Travel reports and advice for families for the best outdoor experiences, including national and state park visits, camping or glamping
There are plenty of ways to celebrate, starting with your local parade. When my kids were small and we lived in Evanston, Illinois, that parade was a highlight of the summer
We’re about an hour northwest of Vienna—a great place for a respite after city touring, The entire area is famous for its abbeys, churches, castles, picturesque villages and hiking and cycling. The best part—It’s not at all crowded!
The particular game that I attended in April was a rivalry game against the San Francisco Giants. This series was tied at 1-1.
All around us on a recent sunny Sunday, families were picnicking outdoors, gaping at all of the wild game heads inside and walking on the nature trail at Teddy Roosevelt’s Sagamore Hill home.
Every day, Maria Grazia, 80, walks thousands of steep stone steps to and from her home in Minuta, a tiny hamlet high above the Amalfi Coast in southwestern Italy that is among the oldest towns here, dating back before medieval times.
Millennial families, according to the new 2016 MMGY Portrait of American Travelers, are more likely than millennial couples or singles, to travel internationally
We’re on a shore excursion in Tuscany off the Carnival Vista cruise ship, which is sailing the Mediterranean this summer. We’re with experienced truffle hunters Salvatore Cucchiara, a retired policeman, and his son Massimo
Welcome to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the country with nearly 10 million visitors a year — twice what the Grand Canyon gets.
Will we be safe? Everywhere I go people have the same question about travel this spring and summer. So what’s a travel-loving family to do this summer?
Check out Daigon Alley! Not at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando or Hollywood, but in Victoria Street in Edinburgh, Scotland, where J.K. Rowling famously wrote the first Harry Potter book while seated in a local coffee shop.
Throughout National Parks Week, many parks will also host Every Kid in a Park events, which encourages fourth-grade students to visit national parks and other public lands by offering a free annual pass.
Check out the peacocks! Smell the lavender! Tonight we’re at the family- owned Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm in Albuquerque, which was established in 1934.
It’s a risk as well as an adventure – stopping for a green chile cheeseburger lunch (a New Mexico specialty) at a grocery store/gas station along the state’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail.
Urban parks have lots to offer visiting families — not the least of which is the chance to meet local families, or the chance to learn more about the city at a local museum.
At the Vista Verde Guest Ranch, it turns ranch life ain’t so bad. It also turns out, a city slicker can really look really really ridiculously awesome wearing a Cowboy hat.
At the Vista Verde Guest Ranch
We’re atop Ajax—as Aspen Mountain is known—with just a handful of others for “First Tracks” at 8:15 a.m.—before the Mountain has opened.
The staff at Vista Verde Ranch, about 25 miles outside the ski town of Steamboat Springs has obligingly left us an Evening Sky Map for this month.
Nestled in the hills about 10 miles outside the town of Steamboat Springs, Strawberry Hot Springs is a natural hot springs fed by heated underground aquifers that come to the surface to make a number of heated pools
This year, I decided to mix it up—opting to spend half our winter ski week at a dude ranch, Vista Verde Ranch, on 500-plus gorgeous acres about 25 miles outside of Steamboat Springs and as far away from the crowds and tumult of a major ski area as you can get.
Welcome to China Lights, the exhibit of more than 30 bright silk-covered structures that will light up the Botanical Garden in New Orleans’ City Park through May 1.
A lot of families are concerned about spring break plans as the Zika virus continues to spread through the Caribbean and Mexico — popular spring break destinations for families, as well as their college students.
Seriously. We are at River Bumpkin Farm and have floated down about 1.5 miles of the 75-mile long river.
From the time the Berlin Wall went up in August 1961 till it was torn down in November 1989, thousands of East Berliners made their escape the short distance to the West in the most ingenious ways. At least 2,000 died trying. Today, it’s hard to believe this beautiful city was once divided by an ugly wall.
In the early 19th Century, when grand balls were held at the famous courthouse in Falmouth, Jamaica’s oldest seaport, young women would sew fireflies into their gowns so they would literally sparkle.
John Bartels has no interest in going home. He, his two sisters, and his parents have been spending a vacation week at Half Moon, a Rock Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, that has been setting a high bar for resorts here for more than 50 years
There’s nothing more fun than trying something new — wasn’t that one of your new year’s resolutions — especially in such spectacular country? And there’s no better time than January, which is designated Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month.
The result of packing for a safari cannot be the scene of Meryl Streep traveling to the Ngong Hills in Out of Africa, and it doesn’t need to be.
Nuremberg has long been a center of toy making and this museum is one of the city’s top tourist attractions. More than a dozen local toy manufacturers developed model railways and Nuremberg’s toymakers were known for coming up with new ways to make toys move.
For many families, sharing holiday displays, whether at a theme park, a hotel or a nearby neighborhood is an annual tradition that gets everyone away from pre-holiday chores and stress. It’s just these days, you’ll find Santa, elves and millions of lights at the ready long before the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone.
I love Yellowstone in winter — no crowds, lots of animals and the chance to see Old Faithful and other thermal features without any crowds. (Did you know Yellowstone has more thermal features than anywhere in the world — 10,000 bubbling mud pots, hot springs and geysers?) Honestly, we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.
They were among the best baseball players in the United States, traveling cross-country to play the game they loved before cheering fans. But they were often forced to sleep on their bus and eat peanut butter crackers.
Ashford Castle, in western Ireland on 350 acres along the shores of Lough Corrib and the River Cong, is famous for its fishing and falconry but if you’re a boy just staying in a bona-fide castle is the real attraction.
Tiny Telluride is a popular place. Nestled in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, the mountain range has the highest concentration of 13,000 and 14,000 foot peaks in North America
No, I’m not a little early, though Halloween is nearly a month away. That’s because everyone from hotels to theme park to attractions to campgrounds to museums now have special Halloween doings that typically go on all month long.
Take advantage of the glorious fall weather wherever you live to get them away from electronics — you too — for a day or a weekend and head to a fall festival, an apple orchard or a pumpkin patch.
Are you a windshield tourist? That’s what they call the many visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park who simply traverse the park’s famous 30-plus mile Newfound Gap Road through the park and don’t get out of the car much, if at all.
Kyoto is famous for its Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. This morning, we’re cycling a 14-mile loop with Kyoto Cycling Tour Project with stops at the Golden Pavilion and Ryoanji Temple with its world-famous rock garden – two of the city’s and Japan’s top tourist attractions.
The ship staff had warned that navigating on your own in Japan is different than elsewhere. Very few locals speak English and signs are only in Japanese. I understand now why in the U.S. Japanese tourists always move in a group with a guide.
Good news! I’m going to live at least seven years longer. That’s because I’ve visited a Japanese Onseng—a hot springs resort. They are ubiquitous in Japan—there are thousands of them.
We are at Ireland’s School of Falconry — the oldest in the country and home to more than 30 birds, including the always popular Dingle the owl. The school is located at Ashford Castle
Jake and Tobey Bill, ages 12 and 13 from Weston CT, went on a “Safari In Style” tour of Tanzania with the tour operator Abercrombie & Kent. They had heard great things about Africa and watched a few PBS specials about it, but nothing prepared them for what them saw and experienced in this amazing place.
Sixteen-year-old Enesi Domi shares his daily diary from a youth service experience in the Dominican Republic with the community service organization Rustic Pathways. This is the second of two installments. More than 5000 youths will go on Rustic Pathways service trips this year.
Sixteen-year-old Enesi Domi shares his daily diary from a youth service experience in the Dominican Republic with the community service organization Rustic Pathways. This is the first of two installments. More than 5000 youths will go on Rustic Pathways service trips this year.
Margo is a Harris Hawk at the British School of Falconry here on the grounds of the historic Gleneagles Hotel, the first in the country and extremely popular with kids. In fact, we had an audience as I was learning to hold Margo and let her fly.
Of course, Gleneagles is known for golf — it is home to three of Scotland’s best championship courses and it is where the 2014 Ryder Cup was played. But today, only 30 percent of guests play golf — and some of them may be kids taking lessons.
Gleneagles is known for golf—it is home to three of Scotland’s best championship courses but today, only 30 per cent of guests play golf and Gleneagles is a kid-friendly resort that draws families from the United Kingdom as well as the United States back year after year
Tour buses took us to Fort George, where the Inverness Youth Band with 30-plus members –drummers as young as nine and led by adults are “Beating Retreat,” performing a traditional military ceremony 16th Century England.
The Woods family had flown 24 hours to London from Australia, but they weren’t planning to ride the famous London Eye, see a West End play or even check out the Crown Jewels. In fact, they’d come for just one reason — the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London — The Making of Harry Potter
The great food at Ashford Castle in Ireland is inspired by Lord Ardilaun, a scion of the Guinness family, who insisted on only the freshest and most varied of local produce, a tradition continued by new executive chef Philippe Farineau
We are at Ireland’s School of Falconry—the oldest in the country—at Ashford Castle that dates back to 1228 on the shores of Lough Corrib, the largest lake in Ireland, and the River Cong, which is reputed to have the best salmon and trout fishing in Europe.
The Warner Brothers Studio Tour where the Harry Potter films were made outside of London draws 6,000 visitors a day but is well worth the effort for families with Hogwarts fans.
You’ll find increasing mountain-biking options at ski resorts across the country, whatever your level. You’ll also find free kid-friendly activities, festivals, farmer’s markets, mini and disc golf, tennis, challenge courses or, of course, the chance to hike, fish and river raft.
Like one in four American couples getting married this year, according to research by TheKnot.com, my daughter, Reggie Yemma, and her new husband, Dan Foldes, opted for a destination wedding
Lake Tahoe is one of the largest alpine lakes in the world, with a full menu of recreational options to match its grand size. Combine the cobalt blue water with miles of pristine nature trails and you’ve got a perfect match for lovers of the great outdoors.
Rocky Mountain National Park is one giant outdoor playground offering more than 350 miles of hiking trails, many from Trail Ridge Road, 114 mountain peaks and 147 lakes that stretch 415 square miles between Estes Park and Grand Lake.
Ten-year-old Hannah Sitzman is a serious and competitive gymnast who only gets one week off her training a year. So she and her Dad Mike made the most of every day on a whirlwind visit to the parks and beaches around Los Angeles recently.
As Father’s Day coincides with the start of the summer vacation season, I figured there’s no better time to offer some suggestions to up dad’s fun quotient on vacation, which is a much better idea than yet another Father’s Day tie, or an IOU, accompanied by a charming kid’s drawing.
The shop windows are full of surprises, like the self-knitting needles. There’s the towering dragon that breathes fire, the Escape from Gringotts ride through the Gringotts vaults and the chance to chat up the Knight Bus conductor and the shrunken head hanging from the rearview mirror
Yes, there has been a recent State Department warning about travel to Mexico. But here in what is a tourist destination — albeit one less busy than Cancun or Puerto Vallarta, we certainly feel safe amid vacationing Mexican families.
It was no surprise that she was mesmerized –along with every other child in the place at the Frozen Sing-a-long at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios. In fact, the show, which reprises the story of Anna and Elsa complete with music and special effects, is so popular that it is moving to a larger theater.