If you’ve been doing any research so far on the best cities in the United States for families to travel to, you’ve no doubt come across options such as New York, Chicago, Miami, Washington D.C, Los Angeles, and San Diego to name a few.
Each of those has no shortage of tourist attractions for you to do, but at the same time, there are a lot of smaller and lesser-known cities throughout the country that have a lot to offer as well, and those are the cities that we are primarily going to cover today.
Here are the top five most overlooked family travel cities in the United States:
1 – Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California, is located against the backdrop of the truly beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains. And while you may think that being up in the mountains will mean nothing but cold weather throughout the duration of your trip, the truth is that Palm Springs is well known for its warmer temperatures that will help you to make your trip even more fun.
Besides going hiking or backpacking or hunting up in the mountains. You can also visit the craft fair downtown, the VillageFest, or the Living Desert, which consists of a zoo and botanical gardens.
2 – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Your family will encounter absolutely no difficulty in looking for things to do in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Examples of what you can do here include visiting the Market Common village area that is well known for its. A large number of shopping malls and restaurants, or visiting the more than one mile Myrtle Beach Boardwalk and Promenade, which seriously has some of the nicest beaches in the United States along the Atlantic Ocean.
You can also visit the Family Kingdom Amusement Park, which is located at South Ocean Boulevard and is one of the few amusement parks that only charges you per ride and nothing for general entrance.
Finally, you can also visit a family friendly Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament, where you’ll be transported back to the medieval ages and be enticed to medieval jousting tournaments and other games while enjoying a 12th-century style meal.
3 – Sanibel, Florida
Sanibel is actually an island located in Florida, only around forty-five minutes away from the Fort Meyers airport. When you visit Sanibel, you’ll honestly be felt that you’ve been transported to the Caribbean instead, only without the added length of the flight.
At Sanibel, you’ll find world-class beaches, the JN Darlin National Wildlife Refuge, and the half-day Sanibel Sea School for your younger aged children. On or near the beach, you can find sand dollars, fish, even octopus.
4 – Park City, Utah
If you want to take your family to some of the nicest family friend skiing resorts in the world, you’ll want to check out Park City in Utah.
Two examples of absolutely gorgeous resorts in Park City include the Marriott’s MountainSide and the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley.
There are also different skiing areas in Park City meant for different experience levels. For example, Canyons Village has slopes that are definitely meant for most proficient skiers who will enjoy an all-day skiing adventure, while Deer Valley has shorter and less intimidating trails for beginners.
Within the city itself, you can even take a horse-drawn sleigh to the numerous shops and restaurants in the area.
5 – Portland, Maine
No, not Portland, Oregon. Portland, Maine. There are many things to do in Portland, including visiting the Portland Head Light, which is one of the oldest lighthouses in the United States and one of the most scenic places in the area.
Something else that will be fun for your family to do will be to visit the floating restaurant called DiMillo’s On The Water, which offers absolutely wonderful views of Portland Harbor from each table.
Finally, you can also visit the beaches or go hiking, biking, or camping up in the forests just outside of the town.
Rachel Denning is an unassuming mother of five who never really did any international traveling until she had four children. After a second honeymoon to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, she and her husband decided to sell most of their belongings and move their family abroad.
Driving from the United States to Panama, they settled in Costa Rica for a year, until the U.S. financial market crash in 2008, when they lost their location independent income. Returning to the United States to look for work, they knew they’d be back ‘out’ again, having been officially bitten by the travel bug!
Despite adjustments to living a simpler life (or perhaps because of it), they were able to save enough money to move to the Dominican Republic in 2009. After six months they came back to the States once more, where they were offered employment working with a non-profit organization in India.
They spent five months living in Tamil Nadu, then returned to the States once more (to Alaska) so they could have baby number five – Atlas.
From there, they set out in April of 2011 to drive, in a veggie powered truck, from Alaska to Argentina, visiting every continental country in North and South America.
Travel is a part of their life now, and they can’t imagine doing anything else. Rachel photographs and writes about their incredible family travel adventures on their website, and they also have resources that encourage others to live a deliberate life.
