I'd recommend waiting until 12 for Alaska unless you are doing a cruise. There is some cool stuff that elementary school kids are too young for.

This sounds completely pedestrian compared to these other destinations, but my kids (6 & 9) loved our trip to Gatlinburg, TN and still talk about it. Hiking, swimming, mini golf, Dollywood. They were all about it.

We have traveled a ton with our kids since they were babies - they are now 8, 11, and 13, and we still try to plan short and long trips every few months.

Four of our years we lived in Europe - great spots we loved there were smaller cities which are so much easier to explore. Driving through Belgium, France, Netherlands, Germany - tons of really cool places to stop. We also really loved Slovenia as a family.

Here in the US, a few recent places we really loved were Pittsburgh, upstate New York, Maine, skiing trips out West (MT, UT, CO) and in Vermont.

+ 1 for Costa Rica

My 3rd grader loved Greece - we enjoyed beaches, and cats everywhere, and Greek ruins.

Anonymous wrote:Costa Rica!

Oh and skiing in Colorado (Beaver creek)

Costa Rica!

Vancouver
Maine
Canadian Maritimes in the summer
My elementary age kids loved London & Paris more than any other trip we’ve taken so far. The trick with museums is to keep your visit short and focused on some particular item of interest (ie Rosetta Stone)

OP here- these are great suggestions, thanks!

I shared with my family and they are particularly interested in Costa Rica and Alaska.

Anonymous wrote:The Everglades
wildlife viewing
airboat rides
key lime milkshakes from "Robert is Here"

Definitely do not miss Robert is Here if you are nearby!!!!!

Anonymous wrote:We did a great trip around Oregon: Portland, Hood River, Bend (caving, tubing and rafting), Crater Lake NP, the OR coast, Willamette Valley (Enchanted Forest amusement park).

We did something similar with. 4-day camping and rafting trip that was awesome.
Also Iceland was amazing.

The Everglades
wildlife viewing
airboat rides
key lime milkshakes from "Robert is Here"

We did a great trip around Oregon: Portland, Hood River, Bend (caving, tubing and rafting), Crater Lake NP, the OR coast, Willamette Valley (Enchanted Forest amusement park).

Yellowstone!!!

Olympic peninsula
Rocky Mountain national park

Disney cruise to Alaska- fun on the cruise and on the excursions; whale watching , dog sledding.

Universal Florida

Breezes Turks and Caicos

Aruba