Places to holiday from the US

[user593]

DH has to attend a conference in a Midwest state in July, and as I’ve never been to the US I was planning on tagging along with our two DC (both under 5). We normally holiday in Europe (we’re UK-based) and so we want to go on a holiday afterwards that takes advantage of the fact we’re already in the US. I was thinking maybe Hawaii but that’s still 9 hours away. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Do you have to fly back from the Midwest i.e he is travelling on work paid flights? What are you going to do in a conference hotel during the day when he is busy - is it close to things. Are you confident in hiring a car and driving. Otherwise it might not be much fun for the first bit of the holiday so the tagging along bit might be rubbish. I tagged along with my DH to one of his conferences but it was in Disney world !😀

What do you want to do? US national parks are amazing so depending where you are you could do a bit of an outdoor holiday. Fly down to Florida and do the parks. Fly over to California and do a road trip?

You kids are young enough that you can all fit in one room as most have 2 Queen beds so that will keep costs down - its really expensive to holiday in the US these days.

@Moorfellduck We’d probably save a bit of money if we flew back via the Midwest but we don’t have to. We normally holiday at least twice a year but because of health issues we haven’t been on holiday for two years so money isn’t so much of an issue. The conference is in a city and we can stay in a central location and get taxis. I could give driving a go but I’m not sure I’d be terribly confident! I was planning on doing museums, parks, shopping, etc. Just a bit nicer than the normal routine at home (especially as no DH to help out at home).

A conference at Disney World sounds amazing!

Southern California is definitely on our shortlist. I wasn’t sure if the DC might be too young for national parks though (assuming there’s a lot of walking involved).

We’ve also thought about Canada, Hawaii and New England.

The Caribbean is easily accessible.

I would not be stepping foot in the Republic of Gilead, sorry I mean the US, in the current climate.

If you wanted to save wear and tear, you could consider staying around the Midwest. There are some beautiful lakes in Minnesota for an outdoor holiday and Minneapolis (the capital city) has some interesting city activities. Chicago has a lot for a city holiday and you wouldn't have to drive.

July can be VERY HOT, so unless you like that, I would give Southern California a miss at that time of the year.

I did similar last year- I was working in Atlanta and flew to Costa Rica to meet DH for a holiday. We went to three different places in Costa Rica- the wildlife is amazing, and there are great resorts for families. It was 4 hours from Atlanta.

Costa Rica

@uptomyeyes1 @orangeblosssom Did you feel safe in Costa Rica? I did lots of adventurous travel pre-children but am a little more cautious now.

@ShrubRose The conference is in Minneapolis so we’ll have a week there to start.

@user593 The conference is in Minneapolis so we’ll have a week there to start.
Nice place for a conference.

You could consider Montréal, which is usually a tolerable temperature in July, and there are non-stop flights to LHR. Museums, parks, great food, history, no driving required.

Costa Rica is an incredibly safe country

Friends combined a trip to family in Canada with a week in one of the Caribbean islands (I can't remember which one).

Santa Fe. Really different and beautiful. I loved it and one of the few places in the US I want to go back to. White water rafting was a terrifying and exhilarating highlight!

Yes CostaRica was incredibly safe. Lots of travellers with children including people who had travelled from the uk with their children to see the tapirs and sloths.

I'd rather take my kids to Costa Rica than the US right now

San Diego for a base.
Someone above mentioned national parks, there are some fabulous national parks but Trump's interference could make for chaos in the popular parks in coming months.

Wherever you go, make sure you check out the local children's museum. Pretty much all cities have them and your children will be the perfect age. They're not really museums at all, more interactive exhibits and experiences.

City Museum is St Louis is like no other place on earth.