10 Reasons Why Daytrip is the Best Transfer Service for Families
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Our daughter and our lugGage on a 5 hour train ride from Innsbruck, Austria to Venice, Italy in 2015
Have you ever traveled and didn’t want to rent a car but needed to get from city to city? When traveling with kids, getting from point A to point B is much more complicated than pre-kids.
All the way back in 2107, I came across a company called Daytrip. They offered door-to-door private transfer service and allowed me to pick stops along the way to sightsee. The best part of this service though - they provide age appropriate car seats.
I absolutely loved the idea of not having to worry about driving in a foreign country, of being able to see some off the beaten path spots, and not having to travel with car seats. I also loved that we were able to stop when I needed to nurse the baby or use the restroom and not feel guilty to other passengers.
with daytrip, we’ve been able to see so many cool spots across europe, central, and south america! this is the osogovo monastry in macedonia
Over the years we have traveled to 31 countries with our kids in tow. At first, we relied on public transportation and trains to get us between cities. And we still do that where it’s safe, convenient, and easy to navigate. However, if we are somewhere lacking in public transportation and we don’t feel comfortable renting a car, we choose Daytrip.
Since 2017, we have hired Daytrip 15 times across Europe, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Peru.
Table of Contents
European Experience with Day Trip
Sofia to Belgrade
Belgrade to Lake Bled
Lake Bled to Venice
Costa Rica Experience with Daytrip
La Fortuna to Atenas
Guatemala Experience with Daytrip
Panajachel to Antigua
All About Daytrip
A screen shot of the actual website. You can choose stops along the journey.
Daytrip started in 2015 and has expanded exponentially over the past 8 years. Originating in Central Europe, they now offer services in the United States, Asia, all over Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East, and Africa. Currently Daytrip offers over 40,531 routes across 9,079 cities. They employ over 600,000 local drivers.
The Daytrip website is easy to use. I like that. Once you enter your start and finish location, you’ll be given options of where you can stop along the way. Each stop has a description of how long the stop will be and what you’ll would be seeing.
We stopped at los chorros waterfall on our trip from la fortuna to atenas in costa rica
European Experience with Day Trip
Route: Prague to Krakow
Travelers: 4 adults, 2 babies
The day before the trip I received a message with our driver’s phone number and confirmation time of pick up.
The day of our scheduled trip the driver was outside our AirBnB about 10 minutes early. He was in a bright green, very clean van. He had both age-appropriate car seats as promised. The driver, Ondra, was extremely friendly and even had some water bottles for us to drink in the car. His English was impeccable. He helped us load up all of our stuff and we were off. We drove for about 3 hours before stopping just outside Olomouc for gas and a bathroom break. Ondra never rushed us, so we got snacks and let our toddler stretch her legs in the grassy area. About 15 minutes after we got on the road we were in Olomouc.
Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc - this is a unesco world heritage site that we only got to see because of daytrip!
After a brief walk from where we parked we were in the city center. Ondra had prepared some notes about the city and gave us a walking tour. He also kindly took pictures of our whole family. Again, he never rushed us. He gave us many options on where we should eat lunch and we settled on the restaurant at the local university. After lunch and a second leisurely walk, we started the second leg of the drive. About 3 hour later we arrived in Krakow. Ondra helped us unload our bags and we said our goodbyes. Overall, the experience was AWESOME.
Related Post: The Best of Krakow Poland with Kids
Route: Krakow to Vienna
Travelers: 4 adults, 2 babies
Again, the day before the trip I received a message with our driver’s phone number and confirmation time of pick up.
Gangs all here. We even managed to snap a pic before it started pouring rain!
This trip went as smoothly as our first. Our Daytrip driver, David, arrived a little early. He helped load our luggage into the car. His van came with an infant and toddler car seat already installed. Just like last time, this van was huge. We were all able to ride comfortably and the van was very clean.
We stoped in Kromeriz for a quick walk around and some food
We made one pit stop for snacks/restroom break before we made it to Kroměříž, Czech Republic. David was actually a Kroměříž local, so he knew exactly where the best food was. He also gave us a nice quick walking tour. He had several kids of his own, so he wasn’t put out when we had to stop for diaper changes or to nurse. After we loaded back up it was a quick 2.5 hours to Vienna. Once we arrived, he helped us unload and we parted ways.
Looking for a trip to Vienna from Prague? Click HERE.
Related Post: The Best of Vienna with Kids
The Marian column with a statue of the Virgin Mary was built between 1680 and 1681 - Kroměříž, Czech Republic
Route: Tirana, Albania to Sofia, Bulgaria
Travelers: 3 adults, 2 babies
Today we were picked up early as we had a long drive with 2 scheduled stops. The driver helped us get everything loaded into the car and we navigated our way out of Albania and into Macedonia. Here we made a long stop for lunch and exploring at Lake Ohrid.
ohrid is a gorgeous lake side town in macedonia. We had lunch on the water and explored the town!
After awhile longer on the road we stopped on the far side of Macedonia at the Osogovo Monastry. It was a really neat day to get to explore a little of Macedonia and learn about their history and way of life. We made it to our Airbnb at night and had an easy entry in.
exploring the Osogovo Monastry in Macedonia
Costa Rica Experiences
San Jose to La Fortuna
Travelers: 2 adults, 2 kids
Again, the day before the trip I received a message with our driver’s phone number and confirmation time of pick up.
Our stop from San Jose to La Fortuna was at brit coffee
Our driver, Carlos, arrived to our hotel a little early. He helped load our luggage into the car. His van came with a child seat and a booster seat already installed. His van was very clean and spacious. Carlos was extremely friendly and loved speaking to us in English and Spanish and even taught us a few new words. Our pit stop was to Brit Coffee for a coffee tour. Unfortunately I didn’t realize I needed to make the appointment myself, so we missed a guided tour and instead toured on our own. After the tour, we headed toward La Fortuna and made one extra pit stop along the way to use the restroom and get some snacks. Once we arrived in la Fortuna, Carlos helped us unload the car and was extremely gracious.
Related Post: Top 5 Things to do in La Fortuna for Families
OUr Daytrip van picked us up with 2 age appropriate carseats in san jose, costa rica
Guatemala Experiences
Guatemala City to Panajachel
Travelers: 2 adults, 3 kids
Our driver, Bernard, was waiting for us at the airport with a sign. He helped us with our bags and even took our bags while we waited on the curb and brought the car around.
2 of the kids sleeping on our drive from guatemala city to panajachel
His van was very clean and he spoke both English and Spanish. We needed to stop for a few groceries and diapers and he brought us to a mall where we got groceries and had lunch. The trip was long, but the ride was easy.
READ NEXT: Perfect 2 Week Itinerary for Guatemala
Peru Experiences
Ollantaytambo to Cusco, Peru
Travelers: 2 adults, 3 kids
Our driver, Jose, was waiting for us at the train station with a sign. He helped us with our bags and while we got our bags out of the PeruRail storage, he got the van going and cooling down.
Jose’s van was super spacious and very clean. He had bottles of water waiting for each of us too. We needed to stop for lunch, so he found a cafe where we could get great coffee and food. We mad a stop at Sacsayhuaman where he waited for us in the parking area.
Once we got to our Airbnb, he helped us unload. He didn’t speak much English, but we easily communicated and had a fantastic ride. We had a great experience with Daytrip Peru.
READ NEXT: 12 Day Peru Itinerary for Families
us with jose’s van in peru
Here are 10 Reasons Daytrip is a must when traveling with kids:
You don’t have to carry all your luggage/strollers across the city to a train or bus station
You don’t have to wait at train or bus station
You have the ability to pick and choose where you would like to stop and you get to really see parts of the country you would miss on a train
If you use Daytrip to get from city to city, you don’t need to bring your own car seats – they provide them
They can accommodate as many or as few travelers as you have
The company responds to emails/live chat quickly
The drivers are professional and they own their own vans, so they are clean and well kept
It can be cheaper than a train. (It cost us 1000 Euro TOTAL for both hauls and it would have cost us 1200 for 8 overnight train tickets)
You arrive directly at your next doorstep, so you don’t have to navigate a new city with all of your belongings/kids
Daytrip and their drivers do ALL THE WORK for that travel day. You just get in the car and ride !
Related Post: The Perfect Day Trip to Bratislava with Kids
Daytrip is hands down the best transfer service for family trips and for multigenerational trips. We have never had a negative experience and often continue to hire the drivers over and over again.
If you’re headed out on a family holiday, consider Daytrip as your transfer service. Take the hassle out of traveling with kids and let Daytrip do the work!
**This blog is NOT sponsored, but it has been so helpful to our family trips that I feel like I must share!
