Until I visited the region with family during the 2009  National Shrimp Festival, I held the notion Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama was strictly a golfers paradise. Walking around in light flamingo Polo-shirts, my …

To live in the Midwest and have never experienced the culture, food, architecture, diversity, and entertainment that is Chicago is a sad thing indeed. For many of us quite comfortable in the regional cost of …

As a general rule of thumb, we provide our kids with unlimited opportunities for self-entertainment (i.e., looking out the window) for road trips under nine hours. This is partly because our Hail Mary minivan is …

Door County, Wisconsin. A beloved vacation destination for Mid-westerners, this pinkie-shaped peninsula jutting out into the pristine waters or Lake Michigan lives up to the nickname “Cape Cod of the Midwest.” Whether you ride a Harley, sail a yacht, camp, antique, scuba dive, kayak, or simply appreciate award-winning regional food and wine, Door Country truly has something for everyone all year round. On a budget and in the area for a short weekend, our family came to Door County with one main theme on our vacation itinerary—stones. Skipping stones, that is.

For most of us, planning a road trip to Alaska is as daunting as the state itself. A “lifetime” journey for the adventuresome lot, if you’re ever going to need a guidebook to jump start your vacation planning, this list will get you one step closer to the Great North.

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.

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.

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.

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.

March 17 is St. Patty’s Day and there’s still time to plan a road trip. So eat your Lucky Charms, pack your bagpipes, and start looking for rainbows and leprechauns! We’ve picked five great spots to get your Riverdance on!

Spring is rounding the bend and before the daffodils bloom, it’s time to plan for spring break vacation. Instead of a trip to the beach this year, consider spring specials in an off-season vacation to New England.

On a cross country road trip with an almost-teenager, our friends Pace and Kyeli offer their advice for vacation success with tweens and younger teens.

The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel Island, Florida is a must-see stop on your next family road trip. With engaging exhibits and sea life encounters, the admission price less is than the cost of going to the movies.

Road Trips for Families interviewed celebrity, and road trip guru Jonny Moseley at Squaw Valley USA in California last week. Host of Focus Rally: America in February, 20110 Moseley is about to takes us all on a nationwide road-trip adventure.

Back in November, we made a weekend trek to Cleveland, one of the Midwest’s least sung treasures. Located on the mighty Cuyahoga River in northern Ohio, Cleveland is firmly planted in the country’s Rust Belt. But don’t let that stir in your mind images of burned-out warehouses and abandoned factories. Sure, there’s some of that, but the only thing my family had to say after a weekend of great food, music, and museums was “When can we go back?”

Swimmers itch is a patchy red pinpoint skin rash caused by a parasite living in freshwater lakes. Miserable to contract, we offer some tips to prevent and treat an outbreak.

Family road trips are a time-honored tradition. But they can also be tiring, frustrating, and result in way too many backseat meltdowns. How to keep everyone comfortable, healthy and well-fed on the road? We asked Melanie Haiken, of Health Conscious Travel to give us some tips.

Private Boardwalk to the Beach

Sometimes a vacation is more than a vacation; it’s a reunion or extended visit with long distance friends and family. Ideal for reunions, retreats, and groups of friends, vacation rentals, villas, and condos offer the comforts of home when you need them the most.

With 101 ways to electronically entertain kids on a road trip, Road Trips for Families suggests re-introducing the window as an alternate “low tech” way to unplug, engage, and even bond.

Great Lakes Road Trips: Michigan Kismet Moments. Following the tug of the steering wheel to places we normally wouldn’t have time or patience to go.