Favorite Family Vacation Spots

Whistler-Blackcomb is a hip place for x-treme skiers and partiers: yet this dual resort welcomes thousands of families, with a Children's Adventure Park, a family-friendly zone of green runs, popular ski camps for kids, Ride Tribe for teens. Stay in the Village, in a hotel that welcomes the whole family including dogs; or stay in an attractive townhome with full kitchen, and hop on free shuttle buses to the slopes.

Utah's an amazing place to ski, for three big reasons:

• quality of the snow ("champagne powder")
• convenience: most cities have direct flights to Salt Lake City; from there, seven ski areas are within an hour's drive -- no connecting flights needed
• the diversity of seven different ski areas within an hour of SLC. Skiers-only Alta is legendary; Powder Mountain is a fave among locals with huge back-country; Deer Valley (skiers-only) is gourmet heaven.

All the mountains welcome families and have kids' programs. Utah's a top family vacation spot for skiing (and 'boarding too, on most slopes).

Still relatively unknown, Amelia Island-- in northern Florida near Jacksonville-- has lovely beaches; a historic fort complete with actors who play period characters; a quaint town with wonderful old buildings; delicious sea-food; and two fine resorts, the Amelia Island Plantation and the Ritz-Carleton, both of which welcome kids.

There's nothing like wandering the streets of Rome and Venice, eating gelato (ice cream of the gods) all the while. We've had other kind wonderful times in Italy too: such as exploring hill towns in Tuscany and Umbria.

Kids are natural-born medievalists: they love knights and castles and tales of old-- and these towns -- which were prosperous centuries ago, but missed the last century's modern development -- are super places to let their imaginations go. Their old sections are picture-perfect, with centuries-old stone buildings and no plastic ticky-tack. If you're willing to try alternative-type lodgings, the adventure can even be affordable.

Our family's explored many types of lodging in Europe, including budget options such as nunneries and family rooms at hostels (some with private baths and spacious grounds.)

We've also sampled two sorts of vacation spots popular among Europeans.

Eurocamp holiday parks are like resorts, with waterslides, outdoors activities, kids programs, restaurants, and accommodation in "holiday homes" or 3-bedroom tents. We stayed in Tuscany, just outside Florence. Recommended!

Another option is Center Parcs family resorts in northern Europe: each with a huge domed area that houses a tropical pool (slides, waves, etc.), restaurants, shops, etc. Large cottages; country settings; many outdoors activities-- and affordable.

Admittedly, this is long-haul travel: maybe this is the time to use air travel rewards? This Breezes is part of the multi-resort "Costa do Sauipe" tourist development, with miles of beach; shared equestrian, golf, and lake activities; village with restaurants, entertainment, kids play zone, shops; eco-outings, and tour of historic Salvador. Kids' program, infant care; fab seafood; and a very fun and Brazilian ambiance.

As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary accommodation for some of these destinations for the purpose of review. While this has not influenced this article, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.