Trips with kids that are actually relaxing
Written October 2026
A relaxing trip with kids doesn't have much to do in it. There are one or two things a day you'd be sad to miss, and the rest goes to the pool, the beach or the lake.
Some of these are a beach and not much else, some do all the organizing for you, and some are slow enough that a tide pool is the big event of the day.
Beach, pool, repeat
Aruba
Palm Beach and Eagle Beach, Aruba
The days in Aruba go beach, pool, beach, with one loop around the island and one snorkeling boat.
The hotels are on Palm Beach, with the water sports, and on Eagle Beach, which is wider and quieter. Baby Beach, down at the southeast tip, is a shallow lagoon you can wade a long way into, and Mangel Halto is the snorkeling beach. Jolly Pirates and Red Sail Sports both take kids on their snorkel sails. More places to stay are in the Aruba family hotels guide.
Divi Aruba Phoenix Beach Resort
Palm Beach, Aruba
A full kitchen in every suite makes slow mornings and early dinners easy, and Little Explorers (ages 4 to 12) is an activity program parents do alongside their kids.
Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort Spa and Casino
Palm Beach, Aruba
The pool has three tiers and the tallest resort water slide on the island, plus a separate quiet pool for adults. The family suite has a kids' room with bunk beds.
- Clubs
- Camp Hyatt Watapana, ages 4 to 12, full or half days.
From the resort's activities page, October 2026
Embassy Suites by Hilton Aruba Resort
Eagle Beach, Aruba
Every suite here has two rooms, so one kid's bedtime doesn't put everyone to bed. There's a children's pool and a playground, and breakfast is included.
Somebody else does everything
Here the resort or the ship takes care of the meals and the plans.
Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana
Juanillo Beach, Cap Cana, Dominican Republic
Hyatt Ziva has a water park with a lazy river and three slides right by the beach, and kids' clubs that give them somewhere to be while you go to an adults' dinner or get a massage.
If anyone wants an outing, Scape Park is in Cap Cana too, with ziplines, caves and Hoyo Azul, a turquoise cenote you can swim in.
- Clubs
- KidZ Club for younger kids, and a teen club for ages 13 to 17.
From the resort's things to do page, October 2026
A Disney cruise
Disney Cruise Line, the Bahamas and the Caribbean
A Disney cruise has a lot more going on, but dinner and the shows are on board and you only unpack once. Bahamas sailings stop at Disney's own islands, Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, about as easy as a beach day gets.
- Clubs
- Oceaneer Club and Lab, ages 3 to 10; Edge, 11 to 14; Vibe, 14 to 17.
From Disney Cruise Line's kids and teens pages, October 2026
A house on a lake
In the Smokies it's a rented house, a lake to paddle on and a few short hikes.
Fontana Lake
Fontana Lake and Bryson City, North Carolina
Fontana Lake runs along the southern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains, close to the Tennessee line. The house is half the trip (a hot tub and a dining table big enough for board games is the dream).
Bryson City is the town nearby, and the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad leaves from its depot. Deep Creek has a 2.4-mile loop past three waterfalls, and Lakeview Drive (the Road to Nowhere) ends at a tunnel you can walk through. In Cherokee there's the Museum of the Cherokee People, the Oconaluftee Indian Village and elk grazing in the Oconaluftee valley.
Fontana Village Resort & Marina
Fontana Dam, North Carolina
Fontana Village is a lake week without renting a house, with lodge rooms and more than 100 cabins of two to four bedrooms with full kitchens. There's a marina that rents kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and pontoons, and a pool with a lazy river.
Coastal Maine, slowly
In Boothbay Harbor and Bar Harbor, the day runs on the tides.
Boothbay Harbor
Boothbay Harbor, Maine
In Boothbay Harbor there are tide pools on the rocky ledges at Pemaquid Point, and Cap'n Fish's harbor cruise goes past seals and lighthouses and hauls up a lobster trap.
For a big day out, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens has a children's garden built around Maine children's books, with a treehouse, a rope bridge and a pond with turtles and tadpoles.
Spruce Point Inn Resort and Spa
Boothbay Harbor, Maine
Spruce Point Inn is out on its own point at the mouth of the harbor, with two saltwater pools: a heated one by the kids' camp and the playground, and one right by the ocean.
- Clubs
- Lighthouse Kids' Camp, ages 6 to 12, in summer.
From the inn's activities page, October 2026
Bar Harbor and Acadia
Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, Maine
Acadia is a park for kids who like rocks and water. Around low tide you can walk to Bar Island on a gravel bar that's under the sea the rest of the day, and Ship Harbor and Wonderland are short walks to the tide pools. Kids can pick up a Junior Ranger booklet at the visitor centers, and in summer the free Island Explorer buses mean nobody has to drive.
Lunch at Jordan Pond House and a boat with Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co fill the other days.
Acadia Inn
Bar Harbor, Maine
At Acadia Inn the suites have two rooms and two bathrooms, and there's a heated outdoor pool, a playground and a trail from the property into the park.
Bar Harbor Regency
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor Regency's outdoor pool is by the bay, and its Kid Suites tuck a little kids' room, with a bunk bed and its own TV, inside a room with a king bed for you.
More from around the world
Resorts built for children
Trips with kids that never make the usual lists
13 countries to visit with your kids before they start kindergartenPhoto credits
Trips with kids that are actually relaxing: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen (CC BY-SA 3.0) · A Disney cruise: Declan M. Martin (Public domain) · Fontana Lake: Brian Stansberry (CC BY 3.0) · Fontana Village Resort & Marina: Harrison Keely (CC BY 4.0) · Boothbay Harbor: B Lee Mannino (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Bar Harbor and Acadia: Billy Hathorn (CC BY 3.0)