Taking the Kids on a ship within a mega ship
Many families who cruise look for the best deal — and this is “wave season” when cruise lines are offering upgrades, shipboard credits and discounts to encourage you to book for later in the year.
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Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
Discovering the history and culture of Berlin, Germany
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.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Weekly Column
Getting the whole family outdoors in winter
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.
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On a River Cruise to Germany’s Christmas Markets
Welcome to river cruising, family style. If you think river cruising is just for seniors, think again. Uniworld, which has been named by CruiseCritic.com as the “best overall river line,” is tripling its family itineraries in 2016
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10 wishes for happy travel with your family in 2016
Maybe you like nothing more than exploring new places and sharing new adventures with the kids and grandkids, well aware that things may not go as planned, though that can happen wherever you go, of course. Wherever you venture in 2016, give yourselves permission to get off the tourist track, at least for a little while. You’ll be glad you did.
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Fun in the snow off the ski slopes
It may be Christmas week, but we’re as far from a mall and city crowds as we can get. We’re hiking the Crawford Trail, the longest continually used trail in the country, snow crunching under our feet
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Best of Taking The Kids | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Weekly Column
The sights, sounds and scents of Tokyo, Japan
It is eight in the morning and we are a few blocks from the hotel at Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji Fish Market, Japan’ largest. More than 15,000 people work here; international tourists line up in the early hours of the morning for the chance to watch the famous fish auctions,
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Taking the Kids to a galaxy far, far away … with Disney
I’m speechless. You would be too with a menacing Darth Vader haranguing you behind his black helmet and costume. But then I laugh and we pose for a picture. This is Disneyland, after all, at its immersive best.
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Finding gifts for your favorite travelers this holiday season
This year, I hope everyone gets something they can use on their next trip, wherever they want to go, even if they are simply heading to a nearby city.
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Families & Groups | Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
Where holiday lights build family traditions
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.
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Volunteering on Vacation: Memorable Adventures from Family Trips
When the two Whitaker teens talk about their holiday trip to Tanzania two Christmases ago, it’s not the animals they saw on safari that proved the most memorable, as amazing as the elephants and giraffes were. It’s how they helped a small unofficial orphanage.
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To Montana, which offers outdoor fun all year
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.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
So much invention in Seattle: Inspiration for Kids
The Museum of History and Industry, now in the historic Naval Reserve Armory at Lake Union Park, boasts the largest heritage organization in Washington State with nearly 4 million artifacts. It is a good place to start any family visit to Seattle.
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Baseball teaches an important American history lesson in Kansas City
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.
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Ireland’s Ashford Castle: very popular with American families
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.
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To a Colorado resort that’s no longer hard to reach
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
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Backyard Vacations | Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
Time to celebrate Halloween everywhere all month
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.
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Get away from electronics to a fall festival or pumpkin patch
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.
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A haunting visit to an elementary school in Hiroshima
I’ve got chills as Amber Whaley, 12, and her friend Miko Uno, 11, lead us into their elementary school’s basement. This was all that was all that remained of the Honkawa Elementary School when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima 70 years ago this past August 6.
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Getting out of the car at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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.
