“Nature” vacation where there are other things to do too?

[Anonymous]

My husband and I could easily spend a week touring national parks or other locations just for their natural beauty. We’ve yet to do this with our kids though for more than a weekend. They are 10 and 7 now and we are mulling over summer vacation destinations.

We are pretty wide open and can’t decide. We are thinking we would like to drive and bring our dog. Considering Acadia but really open to anything. Sadly this is our first non OBX/DE beach or Disney vacation with our kids. I know, for shame!

Suggestions?

[Anonymous]

I’d love to hear guidance too!

[Anonymous]

Acadia is great, so is North Carolina near the Biltmore.

The Gatlinburg area is a great family vacation too, and the mountains there are beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Acadia!

[Anonymous]

I loved Acadia. My kid had so much fun there, especially exploring the ocean trail and just climbing over rocks for an entire morning.

[Anonymous]

Acadia is awesome, and they allow dogs. There's tons to do, from boat trips, to hikes, Junior Ranger programs for the kids, and so much more. There's also a lobster Hatchery, lumberjack show and some other things for rainy days. The Carriage Trails make for excellent bike game. They were meant for horses pulling carriages back and Roosevelt today, so they are not Steep, and have wide turning ratios. Don't skip the popovers at Jordan Pond House. Make your dinner reservation way in advance.

[Anonymous]

The first place that popped into my mind was Banff National Park in Canada. There's a gorgeous downtown Banff area with lots of great restaurants, shops, a town centre with lots of events, a museum, and more. And of course, there's so much to do in the park itself. There's plenty of hiking of course, but they also have a gondola, evening wildlife safari (with native animals, not zoo animals), a Lake Minnewanka cruise, glacier exploring, and more.

[Anonymous]

Acadia was great and it was the first NP we vacationed to with our kids (then 7, 5, and 2) - summer of 2017. It was super easy to find plenty to do there.

This spring break we are going to Zion and Bryce - they will be 9, 7, 4 when we go.

[Anonymous]

St Johns

[Anonymous]

Adirondacks

[Anonymous]

Without the dog, the Berner Oberland area of Switzerland. Book a flat and take the wonderful public transport everywhere. Fairytale beautiful and kids travel free on the Swisspass for rail, bus, boat. Cool playgrounds, walkable small towns like Meiringen and Brienz. Took our 2 kids at 12 and 9 years respectively.

The Canadian Rockies were also gorgeous (include Lake Louise, Jasper National Park, etc).

Cape Cod and the Islands are nice too, if you prefer seashore vs mountains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Acadia is great, so is North Carolina near the Biltmore.

The Gatlinburg area is a great family vacation too, and the mountains there are beautiful.

Ooooh, I love Asheville - the beautiful Blue Ridge with hiking and more and then Biltmore and wonderful downtown walking/shopping area.

[Anonymous]

We did Mammoth caves in Kentucky one year. The Corvette factory and museum was nearby so we toured those as well. We saw Amish people in the area.

[Anonymous]

Wyoming. Fly into Jackson Hole. Really cute nice airport. Visit the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. See Old Faithful. We took a private tour and the guide took where all the animals were. It was incredible. We did river float rafting. We stayed in Jackson Hole and we could walk to everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wyoming. Fly into Jackson Hole. Really cute nice airport. Visit the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. See Old Faithful. We took a private tour and the guide took where all the animals were. It was incredible. We did river float rafting. We stayed in Jackson Hole and we could walk to everything.

Please clarify. Did you mean you stayed in Jackson and walked around the very nice town? The national parks you mentioned are not really walkable.