Why do well-planned family trips still go wrong?
Most family trips do not unravel because the country was a bad choice. They unravel because every day is full, every transfer is essential and the accommodation leaves no room for anyone to recover.
Answer
Good research can still produce a bad trip when it turns into obligation. The common pattern is a route with no expendable day, accommodation that makes sleep difficult and a schedule that assumes the family will move at adult speed in heat, crowds or unfamiliar transport. Once one nap, meal or connection slips, the whole plan starts collecting debt. The answer is not to plan nothing. It is to build slack where it matters: one main activity, an easy food option, a route home and permission to abandon the least important stop. Not every booked element deserves equal protection. Protect the expensive or rare experience, then let the rest bend. A family holiday becomes much more resilient when one bad morning does not threaten the next three days.