America in August with children....

[isitwinetimeyet16]

Hello all. We are keen to go to America with our two DDs in August (elder will be 4, younger 15 months). Trying to decide which part would be good! We've done West Coast fairly recently so were thinking either Pacific Northwest or New England but would love to hear any suggestions!

I would love to do Pacific Northwest so will watch this with interest. I can highly recommend Washington / Virginia. There is so much to see and do within a few hours of the capital. We went in August and after a few days in the city hired a car:
Arlington
Shenandoah
Charlottesville
History
Blue ridge mountains
Breweries/ vineyards
Civil War
Seaside ( we went to outer banks)
Williamsburg
Chesapeake ( boats/ fishing/ crab shacks)
Etc
Washington is a fantastic visit for all ages and easily tackled on foot.
Just a thought

depends the holiday your after but as your children get older they would enjoy holidays with more stuff like beaches or parks or water theme parks.

new england boston i remember was nice for shopping but not such a fun place for kids

new york i quite liked it had a wide variety of things to do nice ice cream shops and brighton beach was lovely in the summer.It was really nice enjoying breakfast at toms cony island restaurant with a beach view.But the underground was stifling hot in august.staten island ferry also made for a lovely trip on a hot day.

florida really fun for kids but best to wait till the oldest about 8 to get the most out of it

I can also recommend Washington DC in August as yikes says there's lots to do. We were worried about the climate, the humidity especially but everywhere was very geared up for it with amazing air conditioning! The zoo also had shower style sprinklers scattered around which meant you doused yourself in a lovely mist of cool water then were dry within 10 minutes.

Would a 15 month old enjoy any of that? I would and we are going in April to Virginia and North Carolina. However it’s far too much effort with very young children.

Maybe go to Cape Cod and north of Boston. Neither DC will remember it though!

There is a chance of heat and humidity in New England in August, so plan on heading to the beaches. Were you thinking of renting a house and staying in one place more or less, or visiting multiple locations?

Everywhere is hot in the USA in August! Except Alaska!

Thanks all for the input! @BubblesBuddy it'll be more a trip for us but also would like to think there would be bits the 4 year old in particular would enjoy! I know it'll be hot in August so I think around beaches would be a good idea. @SeaToSki we tend to like travelling around - we're planning on being away for 3 weeks so plenty of time to see a few different parts.
We were considering going over the border to Canada for part of it but not sure if that makes life more complicated?!

Pacific Northwest is amazing, used to live there. It's like England weather wise do not for sun worshipers but you can get lucky. Seattle has great kids attractions, you can go whale watching, there's beaches etc in the city (note volcanic area so grey sand). Vancouver is another child friendly option city wise but the real star is the mountain and forests - we hiked with our from just days old.

Thanks @anniehm that's really helpful! Where would you visit in that area? Seattle, Vancouver, where else?

Lonely Planet do a great guide to the Pacific Northwest. You could do Vancouver and go into the Rockies too or The Yukon. There are lots of national parks in this part of the USA and Canada. Alaska is stunning by the way!

West coast all the way, the east coast is far too humid in August.

I wouldn’t go to the Outer Banks with children your ages in August. The tides are invariably affected by hurricane season and are dangerous.

With3 weeks ypu could beach hop your way up the East Coast from Boston to Nova Scotia
Boston
Marblehead
Singing Beach
Cranes Beach
Plum Island
Hampton Beach
Portsmouth (great childrens museum here and a submarine)
Cape Neddick (york wildlife park)
Ogunquit
Saco (Splash Town Fun Town)
Then Maine I am not as familiar with, but Portland is fun, I have heard good things about Boothbay and Bar Harbor is fantastic
You can then take a ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth in Nova Scotia

We live in the PNW - we love it here. DH is originally from Southern California but prefers it here. August is our dry season but because the winters and springs are so wet it’s beautifully green. We currently live in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state but we are moving to the coast near Hoquiam shortly. I love the summers here. It’s a very outdoorsy place. We do everything outdoors in the summer. It can be expensive compared to England but for this scenery it’s worth every penny.

We live in Vancouver. I don't think I'd choose to visit in August unless you were thinking of the mountains rather than the coast. May/June would be my recommendation (before wildfire season). I don't know about the weather there but we had a lovely visit to Bar Harbor many years ago and always thought we'd go back with our children (we emigrated to Canada instead!)