We had a great trip to San Francisco when my son was four. He adored the cable cars, so we spent a lot of time riding on them, which was fun for us all. Also loved the beach at the end of the Powell/Hyde route, the trip to Alcatraz, and the Seward slides. Then we went north to Stinson Beach and the Redwoods. Great trip.

Christmas in New York City was also a big hit. Not an "easy" or relaxing trip, though.

A summer trip to London was wonderful because the weather was great and we could spend so much time in the wonderful parks and playgrounds.

For something beachy, our best trip has been to Costa Rica. Our trip to Hawaii was less successful. DH and I have been there many times, but we did not have a great trip when we visited when our son was 2. He was just having a difficult week - and would have been regardless of where we were. We'll definitely go back, though.

Best ever: Six Senses in Con Dao. Perfect weather, perfect gentle ocean on a perfect beach, perfect food, perfect villa, activities and endless free ice cream for the kids, so easy and relaxing.

Budget: Disney World. Really. It's set up for families of small kids, and my kids loved it so much that it was worth the hassle. Not particularly relaxing but so, so memorable because of how much they loved it.

We have a 3 year old and have resorted to only going to beach destinations or places with a pool as that is the most relaxing for all of us. DS can spend hours in the water or playing in the sand. We've been to Florida, Bermuda, Aruba, California. All have been great. The key is to find a nonstop flight and stay somewhere right on the beach so you can easily go back and forth to the room for a nap, snacks, break.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Deer Valley Family Camp in PA from toddlers on up.

Yosemite when the kids were a little bit older, 5&7.

Lancaster county - train museum, Dutch Wonderland, stay at a farm B&B (age 3&5)

+1

I am very interested in the farm b&b and family camp. Do kids do chores around farm?

I personally prefer luxury resorts with a nice spa but I think my boys, ages 4 and 6, would love to stay at a farm.

If you like luxury resorts, you will not like Deer Valley family camp. But it is paradise for kids, and we love it there.

http://www.deervalleyymca.org/programs/summer-family-camp/

Grand Cayman when they were 2 and 4.

Cape Breton in Nova Scotia when they were 3 and 5.

Also really loved a long weekend in Philly and a day trip to Dutch Wonderland.

Ogunquit, Maine was good. Huge beach with shallow water at low tide. Candy and you stores gslore. Trolley Museum and lighthouse within an easy drive.

Boston was also good - Boston Public Garden, swan boats, riding the T.

San Francisco is also full of playgrounds, Exploratorium, Ferry Bldg.

We had fun in Philly. Please Touch Museum, Zoo, Sesame Place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Deer Valley Family Camp in PA from toddlers on up.

Yosemite when the kids were a little bit older, 5&7.

Lancaster county - train museum, Dutch Wonderland, stay at a farm B&B (age 3&5)

+1

I am very interested in the farm b&b and family camp. Do kids do chores around farm?

I personally prefer luxury resorts with a nice spa but I think my boys, ages 4 and 6, would love to stay at a farm.

Anonymous wrote:Deer Valley Family Camp in PA from toddlers on up.

Yosemite when the kids were a little bit older, 5&7.

Lancaster county - train museum, Dutch Wonderland, stay at a farm B&B (age 3&5)

+1

Anonymous wrote:I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Isn't the flight miserable?

We have been to the Caribbean and Mexico many times but not Hawaii because of the long flight. My kids are now 4 and 6yo and I still dread a 10+ hr flight with them. We try to stick under 5 hrs and nonstop only.

I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Hands down Disney cruise. So much fun and easy.

We also love Orlando, not just Disney but everything is so kid friendly. We took advantage of low crowds when school is in session. Our kids woke up early at that age so it was easy to get to parks at opening. We spent the morning at the parks, ate lunch at parks, came back to hotel to nap and hung out at the pool. It was perfect for our family.

Our family had a wonderful time in Arizona when boys were 1.5 and 3.5. We stayed at the Westin in Scottsdale and the resort had great pools and was kid friendly. Phoenix Zoo is fantastic. Boys loved this train park. Scottsdale has great shopping and food. I did a half day spa day. It was relaxing and just a lot of fun. Also very easy on the wallet.

OBX (Duck is my favorite!) house near the beach with a pool and hot tub and wi-fi for monitoring naps from poolside.

Lancaster County, Dutch Wonderland, Strasburg Railroad, Dutch Country (very family friendly restaurants and buggy rides!), family resorts

These are the only two vacations we've done that I thought were very kid friendly. We also went to Portland, OR, but we missed naps a lot and were driving and on the go constantly. Not super kid friendly.

Southern Thailand--just hung out on the beach/in the pool all day long (we were living in Asia, so it wasn't that expensive to fly there)

Redwood National Park--like a whole other world for kids to explore. So many great memories of walking in forests so dense we couldn't even see the sky; exploring inside huge tree trunks; kids playing fairies and monsters and hide and seek.

The beach is great. Rome was unexpectedly awesome with 2-year-old DD. Italians love kids. Plus, Rome has fountains, kids running around piazzas, people blowing giant bubbles in piazzas, pasta, pizza, and gelato. DD weirdly loved the Forum, as well as Hadrian's Villa outside the city. We did a pizza-making class, which we all loved. We skipped most museums, but the Capitoline museum was close to the right size for her. For our art fixes, we went to every church with a Caraveggio and mixed it with piazzas, fountains, and gelato. We all had a blast and are going back to Rome (with the addition of Sardinia) next spring.