USA Family Holidays

See also our guides to Florida with kids, southern California with kids and northern California including San Francisco. And don't miss our features on a family trip to South Dakota, New Orleans with kids and a Utah road trip with kids.

Best US National Parks with Kids

Head for the truly great outdoors in one of the USA’s National Parks, of which there are more than 50. Among the most famous are: Arizona’s Grand Canyon

• California’s Yosemite
• Colorado’s Rocky Mountain
• Yellowstone in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming

New York City and New York State with Kids

Enjoy the truly unique Big Apple experience – see our guide to New York City with kids. 

Niagra Falls

Experience the US (New York State) side of Niagara Falls and surrounding Niagara Falls State Park, taking the famed ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat ride or following the ‘Cave of the Winds’ walkway through North America’s most powerful waterfall. Visit the observation tower, discovery centre and aquarium, and ride the Niagara Scenic Trolley through the State Park.  

Massachusetts with Kids

Boston

Tour Boston, capital of Massachusetts, largest city in New England and one of the oldest cities in the USA. Join a guided tour to walk the 4km Freedom Trail, passing 16 museums, burial grounds, churches, parks and historic markers  for an overview of the American Revolution and beyond. Other highlights are the Boston Children’s Museum, the New England Aquarium and the Museum of Science.

Boston Harbour Cruise

Board a Boston Harbour Cruise, go for a whale-watching trip or take a high-speed ferry ride to Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod.   

Cape Cod

Discover Cape Cod, linked to the mainland via two bridges and great for biking (especially along the Cape Cod Rail Trail), whale- and dolphin-watching, fishing, boating, ocean beaches, and one-off clam shacks and seafood restaurants. There’s also the Cape Cod Children’s Museum. The east side of the island is the most dramatic, with dunes, open water and heavy Atlantic surf, while the main seaside settlement of Provincetown is quirky, colourful and LGBTQ+ friendly.  

Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard

Hop aboard a ferry to Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard, cruising on open water, lunching on an island and taking a bus or taxi tour, returning late afternoon.

Plimot Patuxet

Head for Plimot Patuxet, a complex of living history museums, including an authentic Wampanoag homesite, a full-scale reproduction of the Mayflower II and a re-creation of a 1627 English village.

Seafood in New England

Sample New England-style (milk- or cream-based) chowders and bisques and fresh seafood. Local delicacies include fried full-belly clams, lobster with drawn butter, lobster rolls, steamed clams served with dipping broth and drawn butter, oysters (raw, roasted, stewed, fried), and fish and chips. Cranberries are also big business in southeastern Massachussets and the Cape; some farms are open to visitors and there are cranberry harvest festivals each September and October.

Tanglewood

Take music-loving kids to Tanglewood in Lenox, summer home of the Boston Symphony, considered the best in the USA, Local resident James Taylor and other well-known artists perform regularly.  

Washington D.C. with Kids


Central Washington D.C

Learn about history in the US capital and seat of government, Washington D.C., with an array of free museums, including the multi-venue Smithsonian, plus the chance to see money being printed in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, view the Charters of Freedom (Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution) in the National Archives, ride to the top of the Washington Monument and take a whirl on the carousel on the National Mall.  

Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

Don’t miss the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum showcasing the history of aviation and space exploration, including the Wright Brothers 1903 Flyer and Lindbergh’s Spirit of St Louis, the Friendship 7 and Apollo 11 command modules.

Udvar-Hazy Center

Catch the shuttle to the Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport (actually in Virginia), with one hangar devoted to aviation exhibits, the other to Space, including the shuttle Enterprise. A tower allows you to see real-time air traffic at Dulles and experience a modern air-traffic-control facility.

Museums

See other museums including the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History, and visit Washington Cathedral with its window with a piece of moon rock embedded in it.  

Chicago with Kids

Central Chicago

Discover the third-largest US city, best viewed from the sky deck on the 103rd floor of its Sears Tower, after an elevator ride that will make you feel like you’re blasting off into Space.

Chicago Millennium Park

Head to the downtown Chicago Millennium Park for performing arts, music concerts, ice-skating and alfresco dining.

Try Chicago food

Don't miss iconic city food including zesty Chicago hot dogs (with green relish, mustard and sport peppers) and buttery deep-dish pizza.
 

Las Vegas with Kids


Don’t discount Nevada's biggest city as merely a gambling mecca - fun here for kids includes the DISCOVERY Children's Museum, the Las Vegas Science and Natural History Museum, the Adventuredome, a huge indoor theme park, and the Ethel M Chocolate Factory & Botanical Cactus Garden.

You can also ride one of the  epic zip-lines between various Las Vegas buildings, incluing SlotZilla at Fremont Street with its 'superhero' face-down flying position over Downtown with its party atmosphere.
 

Seattle with Kids

Explore Washington State’s birthplace of grunge and Starbucks with its lovely setting in the midst of water and mountains. 

The best things to do in Seattle with kids include browsing the long-established Pike Place farmers’ market and fish market and catching the views of Puget Sound, the Olympic National Park and Mount Rainier from the Seattle Waterfront

Ballard

Explore the old Scandinavian community of Ballard with its great restaurants, cafés, pubs and shops, then amble around quirky, artistic Fremont.

Seattle Space Needle 

Don’t miss the views from the top of the Seattle Space Needle or the interactive offerings of the Pacific Science Center with its planetarium and IMAX cinema.

Oregon with Kids

Portland

After Seattle, head for hip and eco-friendly Portland with its cycle paths, parks, bridges, coffeehouse, microbreweries and food carts, and its busy cultural scene.

Columbia Gorge and Multnomah Falls 

From Portland, take a tour of the Columbia Gorge and Multnomah Falls – a world of breathing canyon walls and rock formations, cascades and spectacular views.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse 

Head to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse in the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, offering tours.

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

Discover the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, the largest expanse of coastal dunes in North America. The very best way to explore them is on a guided sand rail ride - a speedy little dune buggy.

Crater Lake

Visit Crater Lake, which you can experience 53km Rim Drive, with many viewpoints. Or on a 1.7km hike down a switchback trail to the water’s edge. You can can swim, fish, take a boat tour or just eat a trail lunch on the shores of the late. Crater Lake National Park rangers are on hand to explain the eruption of Mount Mazama about 7,700 years ago and how the mountain collapsed, creating a 610m deep crater.

Tennessee and Alabama with Kids 

Nashville

Head to the country music capital Nashville, which also has plenty of other indoor and outdoor attractions for families, including the National Museum of African American Music, Tennessee State Museum, and several parks and water parks.

Explore Alabama's history

Discover Alabama with its American Civil Rights Movement history - its capital Montgomery houses the Rosa Parks Museum telling the story of the famous activist. 

Alabama State Lands Canoe Trails

There’s also outdoors fun in the form of the Alabama State Lands Canoe Trails, one of which offers the option of camping on floating platforms or on sandbars. 

Alaska with Kids

Cruise in nature

Hop aboard an expedition cruise in search of glaciers and humpback whales.  

Paddle boating 

• Ride a paddleboat along the Yukon River, spot dolphins and sea otters, explore the Indian fishing village of Ketchikan, go white-water rafting and pan for gold.

Katmai National Park and Preserve

Explore the wild landscapes of Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve – an important habitat for thousands of brown bears as well as salmon.

Hawaii with Kids 

Enjoy the charm of Hawaii, America’s 50th state, in the central Pacific. In addition to its beaches and surfing, it has plenty of family attractions, most of them water-based or themed. 

Maui

On Maui, visit the Maui Ocean Center aquarium and join an eco-adventure to see whales, dolphins and sea-turtles amidst the coral reefs.

Atlantis Submarine Tour 

On Oahu, join the Atlantis Submarine Tour to see two sunken ships, the remains of two aircraft, the Atlantis Reef project and masses of marine life.

Oahu

Also on Oahu, visit the Polynesian Cultural Center with its seven ‘villages’ showcasing the culture, traditions and daily life of people from the Hawaiian and other southern Pacific islands.