I have two new family travel articles up on family.com. ETA: family.com is now family.disney.com and these articles are no longer available on-line.
My first family travel article was “Travel Tips for Pregnant Women.” The timing was pretty funny: I had just gotten an assignment for an article for More magazine that was taking me to New Orleans Tuesday, coming back on Wednesday. But the last piece of advice in my article for traveling while pregnant read:
8. But remember: Your due date is just a “guestimate.”
Even if you’re a bona fide and intrepid globe trotter, it’s a good idea not to jump in the car for that last minute trip to Las Vegas two weeks before your due date, unless you want the baby to be born en route. Your nesting instincts will start kicking in towards the end of your last trimester so it’s best to avoid any unnecessary travel during the last weeks of pregnancy.
Tee hee.
This assignment definitely fell under the category of “necessary travel,” and I was excited to go. That said, I was in definite negotiation with the baby not to be born on the airplane the whole time.
The other family travel article was about the world’s best and favorite playgrounds, especially for toddlers. Cause every traveling family needs to have some favorite playgrounds!
Of these, my absolute favorites—the kind of places worth traveling just to go to the park—are:
1. Harold H. Higashihara Park, The Big Island, Hawaii
The best playground on Hawaii and one you won’t find mentioned in a guide book, this park was created by a community effort and continues to be a beloved place for Big Island families and visitors in the know. Built into a verdant hillside with a spectacular view and plenty of shade, the park was designed with both creative and historical play in mind. There are Hawaii-specific play structures like a wooden double-hulled Polynesian canoe and a Kona Sugar Co. 1897 model train, as well as chess tables, a horseshoe ring toss, a lifesized whale, a twirl machine, a baseball diamond, basketball and tennis courts, and covered picnic tables. There is no web site for the park but it’s located at 78-7300 Kuakini Highway in Keahou, Hawaii, 96739.
2. RiverPlay Playground, Eugene, Ore.
Oregon’s got another playground that beats out all the competition: It’s the enormous and phenomenal RiverPlay Playground in Skinner Butte Park in Eugene, Oregon, south of Portland. Here you’ll find a 25-foot replica of Skinner Butte, a miniature Willamette River (complete with a hand-powered ferry that your kids can shuttle each other across), water features, a blacksmith’s shop, stagecoach, and a one-room schoolhouse. After a jaunt at the park go for a hike up the real Skinner Butte or walk along the paved River Bank Trail that parallels the real Willamette.
3. Coram’s Fields, London, England
Hands down the best playground in London, Coram’s Fields is such a well-kept neighborhood secret that even many London children have never visited. A kids-only affair (you must be accompanied by a child to enter), this 7-acre playground has wooden castles, tunnels, multi-child tire swings, rope bridges, a zoo (rabbits, goats, sheep, and more), indoor craft rooms for rainy days in London, open grass, a German-run outdoor café with great prices, healthy snacks, and coffee for parents, and a giant zip line that even teens enjoy!
4. ‘Unnamed’ Aristotle Lane Playground, Oxford, England
If you’re on a jaunt to London with small children and you take a side trip to Oxford, make time to visit the unnamed playground off Aristotle Lane in Jericho (the same neighborhood where Lyra plays with Gypsy kids in the “Golden Compass”!). The playground abuts a brook lined with quaint houseboats and filled with ducks and swans. You’ll find 21st century play equipment for older kids as well as swings, slides, merry-go-rounds, balance beams and soccer fields. When kids get tired of exploring European play structures you can walk along the towpath back to town.
Where are your favorite playgrounds? Do you enjoy family travel?
Published: October 9, 2009
Last update: January 22, 2020
Jasper Pismo says
MY favorite for Toronto is Ontario Place! Back in the 70s when I was a kid it was more of a playground, and they’re upgraded a lot of it to public amusement park now, but the places where kids can climb and clomp around are still the best part!
Alexandra Grabbe says
I raised my kids in France, in the 1970s, and was always envious of American mothers with the stupendous playgrounds available for their kids. Sometimes we do not realize how fortunate we are! (Of course, France has lots of museums, and parents take little kids there early. Even the toddlers and babies experience museums in Paris, as I remember. The city parks are beautiful, but if you don’t have a toy boat for the “basin,” you are out of luck. All my kids could enjoy at the local park was the sandbox! Oh, and then there were the STAY OFF THE GRASS signs…. not ideal for little ones by any means.)
Kerry Dexter says
not exactly a playground or park, but La Plaza in the center of Taos is small and fun for kids, with trees and benches to climb.
Stephanie S. says
Girl, you’re braver than I am, traveling that far along! I’d be afraid of walking to the mailbox. 😉 Just kidding. Sort of.