Augustine has traveled a lot. I think by the time she was 4…right before the pandemic…she’d already taken 200 flights. She’s traveled more before 1st Grade than I did in my entire childhood – visiting 35+ States and about half-dozen international destinations.
I think it’s cool. I know it’s unique. I really value every time we head out to experience the world.
But some of these trips…they’re better than others. Not that our family has ever really had a bad trip, but some of our vacations are just so amazing or so cool that they stand out, and usually these top-of-the-top trips aren’t where we expect them to be.
I’ve shared some of these with some of you, but I’ve never put the whole list together before. So, I wanted to put this all in one place for you. The next time you have a few days off and are up for an adventure…this is where you should go.
Podcast Special
When I think back on my life, I honestly could never have imagined doing the stuff that we’ve done or the way that we’ve done it. But we’re not alone….
For almost a decade now, I’ve heard about this guy “Chris” (how come every Chris I meet is so cool?). Well, this Chris grew up with a castle in his backyard, is known to many as the Captain, blacksmiths, threw a party showing ’10 Things I Hate About You’ at the movie’s high school, and has 2 kids.
*I’ve also been told that he and I are a lot alike – which I’m pretty psyched about.
I’ve never met Chris….but when I was putting my list together, I reached out to see what his ‘Top 5 Kids Destinations’ are, and, turns out, he was up for sharing.
This podcast episode is the best 30/40 parent yet. For real, no hype.
When I started talking with Chris we did so much more than just surprise each other with our lists (his was totally unexpected). We we through how we travel, how manage airplanes with kids & what we look for while trip planning and booking tours.
This stuff is only on the Podcast, so give this show a listen.
Anyway…here’s my list of the best places to travel with kids. Each of these is easy to access, full of touchable/tangible memories, and perfect for families (but, these spots don’t ignore the adults).
The Best Places to Travel with Your Kids
Road Tripping Around Baton Rouge
Of all my recommendations, I feel like this one is always the most surprising because most people think of Louisiana as New Orleans (and I might even go as far as to say – no one thinks of Louisiana outside of the French Quarter). I’ve done several drives through the state though, and, while there is so much to see, the area in and around Baton Rouge is my favorite.
For this trip, we went out in late Summer/Early Fall and set our home base as Baton Rouge. Now, in Baton Rouge, the Old State Capitol is a must…it’s this classic castle looking building with amazing stained glass. But, most of our visit was spent in the town and parishes surrounding the city.
We saw and did so much, but the 3 experiences that were the most memorable are :
- Ghost Tour at Myrtle Plantation – Where Augustine left very upset that she didn’t see a ghost.
- Kliebert’s Alligator Farm – Ok, so, we hit this place at this really weird time, and ended up being taken back to the owner’s house where Augustine road a tortoise while feeding goats. They also had a bunch of baby alligators with painted toenails that we all got to hold. Then we were driven back to the farm where Augustine and I were wrapped in boa constrictors.
- Global Wildlife Center – All of this was great, but this was the best. We sprang for the private tour, where basically we were loaded down with corn, put in the back of a jeep and taken out to feed giraffes and bison and emus for an hour. The giraffes were intense – don’t get between a giraffe and her corn.
St. George Utah
When most people think Southern Utah – they think Zion National Park. St. George is the largest city near Zion and works really closely with the park, and, while we’ve been to Zion with Augustine a few times, the trip I’ll never forget didn’t include the National Park at all.
**This was also our first time traveling with other families…which is huge. Growing up, I never even imagined families could go on trips together, and, now, we go on a few multi-family trips a year. It’s the best way to travel with kids.
So, instead of going to Zion, we started out at Snow Canyon State Park – specifically the petrified sand dunes. If you’ve never seen these, they’re kind of an easy to access shiplap-py hilly area.
It’s a place where the kids can just go off on their own.
It’s not like they ran away from us, they just started exploring, and this was a place that felt safe enough but also sorta dangerous so they could each figure out their own level of adventure. Augustine went much further outside of her comfort zone than I thought she could because she was following the other kids. It was a real growing trip, and I think we were only there for like 3 days.
We didn’t only do Snow Canyon – we kayaked (renting a solo kayak for Auggie) in Gunlock State Park and swam at Sand Hollow State Park. Each place was a unique experience and watching Augustine was like watching a seed germinate in hyperlapse.
Alberta Road Trip
Ok, we did this as part of a partnership with Canada By Design, so we didn’t have a ton of input about what we were going to do on our tour. When we got our itinerary, it was very dinosaur heavy. Which, dinosaurs are fine – but I was thinking ‘how many days do I need to see Dinos’.
Well, apparently at least 3, and they’re cool enough that we’re going to go back.
**In total, this was a week long trip. There’s a ton to see in Alberta – including Waterton (a magical little town on its own), but for this I’m just going to talk about the dinos.
The most memorable stop, the one that I talk about at least once a month, was Dinosaur Provincial Park. And what made this so amazing is…this place is littered with fossils – dinosaur bones.
There’s one point of the tour – this sandy overlook – where everyone gets out and the guide literally just says “pick up anything that looks like a bone – lick it – if it sticks to your tongue, you found a fossil”. It was just unbelievably cool – and all three of us found one.
Oklahoma City, Ok
Ultimately I just love Oklahoma City and think everyone should visit. We’ve taken Augustine twice.
Of all the places we’ve traveled, including cities like Austin or Portland, Oklahoma City feels the coolest. This city is always opening up new things to see or do, and the people that live there seem to be really creative. So, I just love the city and love the vibe…we actually talked for awhile about moving there.
As for OCK, there’s so much to do and experience. But, looking at this as a family destination – there are two awesome benefits that make visiting really easy.
- It’s Compact – You can get pretty much everywhere quickly and many times you can get to where you want to go on foot from your hotel…or there is a pretty great bike rental company we’ve used – Ride OKC.
- There are Great Kid things – The most overly-talked-about-site is the riverboat ride in brick town, but for us – taking Augustine when she was 3 – this was her first baseball game, her first ropes course, her first giant ferris wheel. And when we went back when she was older, we were able to walk to the botanical gardens, see concerts, do a cookie-bike-tour-tasting…so much stuff.
Fairytale Road in Germany
This was our first Europe trip with Augustine, and it was a road trip through iconic fairy tale destinations through mainly north west Germany – following a lot of the places that the Grimm’s brothers gathered their stories from or had lives. So like – I just couldn’t believe I’d never heard of this road trip before.
We started in Bremen, which is from the Bremen Town Musicians and from there we slept in Rapunzel’s Castle, we visited Hamelin- where the Pied Piper actually took place. (yeah, that’s a real story – the kids actually disappeared)
**Side Note : Yeah…we brought like all these princess costumes and dressed up at the different castles we visited.
We did this when Augustine had just turned 4, and it was pretty epic – plus she was really into dressing up as the princesses.