One of the best ways to spend time with your family is traveling. Taking family trips together creates memories and traditions that last for years.
We prioritize our budget to spend less on other categories so we can afford family travel each year. Below, get the best family travel tips plus lots of ideas for destinations!

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Family Travel Tips
After having three kids in less than three years, we stayed home for quite some time! Now, we travel often as a family. These are the travel tips that work for us:
Why take family trips?
If you haven’t already experienced the benefits of traveling as a family, and seeing how it compares to your daily routines, I urge you to read The science behind how holidays make your child happier – and smarter.
“Two-thirds of conversations between parent and child are about daily routine. Only a quarter of children say they talk to parents more than once a week about something that matters.”
“Research has revealed improvements in a child’s attention and concentration levels after being in nature for only 20 minutes… There is also evidence that a walk together in green space calms the body, lowering blood pressure and stress hormone levels and even cholesterol – so parents and grandparents stand to benefit, too.”

Recommended for family trips:
Family Travel Destinations
Where to go? Well, that depends on where you live and how you plan to get there! Here are some of our favorite family destinations.
Washington DC
Living near DC means lots of tourists and lots of traffic, but it’s also home to so many fabulous places to visit–and many for free! Whether you’re local or you’re headed here for vacation, it’s one of the top cities to tour.
Virginia & Maryland
We call Northern Virginia home, and each year we try to visit a new part of the state to get to know it better. Living in the DMV area, it’s also easy to travel to parts of Maryland for road trips.
Need more ideas for family trips?
Head over to my Mid-Atlantic Family Travel board on Pinterest. You’ll find more destinations from other family bloggers.