Best Cities
for Family Vacations
Pack your bags, and get your frog legs ready to hit the road! We’re hopping to some of the best family vacation destinations around the U.S. and beyond. See our top cities for family vacations and get a jump on planning your trip.
Book Your Trip!Top Cities for Family Vacations
Planning Tips for Your Vacation
When You Visit
When to Visit
One of the most important decisions you can make in planning your family vacation is deciding when you will visit. It often determines which destination you choose, how many days you’ll need, how busy the major attractions are, what the weather is like, how hard it is to get dinner reservations and ultimately how much you pay. The busiest times to visit vary by destination. July, for example, is typically a busy time to hop to many top cities, but it can also be very hot.
Peak season to top cities for family vacations largely falls along the tadpoles’ schedules. Summers and holidays are often the busiest times to visit these top cities, but not always.
Where to Stay
Where to Stay
After deciding when to visit, deciding where to stay is the next biggest decision in planning a family vacation. While there are usually lodging options around the major city attractions at all price points, you will generally pay more the closer you stay to a major attraction. For larger cities, such as New York whose major tourist sites are more spread out, where you stay will determine how easy it is to get to the tourist attractions you want to see.
If you’re going to visit a theme park on your family vacation, you may make everyone hoppier if you do a split stay. Los Angeles and Orlando are ideal cities for split stays. In Los Angeles, families could spend part of their stay at a hotel near the beach and then a hotel in Anaheim near the Disneyland Resort. In Orlando, families who are doing an extended theme park vacation may want to stay at an official on-site hotel while they are at the Walt Disney World Resort and then hop to an official hotel at the Universal Orlando Resort for that part of their trip to take advantage of exclusive on-site hotel benefits.
What to See & Do
What to See & Do
The major cities such as New York offer some of the world’s most popular and most-visited tourist destinations. They are always crowded, so we recommend planning your day around one major tourist destination and arriving ahead of the official opening. Keep in mind that securing reservations for very popular activities, for example climbing to the crown inside the Statue of Liberty, must be done in advance.
All of the best cities for family vacations offer must-visit attractions, and you will always find the lowest crowds if you arrive ahead of the official opening and visit early. During the busiest times, attractions and tours can reach capacity or sell out. So it’s very important to outline what your priorities are at the outset and purchase at least those tickets in advance!
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