Booking a family trip through a tour operator means handing over the fiddly stuff — where to stay, how to get between sights, what to eat — to people who know the destination inside out. Frommer's has rounded up six packagers it rates for families, spanning everything from Alaskan glaciers to river cruises in Europe.
For outdoorsy crews, Austin Adventures is hard to beat. Trips run with a 6:1 guest-to-guide ratio, and guides are chosen partly for personality — they need to hold kids' attention. The focus is on US and Canadian national parks, with hiking, kayaking, horseback riding and trail-only cycling (never roads). There's showmanship too: think brownies and ice cream waiting after a hike in Bryce. Most itineraries run six days and five nights, with teen-specific departures in places like Yellowstone and Alaska's Kenai Fjords packing in extra paddling and pedalling.
Tauck Bridges, the family arm of the 100-year-old Tauck, leans cultural. Families get the Sistine Chapel after hours without the crowds, zip-lining in Costa Rica, and a speedboat ride down the Thames. The popular European river cruises let you visit several countries while unpacking once — kids bike in port, cook with the ship's chef, and pick up bits of new languages.
Adventures by Disney surprises people who assume it's all characters and queues. Daily activities centre on local life: bento box-making in Japan, archery on a Scottish estate, hurling in Ireland. Parents get wine tasting in Tuscany while kids pick herbs for olive oil, and adults-only dinners come with a movie night for the children. European river cruises run with AmaWaterways, and most trips are eight days, with shorter "Escapes" available.
Travellers wanting purpose with their holiday have two strong options. Sierra Club Outings frames its US-based trips as "adventures with a cause" — rafting in Idaho, camping and kayaking at Channel Islands National Park, or service trips clearing trails in Tahoe National Forest. National Geographic Family Journeys, run with G Adventures since 2020, builds itineraries with scientists and researchers: noodle-tasting in Hoi An, tree planting in Central America, Big Five safaris in southern Africa. Every trip has two local guides trained to work with kids, and parents get field guides before departure.
Finally, KelliGregg Travel (formerly R Family Vacations, rebranded in 2022) serves LGBTQ+ families, friends and allies, anchored by a summer family cruise with show tunes, comedy acts, dance parties and theatre camp.
Who's this for? Anyone who wants a family holiday without becoming a full-time logistics manager. If your kids crave adventure, start with Austin Adventures or Sierra Club; if culture matters most, Tauck Bridges and Adventures by Disney deliver; and Nat Geo's trips suit families who want sustainability built in. Prices and styles vary widely across all six, but each has a long track record with children on board — which is worth more than any discount.
Story via Frommer's
