Spill the beans! I am looking for good family vacation ideas. We usually go to the beach and we love it but I am looking for something new this year so share your stories please. Where did you go? How many people were with you? How much did you spend (or at least a rough estimate)? Did you drive or fly? What made it memorable for you? Any drawbacks?
In December 2002 (spilling over into the new year) we had a family reunion in Sanibel, an island off of Florida’s Gulf coast. (I know, you want ideas aside from beaches, but this was just a great place.)
We drove there from Mississippi. It wasn’t a quick drive but it was tolerable. I really don’t know how much we spent on the trip (my parents took care of that aspect).
This was one of the best trips I’ve been on. Sanibel is beautiful, though since we went in winter the water was freezing and we couldn’t swim. The island is somewhat crowded (traffic can be bad, though you can walk to many places on the island) but that’s a small price to pay. There’s lots to do: besides the beach, there are biking and hiking trails, lots of neat stores and restaurants, canoeing and whatnot. It’s also near Fort Myers, which is another cool place.
Sanibel might be best known for its shells. The island runs perpendicular to the coast, catching currents that deposit shells on its shores. The beaches are literally covered with shells, and they’re renewed every day by the waves. I’m not even interested in shells and I still got hooked on collecting them.
I wholeheartedly recommend Sanibel…I know I wish I could go back.
I’ll try to keep this short, though I’d be happy to expand on any of these upon request. I’ll just list the most memorable vacations, with the best listed first. All of these were family vacations with two kids, a boy and a girl. MissBHaven,I don’t know how old your kids are (or even if you have any), so some of these may be completely age-inappropriate. For that reason, I’m going to mention the ages of my kids when we took the trip.
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New Zealand. Two extraordinary weeks. Both islands. We did a lot of incredible adventure type things. A lot of driving and expensive due to the plane fare. But number one in my heart and number one on the chart. (kids were in their late teens)
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Alaska. One week inland in Fairbanks and Denali. Train to the coast where we boarded a cruise ship south to Vancouver for the second week. Again, fairly expensive. (kids were in their mid-teens)
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South Dakota/Yellowstone driving trip. Very inexpensive because we camped every night. Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Devil’s Tower, Yellowstone, Tetons. (kids were pre-teen)
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Colorado Dude Ranch. No cattle though ala “City Slickers”. Two rides a day (optional). Our own cabin. One overnight two day ride in the mountains. My daughter fell in love with horses on this trip. She was 6 years old. She’s in college now and still rides (jumping).
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Hawaii (Maui). Paradise on earth. Sunrise at the top of Mt. Haleakela, and the bike ride down are quite the experience. Expensive of course. (kids were early teens)
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Smoky Mountains. Another driving trip. Stayed in a resort in an area called Sapphire Valley just south of the national park. Was inexpensive because the resort was a time-share trade. Gorgeous country. The highlight was white water rafting on the “Deliverance” river. (kids were early teens)
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The Caribbean. Multiple islands over multiple years, so I’m just going to cluster them all together into one entry. We morphed into beach people. My wife and I are divers so that adds to the attraction of the Caribbean. Our favorite islands are Cayman and St. Croix. Price varied depending on the island. (depending on which year, the kids ranged in age from under 10 to 20).
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The Southwest. Another cheap driving/camping trip. Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Carlsbad caverns, Mt. Zion, etc. (kids were mid-teens)
When the kids were very young we did a lot of camping in the state campgrounds of Wisconsin. Very inexpensive.
There was one other vacation that I’d rate as number 2, but I left it off because it is certainly not a family vacation option. We spent two weeks in Taiwan visiting a friend to was there working. The kids were both under 4 years old. This was one of those “don’t try this at home” plane rides. The country and culture and history is a phenomenal experience though. Expensive, obviously.
Wow, great information so far! I have 2 boys ages 12 and 6. Please keep the ideas coming!
We live in Texas.
We flew to Seattle last June, stayed in the city for 2 days (Pike Market, Pioneer Square, the Aquarium), drove around the Olympic Peninsula, went to the top of Hurrican Ridge (72 degrees and played in the snow!), played in the Pacific Ocean and visited the Hoh Rain Forest, then returned to the city for two days.
The kids (6 and 8) are still talking about it. Especially the snow, mountains, forest and ocean. I went into the aquarium thinking “I don’t care that much about fish.” and came out astounded. I think we ate seafood nearly every day.
The trip was around 3500.00 for 7 days and 5 people, including flights and a rental car
Another trip we enjoyed was a cruise to Cancun and Cozumel. Very relaxing and georgeous beaches.
Some people go on cruises and say"It was the best trip I ever had. I’m going to go on a cruise every year!" We didn’t have that level of an experience, but did enjoy it very much.
That trip was 5 days, 4 nights and cost just under $1200.00, family of 4. The ship was local to us, so we had no tranportation charges. We felt it was a good value, but did spend a couple hundred extra on an excursion to Xcaret {(sp?) which was well worth the money} and some souvenier stuff that wasn’t budgeted for. And, yes, we ate alot.
A tip for cruise pricing- call and check prices after booking, they will drop your rate if rates drop, but won’t raise them if rates go up- we saved around $250.00 that way.
This year’s trip will take us to the northern part of the Texas Hill Country. We are renting a cabin on a river.
I’m the designated trip planner in the family which means I get accolades when trips are good and blamed when they go badly. Oh well. Next year it’s Colorado.