In our family, an afternoon away from the resort is fundamental. A 20-minute taxi ride from the luxurious Iberostar Playa Mita brings you to the sleepy fishing village of San Francisco, known locally as San Pancho. In this tiny seaside town, you will find Entre Amigos.
From food to technology to educational experiences and more, here’s what Eileen Ogintz and Kyle McCarthy from Family Travel Consulting see as the 12 major factors influencing family vacation planners in 2014.
An afternoon visit to laid-back Sayulita, a few minutes drive from the Iberostar Playa Mita on Mexico’s Pacific Cost. The crescent-shaped beach is fringed with tall palms. Fishermen sharing the beach with surfers and hippies.
If you think all-inclusive resorts are nothing but rowdy sun-seekers, conga lines, mediocre buffets and cheap liquor, meet the new Iberostar Playa Mita. A vacation here should do wonders to change any preconceived notions you may have about all-inclusive hotels.
Snow sports can be more than about fun in the snow. They’re about persistence and courage, trying something new (just ask the cold-hating Los Angeles boy who was with us) and empathy for those who may be struggling more than you might be.
In the Bahamas, they start ringing in the New Year on Boxing Day with the annual Junkanoo Festivals, with cowbells, goatskin drums, conch horns and incredibly colorful costumes.
The holiday season is an excellent time to visit Colonial Williamsburg and see firsthand how 18th Century Virginians celebrated.
If you arrive at night, you might not recognize Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. The millions of lights that cover 1,500 Christmas trees give the theme park a fantastical holiday makeover and transform it into Christmas Town.
In New Hampshire for the holidays, we sleep and hike with the Appalachian Mountain Club, visit the historic Omni Mt. Washington Hotel, tour the treetops at Bretton Woods Ski Area and are pulled by a sled dog team that includes a pair of amazing canines.
Eileen on Foxnews.com to explain how new Global Entry and TSA PreCheck programs can help family travelers breeze through customs and security screenings at many major airports.
Taking the Kids correspondent Allison Tibaldi and her teen-aged son Alec enjoy their last day on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas with a port of call in St. Thomas, USVI, and ride on the Kon Tiki Sightseeing and Beach Cruise.
Day three aboard Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas starts with the Dreamworks character breakfast for Taking the Kids contributor Alison Tibaldi, and ends with Italian food at Portofino.
Taking the Kids contributor Allison Tibaldi visits the gym on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas and first port call at CocoCay in the Bahamas.
Taking the Kids contributor Alec Tibaldi describes his first cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas and provides another excellent video.
In Paris with a “Paris Greeter,” one of 360 volunteers who offer some 3,000 free tours every year. There’s likely a Greeter organization in any big city near you and all over the world.
Taking the Kids Contributor Allison Tibaldi finds Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas to be huge, but easy to navigate with interactive screens all round.
Taking the Kids contributor Alec Tibaldi, who joined his mother on a Royal Caribbean cruise and visit to Universal Orlando, describes his first visit to the theme park and provides an excellent video.
Taking the Kids contributor Allison Tibaldi reports on a two-for-one holiday with her son on a Royal Caribbean cruise along with a visit to Universal Orlando Resort.
A vacation can inspire you to take a different path—or in some cases, inspire a new industry. That’s what happened when Clemente and Claire Poncon vacationed at Lapa Rios Ecolodge on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) is projecting more than 94.5 million Americans will travel during the holidays. Here’s my annual TAKING THE KIDS GUIDE TO SURVIVING THE RELATIVES:
At Morgan’s Rock, one family visits a local school to donate supplies the day before Thanksgiving, while others visit the farm for a look at the cows, chickens and ducks and a breakfast feast of fresh eggs, gallo pinto and hand-made tortillas.
Morgan’s Rock in southwest Nicaragua is about as far from a typical beach resort as you can get, from waking up to the howler monkeys to activities that include jungle walks, horseback riding on the beach and zip lining nearby.
The National Parks Foundation has a guest post chock full of history of the National Christmas Tree lighting events.
At Jicaro Island Ecolodge almost everything is locally sourced and sustainable. The food is delicious. And the scraps from the kitchen feed the pigs on a nearby farm whose waste produces methane cooking gas for the local farmers.
Karen Emanuel came to Nicaragua on vacation. She left with an island — and a new dream — Jicaro Island Ecolodge, a beautiful resort on the largest lake in Central America.
There may be 21st-century LED holiday lights all over Boston, but we’ve time-traveled back to 1773 — Dec. 16, 1773 to be exact — the night that literally changed the course of American history.
We’ve followed our 22-year-old daughter Melanie here to Nicaragua, which many say is poised to become the next eco tourist’s must-see destination with volcanoes, cloud forests, pristine beaches and tiny eco resorts like Jicaro Island Ecolodge.
this time of year also means winter fun and what better way to ring in the season than to go ice skating in Bryant Park in the heart of Manhattan.
Virtually every town and city in the country has holiday festivals and displays. You just have to make time to enjoy them. Skip the mall Santa (my kids always bawled) and take them someplace where you can all gawk at spectacular light displays
We’re seven strangers ranging from 22 to 60-something standing in a Paris afternoon outdoor market trying to decide. We’ve signed on for a cooking class with La Cuisine Paris, one of just a handful here that offers classes in English.
Eileen tours the Bahamas with locals guiding the way. Three videos.
Today, we’re touring this hip foodie neighborhood with Edouard Morhange who live nearby and is on the board of the Paris Greeter organization, which offers some 3,000 free tours every year given by 360 greeters.
You’ll find plenty of bargains on Cyber Monday. Check what your favorite hotel chain, cruise line or resorts are offering. Here are 10 deals that are just a sampling of what’s out there
We’re in Gerard Merlot, a shop famous for macarons in the St Germain district of Paris, with guide Genevieve, who we’ve met through a terrific company called Tours by Locals.
Want to get whisked through security? It may be too late for Thanksgiving, but if you are flying for Christmas, you’ve got time to sign up for Global Entry, the trusted traveler network that allows you to make your way quickly through special lines and customs by using automated kiosks at 97 domestic airports through the TSA Pre-check Program.
I’m literally walking in Vincent Van Gogh’s footsteps to the field where he painted the famous paintings like the Wheatfield of Crows and where he shot himself.
In this medieval city, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Today we see a cathedral that was begun in 1145—amazing it is still standing after being damaged in WWII. Nearly 9,000 half timbered houses burned during WWII.
We are at the famous Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial overlooking Omaha Beach, where the massive allied assault on the Normandy on June 6, 1944 aimed to liberate France and defeat Nazi Germany.
Eileen’s report on Gettysburg as the 150th Anniversary of Lincoln’s famous address approaches. On Foxnews.com.
logo-foxnewsEileen explains the unique tours that are offered for families in Paris on Foxnews.com.
I’m on a different kind of cruise—a River Cruise on the Seine in France on Avalon Waterways Creativity—just 140 passengers on this 361-foot long barge and with just 70 staterooms and two suites.
I’m walking in Monet’s glorious gardens at Giverny on sunny day thinking about a little girl skipping over the famous green Japanese Bridges a big smile on her face.
At the time, no one expected the speech to be a big deal. Lincoln had merely been asked to make a few remarks at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, here in the Pennsylvania countryside, just four months after the searing battle that turned the tide of the Civil War.
We’re sitting in a family dining room in a tiny French village eating chicken cooked in champagne and sipping champagne. This is the Champagne Region of France afterall.
We’ve moved from the heart of fashionable Paris to the St. Germaine neighborhood on the Left Bank and feel like we’ve time traveled, checking in to the tiny Hotel Verneuil, a 26-room hotel that is housed in a 17th century building.
Eighty per cent of her clients are American families. She notes that most guides, while true experts in their field, aren’t often as willing to play to the kids’ interests so when booking a guide, it is key to make sure they appreciate that kids’ may not have as long attention span.
You can gather the gang in a beautifully decorated home without doing all the work that typically entails, and without cooking at all — unless you want to. All you’ve got to do for a stress-free holiday is to celebrate at a vacation villa or condo rather than at your overcrowded house.
I’s hard not to have a great time when it’s fall and you’re attending the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival! This year, we also had the opportunity to test out Disney’s new vacation planning tool called MyMagic+.
Keystone is Vail Resort’s most kid-centric resort, with kids-ski free (as long as you book a two-night stay), night skiing tweens and teens love and daily “Kidtopia” activities. There’s a parade through the village on Saturdays with kids being twirled around in tires, free cookies and hot cider in the ice-skating rink, the chance to meet and greet the avalanche dogs and ski patrollers, free kids sundaes and more.
Perfect timing with the World Series! Boston as a fall getaway destination. All the history. Eileen segment on Foxnews.com.