Best Travel Board Games For UK Caravan And Camping Holidays

A travel game has three jobs: fit in a small bag, teach in five minutes, and work on a wobbly table in poor light. Most of the famous ones fail at least two.

These don't. Sorted by who you're travelling with and how much room you've got.

Small box, loud fun

• Say it first - a quick-fire word race that works in a caravan, a tent or the back of the car at a services. No board, no setup, and a round is over in minutes.
• Dobble - a tin the size of a tea light, playable on a picnic blanket.
• Uno - still the most travelled game in Britain, and rightly.
• Sushi Go - tiny tin, thirty minutes, no fiddly bits.
• Love Letter - sixteen cards, two to four players.
• The Mind - one deck and total silence. Oddly perfect in a tent.

For a rainy day inside

• Codenames - two teams, twenty minutes, and the box is flat enough for a cupboard.
• Bananagrams - a zip pouch, no board, plays on any flat surface.
• Rummikub travel edition - the full game at about a third of the size.
• Qwirkle travel or a magnetic chess set for two.
• A single deck of cards: rummy, cribbage, Newmarket, cheat.

Games with kids in a confined space

• Dobble and Uno, again - they carry most family holidays.
• Guess Who travel edition, which folds shut with the pieces inside.
• Top Trumps, one pack per child, no arguments about whose turn it is to hold the box.
• Yahtzee or a pot of dice - five dice and a notepad is a whole game.
• Magnetic draughts for the ferry or the train.

What not to pack

• Anything with hundreds of tiny wooden pieces. Caravan floors and campsite grass eat them.
• Games needing a large flat table - caravan tables are smaller than you remember.
• Long strategy games. You will be interrupted every ten minutes.
• Anything with a rulebook you haven't read at home first.

Shop funny cards

How to write it so it lands

• Photograph the rules before you go, then you don't need the leaflet.
• Decant games into freezer bags to save half the space in the box.
• Take one game nobody in the group has played. It's the one you'll remember.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the best travel board games?

Small-box, quick-rule games: Say it first, Dobble, Uno, Sushi Go, Love Letter and Bananagrams. All fit in a coat pocket or a corner of a cupboard and teach in minutes.

What games are good for a caravan holiday?

Card and word games that don't need a big table - Say it first, Dobble, Uno and a deck of cards will cover a week, including the rainy days.

What games can you play camping without a table?

Anything playable on a lap or a blanket: word games, Dobble, Top Trumps and dice games like Yahtzee. Avoid anything with a board or standing pieces.

How many games should you take on holiday?

Three. One fast game for everyone, one longer one for a wet afternoon, and a deck of cards. More than that and you'll spend the week choosing.

Do you sell board games?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints, pin badges and party bits in the UK, so the games here are simply what we'd recommend to a friend. Some links go to other shops and may earn us a small commission, at no extra cost to you.