Selecting Travel Destinations With Children In Mind
Feb 28th, 2008 by Jimmy
When traveling with small children, try to keep your child’s likes and dislikes in mind when selecting a destination.
Some children will happily visit “boring old places,” but many will not. Most children, however, might be more willing to sit through the boring spots if they understand that they’ll get to go to “someplace cool” afterwards.
Remember to think through the destinations, too. While an amusement park—with the rides, costumes, food and fun—might sound great, children might disagree when they’re too small to actually ride the rides. How much fun is it to sit in a stroller while the older kids ride the roller coaster, or to wave to Mommy from Daddy’s arms on the shore as her paddle boat passes by?
The reverse is also true; while the younger children will happily explore a petting zoo or pony ride, the older children might spend the entire visit wishing they were anyplace else and hoping that pictures of them feeding a baby goat won’t get back to their classmates.
Some children will be thrilled by a museum, while others will not. The fossilized skeletons and stuffed hunting cats will fascinate some kids and terrify others. Many museums have interactive areas that provide a hands-on learning experience.
National parks and other outdoor attractions attract kids of all ages. The younger ones will appreciate the chance to run around and play, while the older ones might be interested in the science or history of the site.
Keep in mind the attitudes and feelings of children, too. They might say they’re looking forward to visiting a cave, until they realize that “exploring the cavern” actually means “climbing down into this really big really scary dark hole in the ground.” Sensitive children might just cut the exploring short when they see what it involves.
Although I love petting zoo’s and museums, a great place to have a family vacation is at the Grand Caymen Islands. Its a very family oriented destination where you can experience something out of the ordinary. Rather than roller coasters, try scuba diving. There are various things to do for any age.
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nice article.children enjoy places like zoo museums,but they have their own likes and dislikes.
Amazing article, i can only imagine the difficulties of taking a child on holiday with keeping them entertained, keeping them safe when you and Mum want to have some free time and keeping them feeling well with all that Jet lag!
children will like to explore new things and new ideas.many good points are mentioned here to be remembered while traveling with children.thanks.
ur better off leaving them home with a babysitter @_@
That’s why they have these beach resorts near national parks. The resort generally has a playground for children, the adults can relax on the beach and the older kids can go hiking or biking on the park trails.
BTW, this is my first comment here, so I don’t really know how things work around here. If you have any do’s and dont’s…
Children definitely have a short attention span which means you have to be prepared to move on to the next activity fairly quickly.
Agree that parks and outdoor attractions are a good option for kids.
I think child, very-very enthusiast for beach vacation. A great location is Caribbean area and Indonesia Island.
Hi,
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Great point! I find it’s important to get the kids excited about the vacation or else the entire vacation is usually a bust. There is no point going somewhere were the kids don’t want to go. I usually just go somewhere exotic, how could anyone (even stubborn little kids) complain about that! Bon voyage!
I really enjoyed this article because I think there is not enough material out there regarding travel friendly places for children other than Disney World! I think that instilling in children an appreciation of different cultures at a young age can last a lifetime.
Great post. I have a daughter, we usually visit places in Indonesia. Sometime she looks upset of the activity we done. It because we go to places that I like not she likes. thanks for the post.
It is not easy to travel with children. I prefer go traveling when they are a little bit older.
Without doubt, parks are the best places for kids. Besides being able to roam freely, within reason, big parks offer so many sights and sounds that will keep the kids occupied.
My kids just hate any trip that involves a museum. lol As long as we focus on what a kid would want to do, they usually end up happy.
:O)
My children prefer beach vacations to anything else… I guess that gets my vote as well…
Lanzarote Island (Canary Islands, Spain), was always interesting for families in terms of security and options for children entretainment. Our island, so, is mainly a family destination. Time with children is easy at the beaches, where the parents can relax meanwhile the children plays at the sand. Thematic parks like the mistery of the volcanoes ar the possibility to ride a camel, also makes this island very atractive for family tourism.
If you consider travelling to Europe then Denmark is an excellent places to bring your kids. Great beaches, the weather is pleasant and the a very safe country to travel in…
I traveled abroad to South Africa with my 2 kids and I found that a good tip is to do self drive tours with your kids. Rent a car and do and see exactly what you want to.
When traveling with my children, I see to it that It’s not only my wife and I would enjoy but also the kids. Nice post. My children usually enjoy zoo and theme parks.
What I always get is that my kids have trouble with the standard breakfasts that many hotels serve. So there’s trouble that starts before you even get out of the door. Anyway my solution is to always rent a house/apartment/villa, that way you get to taste both the local culture (supermarkets are excellent for getting into a country’s habits!!). Anyway that’s my two cents
I have a 7 months old baby. I have been thinking of going for holiday since pregnant. Not sure this is a good time to for vacation….. but I think what we need to do is to confirm that our baby is in well condition before we plan any holiday with her…and most important is to protect her from getting any sickness during the trip.
I think Bali is a good idea
There are beautiful beach and sunset in there. It can be romantic travel, and also a great travel with your kids ^.^
This area seems nice but there are also nice places all aourd Turkey. We advice all readers to visit and see how right i am
When I was a child my parents took me everywhere travelling including those boring spots like museums, statues, etc. But in hindsight I learned so much I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Point is take your children on both an exciting adventure and a learning experience, both at the same time.
I might of hated those museum trips, statues, etc., but reflecting back to when I was a kid, my parents gave me a real education. Having your kids skip all that will not make them more culturally aware people. See it all!
For a really enjoyable holiday with children it’s just got to be stress free as the number one consideration. Anything else comes second! If they want beach, give them beach…