Family Vacation Ideas

Summertime gets everyone thinking about taking a family vacation. And it should. With the break in traditional routines and the relatively good weather that most locations have during the summer months, it’s a perfect time to take your family out exploring. Plus, summer days are long and they are enjoyed most when filled with activities which is what vacations are all about. But where should you go with your kids and what should you do during your family vacation?

• Major vacation destinations – This is the most obvious choice for a family vacation but it’s tried-and-true for a good reason. Major family vacation spots like Disneyland are geared towards making family travel affordable and convenient. Similarly, outdoor recreation spots like Yellowstone have their own routines and deals. Families that aren’t too interested in doing a lot of creative planning on their own might find that this is a good way to go for a summer vacation.
• Parents’ hometown – Sure, there’s a good reason that you left your hometown but there are probably also a lot of great reasons to return, at least for a family vacation. Your kids will get a kick out of seeing the places that you used to spend your long summer days. And if you’ve still got friends and relatives in the area, you can probably make this kind of trip cheap. You might even get built-in babysitters so you can get a day of summer vacation to yourself!
• Road trips – Some families love ‘em and some families hate ‘em but road trips are a family vacation that will never be forgettable. If you aren’t exactly an RV family, pick a nearby destination and a scenic highway with lots of roadside attractions. This will make the drive pleasant and give you plenty of little stopping points to break up the trip. Spend the hours in the car playing road trip games and just having conversations with your kids. A family vacation on the road is one that lets you really get to know each other.

• The next state over – If you don’t have a lot of time for your family vacation or don’t want to go too far from home for one reason or another, consider taking a family vacation to a neighboring state. By leaving the state, everyone feels that they had a “real” vacation but you don’t have to travel very far. Plus, this gives you the chance to find the differences in an area that’s probably relatively similar to your own.
• Stick to your city – You don’t actually have to leave you city to have a family vacation. Instead, plan a weekend vacation in your own spot. You can stay at a hotel if you want. But make it a point to only go and do things in the city that you haven’t done before, and that you would do as a tourist in the area. Find the museums, historic landmarks and spots in nature that you’ve never seen and go check them out. Be sure to take lots of pictures since that helps give home that vacation kind of fell.
• Vacation at home – If you’re really on a budget, maybe you shouldn’t leave your house at all. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a great family vacation. The key to this kind of trip is to indulge in imagination. Working parents should take two or three days off. Telephones, Internet and other daily distractions should be put out of sight. And then the world is yours for exploring. Fill the house with travel brochures, encyclopedias, maps and picture books about other places. Have picnic lunches in your backyard. Dress up in different clothes for each spot that you’re learning about together as a family and be sure to take photographs. Be silly and have fun. You can travel the world without ever leaving home.

A summer family vacation is a unique experience and one that you can all go back to again and again in your minds. Whether you make it a full-blown Disney vacation, head off on a scenic road trip where you get to know each other and the landscape of an area or visit the world through books and pictures in your own home, you can make the days of summer seem more fun-filled with a family vacation.