Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 09:12     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
Another vote for National Parks and road trips - seeing how beautiful our country is.

Also another vote for Iceland. The geology is otherworldly and unforgettable.
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 09:07     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
National parks
A dude ranch
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 09:01     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
Flame away, but my kids always ask to go back to Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge Tennessee. Hiking, mountain coasters, hot tubs, mini golf.
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 09:00     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Disney was the most magical for me as a kid, and we traveled a lot.


+1

It was just my dad and me and it was probably the best experience of my childhood. Adults don’t like the same thing kids do.

I did take my kids to England and that was *really* cool. The best was the Black Country Living museum which is around Birmingham. I could go on about how awesome that place is. And I know we hear a lot about how cool Iceland is for kids, which might get old but it’s true. It’s amazing. We have been to many other places but I’d guess those are my kids’ favorites. That said, I’ve never taken them to Disney and now they are 14 and 11 so I’ll never know if that would have been better in their little kid years!


Oh, and one reason that these places were so awesome for us is that one of my kids has a deep interest in linguistics. So even at age 6, she was thrilled seeing the Rosetta Stone, learning some Icelandic, and learning about a dialect of English near Birmingham that is so different from English it’s practically a different language. Kids start to develop interests pretty young so that might be a good place to start. Maybe sports, cars, military ships, stars, etc.
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 08:59     Subject: Re:Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
Tranquilo Bay Eco Lodge in Panama. We just did that over spring break. Read the Tripadvisor reviews. It was awesome, easy to get to, and fairly priced for what it is. Much the same activities as Costa Rica, and wonderfully uncrowded and personalized without having to spend an arm and a leg. My boys love water activities and animals, so it was a "truly amazing childhood travel experience."
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 08:56     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
Anonymous wrote:Disney was the most magical for me as a kid, and we traveled a lot.


+1

It was just my dad and me and it was probably the best experience of my childhood. Adults don’t like the same thing kids do.

I did take my kids to England and that was *really* cool. The best was the Black Country Living museum which is around Birmingham. I could go on about how awesome that place is. And I know we hear a lot about how cool Iceland is for kids, which might get old but it’s true. It’s amazing. We have been to many other places but I’d guess those are my kids’ favorites. That said, I’ve never taken them to Disney and now they are 14 and 11 so I’ll never know if that would have been better in their little kid years!
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 08:55     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
Honestly my kids favorite trips are the ones done with the extended family (cousins, aunts, etc). The ("fun") mayhem is what they seem to love the most. Otherwise-I think trips that combine city with something else (mountains, beach, parks) are the most fun for them. The combo of R&R and activities vs. just being on the go 24/7.
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 08:30     Subject: Re:Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
I did not do Disney, but my DS loved Legoland. So much that we did two whole days at Legoland CA and then next year at the one in Florida, which we also did with Universal.

My DS loves to eat, zoos and aquariums, and transit so any big cities were good.

Portland, Oregon. We visited twice. He still talks about voodoo doughnuts.
Honolulu, Hi. Steak shack on the beach, we probably at there 3 times on one trip.
Seattle
Montreal
NYC
Boston
Barcelona
Florence
London UK
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 08:25     Subject: Re:Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
Loire Valley castles

You can book to sleep in a castle there in addition to touring them and there are a lot of child-friendly excursions (in addition to wine for adults).

I think it’s a great 3-4 day Paris add-on.
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 08:11     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
We could not afford travel when I was a kid but we did an incredible canoeing trip on a river.
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 07:42     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
Yellowstone
Disney cruise (my kids couldn't believe so much cool stuff could also be on a boat)
Paris for the Eiffel Tower specifically
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 07:39     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
We did Paris recently and my 9 year old loved it.
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 07:37     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You say “besides Disney” as if Disney is even a top 20 travel experience. It’s not. It’s a park. That is marketing.


Most kids like fun & rides, not some museum.
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 07:36     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
My kids have loved multi day river rafting trips (Idaho and southern Utah) and a multi day pack trip on horses. family surf camp in Costa Rica is up next, which they helped plan.
Anonymous
Post 05/30/2023 07:32     Subject: Truly amazing childhood travel experiences
Disney was the most magical for me as a kid, and we traveled a lot.