The Financial Express (Delhi Edition)
FIVE FAMILY VACATIONS THAT DON’T INVOLVE DISNEY WORLD
Vacations that deliver fun, as well as real experiences
IHAVE never understood the hoopla over Disney World. To me, teaching moments and travel go hand in hand. So our family vacations are designed to incorporate elements of enrichment: exposure to foreign culture, a brush with history, interaction with nature, discovery of new foods, engaging in activities that make us step outside our comfort zones. Sure, Disney is fun. But school breaks are few and handled with extreme care. And then you have the financial element. Disney is expensive. Between flights, food, hotel, souvenirs and four-day passes to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and water parks, a family of four will easily spend $5,000. With that in mind, here are five vacation alternatives that deliver hefty doses of fun while broadening your child’s cultural playbook through realworld experiences.
Virginia Beach
There are fancy-pants beach vacations. And there are plop-down-in-the-sand holidays where an easy ‘Leave It to Beaver’-era charm is the main attraction. Virginia Beach is the latter, and its lack of grandeur is precisely why I love it. Oceanfront hotels are affordable. As are the mom-andpop restaurants where locals flock for shrimp boils, steamed blue crab and tangy Lynnhaven oysters plucked straight from Chesapeake Bay. Entertainment plays out on a three-mile-long boardwalk, with street performers, shaved ice and salt water taffy vendors and a small amusement park.
But beaches are the real selling point. Choose from Resort Beach, a surfer’s paradise; the smaller, dune-speckled Sandbridge, which butts up to Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, a great spot for eco-adventures; or Chesapeake Bay Beach, which woos families with gentle waters and access to First Landing State Park. Other activities? Ifly is an indoor sky diving experience where free-fall conditions are simulated with a wind tunnel. Zip-lining through the trees at Virginia Aquarium’s ‘aerial forest park’ is another.
Ocean Breeze Waterpark has slides with the requisite 35-foot drop, and a giant wave pool. At the Military Aviation Museum, you can view Super Hornet fighter jets, Spitfires and other wartime aircraft. For a fee, you can blow the kids’ minds with a ride on an authentic open-cockpit 1941 Boeing Stear man PT-17 Kaydet.
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
If the Midwest had a version of the Hamptons, it would be the coastal resort town of Lake Geneva. Celebrity sightings are nil. But sun-drenched afternoons lazing on the water are guaranteed. Another attraction is estate ogling. For over a century, the rich and famous have been vacationing in Lake Geneva. Tourist scan get ridiculously close to these mansions by simply hiking and biking around the lake. Thanks to an Indian treaty signed in 1833, the 26.2-mile Shore Path, originally used by the indigenous Potawatomi tribe, provides public access in perpetuity. Translation? You can meander through the grounds of historic estates without the risk of a stalking violation.
You should stay at Grand Geneva Resort and Spa. The property has its own 50,000square-foot water park, stables—riding lessons, carriage rides—and a new adventure centre equipped with mountain bikes, six slack lines and archery. Canopy zip-lining is also available nearby. But whizzing across the lake is what families really want out of this type of vacation. The concierge can arrange all water sport rentals and book an organised cruise. There are two standout non-water-related outings. Yerkes Observatory is deemed the birthplace of moder n astrophysics.
London
There is an art to not depleting your child’s college fund while visiting London. Step one is finding a budget-friendly hotel situated near major attractions and a Tube station. The Marriott Kensington fits the bill. To get oriented, take a Hop-On, Hop-Off bus tour, a perfect firstday outing when battling jet lag. It stops at most landmark attractions. Definitely make a stop for a ride on the London Eye. To some children, parading past endless paintings is like eating a platter of fish roe: pure torture. However, certain museums are actually fun. The Natural History Museum and the British Museum fall into the cool category.
The Wallace Collection is equally cool owing to its Game of Thrones appeal. Art is displayed in a stunning Victorian mansion. Downstairs, there is a war chest of arms and armour plus a reproduction chain-mail ensemble that the children can try on.
Royal parks are essential sightseeing. Organise a picnic in Hyde Park followed by pedal boating around Serpentine Lake. You can also book a guided horseback ride with Hyde Park Stables. Not to be missed are the rose gardens in Regent’s Park. The manicured display of 12,000 roses is a paean to England’s gardening heritage. On the north-east corner of this park is the London Zoo.
If your children are die-hard Harry Potter fans, do the Warner Brothers Studio Tour. Unlike a theme park, this provides interaction with the actual props, sets and costumes from the Harry
Potter films. You will even partake in a quidditch match, if only on a green screen. Two more fabulous and free experiences: the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and enjoying the anti cs of street performers at Covent Garden.
Wyoming
A few days at an all-inclusive dude ranch is a slam dunk for everyone. Children can live out their cowboy or cowgirl fantasies. Parents can avoid being wrangled for every nickel and dime. A century-old former stage coach stop and buffalo ranch, Vee Bar Guest Ranch is an authentic, no-frills Western experience—rustic log cabins, horseback riding, mess hall meals, campfires, river tubing, hiking, fishing, hay rides— that feels like overnight camping for the whole family. Even better, you won’t have to contend with crowds.
There are just nine guest cabins, so by the end of the first day, the staff will know everyone’s name and your children’s snack preferences. On the final night, there is a campout under the stars (or you can sleep in a tepee) complete with fiddlers by the campfire and s’mores.
Amtrak Train Trip
To children, sleeping on a train is one of the ultimate treats. It’s all cool—the dining car, a sleeping compartment, even maintaining your balance while using the bathroom inside a lurching vehicle. On top of pleasing your children, a train trip is both flexible and budgetfriendly. In fact, on Amtrak children pay half fare. And an upgrade to a family bedroom from economy includes all meals onboard. Here’s the concept: spend two nights on the train and two full days exploring two cities of your choice. A sample itinerary from Chicago with stops in Memphis and New Orleans looks like this: after an overnight from Chicago, arrive in Memphis for a day of sightseeing and a night at the Peabody Hotel, beloved for its daily duck march around the lobby fountain. Visit Sun Studio where Elvis, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash recorded. Encounter history at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. Then burn off some energy at Overton Park, home to the Memphis Zoo. Dinner, of course, is barbecue.
The next morning, board the train at 7 am and arrive in New Orleans by 3 pm. Check in to Maison Dupuy and head over to Jackson Square for a mule carriage ride through the French Quarter. Then, hop on the Canal Streetcar to City Park where you will find Carousel Gardens Amusement Park, 16 charming, oldfashioned rides, including a century-old hand-painted wooden carousel known as ‘flying horses’ to locals. After a dinner of po’boys, end the night on Frenchmen Street where the probability of finding an impromptu brass band performance is as strong as your child’s refusal to go to sleep before midnight.