Incredible family vacation destinations and trip ideas you’ll love in 2025 (based on our own travels!)
The Best family vacation destinations in the world according to us! Our roundup of the best vacation spots for families and best family holiday ideas based on our own travels.
Planning our family vacations is my favorite pastime.
I am the mom who looks at destination ideas for the next holiday while on the plane for the last one and yes! I am also the mom who already has things planned for a year from now, so I have something to look forward!
Because we travel with the kids so much and so often, friends often ask me for my recommended family vacation destinations and I am very happy to oblige with ideas and tips based on what worked for us.
Today, I share these ideas with you!
On this page, you find my recommended family destinations based on our own travels with our kids. As you will see, I have sometimes combined places, for instance Spain and Portugal, if I felt that they worked well as one trip. Of course, each of this destinations also works well by itself!
I hope it will inspire you and help your family travel plans! Happy planning!
Good to know! All these ideas are based on our own travels and experiences. Photos are my own.
On the fence about taking the kids on international travels? Read these family travel quotes and find all the encouragement and inspiration to pack up and go!
Italy – perfect vacation destination for all types of families
I am completely biased on this one (I am Italian, from Rome) but Italy truly is one of the most family-friendly destinations in the world!
In Italy, you can have a sea and sun holiday, you can have a hiking adventure, you can binge on city exploring or you can do a bit of everything, all without taking off work more than a couple of weeks!
Even better, you can keep your Italy family adventure eco-friendly if you use the excellent train system that criss-crosses the country.
We travel around Italy four of five times each year and we always find plenty of things to do with kids: farm visits, car museums, craft workshops, cooking classes, adventure parks.
There is so much more for kids that classic itineraries made for adults suggest!
💡 You can find tips and suggestions on what to see in Italy with kids in the following article: How to plan a family trip to Italy – step by step guide
Or follow our recommended itineraries here >>> 10 days in Italy with kids
👪 Top tip: for first-hand, personalized tips for visiting Italy with kids, join my Facebook group about Italy with Kids Travel Tips and Ideas – it is free, super friendly and packed with info. I would love to see you there!
Ireland – the perfect family road trip destination
Ireland is our second home. We spend a large part of the year in Dublin and, whenever school allows, we hop in the car and explore.
The country has so much to offer to road trippers and there are so many kid friendly destinations, it’s wonderful for children!
In Ireland you have petting farms, family friendly hikes, stunning castles, horse riding opportunities, adventure parks… all in beautiful, green, pristine surroundings.
Plus, it is English speaking! So if you are tackling a first international trip with kids, it can be an easy, mellow first experience!
💡 You can find here >>> our recommended Ireland itineraries for 7, 10 days, 2 weeks in Ireland
Greece with kids – we LOVED this one!
Italy and Ireland are my first love when it comes to family vacation destinations but after we spent time in Greece WOW, we could’t get over how beautiful and kid friendly it was!
Greece is a huge destination and, a little like Italy, a country you can visit many times and discover under different angles.
In our experience, two options work well: taking a family road trip and / or exploring the islands.
I cannot tell you which option we love more because they are both excellent!
The islands and teh coast is fantastic for kids, as the Greek sea is clean, calm and warm.
The mainland is also fantastic for children and the archaeological sites, the restaurants and the accommodation options we found are all super welcoming with kids.
If you are planning a trip to Greece with children, have a look at:
💡 Our selection of the best Greek islands for families (some better for all inclusive style vacations, others for independent travel, which is more our style)
💡Our recommendations for visiting Athens with kids, with also the hotels we loved and our itinerary
💡 Our exact itinerary in Peloponnese
Marrakesh, Morocco
If you are looking for a short break from Europe, to get a glimpse of a different culture, an immersion in stunning scenery and an al all around relaxing yet ‘adventurous trip, I highly recommend Morocco!
We have been just this year and got a fantastic vacation over 5 days: short and sweet, left us with a desire to go back for more!
We found Marrakesh to be a pleasant, fascinating and easy city to explore with kids. We found the people to be welcoming and the atmosphere tourist friendly and were happy to discover that many tours depart form the city, allowing to get a sense of what lies beyond its limits without having to change accommodation or drive.
Even in few days, we enjoyed cultural visits, hiking, market visits, rooftop terraces and even a hammam!
We loved every minute of it and now consider Marrakesh one of the very best family vacation destinations of all!
💡 You can find here our 5 day Marrakesh itinerary with teens.
California – the destination travel dreams are made of
I grew up with a real California dreaming heart and when I finally set foot in this gorgeous state, the beauty of it surpassed my wildest dreams.
So much so, that since that first trip I have Brough the kids to California 4 times!
During these trips, we have visited San Francisco, Yosemite, Los Angeles, San Diego Area, Big Sur and Joshua Tree and we genuinely couldn’t pick a favorite as all is just so beautiful.
Beaches, child friendly museums, Disneyland, junior ranger programs in parks: California is basically a massive playground for families in the best way possible!
💡 You can find here >>> our favorite things to do while on vacation in California with kids (north) and favorite things to do while on vacation in California with kids (south)
California is breathtakingly beautiful, varied, interesting, family-friendly and easy to explore: what is not to love?
Utah and Arizona with kids
Arizona Utah is one of the most scenic states in the USA and a fantastic place to visit with kids, as a destination it itself or as part of a wider road trip in the SouthWest of the United States.
Coming from Europe, the red rocks and desert landscapes of this area are otherworldly and new, as well as stunning, and we found the whole state super easy to explore and incredibly family friendly.
We explored by car and encountered lovely family accommodation, friendly rangers, cool animals and a some of the most stunning natural scenery we have ever had the privilege of admiring.
A road trip through the stunning scenery of the Southwest of the US may well be the most beautiful family adventure you will ever take.
In Utah, we adored Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Park City an d and Monument Valley the most.
💡 Our favorite way to explore the area is by taking a family road trip: you can read about our fantastic Utah itinerary here.
In Arizona, we managed to experience the wonderful landscapes of the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley, family-friendly towns such as Flagstaff and Sedona and some impressive engineering sites: the Hoover Dam is incredible!
💡 You can follow our Southwest itinerary here to see how easy it is to visit these incredible places even with a reasonably short vacation timeline.
Yucatan, Mexico with kids
Yucatan, the Mexican peninsula stretching into the Gulf of Mexico, is a wonderful vacation destination for curious families and a perfect one to mix relaxation, beach time and cultural exploration.
We first visited this part of the world before the kids, on a long trip that also included Guatemala and Belize and we had no doubts: once we had kids, Yucatan was the place to bring them!
Blessed with white beaches and blue waters, Yucatan is often mentioned as a place with big resorts and all inclusive packages and indeed, it has that but it also has much more!
If you leave the built up area of Cancun, Yucatan has some of the best tropical beaches we have ever seen and a plethora of incredible archaeological ruins to discovers and water adventures to be experiences.
For a sea and sun vacation, we loved Isla Mujeres: with shallow waters, soft sand, palm trees and basically no cars, it is a real paradise with kids!
For beach and Mayan ruins, we choose wonderful Tulum which also allowed up to explore inland and sightsee in beautiful Chichen Itza and Merida. You can easily spend 1 or 2 weeks in this area only.
💡 You can find the list of our favorite places to visit in Mexico with kids here.
Quebec, Canada
Quebec was our first overseas destination with the kids and one we adored!
Kid friendly, beautiful and varied, Quebec has plenty to offer to familes with kids.
Our recommendation is to base your self in family friendly Montreal and explore from there.
The city itself has plenty for kids and nearby you have lovely Mont Tremblant national park, perfect for a getaway in nature camping (or in one of the great park resorts!)
💡 We stayed 2 weeks and loved exploring all the family friendly things to do in Montreal (click to read them all): the parks, science museum and the water parks (in summer) were perfect for us!
Spain and Portugal
If you dream of a family holiday in Europe that mixes city sightseeing, time at the beach and a little bit of adventure, then a rail trip through Spain and Portugal may just be the ticket!
Blessed with beautiful weather, great scenery and some of the best European cities to visit with kids, Spain and Portugal are super family-friendly.
We have been to both Spain and poetical with kids kids several times and favorite of ours are Lisbon (those kid-friendly museums! Those views!), Cascais (that sea!), Barcelona (all!) and the whole of Andalucia!
You can tackle this trip in several ways. My favorite is to plan time in Madrid (3 days to allow for a day trip to Toledo), Barcelona (3 full days) and Andalucia (5 days) for the Spain portion of the trip.
And for Portugal I love the area of Lisbon the most where I recommend to spend 3/4 days.
💡 Family travel resources for Spain and Portugal are here:
Belgium, Paris and the Netherlands
If you want to show your kids some of the most beautiful European capitals without driving or covering excessively long distances, then this train journey in the Netherlands, Belgium and Paris is just what you need.
We absolutely adore this part of Europe and train travel; so this itinerary has a very special place in our hearts. It is also an itinerary that we know well since we lived in Brussels, and have friends with kids both in Paris and Amsterdam!
Each of these destinations has plenty to offer to kids and their parents and know it well since we go often and can personally vouch for it!
If you wanted to see them all in one go, you can do so in about ten days: we like to divide them as 4 Amsterdam, 2 Brussels, 4 Paris.
💡 You can find family city guides for this area here:
Switzerland – one of the best family vacation destinations for mountain lovers
Families who love outdoor pursuits should put one place on their family vacation list: Switzerland!
Located in the heart of Europe and blessed with some of the most beautiful mountain scenery you can dream of, Switzerland is the perfect family destination for sporty kids, both in summer and winter!
💡 Some of our favorite resources for family travel in Switzerland are:
France
France is a wonderful destination to visit with kids and a very east to one to explore by car, train and bikes!
Depending on the time you have and the type of experience you are after, you can have a lovely sea and sun vacation in the French Riviera, perfect to relax on beautiful beaches and go sightseeing with the kids.
If you prefer discovering small villages and take in the charming colors of some of the best lavender flower fields in the world, you will be happy to know that Provence is a light with kids and if you love castles, then a road trip to the Loire Valley with kids will be fun for the whole family!
If you have enough time, you can even see them all planning a full family road trip around France.
Find our guide to the best places to visit in France with kids
The UK
The UK is a fantastic place to visit with children as you can mix and match activities that range from incredible city adventures in London, to wild and outdoorsy endeavour in stunning Wales, castle exploration in Scotland, and easy and fun days at the theme park!
I am particularly fond of spending time in London with kids, but we also loved Cornwall with its pretty beaches and castles, Wales and while the weather wasn’t on our side when we went to Scoltand, we also had the vest time in Edinburgh and surrounding mountains! If you have a car, a two week road trip around the UK I am sure would show you how the UK truly is one of the best family vacation destinations you can wish for!
I hope you enjoyed this list of great family vacation destinations and ideas around the world and it inspired your family travels. Safe travels!
Great Family vacation destinations – pin this!
This post was first written in 2019 and has now been updated in 2025 with photos and experiences from our recent trips.
