When I had my daughter eight years ago, my childless friends rubbed their hands in glee. "That will put an end to your worldwide wandering!" they announced, flapping their round-the-world tickets before me. By the time she celebrated her first birthday, she had flapped a few intercontinental airline tickets herself, not to mention sucked on them, thrown them out of my hand luggage, and torn them up. My friends were silenced.

Then along came the twins five months ago. "Aha!" the friends cheered. "Now you won't be able to go anywhere." We leave for Portugal tomorrow. The twins have already flown three times. Thank goodness I'm not the only one who thinks that just because I'm a parent I don't have to be tied to the paddling pool in the back garden all summer.

Since I started writing my Travelling with kids column six weeks ago, you have written in to tell me about your own journeys - taking teenagers to Grenada, 17-month twins to Korea, and a four-month-old in a backpack across the Andes. Age, it seems, is no barrier to adventure.

The main gripe is getting there, although there were plenty of tips to ease the strain. "Take little cheap toys (cars, spaceships, figures with moveable parts) wrapped as presents and give at hour intervals," wrote Montse Watkin, who has travelled to Ecuador with her four-year-old son and is soon flying off to Japan. "It's exciting and the unwrapping makes a toy last longer."

Even at 30,000 feet, I discovered, every cloud has a silver lining. "Don't despair when your child wants to go to the loo," said Montse. "Plane toilets may lack elbowroom but they are a great source of entertainment. Pull a lever here - you get soap! Push there - get some water! Put your fingers through there - find a hand towel! I must have got up at least 10 times over the Atlantic. Just watch out for the flight attendant call button."

So where should we go? Many parents point out that balance between tempering the toddlers and amusing the adults is everything. Simon Scott found his three-year-old could be taken to museums, churches and palaces "as long as he can run around a bit and we don't stay too long and keep it all moving".

The best destinations are not always the most obvious ones. "Every time I mentioned to anyone that we were taking our three children (eight, six and two) to New York, Washington and various places in New England, the response was - 'Aren't you courageous?'" wrote Chris Gill. "But it felt like we got the balance right between adult stuff (interesting venues and pampering) and child stuff (a stable base and beaches)."

Chris's recipe for a stateside family holiday was: "Three nights' luxury in a New York hotel with two adjoining rooms (fantastic views, room service, climbing up lots of tall things). Nine days' rental of an enormous recreation vehicle (the kids loved hiding in the inaccessible bedrooms, dad felt macho driving his big truck along the freeway, mum enjoyed the easy access to huge K-Marts). Seven-hour train journey from Boston to Washington (lots of space for children, great way of seeing the countryside, amazing experience arriving at Union Station, Washington)."

Finding somewhere to eat that satisfied a six-year-old as well as her middle-aged companions also taxed many a parental mind. Some pointed out how the restaurants in southern Europe are by far the most child-friendly and that tapas proved a big hit with toddlers. Indeed, "Eating breakfast in a New York diner or deli is an experience no family should miss," wrote Chris.

Others relied more heavily on room service. Bill Onwusah found the mini-bar at their parador in Spain very handy as it kept their three-year-old's Jaffa cakes edible.

Of course, there is always the option of eating al fresco under the stars. Despite my own dislike for canvas - and by far the largest number of enquiries coming in the form of a plea "Where, oh where can I find a luxury hotel that has children's clubs?" - many families enjoy spending at least a few days in the open air. Chris recommends pre-booking Kampsites of America koa.com). "However, don't overestimate the mileage when planning your route - 250 miles between sites is a long day's driving with children in the back. You also have to put up with a large number of words getting the "Kicking-cuh" treatment - not just Kamping, but Value Kard, Log Kabins, under Kanvas, Kwality Service, etk, etk." Are your kids Kute enough for that?

According to your correspondence, the problems of taking anyone under the age of 18 abroad are grossly exaggerated. I was even reprimanded for my own whingeing about how troublesome it is to take twins swimming. "I don't want to pretend that I am just this brilliant supermum," wrote Diana Bruce (oh yeah), "but please try to take your twins swimming together. Matt and Chris loved swimming when they were babies. They would grin at each other, splash each other, wave at each other - generally interact far more than when out of water."

Neil Sabin's experience was the worst: "Don't ever try and remove the thorns from a prickly pear in your children's hands with your mouth."

Thanks, Neil. It's surprising what you learn from writing a travel column.

• If you have any experiences of travelling with kids that you want to share, email Deabirkett@cs.com