

35. “Not all classrooms have four walls” – Anon

Our three days in Berlin was one of the most informative – and fun – city breaks that we’ve enjoyed as a family. Berlin is such an incredible city with lots to do for kids, and lots for them to learn.