Trip Ideas By Activity
There are so many ways to vacation with your children.
City explorations, museum sleepovers, condo-style rentals, road trips, mountain and lake cabins, beaches, cruises, and all-inclusive vacations stretch budgets. Resorts run the gamut from moderate to pricey. Staying midweek or during shoulder season saves money.
Dream trips—African safaris, Galapagos treks, polar bear watches—deliver the thrill of wildlife encounters but at a hefty price. Farmstays, state and national parks, and hikes through Costa Rican rain forests let you enjoy animal encounters at a fraction of the cost.
Time travel fascinates kids. At living history parks, march with the militia and meet pioneers. In Europe, tour centuries-old castles, climb atop medieval walls, and stroll streets laced with 18th-century buildings. Go back millions of years to the dinosaur era. Satisfy your kids’ curiosity by going on a dinosaur dig, walking in dinosaur footprints, and ogling fossils of these fierce critters in museums.
Build sandcastles at the beach, canoe and fish at a lake, get tossed, twirled, and dropped on rollercoasters at an amusement, ski downhill, or snowshoe through snowy woods.
Stay overnight, for a few days, or a week. Plan carefully, allow for spontaneity, know that things will go awry, and maintain your sense of humor. Have fun.
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Review
Great Family Vacations||by Candyce H. StapenCategories: Adventures, Canada, Cruises & Resorts, Destinations, International Parks, Non-U.S., Lake Vacations, Lake, Mountain, and Ski Resorts, More Lodging, Trip IdeasThe location of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is extraordinary. Situated at 5,000-feet on the shore of an emerald green lake, facing the Victoria glacier and surrounded by the towering peaks of Canada’s Rockies, the 554-room hotel delivers a fairytale setting. The Chateau, like its sister property the Fairmont Banff Springs, lies in the 2,564-square mile Banff National Park, Canada’s first national park.
The Chateau’s “backyard,” part of a UNESCO World Heritage area, features some of the most spectacular alpine scenery in North America.
Snowcapped mountains, glaciers, river valleys and lakes define Banff National Park, in the province of Alberta. It was precisely because of this majestic landscape that the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), the developers, chose the hotel sites. The company’s philosophy: “If we can’t export the scenery, we will import the tourists.” Pretty shrewd for a 19th century railroad company hoping to sell train passage. The castle-like Banff Springs, offering upmarket accommodations, opened in 1888. For Lake Louise, Cornelius Van Horne, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, envisioned “a hotel for the outdoor adventurer and alpinist.” In 1890, a simple wooden structure debuted. As the Lake Louise location gained popularity, the company in the 1900s built a pair of Tudor style, half-timbered wings that increased capacity to 240 guests. In 1913, CPR added the concrete Painter wing and a grand dining room. After a 1924 fire destroyed the wooden structure, the company erected an eight-story brick wing, changed the hotel’s name to the Chateau Lake Louise and reopened in 1925.
The property operated as a summer only resort until 1982. In 1990 after $65 million in renovations, upgrades and a new wing, the Chateau turned into a year-round resort. In 2000, Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts acquired the Fairmont Hotels. In 2004, an additional wing geared to meetings debuted. The Chateau’s storied past, large scale and AAA Four Diamond rating reinforce its image as a grande dame resort. So do the public rooms. Couches and upholstered chairs fill the large lobby’s seating area, but our favorite spot is the Lakeview Lounge. The floor to ceiling Palladian windows overlook the green lake, the snow-capped mountains and the glacier. Sitting here is a joy, but the waiters really expect patrons to order something. With afternoon tea, served from noon until 4 p.m., you and your kids get pastries, chocolate and the great view. Another option is Sunday brunch.
Children do not receive any special welcome gift; arriving at the property is its own reward. It’s in that spirit that you should choose this hotel. The Chateau is the sort of place where you and your children explore the magical setting together by hiking, canoeing, fishing, skiing or simply strolling around the dazzling green lake.
Lake Louise Family Vacations
Great Family Vacations||by Candyce H. StapenCategories: Adventures, Canada, College Age & Adult, Family, Grade-Schoolers Ages 6-9, International Parks, Non-U.S., Lake Vacations, Multigenerational, Preschoolers Ages 3-5, Teens Ages 13-17, Trip Ideas, Tweens Ages 10-12Lake Louise is our favorite base for exploring Banff National Park, part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains Parks and a UNESCO World Heritage site, and celebrating its 125th anniversary as Canada’s first National Park.
Located within Banff National Park, Lake Louise, 35 miles northwest of the town of Banff, is a spectacularly beautiful mile-long lake flanked by mountains and the Victoria Glacier.
The blue glacial water of Lake Louise in southwestern Alberta, in the Rocky Mountains of Canada.
We are not morning people, but waking up early at Lake Louise brings a spectacular reward: a sun rising on Victoria Glacier’s peak perfectly reflects its ice-covered slopes in the lake’s emerald green waters.
Banff National Park is known for its scenes of majestic mountains, glaciers, lakes and woods. During the summer, the park offers miles of hiking trails from easy lakeside and valley walks to challenging mountain climbs. During the winter, the snow is plentiful and the lifts operate into May, making the area a great place for spring skiing, long after the American slopes shut down for the season.
Edmonton Family Vacations
Great Family Vacations||by Candyce H. StapenCategories: Canada, City and Cultural Vacations, Family, Seasonal & Holiday Activities, Teens Ages 13-17, Trip IdeasIn Edmonton, people regularly party in the streets.
The provincial capital of Alberta, known as “Canada’s Festival City,” hosts more than 30 extravaganzas throughout the year.
Among the many events that appeal to families are the International Children’s Festival in June; a Street Performers’ Festival in July; a Caribbean Arts Festival in August; and Sonic Boom, Edmonton’s rock festival, held in September in Northlands Park (take the teens!).
The festivals, however, are added bonuses to an already lively city. Edmonton has a trendy historic area, Old Strathcona, blooming with shops and cafes; a striking new building for its arts museum, the Royal Alberta Museum; and one of the world’s biggest shopping malls, the West Edmonton Mall, home to an indoor amusement park, water park and hockey rink, plus 800 shops.
In addition, the former fur-trading post on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River is, like Calgary, a gateway to the Canadian Rockies. From Edmonton, spectacular Jasper National Park is about a three-and-a-half-hour drive.