Planning your family vacation is half the fun—or half the battle, depending on how you feel about putting together a family trip itinerary. (Personally, I love planning kid-friendly activities but hate scrolling through hotel and AirBnB listings.) The internet is awash in sample trip itineraries, printables and templates, but this is my secret: No matter where you go on vacation, you need this one destination on every family trip:

A park or playground.

Hear me out. True, you can play on a playground in your hometown, and a city park might not give you a one-of-a-kind experience you can get only in your destination. But you’ll never regret the time you and your kids spend at the playground on vacation—and in fact, adding it to your vacation itinerary can work wonders on your kids’ attitude (and your stress level!). Here’s why.

5 reasons to add a playground to your family trip itinerary

1. Playing at a park lets your kids burn off energy

If your littles are anything like mine, they finish road trips and plane rides with, ahem, an abundance of energy. Letting them loose on a playground allows them to stretch their legs, get the activity their growing bodies need and just be silly. Trust me: You’d rather have your kids burn off energy at the playground and not the local art museum.

2. Parks are familiar

Especially if your kids are very young or nervous about new places and situations, building something familiar into your family trip itinerary will be comforting. Your kids are less likely to melt down later if they’ve already done something they love—and that they’re used to from their routine at home.

3. Locals’ tips and advice

Here’s my favorite part about adding parks to every family trip itinerary I plan: Hitting up a park gives me the perfect opportunity to meet local parents. These are the people who will give you insider tips on where to eat, play, explore—and what to avoid.

4. Playgrounds make kids happy

Family vacations are all about, well, family time. Planning a trip itinerary only on what you want to do—museums, walking hip neighborhoods, shopping, exploring antique stores—is a sure bet to make your kids cranky. Build in a playground stop and they’ll be in a good mood the rest of the day (like when you stop in at an art gallery, or whatever else you have on your family trip itinerary).

5. Playgrounds let kids be kids

When families go on vacation, kids are often asked to be on their best behavior: They have to eat unfamiliar food at restaurants, stick close to a parent on busy sidewalks, be quiet in museums and otherwise restrain themselves at every turn. But at a playground—the destination they’ll be so glad you included in your trip itinerary—they’re free to be their usual, rambunctious selves.

Have you and your kids ever stopped at a playground on vacation? How did it work out? Do you have other tips to plan a family vacation?