Places To Go

It’s a challenge for a city or region to develop a new tourist zone from the ground up. It’s even more unusual to develop one that is interesting enough to be a destination all by itself. But Maryland has done exactly that with the *National Harbor, a great base for …

It can be tricky to find great Halloween activities for tweens and young teens. They’re over face painting and Halloween crafts but really haunted mansions and hayrides can be a bit too much. The challenge is to find local Halloween events that are just scary, spooky or mysterious enough, and …

Like many families, visiting the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia was high on our family’s bucket list. We hear so much about the bleaching of coral reefs that we decided this is an item we needed to tick off our list soon. So we recently paid a visit to …

The Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks are supposed to be a time for getting together with friends and family. But with the stress of cooking, shopping, getting yet another sweater from an aunt who thinks you are 2 sizes bigger than you are, really we sometimes just want to get away …

The Hotel: Woodloch Pines Resort Where: Hawley, Eastern Pennsylvania The Location: *Woodloch Pines is an all-inclusive resort that sits on the rural edge of the Poconos.  Rather than one large hotel, the resort has a series of small buildings and cabins that dot a woodsy campus on the shore of a picture-perfect …

Costa Rica is a small country packed with opportunities for a fun and action-filled family vacation. You can easily find things to do with young kids and teens. But I think the sweet spot for visiting this Central American country might just be tweens—kids between the ages of 10 and …

We had 24 hours in Gettysburg, which was not quite enough to see the town and its sights; 48 hours is probably perfect. But it seems a lot of people use Gettysburg as a stopover en route to places like Pittsburgh, Hershey and Lancaster (we were breaking up the drive to …

Have you ever had a vacation where you booked a quick stop in a place, arrived, realized you really like it and wish you’d allowed more time? That was our reaction to Flagstaff, where we planned to spend 24 hours before flying back to NYC on our national park road …

The Top attractions in Washington, D.C. are well documented: the zoo, the monuments, the capitol, the museum with Dorothy’s ruby slippers. But let’s face it, the heat and huge crowds keep the zoo’s animals well hidden in summer. Kids have limited interest in monuments and with tough security in place it can …

If you’re planning to visit NYC on a family vacation you’ll quickly learn that Midtown East is not known for being the neighborhood that’s most cool (that’s Brooklyn), glamorous (SoHo), or exciting (Times Square). But it is close to some several classic NYC experiences that kids, tweens and teens will …

The *Blue Man Group first started banging on paint-laden drums in 1991 and it now has permanent shows in five US cities and Berlin, plus a touring version of the show. It’s clearly as popular as it is hard to sum up and it many parents wonder, can you take …

We had never heard of Page, Arizona before planning our recent trip to the Southwest. It turns out Page is a good size town planted strategically between Zion, Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon national parks. It’s further than you want to be for day trips to any of these places, but …

*As of June 2019 the current U.S. administration has stopped virtually all travel to Cuba. Another post we have mentions some tour groups that are still managing to travel there legally.  Cuba is not the most likely place for an American child’s first passport stamp. But this Caribbean island offers …

costa Rica is absolutely gorgeous and known for its active adventures for families. My two teenagers were happy to plunge into it all and I did my best to keep up with them on our vacation, despite some serious pumping adrenaline at times. We generally don’t do organized, packaged activities, but …

Tiny Traveler headed off on a group camping trip recently, leaving Rich and I with 48 hours of treasured grown-up time. We were overdue for a couples vacation but couldn’t stray too far. So we headed to Dutchess County, two hours from home in the Hudson Valley. We took advantage …

Summer is the ideal time for a family vacation, it’s also the most popular time by far to travel with kids. So everything is crowded and expensive. It’s hard to find a true travel bargain but you can find a hotel deals that offer better value. These are hotels and resorts …

I was about 34 weeks pregnant when I visited *Reykjavic, Iceland. Some of my friends thought I was a little nuts. But I saw it as my last, last hurrah before parenthood, my babymoon. And in many ways it’s a destination that makes sense for a four or five-day pre-baby …

We went to Zion National Park without knowing anything about it other than that everyone who has been says it’s stunning. Well, it is stunning, in a variety of ways. And we absolutely loved the 48 hours we spent there and in the nearby town of Springdale. Zion has some …

Ski towns can make great summer destinations for families. Don’t necessarily count on off-season discounts. But crowds can be a little smaller and more dispersed. These towns offer a good variety of outdoor activities, kids attractions, and special events. The dining is good and the peak views are better without …

As my family walked toward the first scenic overlook we came to at Grand Canyon National Park, I was more interesting in seeing 9YO Tiny Traveler’s reaction to natural wonder than I was in the canyon itself. She was suitably wowed and all the work of planning our spring road …

We went to Williamsburg, VA to take a walk through American history. Within a few square miles, Williamsburg offers up a historic triangle: the first successful English colony in North America, the battlefield where we won the Revolution and the town that was Virginia’s capital until 1780. We wondered if it would …

Packing for a Caribbean Cruise Here is a list of items you want to be sure to include on a warm weather cruise, most likely to the Caribbean, with your family. Pay close attention to the list of items you don’t want to buy on board—prices will be high and …

Cruises are ideal for multi-generational and extended family vacations. They’re also an easy way to have time together as a family while giving everyone a little time to themselves, too. Here is what I learned at the Cruise Line Industry Asssociation’s Annual round-up of cruise lines about offerings at most of …

We always do a lot of walking when we’re in Montreal, partly because we tend to do a lot of eating in Montreal. There is nothing like a Canadian winter day to make you want to something hardy and warming. And this French Canadian city offers plenty of options. Here …

Montreal is not a pretty city in the winter — what city is? But look beyond its grey building exteriors and slushy streets and it’s a really fun city. It’s full of good things to eat, has lots of culture, and even in winter offers opportunities to get outside and …

New York City has more awesome playgrounds these days than a parent can keep track of. Lucky for visitors, several of these NYC playgrounds are located in or near attractions you’ll want to take in;  handy for when kids get to fidgety at that museum or walking tour. If you …

Lake Placid, NY is one of our favorite winter wonderlands. We’ve traveled there for a few winter breaks and even Christmas. As long as you pack clothes that will keep you warm outside and the weather remains cold and snowy, there is a lot of fun packed into this Adirondack town. …

Read about Lake Placid activities. One of the things that brings us back to Lake Placid year after year is that the town has a lot of dining for its small size and much of it is very enjoyable. There is plenty of standard ski-town fare–pizza, pasta,chili, steaks and burgers–but quite a …

Californians take Sonoma Valley’s wine country for granted for romantic sojourns and girlfriend getaways. But it’s also one of my favorite family destinations. It’s one of those places where it’s possible to find activities that keep parents and kids happy at the same time, making it a surprisingly rich destination …

Until now, family travel for us has been relaxing and relatively non-adventurous. But as our kids age out of the toddler stage (4 and 6 years), I wanted to shake things up this year. So we headed to Costa Rica. We chose the northern part of Costa Rica for its …