34 Best Places to Travel With Kids (By Age)

The best places to travel with kids depend almost entirely on the age you’re traveling with: babies under one do best somewhere warm, direct-flight close, and resort-easy; toddlers need space to run and short transfers; five- and six-year-olds can finally do a full day out; seven to nine is where real adventure starts paying off; and tweens are up for almost anything. Below are my 34 favorites, grouped by age band, each with the honest reason it earns its spot — gathered over years of hauling two small people (and one enormous diaper bag) around the world.

Babies (0–1): warm, close, and low-effort

This is the age for beach-and-balcony trips, ideally in the golden 3–6 month window before crawling changes everything. For the shortlist on its own, here are the easiest vacations to take with a baby.

1. Maui, Hawaii. Calm leeward beaches, no passport needed for Americans, and resorts that hand you a crib at check-in. The time change is real, so guard your naps and nights from day one — my full Maui with kids guide sorts the beaches by age.
2. Riviera Maya, Mexico. All-inclusive means nobody cooks, nobody plans, and a swim-up high chair is never far away. My Mexico resort roundup covers the family-friendliest ones, and the Cancun with kids guide covers everything beyond the resort gate.
3. San Diego, California. Mild weather year-round, endless stroller-friendly bay paths, and a pediatric urgent care never more than fifteen minutes away — deeply reassuring with a first baby. The San Diego with kids guide has the full by-age plan.
4. Florida’s Gulf Coast. Flat warm water, powdery sand, and grandparent-approved condos. It made my list of easy first vacations with a baby for good reason.
5. The Algarve, Portugal. Southern Europe’s gentlest introduction to international baby travel — sheltered coves, long lunches where babies are welcomed rather than tolerated, and mild shoulder seasons. My Portugal with kids guide has the full Lisbon–Algarve plan.
6. Barbados. Direct flights from the US East Coast, calm west-coast water, and a culture that treats babies like celebrities. Weighing other short-haul islands? My Bahamas with kids guide settles the Nassau-vs-Out-Islands question.
7. Charleston, South Carolina. A walking city where the whole itinerary — pastel streets, waterfront parks, biscuit stops — works from behind a stroller.
8. Scottsdale, Arizona. Winter sunshine, resort pools warm enough for a baby dip, and a nap-friendly pace by design.

Toddlers (1–4): space to run, short transfers

Toddlers don’t sightsee; they patrol. These places give them territory — and if you want them ranked by how little can go wrong, start with my easy-win trips with toddlers.

9. Orlando, Florida. Yes, really — at this age it’s about character breakfasts, splash pads, and resorts with lazy rivers, not commando park days. My Florida resorts guide splits Orlando from the beaches.
10. Aruba. Reliably windless-warm, shallow water at Baby Beach (the name is earned), and flight times most toddlers can survive with a decent snack strategy.
11. The Outer Banks, North Carolina. Rent a house, unpack once, live barefoot for a week. Drivable for much of the East Coast — nap-schedule gold.
12. Costa del Sol, Spain. Beach towns built for evening strolling, playgrounds on every promenade, and a dinner culture that runs late enough to fit post-nap toddlers.
13. Grand Cayman. Seven Mile Beach is basically a warm bath, and the island is small enough that nothing is ever a meltdown-length drive away.
14. Amsterdam, Netherlands. The most stroller-friendly big city I’ve pushed a toddler through — canals, pancakes, and playgrounds that put ours to shame. Here’s my full Amsterdam with kids guide.
15. Vermont. Farm stays, swimming holes, and maple creemees. Toddlers need a field more than a museum, and Vermont is mostly field.
16. San Antonio, Texas. The River Walk from a stroller, kid-paced missions, and hotel pools that carry the afternoon.

Ages 5–6: the first year they can do a whole day

Five is where the trip changes shape. They can manage a full day out with one proper rest in it, walk a mile or two without being carried, clear the height limits on most rides, and — the part that gets you — remember it a year later. What they still can’t absorb is a long transfer day or a big time-zone shift. Keep flights direct and stay in one base.

17. Washington, DC. Free world-class museums forgive every short attention span — leave when it stops working, come back tomorrow.
18. Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. Short waterfall trails a five-year-old can actually finish, black bears spotted from the car, and a Junior Ranger booklet that turns a walk into a mission. No entrance fee, which is rare for a park this good.
19. Québec City, Canada. The cheapest way to give a small child the feeling of abroad: a walled old town they can’t get lost in, a funicular, a French bakery on every corner, and a short flight from much of the East Coast. Winter is the better version if you can take the cold.
20. Copenhagen, Denmark. Tivoli Gardens at dusk is core-memory material, and the whole city treats children as first-class citizens.
21. San Diego (again). It grows with your kids: the zoo, tide pools, and a first surf lesson replace the stroller paths.

Ages 7–9: the ambition ceiling lifts

Seven is where the calculation changes. They can carry their own daypack all day, snorkel without a hand on their back, keep up on a four- or five-mile hike, and sit through a museum if you give them a job to do inside it. It’s also the first age where a real time-zone change earns back the cost of the recovery.

22. Yellowstone National Park. Geysers are the rare natural wonder that performs on schedule. Junior Ranger badges do more for engagement than any screen.
23. London, England. Castles, dinosaurs, pelicans in the park, and the Tube as its own attraction. My London with kids guide has the fifteen things that actually land — pair it with the step-by-step international guide if a younger sibling is coming too.
24. Costa Rica. Sloths, zip lines, volcanoes, beaches — a compact greatest-hits of nature at kid height. The Costa Rica with kids guide explains the two-base itinerary that keeps it fun.
25. Moab, Utah. Arches and Canyonlands offer the thing this age loves most: rock they’re allowed to climb on. Reaching Delicate Arch on their own legs is a genuine achievement at eight. Go spring or fall — summer is punishing.
26. The Grand Canyon. The rim trail delivers the full jaw-drop without technical hiking. Go at sunrise; the crowds and the heat both sleep in.
27. Vancouver, British Columbia. Whale watching, a suspension bridge, bike loops around Stanley Park, and mountains half an hour from downtown. Everything is close, nothing needs a car, and the food survives fussy eaters.

Tweens and up: bring the big ideas

28. New York City. Broadway matinees, dumpling crawls, the subway map as a puzzle. Tweens finally have the stamina the city demands — the NYC with kids guide has the realistic plan.
29. Rome, Italy. Gladiators, gelato, and history that out-dramatizes anything on their phones. Here’s Rome with kids, meltdown-proofed — and my Italy with kids guide settles which region to pair it with.
30. Iceland. Waterfalls, black-sand beaches, and geothermal lagoons — adventure with guardrails, and the flight from the East Coast is shorter than to California. My Iceland with kids guide has the ring-road-lite itinerary.
31. Tokyo & Kyoto, Japan. Safe, clean, endlessly fascinating, and the food wins over even suspicious eaters. Worth every hour of the flight — the Japan with kids itinerary maps the ten-day version, and my Tokyo with kids guide goes deep on the capital.
32. The Big Island, Hawaii. Volcanoes, night-sky stargazing, and snorkeling straight off the beach — see the Hawaii resort roundup for island-by-island bases.
33. Alaska. Glaciers calving, whales breaching, salmon running — nature at a scale that humbles even a twelve-year-old.
34. Belize. Snorkeling the reef, climbing Mayan ruins, and English as the official language makes it an easy first “real adventure” abroad.

Wherever you land, pack off my baby travel packing list and the 25 essentials if you’re in the little-kid years — and if it’s your very first trip, start with the newborn survival guide.

FAQ: choosing where to travel with kids

What is the best age to take kids traveling?

There’s no bad age, just different trips. Babies from three to six months are surprisingly portable, ages five to nine are the sightseeing sweet spot, and tweens can handle bucket-list adventures. The hardest stretch is typically twelve to eighteen months — plan simpler trips then.

Where should I take a 5- or 6-year-old?

Somewhere they can do a full day and remember it: a national park with short trails and a Junior Ranger program, a compact walkable city like Washington DC or Québec, or a beach with something to do besides the beach. Keep it direct-flight and stay in one base — at this age it’s the transfer days, not the destinations, that break a trip.

What kind of trip works for a 7- to 9-year-old?

Almost anything you’d enjoy yourself. This is the first age where a long-haul flight and a real time change earn their cost back, where a hiking day is a shared activity rather than a negotiation, and where a city museum lands if they have a mission inside it. Costa Rica, Iceland and Moab all play completely differently at eight than at five.

Where should I go on a first trip with a baby?

Somewhere warm, direct-flight close, with a pool and a crib. A Gulf Coast beach, San Diego, or an all-inclusive in Mexico are the classic answers — my first vacation with baby list has fifteen options grouped by trip type.

Are all-inclusive resorts worth it with young kids?

At the baby and toddler stage, usually yes. When meals, snacks, pools, and a kids club are steps from your room, every logistical failure point disappears — and logistics are what break trips with little ones.

How far ahead should I book family trips?

For school-holiday weeks and popular family resorts, around six to nine months ahead typically gets the best choice of rooms — connecting rooms and cribs are limited inventory. Off-season trips can be booked much closer in.