Some of the best summer family vacation ideas are less about where you’re going and more about the experience you hope to have together. Want to bring history lessons to life on a cultural mega-trip? Try Rome. Ready for your first international adventure together? Costa Rica is a great place to start. Or is it the great outdoors that brings your squad closer? Set off for the beaches of California. And even new parents dying for a proper vacation can find a dreamy Los Cabos resort with everything they need. Here are a few summer family vacation ideas, designed to deliver exactly the kind of adventure your family has been waiting for.
Central Coast, California
Best for: A low-key California beach vacation
Located midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the beach towns of California’s Central Coast—Cayucos, Cambria, Avila Beach, and more—offer a rare and seemingly secluded small-town experience right on the Pacific.
Ready for coastal wildlife adventures? Ten of the 100 best spots in the state for spotting whales are here along the Whale Trail (see the last of the Gray Whales in May and humpbacks from August to September). San Simeon’s Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery bills itself as the only elephant seal rookery in the world that's free and open to the public every day of the year, and otters galore are a hit while kayaking in the Morro Bay Estuary. Little ones love the Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove, while teens can imagine California living on a tour of Cal Poly and the college town of San Luis Obispo. For a totally unique guided experience that takes beach combing next level, set out on a seaweed foraging adventure with Marley Family Seaweeds, where you’ll learn to identify, sustainably harvest, and cook up your own fresh ramen, right on the beach.
Costa Rica
Best for: Your first international family adventure
In stark contrast to the big brand all-inclusive hotels near popular Arenal and Nayara, intimate, eco-focused properties like those in the laid-back Cayuga Collection get you off the beaten path to reveal Costa Rica’s local communities and natural beauty—something that’s especially vibrant in the green summer season. Ideal for families with young children on up, the Arenas Del Mar hotel in Manuel Antonio is both in the rainforest, directly on a fabulous beach with two pools, and puts Manuel Antonio National Park at your door. Get closer to the clouds at Senda Monteverde, a perfect base for exploring the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve: enjoy zip-line tours through a thrilling canopy, guided climbs outside (and inside) the trunks of giant trees, and wildlife spotting from treetop suspension bridges. Especially great for families who want to explore a hip local town, Hotel Aguas Claras in lively Puerto Viejo offers residential-style casitas and a picturesque beach on the vibrant Caribbean coast. Bonus: The hotels all include Spanish lessons and back-of-the-house sustainability tours among their regular free programming.
Los Cabos, Mexico
Best for: New parents
Los Cabos is loaded with family beach vacation options, but none quite as on point for the way it gifts new parents with a baby in tow as a full recharge at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal. Spanning 24 acres at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, tucked into a secluded stretch of beachfront, and balanced with the right offerings, including top-notch dining.
Days are a breeze with morning yoga under a beach palapa, swims at the beachfront family pool, naps and lunches under a private cabana, and trading off for massages and treatments at Luna y Mar spa. The dining is incredible, and alfresco family-friendly options abound, but do take advantage of the all-ages babysitting service for a series of authentic Mexican culinary adventures, including an exceptionally well-curated agave study for tequila diehards, a nine-course taco tasting in a private kitchen, and live music and moonlit views over the Pacific Ocean at cliffside El Farallon.
Rome, Italy
Best for: A big European summer vacation
Why we love it: There is possibly no other place in Europe like the Eternal City with such a massive breadth of wildly ancient historic sites smack dab in the middle of a modern city where pasta is king. Welcome to Rome, the place to covet carbonara, splurge at multi-story Bottega Veneta, wind through the jaw-dropping halls of the endless Vatican Museums, and stand stupefied at ancient wonders like the Pantheon and Circus Maximus (Julius Caesar's ancient chariot racing stadium), all with a gelato in hand and every-day city traffic at your heels. Do all of the above plus the Colosseum, a guided market visit, and cooking class with Trustever Tastes in hip Trastevere, and a whacky night tour of the city in vintage cars.
Modified from Conde Nast Traveler