Allison Tibaldi - Writer
Allison is a native New Yorker who's been lucky enough to have lived in Italy, Australia and Canada. She is fluent in Italian and Spanish, and
believes that language is a key to understanding other cultures. She frequently contributes travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they journey around the globe. She's also a senior writer at offManhattan.com, contributing car-free vacation ideas. Her background as an Early Childhood Educator gives her an added understanding of what it takes to travel with kids in tow, and she firmly believes that the most important part of education takes place outside of the classroom on the road. Her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine.
Submitted by Allison Tibaldi on
Newport, Rhode Island, has a reputation as a summer playground for the elite, but in truth, it makes for a great family vacation. Yes, you will see fabulous Gilded Age mansions on the cliffs and expensive sailing yachts in the harbor, but coastal Newport also has lots of budget-friendly family fun and even free things to do for kids of all ages.
See our Rhode Island Travel Guide for more local family activity ideas.
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Farm stays are an increasingly popular vacation option for families who want to enjoy the countryside and a back-to-nature experience. For New York City-area families, it only takes a few hours to arrive in the bucolic countryside, where the landscape seems thousands of miles away from the crowded subways and packed playgrounds.
For children who’ve never been around livestock, this form of agritourism provides a firsthand way to learn about the animal world in a casual fashion. It also often comes with a few more amenities than, say, a camping trip.
Though you're not required to work during your farm stay, many visitors find farm chores so different from their regular routines that they are eager to participate. Curious kids should relish the opportunity to gather eggs, watch cows being milked, and pick fresh produce.
If this sort of low-key, change-of-pace weekend sounds appealing to you, consider these eight farm stays near NYC. Our picks include properties in New York's Hudson Valley and Catskills, and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Find more family-friendly destinations in our Day Trips and Weekend Getaways Guide for Families.
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New York City and its surrounding suburbs have enough attractions to keep a family busy for a lifetime, but that doesn’t mean you should let its magnetic energy prevent you from enjoying one of these upstate New York getaways. The less visited northern and western parts of the state are loaded with fantastic attractions that present a feast of family fun. Whether you're seeking nature, culture, recreation, or a combination of all three, the Empire State won’t disappoint. Check out these nine kid-friendly upstate New York getaways and vacation destinations that will have the whole family saying “I Love New York.”
Find more regional travel ideas in our Weekend Getaways and Day Trip Guide.
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San Antonio has top attractions and activities to suit visitors of all ages and interests. History, culture, and five theme parks only minutes from town are just some of its glories. Despite being the second-largest city in the state, the center seems manageable and compact, making it perfect for a weekend trip in Texas with smaller kids. The jewel in San Antonio's crown is the River Walk, a world of its own below street level that connects many sites and attractions. And, of course, a visit to the Alamo allows you to see the location of the infamous 1836 battle that became a symbol of heroic resistance on the route to Texas independence. Modern indoor attractions, such as the Legoland Discovery Center and the DoSeum, mean there are many options for every family.
Read on for the best things to do in San Antonio with kids, plus kid-friendly restaurants and hotels. For more summer vacation fun, check out our Houston Day Trips and Family Getaways guide.
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The Pocono Mountains draw families to Pennsylvania from the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic, and beyond for their picturesque landscapes and outstanding family resorts. Plus, there are so many things to do in the Poconos with kids all year long, from skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing in the winter to hiking, swimming, and boating in the summer. Many Poconos resorts boast zip lines, adventure ropes courses, and other outdoor activities for families, plus indoor fun for kids like arcades and bowling. And some Poconos family resorts, including the popular Camelback Resort and Kalahari Resort Poconos, even have indoor water parks offering hours of splashy, weatherproof fun.
We've rounded up eight of the top Poconos resorts for families, including Poconos all-inclusive resorts, so you can see which one best fits your next Poconos family vacation.
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New York is a city of islands. Many of them, like Governors Island, City Island, Randall's Island, and even the infamous Rikers Island, get lots of attention, while low-key Roosevelt Island manages to slip under the radar. It’s time to get cozy with this narrow, 2-mile long sliver of land in the East River nestled between Manhattan and Queens.
The Roosevelt Island Tram is a familiar sight for many New Yorkers, and the aerial ride alone is great fun for kids, but what about when you disembark on the isle? Over 11,000 people call this peaceful community home. The vibe is urban, but there are open spaces perfect for rambling. Self-contained Roosevelt Island has its own school, newspaper, and library. My family and I found plenty of cool things to keep us entertained and we've pulled together our top picks for things to do on the isle.
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Do you feel as if you've memorized every inch of the American Museum of Natural History? As mammoth as it is, we've visited so frequently I think I could find even the most remote corner of it blindfolded. We've also explored every inch of the New York Hall of Science in Queens and liberated all the science at New Jersey's Liberty Science Center.
If your family's looking for new, fun universes to discover, now is the perfect time for a family-friendly day trip. Here are four science and natural history museums outside of New York City that make great day or overnight trips. Car-free families take note: You can reach all of them by bus or train.
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Spring break and summer vacation deals have stormed in like a March blizzard, and there are big discounts to be had for family travel.
Awesome water parks like Atlantis, the new Nickelodeon resort in Punta Cana, and Beaches Turks & Caicos are slashing prices on trips booked in March. Plus resorts in Orlando, Punta Cana, Vegas, and Hawaii are a few more bargain options on tap for early spring. If you prefer your water fun indoors, all Great Wolf Lodge properties are promoting legitimate spring savings. We even threw in a few East Coast spring ski resort bargains.
Read on for our roundup of family getaway deals, but act fast; these offers will be gone faster than a melting snowman on a hot spring day.
