Post by countthestars on Oct 26, 2023 10:19:59 GMT -5
Our kids are 8 and 10 and we all love to travel. We do Disney very often (and love it) but are trying to expand our horizons and are working on a family "bucket list" of places we'd like to go. We live in New England and are open to flying or driving. We all have valid passports.
Where have you been or what's on your bucket list?
So far we've done: - Disney & Disney Cruise - NYC - Washington, DC - Austin/San Antonio - Nashville/Pigeon Forge - all over New England but always open to seeing more!
We have a work trip to Anaheim, CA next summer that the kids will tag along for!
Paris Rapid City, South Dakota- was so surprised by how much we liked this destination! Very family friendly 30A area of FL multiple times New York City- going for Spring Break, kids first time Disney World and Land Cancun- multiple times, going to try Cabo next year Various CO mountain towns
We are lucky that we have travelled a lot with our kids (now 11 and 16). Places we have gone and really enjoyed:
- Park City, Utah - Breckinridge, CO - Stowe, Vermont (we don’t ski - all were summer trips) - Wisconsin lakes - California coast trip (Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Francisco stops) - Phoenix, Arizona - Hawaii (Maui and big island with the kids) - New York City - Coastal Maine - Disney World - Puerto Rico
International with the kids we have done ; - Costa Rica The bahamas - Denmark - Switzerland - Iceland - Italy
The kids liked Costa Rica the best, I think Hawaii, Italy, and Iceland were my favorites.
Places we still want to go with the kids: England, France, Spain, Canada (Banff and Quebec City are on our list), Lake Tahoe. We think we are doing a family trip to North Carolina/lake Norman area this summer.
Grand Canyon Montreal Toronto San Diego San Francisco Chicago NOLA Rehoboth Puerto Rico Florida Keys fort Lauderdale We hope to do more international travel with our kid; we just did Ireland and I think London and Amsterdam are next.
Post by CrazyLucky on Oct 26, 2023 11:11:51 GMT -5
We started trying to do either one major city or one National Park per year. We've been to San Francisco, NYC, Washington DC, Yosemite, Acadia. We've been to Disney twice and I think we're done. We enjoyed it, but not more than we enjoy other vacations, and it's not worth the expense to me. We're planning to do low key cheaper vacations the next two years because I really want to take the kids to Europe in 2026.
Post by luckystar2 on Oct 26, 2023 11:25:48 GMT -5
Anything specific you guys like to do that could narrow it down more?
There are a lot of things dh and I would like to do/places to go but dd is not interested.
As a family we have gone to: Disney NYC DC Niagara Falls Caribbean cruise Hawaii St. John, usvi Charleston, SC North Carolina beach and also trip near mountains
Dh and I would love to go to these places but dd isn’t interested: National parks - I really want to go to Acadia but we’d love to do anything out west too Banff Grand Canyon Alaskan cruise Italy
I love beaches but dh doesn’t so places I’d still love to go Aruba Turks and Caicos (we went here on a cruise but I’d love to spend a whole vacation here) Costa Rica
Post by Velar Fricative on Oct 26, 2023 11:33:24 GMT -5
Montreal is one of my favorite places and would be a super easy trip for you from New England. You could do that plus another bigger international trip in the near future.
With kids we’ve went to and enjoyed: - Puerto Rico - southern CO (Durango and Alamosa, Mesa Verde and great sand dunes) - Oahu - Maui - San Diego - Galveston and San Antonio, TX - Black Hills, SD - London and Edinburgh, UK - Lisbon and Sintra, Portugal - Zagreb, Split, Plitvice, and Krka, Croatia - Costa Rica (Arenal, Monteverde, and Ostional. We also went to Tamarindo on another trip, but I don’t like it as much) - San Ignacio and Caye Caulker, Belize - Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, and Bangkok, Thailand - Navarre Beach, FL
Yellowstone National Park Dinosaur National Monument We live in CO so we’ve spent a lot of time in places like Rocky Mountain National Park, Glenwood springs, keystone, etc.
Next year we are going to Turks and Caicos for one trip, Munich, Salzburg, Venice and Rome for another. And hopefully Rhode Island and Boston for a third.
Post by DarcyLongfellow on Oct 26, 2023 12:01:45 GMT -5
We've really enjoyed Canada -- we've gone there twice in the past couple of years.
Trips we've taken: - Montreal and Quebec City - London, Cotswolds, and Paris - NYC - Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City (our kids love snow and we live in Florida!) - Ireland
We're thinking about a trip to Italy soon-ish, but we're sort of waiting to see.
DH really wants us to start going out west to see the national parks.
My kids are 13 and 10 and I definitely am excited to really travel with them as much as we can afford. Here is what we have done:
Maine (family lives there so we've been a lot) Florida (same with family) Canaan Valley West Virginia Lake Lure, NC Puerto Rico - I didn't see this on your list, but it far exceeded my expectations. Beautiful, easy cheap flight from the east coast NYC Boston Fingerlakes in New York
International Montreal Ireland Portugal - This was great and the kids loved it. Cheaper than the rest of Europe and food is amazing. Plus less Americans go there which I liked.
We're headed to France next year. I'm very excited about this since I speak French and spent 5 months there in study abroad.
On my shortlist in the future Germany (we have friends who may be going there) Peru? Morocco Alaska Northwest
I just need to win the lottery so we can travel all the time. Money is basically the only thing holding me back at this point. I'm ready to get out and see the world and happy to take the kids in tow.
So. We are going to Finland this Dec to see Santa. We are flying to Helsinki then taking the overnight Santa Express to Rovaniemi above the arctic circle. We are staying in a wild hotel where one wall is glass - better to see the northern lights. Aside from meeting Santa in the unofficial North Pole and all the elvish play that they do, we are visiting huskies, deer and taking rides in the snowy landscapes.
It feels magical. From what I hear, this is a popular destination for Europeans during Christmas but feels very special for us Americans!
Post by wanderlustmom on Oct 26, 2023 16:39:50 GMT -5
We love travel too, our school has a balanced calendar with extra breaks so this is what I would recommend--all of these trips were great for the four of us:
Seattle, Whistler and Vancouver Costa Rica, Arenal, Monteverde, Manuel Antonio Iceland (amazing) Italy (loved) Vietnam, Ho Chi Mon City, Mekong Delta, Phu Quoc, Dalat Grand Cayman (only the snorkeling was good here) Ecuador Panama (loved)
We’ve lived all over so have been able to explore that way.
Anchorage Alaska and other spots Seattle San Diego We drove from Alaska to Kansas so stopped in Idaho, Montant, Yellowstone, South Dakota Kansas City St Louis Colorado - We lived in Colorado Springs and explored that area, and visited Denver, Rocky Mountain NP, Breckinridge, Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs, Georgia - we lived near Savannah and spent time at Jekyll Island, and Charleston We did Legoland and Universal as well as the Space Center in FL Asheville Blowing Rock NC Pigeon Forge/Smoky Mountains Michigan Boston
On our list to do: Maine/Acadia (H and I have done this but want to take the kids, hopefully this summer) Gettysburg and Washington DC - going to try to do this over spring break Oregon coast Alaska- We lived there but want to bring the kids back. Ds1 was 2 when we left - thinking in 2 years or so. New York City Niagara Falls (my parents live 2 hours from there and I don’t know why we haven’t taken them yet?) Arizona Zion and other National Parks in that area
We’ll do an international trip at some point I’m sure, likely when the kids are a little older.
My kids are 10 and 13. Here is our family bucket list including ones we’ve done.
Hawaii- done Disney cruise- done Disney World- done Alaska Mount Rushmore- done Yellowstone/Jackson Hole DC/Philly/NYC/VA- hoping for 2027 Canada (most like Vancouver) Japan- currently planning for 2026 Denmark Norway
Montreal is one of my favorite places and would be a super easy trip for you from New England. You could do that plus another bigger international trip in the near future.
Second this! We love Montreal and usually do a pit stop somewhere in the Montpelier / Waterbury / Stowe area for lunch to break up the drive.
I think if you do want more specifics it’d be helpful to know what you like to do/want to do? Really you could go anywhere with your kids!
We are open to most things! We aren’t really the relaxing type, so we wouldn’t love a vacation where the beach is the only choice. We don’t love to hike. We like exploring cities, tours. My kids are very picky eaters, so having a lot of food choices is helpful!
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
So. We are going to Finland this Dec to see Santa. We are flying to Helsinki then taking the overnight Santa Express to Rovaniemi above the arctic circle. We are staying in a wild hotel where one wall is glass - better to see the northern lights. Aside from meeting Santa in the unofficial North Pole and all the elvish play that they do, we are visiting huskies, deer and taking rides in the snowy landscapes.
It feels magical. From what I hear, this is a popular destination for Europeans during Christmas but feels very special for us Americans!
We did a spring break trip to Seattle (split the week between the city and Suncadia). The kids were 5 & 7 at the time and they still talk about it fondly 2 years later.
I grew up on the east coast but now live on the west coast, so we do a lot of exploring out here. My kids are 11,9,6 and 3 and we’ve had fun at national parks lately. We went to Jackson hole/grand Teton and yellowstone this summer and had a great time. Also went to the Grand Canyon last spring break, then Joshua tree and palm springs on the way back. The San Juan islands northwest of Seattle are another favorite. Bend, Oregon too. And we loved Sandpoint, Idaho.
Paris Rapid City, South Dakota- was so surprised by how much we liked this destination! Very family friendly 30A area of FL multiple times New York City- going for Spring Break, kids first time Disney World and Land Cancun- multiple times, going to try Cabo next year Various CO mountain towns
ITA. South Dakota--if your family is into outdoorsy stuff, is great! I would not stay in Rapid city, but would stay closer to Custer. We stayed at the Mt Rushmore KOA, there is a lodge, so you don't need to camp, there are tons of kid friendly activities, you are central to the black hills, etc. You can fly into Sioux falls, rent a car and hit the Badlands (corn palace, wall drug) and then the black hills, between custer state park, Mt Rushmore, crazy horse (do not skip this, the museum is great!), wind cave national park, hot springs, deadwood, devils tower (if you have time for a day trip), the little towns, there is a lot to see. We barely scratched the surface when we went.
Post by jeaniebueller on Oct 27, 2023 9:16:33 GMT -5
I know that Maine is in the midst of a huge tragedy right now, but we did a trip to Portland/Bar Harbor/ Acadia national park a few years ago, and that was my kid's favorite trip that we have taken. both of them still talk about it. We did a lot of hikes. I took advice from a few ladies on these boards (megachoo maybe?) to plan.