Worst and Favorite places you've visited with your kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The following are referring to trips taken with kids ranging from 8-12:

THE BEST (not necessarily in order)

1. Ireland in August. Landed in Dublin, spent a few days. Did one day with a tour group going to New Grange, etc via bus. Then got on the train and headed to Galway. Spent one day there. Second day did a guided tour to the Aran Islands. Then rented a car and drove around the Connemara National Park area for 2 1/2 days. Took the train back to Dublin and spent the night in a castle. Left the next morning. Kids rate this week-long trip as the best. ever. Was a perfect mix of city fun v. nature fun. Good food everywhere. Lovely people.

2. Mont Tremblant, Quebec in August. Rented a modest airBNB on a lake. Invited cousins. Spent days laughing and swimming in warm, bug-free, humidity-free lake and doing dozens of outdoor activities at what is normally the ski resort. Good food. Nice people. English spoken everywhere.

3. Universal Studios in LA. Harry Potter World, etc. etc. The only thing that made this tolerable for me were the VIP passes. But the kids were in heaven.

4. Lisbon, Portugal in August. Spent 4 days exploring the city--castle ruins, city scapes, street cars, weird singing in dinner restaurants--kids had a blast! We then rented a car and made the drive south to fancy beach resort in an area they call the Algarve. The kids enjoyed that a lot too--but to be honest, for us it was just another beach. Water was too cold to swim. Kids stayed in pool. Views were amazing but to me, at the end of the day, it wasn't worth the drive. There's a historical beach area just outside of Lisbon--Sintra and Cacsai--that we probably should have explored instead.

5. Camping in Acadia National Park. August. Nothing like teaching them to pitch a tent and exploring the outdoors. The park is lovely--mountains meet oceans. The "rigors" of Hiking/camping broken up with amazing meals and trips to ice cream shops and lighthouses and canoe rides, etc.

6. Bermuda. Stunning beaches. But fair warning--I feel like this was fun because both my husband and I felt comfortable driving mopeds and riding with kids on the back. If not, transportation around the island is a bit difficult/expensive. With the mopeds, we were able to hit up a different part of the island/beach every day, which heightened the sense of adventure. And the island is actually pretty diverse if you move around. There was also an underground cavern they loved exploring. Snorkeling. Swimming. Honestly, if we hadn't been so mobile things might have gotten boring.

7. San Francisco. Including a game at one of the most beautiful baseball stadiums in existence.

THE WORST

1. Iceland. Could have been my dream trip--stunning landscapes. Intriguing place. Maybe older kids would like it. Or maybe just kids who can appreciate what a car trip can be. My kids refuse to be interested in anything outside the car window. They only care about getting to the "destinations." So.... much of the wonder of the landscape was lost on them. Also--they complained that all of it looked the same (it didn't) and that we kept doing the same thing (driving; getting out of car; looking; driving). And they hated the tiny little places we stayed in. It was a complete fail from their perspective.

2. Boston. They were just bored with it all. Unfairly so. But there it is. There's an aquarium. And the harbor. And all that history. But it just didn't capture their imagination for more than a day.

3. San Diego. Same thing. They loved the day at the zoo. But that was it. Long way to go for one day of fun (in their brains).

4. Southern Spain. August. Well... there you go. Southern Spain in August says it all, right? Stupid place to go that time of year. And most of the stuff I found interesting--fancy horse show, flamenco dancers, flamenco guitars, etc. were just not enjoyed for some reason. Maybe it was the heat. But they HATED it. They managed to like the day trip to Seville. But Rhonda, Jerez, Cordoba, Granada, even Cadiz all fell flat for the young among us.

I think me and this poster have pretty similar taste! I haven't gone to many of those places but I've looked at almost all of those places and would like to go in the future!

I'm a first-time Mom and my child will be 2 in 3 weeks! We haven't done a crazy amount of travel but we've packed in a pretty good bit!!

Best: When my child was 3 months old, we stayed at Smith Mountain Lake at a little condo. It was pleasant, an easy drive and we were able to seek refuge inside with a young infant while still enjoying the beautiful scenery! Good for nervous first-time parents!

At 12 months, we traveled around the South of France and Tuscany. Both were wonderful and my son was easily amused and doted on! My only issue was the heat. Tuscany/Florence in July is NOT optimal....go during the spring or fall!

Camping: Lots of fun camping trips. Our most memorable camping trips have been near/on the water. Our favorite VA spots include: Bolar Mountain Recreation area (get a spot with a view right on the water) and First Landing State Park.

Worst: Camping when it was extremely hot in late July/August. We slept in a tent and that was miserable. Also camping when we forgot our camping stove and had NO coffee---miserable! The heat in Tuscany was also pretty miserable and really detracted from our trip.

Best trips as a child:

Silver Bay YMCA, Lake George NY (all ages!!)
San Fran and CA coast, Oregon coast, Montana, Utah, NM, CO...basically any place out west was thoroughly enjoyed!! Ages 6-15. Yellowstone is great for older kids/teens.
England and Ireland

Worst: Florida coast--not sure where but all I remember is the extreme heat and bugs. Emerald Isle, NC---Really intense waves and is pretty frightening for parents and young kids.

[Anonymous]

We had an amazing time in Iceland last summer - kids were 10, 8, 6

This summer we are doing Acadia and I have high hopes for that as well! And we're going to SF in the early fall.

Also had great trips to: Jamaica, Turks, San Diego, Tremblant/Quecec, Tulum, St. Lucia, Curaçao, Disney cruise to the Bahamas, several Disney trips, Punta Cana

Next summer I hope to do Bavaria/Austria

[Anonymous]

3.5 year old has loved: Tram and boat riding in Gothenburg and seeing the parks and forests in that city; staying in a cottage in a lake north of Toronto, Key Biscayne, San francisco and Brkrely, Spain (Madrid Nd Basque region). He hated fort lauderdale- windy beachea, too many big waves, ugly buildings everywhere, hardly walkable.

[Anonymous]

This thread makes me jealous of rich people who can afford to travel so much. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, your Bronx trip barfing experience reminds me of my son (age 5) barfing all over me on a shuttle bus at WDW. He nailed me. Oh, gee. That was 8 years ago and it's still referenced every so often in our house....

It was August, it was hot as heck, it was crowded, and it was about 7:30 AM. Another woman (I'm sure a mom) was across the aisle on the bus and gave handed over a tiny pack of wipes.

It was a long, long day....

I got barfed on at the beginning of a flight to Europe. Strangely enough I had packed extra t-shirts but she managed to barf on my jeans only. Oh, and the seat. And of course the flight was fully booked and there was no other seat to move us to. THat was one long day!

I nearly got barfed on by my host's son in Shanghai, just after picking me up from the airport there. We were in backseat of a cab - kid starts to heave and dad cups his hands to gather up the puke. As his hands get full, I reach over to lower the window next to dad/host (in the absolutely pouring rain) and dad dumps the puke out the window. Quite the first few minutes in Shanghai.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Worst - Beaches Turks and Caicos
Best - the Exumas in the Bahamas

where to stay in exumas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None have been awful, but the worst of the best is any place where the point is scenery. E.g., driving through the Rockies. DS loved Cody, Wyoming (rodeo, shoot out downtown, museums), loved Yellowstone, loved white water rafting. Wasn't impressed with the drive from there to the Black Hills. He's a really good road tripper, but when we'd say "look up from your video game, see how beautiful the scenery is," it was like, uh, yeah, whatever.

This is why I've put off going to Ireland, for example. For now, cities (London, Paris) or places with lots of activities or things to see (Pompeii) are good.

Your kid sound like a little sh*t. It's your job to take away the stupid video game. With the attitude you are allowing him to develop, he will grow up to lack curiosity and be boring. Do your damn job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None have been awful, but the worst of the best is any place where the point is scenery. E.g., driving through the Rockies. DS loved Cody, Wyoming (rodeo, shoot out downtown, museums), loved Yellowstone, loved white water rafting. Wasn't impressed with the drive from there to the Black Hills. He's a really good road tripper, but when we'd say "look up from your video game, see how beautiful the scenery is," it was like, uh, yeah, whatever.

This is why I've put off going to Ireland, for example. For now, cities (London, Paris) or places with lots of activities or things to see (Pompeii) are good.

Your kid sound like a little sh*t. It's your job to take away the stupid video game. With the attitude you are allowing him to develop, he will grow up to lack curiosity and be boring. Do your damn job!

You sound like a sanctimonious asshole. Her kid isn't perfect and neither is yours.

[Anonymous]

Paradise Island
Disney World
Hershey Park
Cape May
Hamptons


Surprisingly I thought it was Hokey but kids liked Rocking Horse Ranch and any four star resort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worst - Beaches Turks and Caicos
Best - the Exumas in the Bahamas

where to stay in exumas?

Staniel Cay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None have been awful, but the worst of the best is any place where the point is scenery. E.g., driving through the Rockies. DS loved Cody, Wyoming (rodeo, shoot out downtown, museums), loved Yellowstone, loved white water rafting. Wasn't impressed with the drive from there to the Black Hills. He's a really good road tripper, but when we'd say "look up from your video game, see how beautiful the scenery is," it was like, uh, yeah, whatever.

This is why I've put off going to Ireland, for example. For now, cities (London, Paris) or places with lots of activities or things to see (Pompeii) are good.

Your kid sound like a little sh*t. It's your job to take away the stupid video game. With the attitude you are allowing him to develop, he will grow up to lack curiosity and be boring. Do your damn job!

I'm sure the poster's kid will grow up just fine. I remember when I was little and we traveled to DC (ironically) from Pennsylvania. My dad, who always got lost, somehow ended up in Embassy Row. My mom was so excited, screaming, "Kids, look at the embassies. We'll never see this again!" Well, my brother, sister and I couldn't care less. I probably didn't even know what an embassy was. We were busy flipping baseball cards in the back seat of our station wagon (we were about 7, 12, and 14). For years, my mom talked about that trip and how she couldn't believe we we were more interested in baseball cards than looking out the window at the unique sights of DC. Well, lo and behold, I grew up to be an intellectually curious adult with a master's degree. My brother is pursuing his PhD, and my sister is a teacher, also with a master's. And as a bonus, I moved to DC and get to see the embassies whenever I want. I still tease my mom about it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great thread! Thanks OP. I'm loving these vacation stories, esp the poor PP whose air conditioning broke down in the Bronx. Was awful at the time but you look back years later and have to laugh at it.

I recently heard a great quote about going on vacation. "You'll either have a great time or a great story!"

[Anonymous]

Those with little ones should go to Cape Cod. Always something to do. Lots of rentals available. Same time zone.