• Maybe it's the economy. Maybe it's the need to reconnect with friends and family. At beach houses and on sailboats, city condos and mountain cabins, families and friends are joining forces on vacation.

  • No worries if you haven't been outdoors in years. In fact, many companies that specialize in outdoor adventures and expeditions now offer family departures to make it easy and affordable. All you need to do is show up

  • When it comes to family vacations, you can plan for the good stuff in advance. A bad turn of events, however, can strike without warning, especially when you're traveling with kids. Accidents and mishaps can occur anytime, anywhere. Keep your family as healthy and safe as possible while on vacation by taking these simple precautions

  • For those heading to Orlando -- and millions of parents and kids do -- there is an ever-growing array of unique VIP adventures to help you get away from the crowds and, hopefully, up the memory quotient. Some are inexpensive, requiring just a little advance planning, but others can cost big bucks. Here's a look

  • Suddenly, young people, who wouldn't spend much vacation time with their folks, much less get out of bed this early if they didn't have to, think family vacations are fun again

  • Elderhostel is known for their affordable educational programs for senior citizens. But what many don't realize is that there are 200 different grandparent - grandchild programs with almost 400 departures including the Big Apple

  • Visitors to New York have their pick of world-class iconic sites -- Museum of Natural History, Metropolitan Museum of Art, two new Major League baseball stadiums, Empire State Building and Central Park. But there is a lot more to New York especially for the kids

  • Sometimes in our rush to take the kids to see major museums and historic sites, we skip smaller cities like Baltimore that are not only easily navigable but can be easier on our wallets. Baltimore may have just a little more than half a million residents but it boasts some 130 different attractions and could be a great family getaway for a few days

  • That's what I love about Boston. You can walk in the footsteps of 18th-century soldiers and politicians one minute and watch a 21st-century juggler the next all while shopping for Red Sox caps and lobster magnets. The hardest part about visiting Boston is figuring out what else you want to do besides walking in all those famous historic footsteps

  • Here in the heart of historic Philadelphia, we've time traveled back to the heady days of the American Revolution, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the making of Betsy Ross' famous flag sewn at the request of General George Washington -- all right where it all happened

  • Young skiers used to be an afterthought at many winter resorts, banished to the bunny hill or daycare centers while adults enjoyed the mountain. Not anymore. Ski resorts have embraced kids realizing that this generation of parents grew up with skiing and welcome making it a family event

  • If you thought a trip to a resort like Telluride was too pricey or too hard to reach, think again. Yes, skiing is an expensive sport ($175 a day here at ski school, including gear, lunch and lifts at Telluride) but worth the investment, snow-loving parents believe.

  • I've never seen such wide open slopes -- no trees, no houses, just field after field of newly fallen snow. And I've never seen my 18-year-old daughter Mel, an avid and expert skier, as happy to ski with mom. Just goes to show what a postcard-perfect ski day -- blue skies, sunshine, spectacular mountain vistas and first tracks on a glacier -- can do!

  • Even the kids are impressed. How could they not be, staring down into the most famous hole in the ground? The Grand Canyon! It's a mile deep with 10 miles separating the South Rim where we were from the North Rim, 215 miles apart by road

  • Fall, we agree, is a spectacular time to visit Yosemite National Park -- fewer people (some 3.5 million visit each year) and significantly cheaper rates. There's a lot to do in winter too -- tubing, ice skating snowshoeing with a Ranger, cross-country and downhill skiing, snowboarding

  • It's 5:30 a.m. and we're awake, outside and shivering. But no one's complaining aboard the Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic Explorer -- not when a polar bear has just been sited on an ice floe just 90 feet from the ship. Did I mention we're cruising in the Arctic -- in the Svalbard archipelago, less than 1,000 miles from the North Pole

  • Welcome to 'bear camp,' an outpost of the Kenai Peninsula fishing lodge Great Alaska International Adventure Vacations, where families come to hike, fish, raft and, of course, check out the bears.

  • Maine is ideal for an old-fashioned family vacation with plenty of modern touches

  • Just being in a tent is an adventure for young kids, says Nancy Ritger, an Appalachian Mountain Club naturalist who has camped with her three teens since they were bab

  • Here's ways to up the adventure ante on family spring breaks this year, wherever you are going -- and after the winter so many of us have endured I hope you are planning to go somewhere fun, at least for a few days

  • If you think spring break is only for college kids, think again. While more college students opt to do volunteer work on their breaks families have discovered that it is easier -- and often cheaper -- to get away in the spring than in the summer when camps and summer jobs -- not to mention work schedules and peak travel season perils -- wreak havoc with family vacation planning.

  • Of course, my mom never took me to a spa -- I don't think she's ever been to one herself -- but I've taken my daughters to spas from the Caribbean to Colorado, from Arizona to Austria from the time they were young teens, and like others their age, they are perfectly at home getting facials and massages. It turns out they've got plenty of company

  • Across the country, small unique hotels are gaining a following among families who appreciate the intimate atmosphere, the service and the fact that they have, well, more personality than big chain hotels. Small hotels don't necessarily cost any more and in some cases they cost less

  • It's vacation and the teens are awake and ready to roll before 8 a.m.! The 22-year-old White has come down to Grand Cayman, his parents and sister in tow, to inaugurate Skate Cayman an 11-week summer program

  • Wherever you find yourself, make time to visit a museum -- even if you take in just one exhibit. Museums are a great way to get the gang out of grandma's house for a couple of hours, especially when it's too cold to hit the local playground. And if you are a member of your local art, science or children's museum, you may find that membership gets you in for free

  • You're missing a lot if you ignore easy-to-reach Puerto Rico in favor of more exotic islands. And you're still in the United States here -- Puerto Rico, of course, is a U.S. territory -- yet you have the opportunity to explore a rich culture that dates back more than five centuries

  • Vista Verde Ranch, 25 miles north of Steamboat Springs on some 560 pristine acres at 7,800 feet above sea level, is a place to literally slow down and enjoy the scenery from the back of a horse or on snowshoes or backcountry skis away from crowds and cars. It's also a good place to introduce kids to snow, if you aren't sure how they'll take to a major ski resort

  • Halloween is no longer just about trick or treating in the neighborhood. That's old school -- apparently. Instead, you can take your pick of zoos, museums, theme parks, campgrounds, big cities, small ones -- all of which have Halloween doings guaranteed to scare the teens and plenty of benign 'spooky' fun for the littlest ghosts and goblins

  • Certainly Waikiki has its charms -- your teens especially will love the vibe, the shopping, the surf lessons and the food -- and Pearl Harbor is just finishing up a big new visitor center that should be completed by the end of the year. However, there is more to Oahu beyond Waikiki

  • Why on earth would any parent go camping with their kids? Between the packing, the hauling and the dirt, it's enough to send you running to the Holiday Inn. But it's these very same rustic realities that make a weekend or even a week in the woods the perfect glue for a great family bonding experience. Sound interesting? Here are some tips to get you started

  • A growing number of ultra deluxe resorts around the world, which once never saw kids or barely tolerated their presence, have changed their tune as more wealthy parents are bringing their kids along

  • Upping the adventure quotient is exactly what a growing number of well-heeled and fit grandparents are doing to gather their far-flung progeny. Some grandparents even opt to leave their children behind so they can focus on the grandkids

  • Aboard the Disney Magic, as we're sailing in the Mediterranean, veteran bartender Arul Swarmy discusses which martinis should be shaken (vodka) or stirred (gin). Of course, we have a mini-martini in front of us. Welcome to Mixology 101 -- sold out, by the way. Who says Disney Cruises are just for kids?

  • Snow-covered mountains and tall evergreens surround me as I soak in Steamboat, Colorado's famous Strawberry Park Hot Springs after a day of vibrant skiing, its bubbling pool a toasty 105 degrees, while some hardy souls climb out of the pool, roll in the snow and then jump back in

  • I'm all for anything that makes a labor-intensive family vacation -- and every trip to the slopes is a lot of work for parents -- easier, as long as you can afford it, of course. There's nothing wrong with a little pampering either and I'm not just talking about the spas that are de rigueur at these hotels

  • Parents who learned to ski when they were young, want their kids to learn, too, hoping they'll soon be able to ski together. With demand up, especially during Winter Break and Spring Vacation weeks, most ski resorts have revamped their ski schools to make lessons more fun and more effective.

  • Sure winter mountain sports can be pricy, but they can also prove to be wonderfully memorable family times. If we plan smart -- and in advance -- we can hit the ski slopes with the kids without busting the budget. In fact, there are more deals than ever to choose from

  • They look like any group of young snowboarders decked out in the latest Burton gear, but looks, as we know, can be deceiving. These kids can't afford snow sports or the gear, much less bus fare to the mountain. They are here thanks to Jake Burton Carpenter, the founder of Burton Snowboards.

  • If you thought heading to the slopes this winter would be a budget buster or no fun for mom, think again. Large and small resorts across ski country are pulling out all the stops for families, featuring increased programming off the slopes as well as on, free or discounted lift tickets and even free flights

  • If your kids are mesmerized by Shaun White's amazing tricks and Lindsey Vonn's speed and are clamoring for a trip to a snow resort, it's not too late, or too expensive. There are deals, packages and special events like Keystone's Kidtopia from now until the end of the ski season

  • Lake Placid, New York -- home to two Winter Olympics -- is that iconic old-fashioned summer vacation spot that works as well for 21st-century families as it did a century ago for families and millionaires who came here to the Adirondacks with their family and friends

  • No, we're not in Africa or India. But it sure feels like we could be at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park, located about 30 miles north of downtown San Diego near Escondido. This is a bona-fide adventure designed to give you the experience of seeing these animals in their natural habitats

  • Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park is the nation's largest archeological preserve. 'This is a different kind of national park,' Ranger Allison Langston tells our group. 'Many national parks preserve national resources. Here we're preserving cultural resources.'

  • Our home away from home as we tour southwest Colorado is a Winnebago that comes equipped with flat-screen TV, bunks for the kids, complete with individual DVD players and curtains, stove, fridge, bedroom for the parents, sleeper sofa for me, bathroom and more cabinet space than my first NYC apartment. Not exactly an old-fashioned camping trip but an outdoor adventure just the same

  • No worries parents and family on Nantucket, the famous island 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts that is vacation heaven for kids. While not cheap, Nantucket can be a place for an affordable laidback escape in beautiful environs with your choice of places to stay

  • We might as well be on another planet with long, deserted beaches, lots of wildlife and clear, warm water. It feels more like the South, though, than South Florida, with canopies of trees and locals like Hetchka who seem happy to live life in the slow lane. That's what makes Amelia Island a good place for a family to slow down -- together

  • The National Museum of Natural History boasts more than 126 million objects in its collection, though less than 1 percent is on display at any one time. There's everything from an ancient Neanderthal bone that you can touch to a fossil shark jaw, as well as the famous T-Rex and the glittering Hope Diamond

  • Welcome to the new 'Treasures of the Earth' exhibition here at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, launched in partnership with the National Geographic Society and world-renowned archaeologists, at the largest children's museum in the country, which draws well over a million visitors a year to Indianapolis

  • Whatever your budget or travel style, there have never been so many kid-friendly European cruise options. It's easy to see the appeal. No wonder cruise lines are reporting an up-tick in families cruising Europe

  • Europe is rich with amazing museums, churches, and art. But unlike you, kids may not appreciate the magnificence of a Michelangelo statue or the significance of an ancient temple. Still, there are ways to liven up big sights

  • It's only a half-mile but a steep 40 percent grade makes it seem much longer. After all the eating aboard the Disney Magic cruising the Mediterranean, we're glad for the exercise as we head to one of the most famous volcano craters in the world. Mt. Vesuvius

  • There is much to see and do all around Monterey -- about 120 miles south of San Francisco -- the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the National Steinbeck Center, hiking, kayaking, golf, diving, whale-watching, shopping (Carmel-by-the-Sea has more than 100 art galleries) and even wine tasting

  • Relax and breathe! That could be the mantra for de-stressing everyday life. But here on tiny Grand Turk Island, the words are PADI dive instructor Hilary Sutton's instructions to my daughter, Melanie, as she prepares to do her first of four open-water dives that will lead to her certification as a scuba diver

  • London is a wonderful, exciting lollapalooza of a place, but sometimes you and your family want to leave the city behind. All the destinations featured in this article are a short train or car ride away from central London, offering delights for all ages and interests.

  • Adventures by Disney has brought the concept onboard some Disney cruises in the Mediterranean and this coming summer, Alaska, with special tours off the ship, as well as unique opportunities onboard

  • We're in California's famous Wine Country. We're tooling around Healdsburg, Calif., the small picturesque town in the heart of Sonoma County, taking in the tasting rooms, restaurants and antique shops scattered around the Plaza Park Square. If you think Wine Country -- especially Sonoma County -- is just for grown-ups (at least those over 21) think again.

  • As a kid, we would bundle up (this was New York, after all) and then nudge and push until we got a glimpse of the great tree at Rockefeller Center, this year strung with 30,000 LED lights. Ditto for the lavishly decorated store windows lining Fifth Avenue. Wherever you are this holiday season, take some time to see the lights with the kids. Here are 20 sights worth checking out

  • Where is that elf when you need her? You still have to shop for a pile of gifts that won't bust the budget for on-the-go families -- including your own -- and Black Friday and Cyber Monday are long gone