How are inflation and global uncertainties affecting German travel families?
Are German families’ travel plans, travel budgets, and expectations for child-friendly accommodations for 2026 changing compared to previous years?

In November, we invited nearly 1,000 (exactly: 942) of our Little Travel travel families to take part in a survey via Instagram, Facebook, and our newsletter. We asked them what makes a child-friendly accommodation worthwhile for them and what their travel plans for 2026 looks like. Where suitable, we compared these survey results with our previous surveys from August 2023 on family travel trends for 2024 and from November 2020 on parents’ preferences regarding child-friendly amenities. With some surprising results!

Here’s what we can already reveal: German families are increasingly drawn to faraway destinations, autumn is becoming an extension of summer, and helpful amenities matter more than luxury in a family hotel.

Who are our Little Travel families?

We wanted to find out: How old are Little Travel children traveling with their families — and what is their budget?

A colorful mix of ages travels with Little Travel Society

More than half of respondents go on vacation with babies and toddlers (53%). Almost half — 46% — travel with school-age children or teenagers and are therefore tied to school holiday dates. Babies and teenagers are the smallest groups among Little Travel families, at 18% and 13% respectively — but we give them special attention with tailored blog articles (e.g. Vacation with teenagers, Vacation with a baby — where to go?, Winter: long-haul destinations with a baby, checklists for traveling with a baby, etc.) and topic-focused campaigns, as they have very specific needs. Our hotel recommendations also always include information on baby-friendliness as well as details on whether and which features are available for teenagers.

Budget for family-friendly accommodation in 2026: Growing willingness to pay for family hotels — savings are made on holiday homes

We wanted to know how much our families are willing to spend on a holiday home or apartment, an apartment with breakfast service, and a full-service family hotel. The results surprised us!

Compared to our survey in August 2023, Little Travel families are more budget-conscious when it comes to holiday homes and apartments. Families seem to be investing primarily in comfort, service, and stress reduction — and as of late 2025, there is a slightly higher budget for family hotels than there was in summer 2023.

When it comes to family hotels with full board, wellness facilities and the like, families’ budgets are quite varied — no surprise, since family hotel offerings differ widely. Around 40% are willing to spend up to €300 per night, almost a third spend €300–€400. And as many as 28% have an even larger budget of more than €400 per night. What’s particularly interesting is that willingness to pay for family hotels has increased compared to 2023 (see August 2023 survey: back then, 57% wanted to spend up to €300, and only 43% more than that. Today, 61% are willing to invest more than €300 per night).

For an apartment with breakfast, around 60% are willing to spend between €1,000 and €2,000 per week. 23% have an even larger budget of more than €2,000 per week. In  this case, too, willingness to pay has dropped significantly since August 2023 — in fact, back in 2023 almost half said they wanted to spend more than €2,000 per week.

Trend regions 2026 – Southern Europe remains German families’ dream destination, but long-haul travel and holidays at home are trending

The classic image of family vacation with sunshine, beaches, and Mediterranean living remains hugely popular! By far the largest share of respondents (76%) are planning a trip to Southern Europe in 2026.

After a slight post-Covid dip in domestic holidays (only 13% said in our August 2023 survey that they wanted to vacation in Germany), Germany is trending again. With 37% of responses, it ranks in second place. Coolcation in Northern Europe currently comes last for 2026, still with a significant percentage of interested families though (28%). Many families are more likely to use autumn for pleasant temperatures rather than spending the summer in the north — although the trend towards northern destinations could increase in the coming years.

The big surprise is the growing wanderlust among German families: 30% are planning a long-haul vacation with their children in 2026 — almost twice as many as in 2023 (16%)!

Trending family travel destinations in 2026: Germany, Mediterranean classics, and a long-haul destination

This question about specific countries and regions for 2026 shows the same pattern: vacations at home are a major trend among families, and with 16% of responses Germany has even taken the top spot (in 2023, Bella Italia was still in first place with 21% of answers to the open question “Where do you want to go next year?”, while Germany came second with only 6%).

The classic family vacation favorites — Italy, Spain, Austria, France, Greece, Croatia, and Portugal — remain in the top 10. Not much has changed here over the past two years.

What has changed: for the first time, a long-haul destination has made its way into the top 10. Thailand has snuck in as a family travel destination — German families’ wanderlust is clearly growing! Denmark and the Netherlands have become slightly less attractive. In 2023, both countries still ranked in the top ten with 3% of responses.

Popular long-haul destinations for families in 2026: Thailand leads the way, Sri Lanka on the rise

30% of travel families are planning a long-haul trip in 2026 — but where do they want to go?

Thailand has taken the top spot with 21% of responses. It is followed by South Africa, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and Dubai. Interestingly, the USA — which was still in first place in 2023 with 19% of responses — has dropped completely out of the top 10 for German travel families. This trend is also reflected in official figures: international tourism to the USA declined noticeably from 2024 to 2025. Sri Lanka and Dubai are emerging trends for 2026, while Mauritius and South Africa remain perennial favorites.

Especially at the beginning of Trump’s re-election, German media reported on difficult entry experiences. Among other factors, these incidents are leading to greater hesitation among German families when it comes to traveling to the USA in 2026. Thailand, on the other hand, offers good infrastructure, easy entry requirements, affordable flights to Bangkok, and low living costs on site. These factors likely explain why Thailand has risen to the top of long-haul destinations for German travel families in our survey for 2026.

says Sonja Alefi, founder of the Little Travel Society.

Traveling with toddlers: Room-darkening options & rental mobility items are a must!

Who doesn’t know the problem? A beautiful room, cool interior design — but the curtains don’t darken the room enough for the little ones’ midday nap. That can make a vacation challenging, because a tired child is often a cranky child. That’s why more than half of parents with toddlers want proper room-darkening options, with bed rails coming in second place. Quiet, restful sleep is clearly a top priority for tired parents of babies and toddlers — even on vacation. Diaper bins and socket covers are practical, but rank lower in importance.

Rental products that make getting around easier and reduce the amount of luggage are very popular with traveling parents in 2026. Strollers, child carriers, children’s bikes, and child seats for bicycles are mentioned first. No surprise here: baby monitors were still a must-have for 73% of parents in 2020. Today, they are far less important at just 9% — parents mainly rely on apps instead. This once again shows that amenities in family-friendly accommodations need to keep pace with changing times.

The fact that parents increasingly value the rental of children’s mobility items such as carriers, strollers, or children’s bikes may also indicate that families are traveling by train more often and therefore prefer lighter luggage. A fascinating question — and one we will definitely include in our next survey!

Lucia Vaccarro Notte, Head of Sales and Cooperation Management at the Little Travel Society

Traveling with school-age children in 2026: A pool is a must-have

By a huge margin, parents of school-age children want a pool on vacation — with 80%, a pool is practically considered a basic amenity. That doesn’t mean that cool play areas, animals, or sports activities aren’t appreciated. Families were only able to choose one option, so the majority likely selected water fun as the most important basic feature.

Traveling with teenagers in 2026: Surfing, quad biking, and hanging out with peers

More than half of parents believe that cool activities for teenagers on vacation are more important than, for example, Wi-Fi or Instagrammable spots. A slightly heretical question: was that more the parents’ wish than the teens’? We’d certainly love to run a survey among teenagers themselves someday 😉

Our advice to hosts: since parents are the ones who book and pay for the vacation, an attractive leisure program for teens should definitely be part of the offer. Because if it’s exciting enough, even teenagers will put their screens down — a goal many parents share. At least that’s been my personal experience as a mother of three teenage girls while traveling.

reports Sonja Alefi, founder of the Little Travel Society.

Would you like to download the full survey with nearly 1,000 participants as a PDF? Click here.

This survey was largely conducted by Antonia Birk, our Social Media and Content Manager (photo: Lisa Hantke), with support from Janine Nickel (author & member of the social media team), Sonja Alefi (expert in traveling with children and founder of Little Travel Society), Lucia Vaccaro Notte (Head of Sales and Cooperation Management), and Chiara Coenen (Head of Project Development, Account Manager & author).