With small kids, I either like OBX, Cape Cod, or staying with my parents in Northern California (then leaving the kids with them for a few days while we get away).

For kids your age... HAWAII. I wish I still lived on the West Coast - we would go every year, but the flight is just too much from DC.

As my kids get older, I can't wait to do more national parks/hiking/rafting type trips.

Cities with excellent children museums and other museums with child appeal:
Boston, Philly, Pittsburg, Chicago are all ones where we found plenty to do with a 2 and 4 year old. Duck tours are great at that age too.

National parks that have shorter hikes and appeal to younger children that we love:
Acadia, Yosemite, Rocky Mountains, Olympic Pennisula, Florida Keys and Everglades, Shendadoah

Area between San Diego and Carlsbad: Lego land, San Diego Zoo Safari park, Pacific Ocean.......

Almost anywhere can be fund with kids 2 and 4 if you have a hotel with a pool. Most places ahve a small children museum and parks and playgrounds.

1. Kiawah Island - the Sanctuary resort
2. Beaver Creek Colorado (all of Colorado is amazing, another world compared to the east coast - maybe best with older kids because of so much kinds of travel over many kinds of terrain)
3. New York City

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

For us, our best vacay was last Aug... Bryce Canyon, North Rim, Page AZ for slot canyons/Glen Canyon Dam/flat water raft trip on the Colorado, and Zion. Kids were 9 and 11. It was the right location and the right time for everyone to enjoy and participate.

We did almost the same trip except instead of North Rim, we did the eastern side of Utah (Arches, Canyonlands, Capital Reef) and also added Mesa Verde in CO. On the Bryce leg of the trip, we stopped at Escalante. Awesome trip.

A trip along the lines of these two is in the cards for our family in the next year or two. To each of these pp's, how long was your trip and what time of year did you go?

I'm the first PP -- Bryce, North Rim, Page, Zion. We went around Aug. 21-28th this past Aug. People assume that this area is super hot b/c they are thinking about the south rim and the bottom of the grand canyon -- which is typically 30 degrees hotter than the top of the canyon. When it is 75 at the top, you should expect it to be 105 at the bottom. We never went to the bottom, so I wasn't worried about that. Temps ranged from 42 degrees at Bryce around 8 or 9 a.m. to 85 at Zion -- BUT, we purposely stayed on East Coast time to make use of the cooler temps in the morning. We would get up at 4 or 5:00 a.m. local time which was really 7:00 to us (sometimes a little later). We would use that time to drive to our next location and then be there and ready to hike at 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. (local time). We left on a Sat. -- flew to Vegas and then drove to Bryce. We knew that would be a long day, but I had read that it was better to put the long flight and drive on the first day when you have the most motivation. That set us up to stay at the hotel outside of Bryce and be ready to go the next morning early. It was only 42 degrees, but within 5 min. of entering the canyon for our hike, we stripped off our jackets and fleece. It is like a solar cooker in that canyon. Gets hot fast. Insanely beautiful. We brought our picnic lunch (bought at the convenience store the night before) and we had seen all we wanted by 1:00. Putz'd around for the rest of the day. We drove to North Rim the next morning. Again, we were up early for local time (but not early for East Coast time)... caught free breakfast at the hotel at 6:30.

Reached North Rim by about 10:30 or 11:00. Again ate picnic lunch at the open tables at the lodge patio. Have to say that the lodge dining room was TERRIBLE for food. Worst food ever! Just eat pizza or sandwiches again and skip the main dining room. Seriously. We did a hike that traumatized me b/c of the lack of guardrails or chains... common all over the parks... just not used to it as we in the East would typically have lots of railings. You can fall to your death very easily. I have issues with heights! Took in a Ranger show and saw a film. Pretty tame day. North Rim is not as touristy as the South Rim. We went with North Rim b/c I insisted on doing Bryce and Zion (having heard other people say these were their favorite parks). Driving so far to the south rim just didn't seem worth the effort.

Next day (4:30 ish -- but 7:30 a.m. to us), we drove to Page AZ. If possible -- DO THIS! It was a nice change of pace from the sweeping, grand landscapes we had seen in our trip to date. My main reason for Page was to see the Antelope Slot Canyons. It will not disappoint! Must do. We also had reserved seats on a flat water float on the Colorado River. Great guide. There's no rowing and it is FLAT... but a really enjoyable learning experience. We did the slot canyons in the morning on the day we arrived from the North Rim. We also went over to the Glen Canyon Dam and had a tour of that (it is actually wider than the Hoover dam, but doesn't get the fame b/c it is 16 ft shorter). Was very interesting! The next morning was when we did the float trip -- I didn't want to do it in the hot afternoon sun. We got sandwiches from the Colorado River Discovery company and ate our lunch on the raft. We used the hot afternoon to reposition ourselves at Zion. Loved staying at the Desert Pearl Inn. Expensive... but a really lovely stay. We ate in town that night and went to bed "early" -- East Coast time... so we were at Zion around 8:30a.m. (local time - which was about 10:30 a.m. to us). We had heard that Zion parking lots fill up early, so we wanted to avoid that... and it can get pretty hot in the afternoon. We planned to be back at the hotel pool by that time. So, we hiked various trails, ate a picnic lunch at outdoor tables near the lodge, hiked a bit more, and then went back to our hotel. I think we were back around 1:00 local time. That was plenty of hiking for my kids. The pool was great and the backdrop of the mountains was stunning with the color of the pool!

We actually could have been done and flown out the next day, but we had scheduled two full days at Zion. We piddled around the next day (which was Fri.) and then drove to Las Vegas on Sat. morning for a flight about noon. Again, we were on East Coast time, so we got up and left Springdale, UT... stopped for breakfast/lunch at McD's on the way... turned in the rental car and had plenty of time to catch our noon flight. We arrived at Dulles around 8:00pm. (direct flight, but the time change catches you on the way back).

So we left on a Sat morning and returned on a Sat. night. We could have shaved one day off of Zion. It depends on how much of the challlenging hiking you want to do. We enjoyed being there (in Springdale), so it was fine. We had two nights outside of Bryce, one night at North Rim, one night in Page, and three nights in Springdale/Zion.

There was very little enjoyable dining on this trip. My favorite restaurant was in Springdale. There are a number of good ones there... but some don't open until 6:00 p.m. local time... so that didn't work for us b/c we wanted to eat dinner at 4:00 pm local time. The first few days of the trip involved a lot of sandwiches and ordering breakfast for lunch... but it all worked out. It was the best vacation we have had with the kids. Everyone could participate and enjoy it. We like vacations that have some learning component and outdoors -- but not camping. Great photos. Just a feast for your eyes at every location! I miss the mountains!

We've had lots of great trips in the US, most involving national parks.

Trip 1) Northern NM and Colorado. See: Taos, Colorado Springs (Garden of the Gods, and Cliff Dwellings), spend a day or two in Denver/Boulder, then spend 3-4 days in Rocky Mountain National Park

Trip 2) Boston/Acadia: Spend 2-3 days in Boston, then a VRBO or AirBnB in Bar Harbor for a week. This was probably the area with the most different things to do.

Trip 3) Glacier National Park: long hikes, white water rafting, ziplining

Anonymous wrote:

For us, our best vacay was last Aug... Bryce Canyon, North Rim, Page AZ for slot canyons/Glen Canyon Dam/flat water raft trip on the Colorado, and Zion. Kids were 9 and 11. It was the right location and the right time for everyone to enjoy and participate.

We did almost the same trip except instead of North Rim, we did the eastern side of Utah (Arches, Canyonlands, Capital Reef) and also added Mesa Verde in CO. On the Bryce leg of the trip, we stopped at Escalante. Awesome trip.

A trip along the lines of these two is in the cards for our family in the next year or two. To each of these pp's, how long was your trip and what time of year did you go?

Anonymous wrote:River rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. Truly breathtaking journey, but wait until your kids are at least 11. it's a once in a lifetime experience but pretty arduous and you want to make sure your kids are old enough to remember it and manage the physical demands.

Can you please tell me more about this? What time of year did you go, what tour operator did you use, or was it self guided? Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in the same boat, looking for vacation ideas with a 2-year old. I really want to go to California or any of the National Parks out west, but am worried about the time change... how did that work out for other people with toddlers? I'm worried about 4 am wake-ups and going down at 5 pm for the night...

We are in cali right now for christmas. First few mornings were rough but our 2 yo stayed up waaay past bedtime bc it was all so new and fun. I would not let the time change limit your traveling.

We did CA one with a nine month old and 3 year old. The 3yo was up at 3am, which woke up the 9mo. Poor planning on our part meant we had no food for the older, and nothing was open yet. We were in a hotel, so needed to keep the kids quiet (no fighting with the 3yo to go back to sleep). 3yo would watch tv, but parents needed to be up and engaged with the 9mo, which was painful (somehow, 3am felt like 6am to the kids, but like 3am to the adults). We were only there 3 days, so by the time they adjusted (it was about an hour per day) it was time to go home. Fwiw, the older was always an early riser and the type of kid that never slept late even if he started up late, so I'm sure it can be different depending on the kids. Just one experience to keep in mind.

River rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. Truly breathtaking journey, but wait until your kids are at least 11. it's a once in a lifetime experience but pretty arduous and you want to make sure your kids are old enough to remember it and manage the physical demands.

Agree with the PPs who said San Diego! We went last year when the kids were 7, 5, and 3. We did the zoo, the safari park, the beach on Coronado Island (stay at the Hotel Del for a few nights, so nice!), La Jolla coves and Torrey Pines Park, the aircraft carrier, and Lego Land at the end of the trip. Big success.

For us, our best vacay was last Aug... Bryce Canyon, North Rim, Page AZ for slot canyons/Glen Canyon Dam/flat water raft trip on the Colorado, and Zion. Kids were 9 and 11. It was the right location and the right time for everyone to enjoy and participate.

We did almost the same trip except instead of North Rim, we did the eastern side of Utah (Arches, Canyonlands, Capital Reef) and also added Mesa Verde in CO. On the Bryce leg of the trip, we stopped at Escalante. Awesome trip.

Anonymous wrote:Where'd you go? Where'd you stay? What make it so great?

Bonus points if it would be workable with small children (ages 2 and 4)!

With kids that young (i.e. needing to stay on a schedule to keep everyone happy), to me that screams --- stay in your current time zone. So, Florida, Outer Banks, Upstate NY, OC, something like that. It's hard to be patient, but they will get older and you will have a much better time at some of the bigger destinations.

For us, our best vacay was last Aug... Bryce Canyon, North Rim, Page AZ for slot canyons/Glen Canyon Dam/flat water raft trip on the Colorado, and Zion. Kids were 9 and 11. It was the right location and the right time for everyone to enjoy and participate.

Anonymous wrote:I'm in the same boat, looking for vacation ideas with a 2-year old. I really want to go to California or any of the National Parks out west, but am worried about the time change... how did that work out for other people with toddlers? I'm worried about 4 am wake-ups and going down at 5 pm for the night...

We are in cali right now for christmas. First few mornings were rough but our 2 yo stayed up waaay past bedtime bc it was all so new and fun. I would not let the time change limit your traveling.

Anonymous wrote:Where'd you go? Where'd you stay? What make it so great?

Bonus points if it would be workable with small children (ages 2 and 4)!

Puerto Vallarta was amazing!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, what are the loose itineraries for 2 days at a national park? I like the idea, but then think... Ok, get up, walk around for an hour... Then what? What do 2 planned days look like at Yosemite, for example?

I've never been to Yosemite, but generally you'd plan out which parts of the park you want to see and which hikes you want to do. Example from Grand Teton NP: Day 1-- walk around historic area, go to visitor center, swim in Jenny Lake, dinner at lodge. Day 2: take boat across lake, hike for a few hours, return.

Thanks for this, it is helpful.