FamilyTravelForum.com - The Complete Idiots Guide to the Best Family Destinations

The Complete Idiots Guide to the Best Family Destinations — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work

Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "The Complete Idiots Guide to the Best Family Destinations" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

1234567...99

Table of Contents

For my family, who has taught me so much about what makes travel fun.

Introduction

If you have one child or many or have just been put in charge of organizing the family reunion, youve probably realized that some aspects of vacation planning are harder than they need to be.

Thats why weve included a wide variety of what we call the best destinations and reviewed them in enough detail so you and your family can decide together whether they sound like the best for you.

As frequent family travelers ourselves, we know how much weve benefited from the tips and suggestions passed on by other families who have been there and done it before us. Thats the kind of useful information we hope to share with you, in a simple and easy-to-use format.

How This Book Is Organized

Because many of you will plan road trips (and will need an attraction or two to pacify backseat travelers) or may look for a quick weekend away to escape the grind of school and work, we have organized the book into parts by the following major geographic regions:

Part 1: The Northeast: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, D.C.

Part 2: The South: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia

Part 3: The Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin

Part 4: The Southwest: Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas

Part 5: Mountain States: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming

Part 6: The West: California, Nevada, and Hawaii

Part 7: The Northwest: Alaska, Oregon, and Washington

Part 8: Mexico

Part 9: Canada

At the beginning of each part, weve included a map with all of our destinations identified to help you plan an efficient itinerary.

Getting the Most from This Guidebook

In our experience, the best family destination is a subjective choice based on your familys needs for a given vacation period. What makes the 200 or so destinations weve included in this book so special is their capacity to entertain, educate, and amaze all visitors, with a special knack for engaging kids.

As you read, youll notice that we selected our favorites in each region and grouped them by theme:

City Style best for an exciting city getaway

Cultural Appeal best museum, event, or bit of America, or folk culture

Living History best at illustrating history in a fun way

At the Beach best beaches for kids

Amusement Parks best midways, theme parks, and water parks

Outdoor Adventures best nature, ecological, and recreation areas

Within each theme, every destination review highlights its unique attributes, what ages its appropriate for, the best season to visit, and money-saving tips. The names of our favorite sights and nearby special attractions are bolded, and all the contact information you need to make plans is included.

So please dont take the 200 or so destinations we highlight as the very best for you; learn more about them, discuss them with your family, and use them to plan your itinerary.

Helpful Sidebars

Weve added the following sidebars with even more information:

VACATION PLANNING TIPS

In these boxes, youll find advice from other travelers you can use to plan a better itinerary or make better choices about the destination.

FELLOW TRAVELERS SAY

In these boxes, youll find quotes from journals, travel blogs, and posts from the Family Travel Forum community websites: www.FamilyTravelForum.com, www.travelBIGO.com, and www.FamilyTravelBoards.com.

TRAVELERS BEWARE!

Here, youll find hints to keep you out of trouble. Fortunately, there arent too many of these.

FUN FACTS

Here, youll find unusual factoids you can share with the kidsand maybe, if youre lucky, youll avoid hearing the familiar refrain, Are we there yet?

One Last Thing

One thing weve learned in our years of traveling is that, at every age and stage of life, kids needs and interests change. So we ask that you involve everyone in the family when planning your next tripand no matter how much time you have, cut your schedule in half. While kids needs may change, having time to enjoy each other without rushing off to the next attraction will always be what family vacations are all about.

We hope youll use this guidebook in the years to come, whether youre planning a trip for relaxation, hoping to enrich your kids curriculum, or just need a fun diversion on the way to Grammys.

Please keep in touch by writing us in care of the publisher or emailing us at FTF@familytravelforum.com with your suggestions and comments on how to make this guidebook better for the next edition!

Acknowledgments

First, Id like to thank my co-author, FamilyTravelForum.com, for the vacation stories and travel tips shared by millions of families in its travel community over the years. Special thanks go to the Family Travel Forum staffespecially editors Fran Falkin and Jillian Ryanwho worked long and hard with me to select the very best family destinations. We could never have assembled so much wisdom about family travel without their energy and input and the help of FTF interns Lee Dunlap, Emily Yanez, Maureen Linehan, Mia Kunst, and Regan Bozman. Id also like to express my appreciation for the guidance of Mike Sanders and his staff at Alpha Books and development editor Jennifer Moore, who made this book idiot-proof. And last, but certainly not least, to my own family who gave up several school vacations to help me get this manuscript in on time so you could have it to plan your own family vacation.

Trademarks

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be or are suspected of being trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Alpha Books and Penguin Group (USA) Inc. cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

Part 1

The Northeast

The modern history of the Northeast dates to the Pilgrims, who set sail for northern Virginia aboard the Mayflower on September 6, 1620. About nine weeks later, they spied the North American continent around Cape Cod and, sailing south to Virginia, were caught in rough seas. Fearing for their lives, the Pilgrims turned back and settled in Plymouth. Nearly four centuries later, the Northeast region includes the populous states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. As the birthplace of much of American history, the Northeast is one of the nations busiest four-season tourist destinations, with great cities, cultural marvels, beautiful beaches, amusement parks, and towering mountains for outdoor adventure.

Next page

1234567...99

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

Similar books «The Complete Idiots Guide to the Best Family Destinations»

Look at similar books to The Complete Idiots Guide to the Best Family Destinations. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.

Craig W Reid

The Professional Vacation Rental: Buying, Managing and Enjoying Your Home Away from Home--Profitably

Neil Raphel

The Complete Idiots Guide to a Successful Family Business

Jason Rich

The Everything Family Guide To The Caribbean: A Complete Guide to the Best Resorts, Beaches And Attractions - Island by Island!

Curtis Gillespie

Almost There

T. Brian Chatfield

Your First Cruise: A Complete Guide to Planning and Attaining the Perfect Cruise Vacation

DK Travel

Family Guide Florida

Jeremy Puglisi

Idiots Guides: RV Vacations

DK Travel

Eyewitness Travel Family Guide Florida

Eure

The Everything Family Guide To RV Travel And Campgrounds: From Choosing The Right Vehicle To Planning Your Trip--All You Need For Your Adventure On Wheels

Foreman

Cheap Vacation Ideas: A Complete Guide in How to Plan Your Perfect Summer Vacation

Kim Kavin

Everything Family Guide To Cruise Vacations. A Complete Guide to the Best Cruise Lines, Destinations, and Excursions

Kelly Merritt

The Everything Family Guide to Budget Travel: Hundreds of fun family vacations to fit any budget

Discussion, reviews of the book The Complete Idiots Guide to the Best Family Destinations and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.