Where To Go On Vacation: How To Pick The Very Best Family Vacation Destination
We’re sharing some ways to find your family’s answer to where to go on vacation. Because scheduling the time and saving the money to travel is no easy task. So when you’re ready to plan a vacation, picking the best family vacation destination is so important.
It’s no secret the state of travel is a bit precarious these days due to the pandemic. And that has many of us missing the days of getting away on a great vacation. While traveling might be something some are not yet comfortable with or something that’s just not possible to many locations, planning where to go on vacation when you are ready to travel might be just what the doctor ordered.
Knowing that we will get back to the things we love and helping to remind our kids of that can provide comfort and a sense of normalcy when things are a little, well, uncomfortable and not so normal. Because there will come a day when the pandemic is a thing of the past. (You might want to repeat that last sentence 5 times out loud. Every day. And some days hourly.)
And when that day comes, how great would it be to have your family’s choice for the best family vacation destination right there, practically in your back pocket, ready to become the site of your family’s next great adventure?
Here are 3 steps to finding the best vacation destinations for your family.
Step 1 To Finding the Best Family Vacation ideas: 5 Easy Questions
It is, after all, a big wide world out there. So when it comes to where to go on vacation, you have so many choices. Start by eliminating some to come up with the best family vacation ideas for your family.
All those choices can be a little overwhelming and it’s easy to fall down the travel rabbit hole when you’re researching family vacation ideas. It can be helpful to narrow down those choices before you delve into too much googling, pinning, and browsing.
Here are 5 basic questions you can ask yourself first:
Do you have a budget in mind for the trip? If so, what is it? Knowing if this is going to be a splurge or if you want to find a great vacation deal can keep you from logging time looking at a 5-star place on a not-so-5-star budget. Don’t let your budget discourage you though. Instead use it to guide you to the travel sites that offer vacation deals if that’s more in line with your budget.
Do you want to drive or fly? Knowing if it’s a family road trip that you’re looking for or if you’ll be taking to the friendly skies can narrow your results as well and get you focused on the best spot for your family vacation.
Do you want to travel domestically or internationally? International travel is often a bucket list trip for many families but there are also lots of great places in the U.S. to visit. Knowing ahead of time which trip you hope to take can make your search results more relevant.
Do you want to revisit a place you’ve already been or go someplace entirely new? There are lots of great family vacation destinations that are worth revisiting again and again. And going back to a favorite vacation spot can mean you get to do all the things you loved the first time and find a few new favorite things to do. Yet, exploring entirely new places is one of the great things about travel too. Deciding on which you prefer helps focus you for the next steps.
What time of year do you want to travel? Many of the best family vacation destinations require visiting at a certain time of the year to take full advantage of what they have to offer. So having a general idea of when you want to take your trip will help you find the best place to vacation with kids.
Step 2: Figure out your Travel Goals with some Fun Activities
I believe travel is learning and there is so much you can gain from a family vacation. Knowing ahead of time what you want to gain from your trip can help you pick the perfect destination. We’ve got 2 fun activities to help!
Are you looking for a beach trip or a mountain get-away? Or maybe it’s the lure of a city that’s calling your name? Is it a cultural experience you’re in the mood for or do you need family vacation ideas centered around pure relaxation?
Defining your travel goal is helpful in picking a vacation destination. Try these 2 fun travel activities to get focused on your goal:
20 Question Travel Game - Choosing the best family vacation destination requires asking the right questions and our family has come up with some fun ways to do that. We made finding family vacation ideas a game. We ask each other questions about our favorite things and spark discussions on where we want to go next.
Travel Vision Board - I’m also a big fan of a vision board. Vision boards are great because they can be done by both kids and adults. There are no “wrong answers” on a travel vision board so creating one really helps kids and adults get creative and come up with fun family vacation ideas. Think of it as the answer to the travel version of “writer’s block”.
Step 3 to the best family vacation ideas: Use Great Travel Resources
Now that you’ve narrowed down your choices and gotten focused on which family vacation ideas would be a good fit for your family, it’s time to put in the research. And that requires visiting some great travel websites and blogs.
When looking for the best family vacation destination for my family, I often turn to Expedia and their affiliated sites, like Travelocity, first. They have an extensive list of available flights, hotels, tours, and fun things to do with kids. Only after I’ve narrowed down some choices, I compare reviews on competing sites, like TripAdvisor, Booking.com and Priceline.
It’s important to view all the big travel sites with a discerning eye though. So many travel review sites have been dinged in the past for being unreliable due to falsified reviews. Remember to look for patterns in reviews - reviews that consistently point out the same positives and negatives as opposed to reviews that highlight a specific incident that may have been unique to that visitor and not reflective of overall quality.
I’ve found comparing reviews across various sites is especially important for sites like Airbnb, where travelers are discouraged from leaving negative reviews because the property owner can review guests in return, preventing a future owner from accepting a guest’s reservation request. Many Airbnb rentals are listed on larger sites too though, like Expedia and Booking.com so cross-comparisons are possible. You might be surprised how different the reviews are across the different sites.
Another way to combat fake reviews, is to look beyond the big travel websites. Smaller sites, a.k.a. travel blogs, can also be a great source for finding real opinions on where to go on vacation and what to do once you get there. Although many travel bloggers are compensated by the hotel or service they’re reviewing, all travel bloggers have a desire to build their audience, which means they have to prove themselves as a trusted resource. Travel bloggers know that after being led astray by one not-so-honest post, readers aren’t going to come back to their site.
Travel bloggers are also often niche-focused meaning they’re not trying to appeal to every traveler, but rather travelers who like to vacation like they do. Finding a travel blogger who fits your family can be a great way to narrow down the best family vacation destinations for your specific family.
Some great examples of travel blogs I like include Disney Tourist Blog and Our Family Passport. Disney Tourist Blog provides real opinions on all things Disney. The owner of the site, Tom Bricker, includes not only the pros of what he’s reviewing but also the cons, for truly honest reviews. And Our Family Passport is a blog that provides reviews on various destinations as well as lots of family travel topics. They’ve never led me in the wrong direction.
Of course, when looking for truly sincere recommendations and reviews on travel, I happen to think you stumbled upon a really great choice here at Castles and Carpools too. I’m committed to helping families travel and learn by being completely honest. While you won’t find a lot of negative reviews on my site (I prefer to skip the bad mojo and just not write much about the places we haven’t exactly loved), you’ll only hear about places we’ve personally been ... and have loved.
Readers get info they can trust also because I don’t personally benefit from compensation from the places I recommend - all proceeds go to charity. And as much as I love the charities I support, I know the best way to keep giving back to them is to provide super honest reviews, tips and recommendations so people just like you keep coming back. (You can read more about our charities HERE.)
Whether it’s my site that helps you find your family’s next vacation spot or you travel more like another great blogger and they help you find your perfect post-pandemic trip, I wish you happy (and safe) travels!
