It’s so easy to hunker down at home after the Christmas holidays pass, avoiding the winter weather and dreaming of your distant summer vacation. But don’t do it! Whether you take quick weekend getaways or full week’s vacation over winter break, this time of year offers fun opportunities to bond …

December is the time to deck those halls, trim those trees and make lots and lots of gingerbread. Or you can just book a stay at a hotel and let them handle all the Christmas cheer.  These ten hotels from across the U.S. really go out of their way to …

Yes, a child changes your life in a big way, especially in the first few years. So getting a last chance to spend quality time as a couple is really important, whether it’s going to the movies a lot or taking a full-on babymoon getaway. If you have your own …

Where should I go on vacation? It’s the question people love to ask travel writers. And our answer is always, “Well, what do you like? Every family has its own ideas of what is a relaxing, exciting, interesting or fun vacation. Our ideal trip might leave your kids bored and …

In need of some fresh travel ideas for the coming year? Lots of cities and towns have festivals to attract people in their low season or feature some of their best local attributes. They can be great events to anchor a weekend getaway with (or without) the kids, or even …

Valentine’s Day is perhaps the worst time of year to try to go away for a romantic weekend. Many hotels and resorts charge a premium for clichéd packages and there’s a lot of pressure to be “romantic.” But the holiday can inspire you to look at the year ahead and …

What will next year’s family vacation be for you? Another week at the beach? A first trip to Disney? Heading home to the family? How about something more exotic? Family vacations can–and should–be about experiencing new things with your kids and having adventures together. Even if you don’t have the …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Found a place where kids ski free, read these tips for a fun family ski trip. Unless you’re lucky enough to live near a good mountain, ski vacations are expensive. Gear rentals, lift tickets and lessons for a family—on top of hotel, food and transportation—add up. FamiliesGo! is helping you to …

Updated in 2018 What’s Christmas without Santa? or if you really get into the holiday spirit, without many Santas. We like the cherry-nosed toy deliverer best in his red furry suit and sleigh. But we understand that sometimes other togs work better for him. And sometimes he ditches the sleigh …

Here are 20 more staycation ideas. Here at FamiliesGo!, we don’t put our traveling shoes in storage when the school year starts. Fall, winter and spring present nice weather and great opportunities for weekend jaunts, daytrips and staycations. We rediscover our own backyard and that can be pretty inspiring. To …

Nothing heralds Spring like seeing your lots of favorite spring flowers. Daffodils, tulips, lilacs, cherry blossoms, or even late spring  roses help us to shrug off winter and feel inexplicably happy. Flower shows and flower festivals are always amazing and they are an easy, family friendly excuse for a  weekend getaway. But …

One of the most fun evenings I’ve ever had while traveling was a visit to the Singapore night zoo (this was pre-kids and probably says as much about Singapore’s night life as it does about the zoo). Animals are often a lot livelier and busier at night than in the …

Zoos are one of the most reliable crowd-pleasers of family travel. Adults like them. Kids like them. Both toddlers and teens can learn something new and find something to enjoy. And it seems that these days there is immense variety in how zoos organize and present their animal and what …

Few words are bigger bummers when you travel than “single supplement.” But when you’re traveling as a single parent it isn’t just about the supplement, it’s also about losing out on free stays and free meals for kids because you don’t have the requisite number of paying adults. So we …

Our first kid-free parent getaway so far was to Montreal for my 40th birthday. My memories are filled with what we were able to do without a child tagging along. We went barhopping one night and spent three hours eating dinner the next. We took a long morning walk across …

My ideal kid-friendly museums provide an amazing learning experience for both my kids and me. Whether we are taking in a gigantic model of a blue whale at New York’s Museum of Natural History or a supersonic jet at the Smithsonian, I love a museum’s ability to capture my kids’ …

Read about side trips from U.S. national parks. Who says kids can’t spend some time learning new things over the summer?  Weekend visits to these historical places can make history more real, colorful and relatable than the textbooks they’ve been reading all year. They probably won’t even mind that they’re learning—though we’ve …

Here’s a way to get get outdoors with your kids this summer: Visit a National Wildlife Refuge. Every state has them, and many are near a national park. The US Fish & Wildlife Service says these protected areas offer great views, robust visiting centers and outdoor activities, usually without the crowds …

With summer coming I thought we would pay tribute that amusement park classic, the merry-go-round. Here are eight especially cool carousels to seek out this summer. The list begins and ends in Brooklyn, and I’m unapologetic about that. Be sure to tell us about the ones we left out! What: B&B …

We love the annual New York Times Travel Show. In the dead of winter we sample food and performances from around the world. We also get to check out new travel products and put together a mental bucket list of trips we’d love to take. Here is what we discovered …

Read more about the presidential libraries at Hyde Park. I always imagined presidential libraries to be dusty document archives that only a grad student or serious history buff would be interested in. But wow, was I wrong. They are fun, interactive immersive museums that give remarkable attention and detail to one president and …

Annual day trips to the apple orchard weren’t quite satisfying my family’s appetite for a taste of country life any more. We wanted scenery for more than a few hours, plus the opportunity for our kids to break away from their phones and tablets, commune with animals, and learn how food …

Parents of teens can have a hard time finding vacations ideas that engage and challenge these older kids and create the bonding opportunities families still need.  The trick: Instead of thinking about vacation destinations with teens, think about vacation activities, especially those that will take you off the beaten track. …

Read About Florida’s Best Family Beach.  Beaches are the no-brainer vacation destinations if you’re traveling with kids. Most children love playing in the water and sand. There are a variety of things to do at the beach. All that fresh air and activity will tire them out. Many beach hotels …