Sly123, you were very fortunate to see Juneau in the sun. Nothing is more amazing, and some summers, rare. Another way to see SE Alaska is to take the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry system. There are naturalists on board. Get off at a few stops, rent a car, explore and then get back on. Juneau has wonderful day hikes, some right out of the city.
Go to southern Utah in early September, as there are national parks and hikes galore, and smaller crowds. Or farther north, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I camped with my daughter in Yellowstone in September. Mornings were cold but the days and smaller crowds a delight. If you are campers, consider a river trip together.
This may be a wonderful tradition hopefully with more than one iteration. Can each family member make bucket list?
Great thread! I am enjoying reading all of the responses as I am trying to plan a trip for my family of four in early May. My daughter will definitely join us and my son will also if what we do interests him - so of course I want it to be interesting! My daughter is content to sit on a beach, son likes that but also prefers some adventure.
When you post some of your suggestions, is it possible to include the resort or anything more specific? When I search on line I spiral into a black hole and get frustrated. It would be great to have a few starting points.
On the flip side, it would help to know if any of your adventures were total duds. Things that sounded like great ideas but flopped for whatever reason. My “children” are 21 and 26 if that helps with your suggestions.
It is also good to go to a place like NH or VT or the Berkshires or Maine and renting a condominium with swimming.health club, tennis facilities. You can frequently have the best of many worlds with hiking and touring and sophisticated restaurants in the Berkshires primarily as well as great art museums and if thinking about the summer, Tanglewood and many summer theater options. In my mind visiting Montreal and Quebec City are always great options also.
In my mind, you have to have some parameters to narrow places down. Maybe narrow down by choosing an area of the country that none of you have ever visited - east coast, west coast, midwest, southeast, southwest, Canada - east or west, tropical islands…
Thanks for all the suggestions! One of my D is looking for a place we can go where we can go snorkeling and other outdoor activities. Key West may be a possibility We typically like to try new places and not go back to a place we’ve been. If money and time were no object, I’d want to go to Australia or New Zealand
@MaterS We have been to Machu Picchu and Cusco and it was wonderful! It definitely should be on everyone’s bucket list.
I can’t remember what’s been suggested already, but Hawaii, especially Maui, has plenty of hiking and water sports, plus a little bit of night life.
We love grand cayman, east side, to get away from crowds, and we’ve enjoyed Turks and Caicos too.
I haven’t been to St. John for many years, but it’s a place I’d like to take my kids to see.
Person who was looking for recommendations, Beaches, and all inclusive, seems to be popular in Turks (I asked the cab driver) and there are only a few resorts on The quiet side of grand cayman.
We actually went to Las Vegas recently, but barely hit the strip. It’s a good jumping off places for lots of hiking, but you can’t snorkel there.
If you haven’t been to the Florida Keys, then you should go. Like a different world. Take passports if travel to Cuba is still permitted & of interest to you. (Probably have to depart from the Miami area.)
Ambergris Caye, Belize. Rent a house on the north end. Only way to get there is via boat. No roads. Beach is yours. For the active folks - deep sea (or reef) fishing, sailing, snorkeling (water is so warm and clear), scuba diving is excellent, day trip to Mayan ruins at Lamani - awesome.
Why about Tulum? I mean the village where the smaller hotels right on the Beach are…it’s gorgeous. You can go to see the Mayan ruins sort of near there too. It’s a nice place!
If your limited in time I’d look into locations that all of you can get to in the shortest amount of time. Costa Rica is wonderful but from most locations it involves several flights and with layover times it can be a long trip just getting to the destination. In Costa Rica we stayed at a great family resort called La Paloma. It requires a 2nd flight once you get to San Jose but it was wonderful.
We did a family trip to Ambergris Caye. We also did a sailing trip out of Placencia in Belize. We met a lot of people who spent several days at the beach and moved several days inland to the jungle. I didn’t love Ambergris Caye but many people love it and return year after year. With the reef you can’t really swim off the beaches and any excursions require a speed boat or flight to the mainland.
Tahiti and Fiji are nonstop from several west coast cities if your looking for something out of the ordinary. My friend recently went to Sayulita Mexico. It was low key and they had a great trip.
