Family travel tips

Enter the Expedia CruiseShipCenters “Dream Come True” sweepstakes by May 6, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a four-night cruise for four aboard the Disney Dream ship, plus three nights at the Walt Disney World Resort, including air, hotel, onboard meals, and a $600 Disney gift card.

Is “The Happiest Place on Earth” rightly so-called? One prominent politician thinks not.

It’s that time of year again when winter is dragging on and most of the country isn’t quite warm enough to fully embrace outdoor adventures. After watching air and hotel prices and sales, I’ve come up with 10 affordable spring destinations in the U.S. and around the world for 2017. These prices won’t last, so get to it if you want to take advantage of big spring savings.

A few months ago, New York Times Editor Damon Darlin wrote an op-ed suggesting that parents of rude or screaming children should give out small inflight gifts or “goodie bags” as a preemptive apology for their child’s behavior. Which begs the question, should parents have to apologize for traveling on an airplane with their child?

With so many places to visit in the world, it’s no wonder people often have trouble narrowing down the best spot for a family vacation. In this year’s Editors’ Choice Awards category for Best Family Vacation Destination, we arrived at 10 nominees that hit the sweet spot between affordability and family-friendly activities in 2017. And whether this list leads you to narrow your vacation picks or add a few more to the bucket list, we think you’ll come away with some great family vacation ideas.

American has announced that it will bring back a much-loved tradition from a bygone era of flying: plastic airline kids’ wings. The airline stopped handing these out sometime in the chaotic early 2000s, but ended the decade-plus absence last week.

The recent headline-grabbing virus made travelers stop in their tracks, prompting many to cancel their trips to the tropics. While the Zika virus is mainly a concern for expectant mothers, it should be a reminder to all travelers that soon after booking that international itinerary they make a very important call: the travel clinic.

These days, budget air deals aren’t hard to come by. There are plenty of flash sales and discount carriers to choose from, but not all of them are created equal. It’s become easy to find reasonable flights between big air hubs, but dreamy, far-off islands will almost always cost you more.

Love ’em or hate ’em, most travelers would agree that kids on a plane can make for a stressful flight experience.

Looking for a new museum to add to your travel to-do list? TripAdvisor (SmarterTravel’s parent company) has released the Travelers’ Choice Top 25 Museums of 2018, including the top 10 worldwide and the top 10 in the United States, with some surprising frontrunners. The findings also highlight bookable ways to see each winner—think VIP tours and scavenger hunts—with some offering the added perk of allowing you to skip the lines to get in.

For many Americans, “global warming” has become a charged term. It’s splashed across headlines and the subject of dinner table arguments: There’s a clear divide both here and abroad about climate change. But one Central American destination is decades past asking questions about global warming, and is leading the way in sustainable travel and ecotourism.

Traveling is a form of escape, whether that escape means visiting a vibrant city or a secluded island. But when it comes to things to do, travelers are taking the word “escape” much more literally these days.

The main purpose of a UNESCO designation is to promote worldwide support for historic and culturally-significant sites. The new UNESCO World Heritage sites announced each year also provide an opportunity to learn about beautiful locations that most of the world has never heard of. Here are 10 of the 21 new UNESCO sites that deserve a spot on your bucket list.

A new year means new travel goals—and a new way to fund your 2018 travels: Airbnb.

DNA technology is increasingly changing the way we view the world, and now it may be changing travel. If you’ve ever considered taking a DNA test to uncover your heritage, or have gone down a records rabbit hole to find your ancestors, you can now physically follow your roots to the far-off destinations they’ll point you to.

Travel doesn’t always involve two parents, a fact that family travel tours don’t always acknowledge. But Intrepid Travel, which has included family tours in its offerings for a decade, is leading the way with the debut of dedicated solo-parent family tours.

Puerto Vallarta isn’t just another resort town: There’s opportunity for adventure, relaxation, romance, and more. Hotels offer a range of experiences, from the intimate verandas of the Romantic Zone’s boutique hotels, to the carefree sundecks of the beachside resorts, to family-friendly resorts.

Summer, also known as high season for travel, is almost here. And according to AAA just about everyone is poised to hit the road. The organization predicts two-thirds of what it categorizes as “leisure travelers” plan to take vacations this summer, meaning millions of Americans will be hitting the road.

Don’t look now, but you’ve been bushwhacked by Mickey and Goofy.

I wasn’t always a Disney person. Anyone who knew me in my twenties or thirties knows this. I mean, sure, I knew other people might enjoy traveling with Disney, but it definitely wasn’t for me. I liked hiking, trekking, camping; not crowds, not theme park rides, not Disney.

Disney’s newest theme park innovation, Toy Story Land, opens to the public this weekend at Hollywood Studios in Orlando. I was there for a media preview and behind-the-scenes look at the new themed area ahead of its official opening on Saturday, June 30. Here are my initial impressions of Toy Story Land and the ongoing expansion and renovation of Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park.