is virginia vacation better or west virginia?
 

Hi,

we are planning to go to either virginia/west virginia in July with our daughter who will be then 1 yr old. PLease suggest what would be a better vaccation.

What are you looking for in a vacation? If beaches, naturally Virginia must be your choice. If a resort, The Greenbrier in WVa gets my vote. The Homestead in Virginia sometimes gives the Greenbrier a run for its money, but not lately, so I've heard. West Virginia has an excellent state park system with good accomodation options....located throughout the state. West Virginia also has Snowshoe...a ski resort in winter, but many summer activities. Not near an urban area. Oglebay Park in Wheeling, West Virginia is a good family option. Virginia has Williamsburg, Keswick, Monticello, Jamestown & the Tidewater area. What are you interested in?

Wow, a vacation w/a one year old. I recall those days, hauling all their stuff, trying to keep them on their regular schedule w/naps so they won't get cranky.
As eliztrav said, it depends on what you want out of this. The only really nice vacation I had w/my one year old was to a farm. They had a family friendly B&B type place on the farm, w/a one bedroom apartment w/living area where we stayed- we gathered eggs w/our son who was 1 at the time, he picked strawberries, and was amazed by and played w/the farm animals. That was in Pennsylvania but they have farms you can visit and stay at in VA where I live now. I'm not sure what else you can do w/a 1 yr old that they enjoy that is relaxing for you. My kids at age one were a bit young for the beach in VA, and there's the sun to deal with. And they were too young to hike in W VA!
Homestead has a good kids program (mine loved it when they were 4-7 yrs old) but I don't know if they take one year olds. That would at least give you a bit of a break if you wanted it.

There is really no effective way to take a grandiose vacation with a year old child. In the days when I was in that position we either visited relatives (I know, that is really NOT a vacation) or rented a cottage at a beach. We also took a teenage babysitter with us. She was given plenty of time off to do her own thing but we had a babysitter if we wanted to go out to a restaurant with two toddlers.

Glad those days are over. Just be patient and you will get there too.

West Virginia would be my choice if I were looking for outdoor activities but with a 1 yo you are limited unless you want to do a lot of hiking with a backpack. A resort like the Homestead may be nice if they have a good babysitting program. I have been there a few times and loved it but can't comment on the babysitting. If you like museums and don't mind the heat of Tidewater VA you can always stay in Williamsburg or VA Beach. The VA Living Museum in Newport News is perfect for toddlers. Also the aquarium in Va Beach. If this sounds like something you would like to do, let us know so we can give you more ideas.

Check out Pipestem State Park in West Virginia. We took our small children with us and everyone had a great time. Be sure and take a walk on either of the golf courses at dusk. You will literally see herds of white-tailed deer. My girls also kept a running total of who saw the most groundhogs and wild turkeys. There are several restaurants on the property to satisfy anyone's taste -including small ones - and the prices are exceptionally reasonable. I'm sure they have a website, but I always just called 1-800-CALLWVA and ask to be connected to Pipestem.

I don't know about W. Virginia but we've visited at a family spot in Virginia during the summer and it was as hot as it had been in Florida. This in the Shenandoah Mountains in a cabin. Lots of horsefly type bugs. Hot. Humid.

As you can see both would be great vacations, different things to do at each so I would say it up to you what you want to see and how you want to spend it. The only thing I suggest is remember that you are going to want to stay close to your accommodations at regular nap times. Everyone is happier when baby gets his/her nap! Probably a resort with thing to do in close proximity is best for this purpose. Good luck.

Well, I think travel is a lot easier with a one-year old than others apparently, but it does depend on the child. We took a 1 1/2 week trip with our daughter when she was just over 1 1/2 yrs old. This particular trip concentrated on historic sites. We visited Fredericksburg, VA, Sharpsburg, MD, Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, WV, and Monticello. We took her to Hershey, PA for several hours one day, and she had a blast. I can't say it was the ideal trip with a one-year old, but it went quite well. The only thing she couldn't do was tour the house at Monticello. She was a little too energetic at that spot, so we took turns going through the house while the other wandered the grounds with her. Our daughter has always been great riding in cars, and she got plenty of sleep while riding. She has never liked naps very much, so a mid-day nap wasn't a necessity though. It would help if you told us more about your interests for this trip, but you also know your child a lot better than any of us. It sounds like your daughter will not be much over 1 at the time of the trip. In that case, it will certainly become a little tougher if she can't walk around some by herself. You also have to consider the heat, especially if not concentrating on higher elevations.