The award-winning travel planning app and website is announcing its 2017 Family Travel Awards, with top attractions that go beyond the tried and true, noticeably quirky Rising Stars destinations, amazing beaches, and unique resorts all earning their spots on this year’s list.

 

“Summer is rapidly approaching and that means the opportunity to make some good memories with your kids,” says Travis Katz, CEO and Co-founder of Trip.com. “Get out there and base your vacations around some amazing attractions that go beyond a standard cruise or theme park.”

 

He continued, “Climb all over the architectural art and spark young imaginations at the City Museum in St. Louis or see Oregon’s incredibly tall Multnomah Falls via easy paved paths. Our Tripsters also loved Monterey Bay Aquarium for its jellyfish exhibit and its range of really well done marine life exhibits.  If that’s not your thing, the Houston Zoo is remarkable for its curated grounds and thoughtfully constructed habitats.”

 

For those looking with an eye to splurge, Katz noted that the Tower of London and London’s Natural History Museum plus Barcelona’s Park Güell are great with children in tow.

 

Top Attractions for Kids 

• City Museum: St Louis’s excuse for combining play and learning in one highly informative but fun museum.
• Monterey Bay Aquarium: An eerie jellyfish display, the ability to get up close and personal with marine wildlife, and proximity to the Pacific Ocean – need we say more?
• American Museum of Natural History: The largest dinosaur collection plus a pretty impressive meteorite fragment – all in one of America’s greatest cities, the Big Apple.
• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: Free, with a whopping 325,000 square feet of public space for young minds to get excited.
• Houston Zoo: Houses thousands of animals, an education center, aquarium and – it must be said – adorable lettuce-munching giraffes.
• Stanley Park: A Vancouver oasis that keeps families busy with an array of outdoor and indoor activities. Walk or bike the seawall, visit the aquarium, totem poles, gardens and beach – there’s even a miniature train.
• Exploratorium: 600 hands-on exhibits lets families explore, play and learn together, all in beautiful San Francisco.
• Multnomah Falls: Paved paths, a 620-ft tall waterfall, and Oregon fresh air, it’s no wonder this is consistently a winner for Tripsters and their families.
• Natural History Museum: The earthquake room and earth escalator are some of the many highlights, along with a dino- themed restaurant where kids truly come first.
• World of Coca-Cola: History, art and memorabilia combine in a fun tour that concludes in a tasting room where you can sample Coca-Cola products from around the world.

 

Trip.com also revealed the Rising Stars Destinations for Families, which reflect the cities that experienced the largest growth in reviews and interest in the past year.

 

1.   Yosemite National Park

2.   Hot Springs

3.   Santa Fe

4.   Knoxville

5.   Singapore

6.   Flagstaff

7.   Madrid

8.   Reno

9.   Pennsylvania Dutch Country

10. Chattanooga

 

 

Top Hotels/Resorts for Family Travelers

 

1.       Terranea Resort

2.       Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort

3.       Atlantis – Beach Tower

4.       Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort

5.       Wynn Las Vegas

6.       Honua Kai Resort & Spa

7.       Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center

8.       Atlantis – The Palm

9.       Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa

10.     Paradise Point Resort & Spa

 

Trip.com takes various factors into account when selecting its winners, including reviewing data across the more than 60,000 destinations in its database. All lists are based on the number of reviews from distinct travelers visiting the destination, the number of people creating trips on Trip.com for these destinations and real travelers recommending these spots to the Family Travelers Tribe in the past year.

 

For more info on why each place made the list and ideas on where to stay, eat and play in each destination, visit Trip.com’s Awards page.