To understand Chicago, you must meet the people who work there, live there, and call it home. With options for walking, public transit, and private transportation, here are three of our favorite Chicago-based tour companies.

In Madison, Wisconsin the University of Wisconsin, Madison is a hub of family-friendly fun. From geology, space, physics, and ice cream, this post will get you planning your next day trip to campus.

Saving money on family vacations is more important than ever before. Teri Gault, CEO of GroceryGame.com and mega-frequent flyer, gives her favorite tips on saving money for families.

Joshua Tree National Park, located about two hours east of Los Angeles, is a perfect example. Located on the border of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, it’s home to some of the strangest and most spectacular scenery in America. Visit in the spring, and you’ll be treated to spectacular wildflower blooms that transform the otherwise parched landscape into an explosion of color. Visit in the fall, and you’ll enjoy balmy temperatures perfect for hiking or rock climbing. Not summer? Not a problem. Joshua Tree awaits!

Two-thirds of the way up the craggy coast of Maine lies Mount Desert Island, home to granite mountains, picture perfect harbors, and Acadia National Park. Mount Desert Island is the crown jewel of coastal New England—the only place on the East Coast where the mountains literally meet the sea. Nearly 40% of the island has been permanently protected as Acadia National Park, and it’s home to some of the most dramatic coastal scenery in America.

When we picked up a copy of the Passport To Your National Parks® in the Antietam gift shop, tore away the cellophane wrapper and unfolded the enclosed map, we saw the full, vast spectrum of the then-388 properties of the National Park Service for the first time—a total perspective that could drive otherwise sane travelers mad.

When folks think of national parks, images of Yellowstone (or Jellystone, for that matter) and Yosemite come quickly to mind. These are the quintessential parks, offering campgrounds, trails for hiking, stunning roadside scenery, and places to unload your picnic basket. (Ain’t that right, Boo Boo?) But the National Park Service oversees many different kinds of sites—from National Monuments to National Seashores.

Nestled deep in the heart of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, Yosemite National Park is one of America’s most spectacular sights. Its alpine scenery is bursting with superlatives: the highest waterfall in North America (Yosemite Falls), the most famous vertical rock face in the world (El Capitan), and the largest organisms of all time (giant sequoia trees). But no statistic can ever capture the park’s staggering beauty.

One mile deep. Ten miles wide. One hundred and sixty miles long. Covering 1.2 million acres in northern Arizona , Grand Canyon is a breathtaking act of geology. Teddy Roosevelt called it “the one great sight every American should see.”

I love my son (he is my boy, after all), but I have to admit that when it comes to hiking, he’s completely useless. His form is sloppy, he has absolutely no stamina, and carry …

In the summer of 2003 my wife and I had an epiphany. Actually on my end it was more of a hissy-fit-melt-down, but she still kindly refers to it as an epiphany. We had just recently sold our Mom-and-Pop business which, after the first of Celeste’s three difficult pregnancies, had quickly become a “Pop” business. I worked 364 days a year, and I saw little of our young children.

Heading out for a road trip this summer, one way to cut down travel costs and keep your family on a healthy diet is to stock up on your favorite snacks. Road Trips for Families attended the 2011 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California last month to find the Top 10 road-trip friendly snacks. Our criteria is this: healthy, fun, portable, packable, affordable, non-melt-able snacks your kids will actually eat on a road trip.

What kid doesn’t enjoy a dangerous botanical or two? For a wicked garden road trip be sure to check out the display of Wicked Plants: Botanical Rogues and Assassins which opened this month at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco, California.

A road trip can offer its own particular brand of difficulties for families traveling with babies and those on the cusp of toddler-hood. Babies require their own diaper bags, clean bottles, food, and entertainment. Our editors are always keeping an eye out for products that will make our trips easier. Here are a few that have crossed our desk recently that we think you might appreciate as well.