Family trip ideas

Family trip ideas for every season — holidays, nature, history, science and slow weeks away — each with a realistic cost estimate a click away.

Holidays

Trips built around a fixed date.

Thanksgiving parade weekend — Balloon inflation the night before, the parade itself, then three days of the city while it's quiet. (4 days, New York)
Christmas markets of Europe — Nuremberg, Salzburg and Strasbourg in the four weeks the squares are lit, with a train between each. (9 days, Germany & Austria)
New Year's at Hogmanay — Edinburgh's torchlight procession and street party, then the Cairngorms while everyone else sleeps in. (6 days, Scotland)
Mardi Gras for families — The Uptown parade route, where the crowds are gentler. A krewe den tour shows how the floats get made. (4 days, New Orleans)
Memorial Day in Washington — The Arlington wreath-laying, then the memorials by night when the marble is lit and the crowds have gone. (4 days, Washington)
The Fourth in Boston — Walk the Freedom Trail and board the USS Constitution, then watch the Esplanade fireworks from the river. (5 days, Boston)

Science, space and how things work.

Space, science and dark skies — A launch viewing, a working observatory, and two nights somewhere dark enough to see the whole galaxy. (8 days, Florida & Arizona)
Dinosaur country — Quarries where bones sit in the rock wall, and the museums that put them back together. (7 days, Utah & Colorado)
The great science museums — Four cities, four of the best hands-on museums in the world, with a day of city in between each. (10 days, London & Munich)
How things are made — A chocolate factory, a working shipyard and a glassblower who lets the kids stand close. (6 days, Pennsylvania & Ohio)
Rocket city and the caves — Stand under a moon rocket at the Space and Rocket Center, then go underground at Cathedral Caverns. (5 days, Alabama)
Tide pools and fossil beaches — Low tide at Haystack Rock, an aquarium built into the bay, and a headland walk at Cape Perpetua. (5 days, The Oregon coast)
Earthquakes and giant redwoods — Feel the earth move at the California Academy of Sciences. Ride a steam train through giant hollow trunks at Roaring Camp Railroads. (6 days, Northern California)

Cathedrals, ancient sites and old roads.

Cathedrals of Europe — Chartres, Cologne and the Sagrada Família — the buildings that took centuries, and the towns around them. (12 days, France to Spain)
Rome, walked slowly — The Forum, the catacombs and St Peter's across a week, so nobody's dragged through three sites a day. (7 days, Italy)
Washington's great churches — The closest thing this country has to a European cathedral. Gargoyles you need binoculars to find, and a crypt church under the whole thing. (4 days, Washington DC)
The mission trail at San Antonio — Four Spanish colonial missions strung along one river, joined by a flat bike path. Ride a stretch of it in the cool of the morning. (4 days, Texas)
Missions of the California coast — A drive down the old road, stopping at whitewashed missions and the beaches between them. (9 days, California)

Beautiful rather than thrilling.

The world's most beautiful libraries — Reading rooms worth flying for — Dublin, Prague, Porto — with a bookshop crawl in each city. (11 days, Ireland to Portugal)
Gardens and glasshouses — Kew, Keukenhof and the Eden Project, timed for the fortnight everything is actually in bloom. (8 days, England & Holland)
Storybook towns — The villages that look drawn rather than built, and the bakeries that make the walking worth it. (9 days, Bavaria & Alsace)
Bookshops of New England — A mill full of secondhand books, a village store with a woodstove, and the Athenaeum to finish. (6 days, Massachusetts & Vermont)
Gardens of the mid-Atlantic — Longwood's fountains, Chanticleer's follies and Winterthur's woods, all within half an hour of each other. (5 days, Brandywine Valley)
Desert gardens and cacti — Walk among towering saguaros and see thousands of desert plants lit up in Phoenix and Tucson. (6 days, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona)
Castles of the Loire Valley — Step into real-life fairy tales at sprawling estates with maze-like gardens. Visit the spectacular Château de Chambord. (6 days, Loire Valley, France)

Parks, wildlife, seasons and weather.

Autumn colors in Vermont — The two weeks the hills turn, with farm stays and cider stops along the back roads. (6 days, New England)
Yellowstone family safari — Geysers at dawn, bison on the road, and the Lamar Valley before the buses arrive. (8 days, Wyoming)
Icelandic winter adventure — Waterfalls, black sand and a real chance at the northern lights, all within a short drive of one base. (7 days, Iceland)
Chasing the total eclipse — August 2027 crosses southern Spain. Three days in Cádiz, then ninety seconds nobody forgets. (7 days, Andalusia, Spain)
Fireflies in the Smokies — Two weeks a year the Elkmont fireflies flash in time. Cades Cove at dawn is the quiet half of the trip. (5 days, Tennessee)
A week on the Great Lakes shore — Climb the Sleeping Bear Dunes, then a Lake Michigan beach week with a lighthouse at the end of it. (7 days, Northern Michigan)
The Blue Ridge Parkway, slowly — Four hundred miles with no trucks on it. Peaks of Otter, Linville Falls, and an overlook every few miles. (6 days, Virginia & North Carolina)

Defined by pace, not place.

Trips you can take by train — No airport, no car rental. Cities linked end to end, with the journey as part of the trip. (10 days, Switzerland & Italy)
One town, two weeks — Rent a place, learn the bakery's name, and let the kids get bored — the cheapest way to go far. (14 days, Portugal)
Castles you can actually climb — Ramparts, spiral stairs and drawbridges — the ones that let children run, not just look. (9 days, Wales & Ireland)
The canals of the Low Countries — Bikes, boats and pancake houses. Flat enough that a six-year-old can ride most of it. (8 days, Holland & Belgium)
A week in the Ozarks — A float trip down the Buffalo River, a world-class art museum, and a cabin week between them. (7 days, Arkansas)
The Texas Hill Country loop — Climb Enchanted Rock in the morning, then bluebonnets and a peach stand the rest of the way. (5 days, Texas Hill Country)

One place, one week, and very little planned.

A week at the lake — A dock, a swim before breakfast, and six days where the only decision is whether to get the canoe out. (7 days, Finger Lakes, New York)
Hot springs and long mornings — Outdoor pools fed by the river, a town small enough to walk, and nobody rushing you out of the water. (6 days, Colorado)
The coast out of season — The same beach, half the people, and a house with a kitchen. Sweaters instead of sunscreen. (7 days, Outer Banks, North Carolina)
A cabin with no signal — One lake, one cabin, no bars on anyone's phone. The kids find something to do by the second afternoon. (7 days, Adirondacks, New York)
A week at farm pace — Chores at seven, breakfast after, and a whole day that follows from there. Children are useful here. (6 days, Vermont)
Island time, no cars — No cars are allowed on the island at all. You arrive by ferry and everything after that is on foot or by bike. (5 days, Mackinac Island, Michigan)
Lazy weeks on the Algarve — Build sandcastles beneath golden cliffs and wander through quiet whitewashed fishing villages. Relax at Praia da Luz. (8 days, Algarve, Portugal)