Wondering where to go next? You’re not the only one for family trips. After a frenetic return to travel, many are asking how to enjoy the rush of discovery without the crush of crowds. Our annual list of 25 inspiring and less visited destinations for the year ahead encompasses places filled with wonder, rewarding to travelers of all ages, and supportive of local communities and ecosystems. Reported by our global editors and framed by five categories (Family, Adventure, Culture, Nature, and Community), these destinations are under the radar, ahead of the curve, and ready for you to start exploring.
Switzerland
Get onboard a rail network ideal for families
On any given day, Switzerland’s transit network carries 6.6 million riders in a country of only 8.7 million people. Vacationing families are tempted with unique trips on its famously punctual trains featuring spectacular mountains, classic cookies, and even a Wonka-esque chocolate tour.
The Gotthard Panorama Express route begins on a steamboat crossing the city of Lucerne’s famous lake before boarding a train in Flüelen for a trip to Switzerland’s Italian-influenced south. Multilingual guides point out landmarks like the 18th-century Wassen church, which can be seen from three angles along the route’s ascending spiral loops. A special train car with open windows allows photographers to capture wide-angle views of landscapes like the Reuss Valley.
Family trips in Colombia
Be enchanted by this birding paradise in South America
Colombia’s boisterous birdlife is as colorful and melodic as Encanto, the hit Disney animated film set in this biodiverse South American country. More than 1,900 different birds (almost 20 percent of the world’s avian species) live here, making Colombia the richest roost for birdlife on the planet.
San Francisco, California
Explore a crosstown trail and a new playground-with-a-view
In San Francisco, city kids can learn that becoming a trail hiker doesn’t necessarily mean a trip into the wild. The recently completed Crosstown Trail meanders across the city diagonally. From its southeastern corner at Candlestick Point to its northwestern tip at Lands End. Winding through gardens, up hills, and across urban streets for nearly 17 miles.
The path is “the fruit of volunteers’ labor—ordinary San Franciscans coming together to define its route and, in some places, physically clearing paths in order to connect segments of existing trails,”. Writes Chaney Kwak, who has walked the entire length of the Crosstown Trail. “You might run into neighbors bragging about their fruit trees, and plucking pink apples to share.”
Manchester, United Kingdom
Get a kick out of this sporty and arts-friendly British city
In 2023 Manchester, home to the renowned Manchester United Football Club, launches a number of attractions abetting its post-pandemic revival. The year’s centerpiece is the summer opening of Factory International. A new $225 million downtown cultural space designed by Rem Koolhaas’s architectural firm. Named partly after the local record label that made hometown bands Joy Division and New Order globally famous. The Factory will become the permanent home of the Manchester International Festival. The city’s biennial, cutting-edge arts jam showcases the best in theater, performance, and music for all ages.
