meab

i hate planning spring vacation, because it seems hard to me to find somewhere with good weather that isn't overpriced.

our kids will be 7, 5 and 1. spring break is 3/27-4/5. 3 places i'd like to visit with them are:

--colorado (preferably for hiking and scenery, NOT skiing, although if we see snow then great...but i think CO is still pretty snowy this time of year?)

--portland, OR and environs - the coast, columbia river gorge, etc.

--san francisco, monterey, and possibly yosemite.

i think all 3 would make great family trips, but maybe not in march/early april because of weather.

i'm open to other suggestions also. i've eliminated DC because i think they're still a little too young in some respects. disney is a backup idea since we have passes, but it is crowded that time of year. we live in south florida, so that's out, unless we just decide to stay home!!!

thanks!

StuDudley

Last year at that time, San Francisco had very nice weather. But things are expensive here - especially at Spring Break time when hotels are often hard to find and places like Carmel require a 2 night minimum stay. Yosemite can be iffy. I think 5 days in San Francisco and 3 days in the Carmel/Monterey/Bug Sur coast area would be fabulous with kids.

Portland gets a lot of rain.

Not that familiar with Colorado - I've been there dozens of times, but only on business.

I think the San Francisco Bay Area certainly has more things to do & see than the other two choices.

Here is a list of my recommendations
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35129049

Stu Dudley

kelliebellie

What about San Antonio or New Orleans?

Gretchen

It is prime skiing time in CO mountains then.
Where are you coming from. Truth be told, we didn't exactly do a big trip for our kids at that age. Maybe go to the beach? Just hang out. Do day "field" trips near your home?

WhereAreWe

There would be too much snow in CO for good hiking, at least in the mountains.

I'd pick somewhere in the southwest - you could fly into Las Vegas or Phoenix and hit some of the national parks (Death Valley, Zion, Grand Canyon south rim if the weather is good, Saguaro). Either city has enough hiking and scenery nearby to fill a week.

Otherwise, I'd suggest a trip somewhere closer to home so you could drive, perhaps South Carolina or Georgia?

FainaAgain

San Francisco: we have indoor and outdoor activities, doesn't matter what the weather, you're covered!

longhorn55

When our kids were 4 and 7, we took them on a family-friendly cruise over a Spring Break. I'd recommend the same to you except for the fact that you have a 1-year-old as well that would be too young for any of the children's programs. You might want to keep that in mind for next year when your youngest is eligble for the kids program. Our two kids had a blast in the kids programs!
Perhaps Disney World would be a good option. We did that the same time we did the cruise (3 night cruise/4 night Disney). Yes, it was crowded during Spring Break, but we always went early and then left in the middle of the day for the pool and/or naps, returning at night when the crowds were less again. If you don't try to do too much, it can be a lot of fun.

beentheretwice

How about San Diego? Warmer than San Francisco, and plenty of kid stuff to do. We went hiking in the dessert, too. Zoo, Sea World, seals on the beach.

We visited in march, my kids were nuts enough to go in the bay.

MonicaRichards

We visit San Diego every year at Spring Break. It could be quite foggy but usually it's not, and it's still low season there (because of the gray) and so house rentals, etc. are much cheaper than they become in the summer. And there is a ton for kids your kids' ages to do there.

meab

thanks for all the input. so far, i suppose i'm leaning to SF area. we also have some friends near there that would be nice to visit.

a cruise is out. we've done many cruises over the years, with kids too, but the cost for 5 people makes it a little steep, especially when the 5th person can't take advantage of anything onboard.

disney is definitely do-able, but like i said, we are passholders and go often, so it's kind of a ho-hum idea for spring break. i think we'd definitely center ourselves more at the resort than the parks, and that's why it's our back-up plan of sorts.

san antonio and new orleans aren't at the top of my to-do list, but i bet they are great in spring.

national parks out west would be awesome, but i'd like to wait until the kids are a little bigger so we can take advantage of some activities that they are too small for now, like horseback or rafting.

san diego is awesome, but we've already been, and would like to try somewhere else.

if there's any other input on CO, OR, or CA, please write in!

fmpden

March is still winter in the mountains although the season is changing. By the end of March things could be breaking down. The ski resorts will begin to close by mid April. The front range area -- Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Ft. Collins, should be snow free by that time with typical Spring weather. There are a lot of kids oriented activities along the front range. And some hiking in the foothill might be available but could be muddy.

StuDudley

Assuming your kids dont want to gamble (Las Vegas), I'm pretty sure that the San Francisco Bay Area - including Carmel/Monterey/Big Sur/Napa/Sonoma/Marin - gets voted (in many travel magazines) as the most popular destinaton in the US.

Stu Dudley
(Guess where I live)

november_moon

I'd choose CA too - either SF Bay Area or San Diego. Lots of cool stuff to see and do, indoor and outdoor activities so you can plan around the weather. Usually we have nice weather that time of year, but sometimes it rains. We are actually hoping for a nice rainy spring because we need the water - but even still, it usually doesn't rain all day or even more than a couple days in a row. And the flowers are in bloom that time of year and the hills are green.