Family Travel
Travel + Leisure's February Trip of the Month is a classic two-week itinerary in Turkey. In association with Travel + Leisure Elite Traveler, our travel club for deals on hotels, cruises, and more, the Trip of the Month offers T+L readers exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime itineraries from the world’s top tour operators.
Over the cold MLK weekend, my kids and I headed south to meet some cousins in Washington, D.C. and had the chance to test-drive a Smithsonian Art Adventure mobile-phone-based scavenger hunt from Stray Boots.
On Sunday morning, bundled up and armed with instructions for the hunt (the company’s website calls them “interactive walking tours” and “urban games”), we headed to the designated starting point, the Smithsonian Castle, punched our confirmation code into the phone, and the questions started coming.
Players participate via text message or, by using a smartphone, type answers into a web interface. Points are awarded for correct answers and hints are available for incorrect ones, and additional interesting trivia is served up with each answer. The cost to play is about the same as joining a human-hosted walking tour, but the phone-delivered narrative allows for more pausing, food breaks, and general messing-around, which suited our group better.
Don't miss Travel + Leisure’s December Trip of the Month, Big Sky Montana and Yellowstone National Park. In association with Travel + Leisure Elite Traveler, our travel club for deals on hotels, cruises, and more, the Trip of the Month offers T+L readers exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime itineraries from the world’s top tour operators.
This month’s contest watch is a study in contradictions. Have a romantic escape to Paris or take the family to LEGOLAND. Indulge in a escape to Mexico, or help bring fresh drinking water to communities in Rwanda. It may be hard to chose, but entering is easy.
Club Med, that French hippy grandma of all-inclusive beach resorts, is running a weekend sale that could get you and yours a place in the sun for prices that start at $129 per adult and kids from 50% of that!
The Club Med Go Sale covers 3- to 7-night stays at its properties in Cancun, Ixtapa, Punta Cana, Sandpiper Bay in Florida, Turkoise in Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, and Martinique.
The sale runs from midnight on Friday through midnight on Sunday, with available travel dates between October 17 and February 17, depending on the property. The resorts have higher (but not crazy high) rates over holidays. Prices include all meals, snacks and beverages (non-alcoholic as well as premium alcoholic drinks), lots of sports and activities, kids’ clubs, and all varieties of room configurations for all varieties of travelers.
For more information or to book, please visit Club Med, or call (800) 258- 2633.
Ann Shields is a senior digital editor at Travel + Leisure.
I know that as an editor at a travel magazine I really should have more refined tastes. But secretly, I’ve always wanted to ride a Segway around a city. Whenever happy tourists have whizzed past me in D.C. or San Francisco, I’ve been a little jealous, but my travel companions are generally of the type who would rather walk barefoot on burning asphalt than be caught dead on the funny-looking two-wheeled contraptions.
Scavenger hunts built around a destination’s unique characteristics are quickly becoming my favorite trend in family travel. Engaging a kid in something beyond the hotel swimming pool is a sneaky way to keep them learning while on vacation and to cultivate passionate travelers and fun travel companions.
Sarah Khan reported this month about Colonial Williamsburg’s current patriot/spy game that has young visitors in blue neckerchiefs burning up the cobblestones. Now there’s a new way to play at a family destination.
When this package came across my desk, I couldn't help but be intrigued.
Turns out it contained my set of orders for RevQuest: Sign of the Rhinoceros, a new alternate-reality game going on through the end of the August at Colonial Williamsburg. Geared toward "spies" ages eight and up (though history-geek adults like me apparently make up a huge chunk of the players), RevQuest begins with a top-secret mission that is explained in hushed tones by Agent 368 at Mr. Prentis's Shop.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
T+L Features Director Nilou Motamed shares great resources for saving money on accommdations. Plus, family-friendly summer deals!
The giant purple starfish had me trying to say “wow” in my snorkel mask. The big, spiky red sea urchin looked like dinner. The long, wavy sea kelp reminded me of TV “housewives” with flowing blonde hair extensions.
The colorful undersea delights might have seemed less surprising in a warm weather climate, say the Caribbean. But this was in Alaska.
View
Website Terms and Conditions
and
Privacy Statement
of American Express Publishing Corporation. Users of this site agree to be bound by the terms
of the American Express Publishing Corporation Website Terms and Conditions. Copyright © 1997 - 2012 American Express Publishing Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
