Niagara Falls
Asheville and Blue Ridge Parkway
NYC
Chicago

I think I need to know more about your kids interests and your own interests to be more specific.

Outdoor/nature focused:

Yellowstone, Grand tetons (I personally went at 14 and loved it).

Mt. Rainier, seattle and san juan islands for whale watching (there is the ocean but it's not super traditional beachy)

Bannff/Canadian Rocky mountains

East coat: Great smoky mountains (I briefly visited from asheville years ago and it was okay, tbh not my favorite but lots of people love it...mountains were beautiful and I would say a little more majestic than Shenandoah)

Adirondacks: Could stay at a lake or do a family backpacking trip or camping trip, traveling up towards new hampshire also supposed to be fun with great hiking, vermont too.

OR do a road trip with a stop in the Adirondacks and then visit Montreal, Quebec city and there's some beautiful parks up in Quebec as well. You could also drive to Tadoussac and whale watch (I loved this). Mix of nature and culture/history/art.

I'm not sure of your travel budget/style but mine is essentially bougie on a budget lol. I go for budget airlines, simpler lodging (though I can often find ones with terrific views) in order to afford trips. I have found that when flying, it is sometimes cheaper to vacation in europe than in the US. check out google flights if you are interested. Lodging/food/car rentals are often cheaper too.

Dude ranch out west

Loved both Jackson Hole/Grand Tetons (so much to do and stunning landscapes) and Acadia. Stowe/Lake Champlain was meh.

NYC

The Tetons, Jackson Hole, Yellowstone. Take them hiking, rafting, horseback riding and down the summer toboggan rides at ski resorts.

Maine was a huge hit when my kids were 12 and 8. We went to Bar Harbor, spent time in Acadia, then stayed on a lake in the middle of nowhere for a few days, with activities like hiking and eating wild blueberries, going to a place that had goats you could feed, going for ice cream. They still talk about Maine with deep nostalgia 4 years later.

Anonymous wrote:I think Jackson Hole/Grand Tetons would be fun with tweens

This. Amazing GT is amazing. Can also see Yellowstone.

Second also recommendation for west NC mountains. Amazing. We rented a house on a lake, lots of nature activities: biking, hiking, sliding rocks, swimming, whitewater rafting, fishing, lazy rivers, etc…. My kids loved it and would love to go back there.

My tweens have really enjoyed:
Upstate NY (Finger Lakes and Niagara one year, Lake Placid another year)
NYC
Universal Studios (4 day weekend, but you could combine with something else in Fl)

We’re going out to LA over winter break-splitting time between the city and Joshua Tree/Palm Springs. With more time I’d add on Death Valley.
We’ve also talked about an LA to SF road trip-hitting Sequoia and Yosemite along the way.

We are definitely beach people more than lake people, but we had a wonderful family vacation to Vancouver Island a few years ago. We spent a couple of days in Vancouver (a great outdoorsy city) and then took a ferry to Vancouver Island. We rented a lake house about an hour north of Victoria. We used it as a base to visit Victoria (a lovely small city) and explore lots of the wild and wonderful places on the island. We hiked, kayaked, swam in lakes (which were surprisingly warm), and visited ocean beaches (the water was cold). It's an incredibly beautiful place and we all loved our time there. The family we were traveling with also added on a few days at Whistler before flying home from Vancouver and they really enjoyed that.

We didn't make it all the way up to Tofino but regret that and would like to go back to see that part of Vancouver Island.

My 11 year old really enjoyed San Antonio this summer. We stayed at a nice resort with a waterpark (JW Marriott Hill Country) for a few days, then stayed on the Riverwalk for a few days. She enjoyed The Alamo (self-guided audio tour) and the boat tour of the Riverwalk. We also did Market Square and The Pearl. We are planning a Texas road trip for next year to visit more cities.

I agree with others who suggest the great outdoors, which is a fantastic antidote to too much screen time.

Ithaca, NY (lots of great hikes)
Utah's National Parks (Zion, Bryce, Arches especially)
Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Sedona
Yosemite
Yellowstone/Grand Tetons
Rocky Mountain NP

What do you and your kids enjoy? Hiking? nature, Museums? Cities? Shopping?

Universal Studios is a fun theme park for tweens who feel like they’re too old for Disney.

Another is Santa Fe ^