Food Tours. I recommend Foods of New York (NYC), but most major cities have them.
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I was just going to post that! Great minds
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We took my Texan relatives to Quebec City in December, 2017. Being from Maine, I figured December would be bearable because it’s usually not as cold as January or February. Ha!! It was their coldest December since 1917. 18 below zero and windy. I will never forget that cold.
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Cooking class? That’s been rated highly by some of our college-aged family members on some recent family trips.
Going to Lake Placid and taking advantage of some of the options there, like bobsledding, luge, or biathlon would be another possibility: https://mtvanhoevenberg.com/things-to-do/
Ziplining? Here’s a winter option in the northeast: https://alpinezipline.com/tours/winter-zipline-tour/
Then there are lodge stays that will usually have a variety of activities from skiing, snow tubing, horseback riding, ice fishing, karaoke, bonfires, murder mystery nights/weekends, etc.
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The raspberry wine at the Thousand Islands Winery is probably the only wine I’ve ever truly loved. Absolutely delicious.
It’s been a good, long minute since I was up there, but there’s a go-kart race track that could be a fun family competition.
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I have not done one of these but I have a friend who has and they loved it! It is called “Mystery picnic” - where you start at a store and get clues as to where to go next and what you are picking up and end up with a full picnic basket for a picnic!! How It Works - Mystery Picnics - AmazingCo
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Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa or Québec Winter Carnival (Feb 7-16)
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If you’re into architecture, you could go out to western pa and stay at Polymath Park and visit the other Frank Lloyd Wright houses. Pretty part of the country for hiking, biking, and white water rafting. You could make it less expensive by not staying at Polymath.
Friends have had a lot of fun at Lake Placid in winter. Still on my list, so I can’t personally recommend it.
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Where do you live? The architecture boat tour of Chicago was fun. Season subscription for a museum where they live? Theater tickets? Train ride and stay at Grand Canyon? Private tour of Yellowstone? Lodging and pass for a national park near wherever they live? Frank Lloyd tour was fun too.
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I’m planning a train ride and stay at the Grand Canyon sometime soon!!!
What’s extra fun is that there is a historic train from Williams, AZ to the Grand Canyon. I think you get a choice of either an 1920s car or a 1950s one!
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Do they love hall of fames? Baseball, Football, Basketball, Tennis - all in driving range.
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Food tours, cooking tours, a boat ride, parasailing, zip lining, horseback riding, rock climbing in a gym or in a park?
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Thanks for some additional good thoughts! Our kids have been to Lake Placid many times, and they’ve been ziplining and on shark/seal tours (we go to the Cape every summer), so that’s not novel enough. Too far from the Grand Canyon, cost-wise, but it’s on the list for down the road!
A “dude ranch” could be fun/different, and I’m looking into the sled dog experience someone mentioned. I saw an indoor sky diving experience in NYC that I’m looking into as well, but sounds kind of “gimmicky”…We probably wouldn’t “do” whatever activity it is until late May or June based on college/work schedules…
I’ve done indoor skydiving - fun but nowhere near the real thing. Actual skydiving is way cooler. You could do that as a family!
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My youngest is begging to sky dive, but it terrifies me! Now, I could not do it, but I can’t seem to get past the danger of it and feel like I’d be an absolute wreck about their safety/their chutes opening, etc.
If it’s a family gift and not everyone is into it, scrap it. My h wouldn’t do it either.
I was 40 when I went and had to tell my parents after the fact. My h said he wished our D had done the same thing when she went in college.
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My husband went skydiving once, and ended up hospitalized for a week. Just sayin.
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Same for me, except I was 30. Other people knew, though!
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Can you please define what you think is a price that doesn’t break the bank? Some of what has been suggested are costly. Not as expensive as a Paul Gaugan cruise, but still not a bargain.
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It’s fun but (as an ex skydiver who has taken their family to do this a couple of times) it’s over quite quickly and I think you can get much better bang for your buck on other experiences.
(Fun fact related to this: the SJ in my username stands for Sky Junkie)
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