Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up [Paperback]

Holly Hughes (Author)

Book Description

Series: 500 Places | Publication Date: August 7, 2006

500 Places to Take Your Kids allows parents, grandparents, and kids to create a lifetime of shared memories while visiting destinations the whole family can enjoy. Here are cities, zoos, sports shrines, museums, castles, beaches, outdoor activities, and more—500 thoughtfully-chosen places that will enchant and beguile both the young and the young at heart.

Each entry contains all the information families need to help plan a trip: age ratings, service details, and nearby kid-friendly hotels. A Specialty Index organized by type of trip helps families discover places and activities for all ages and interests, while a Geographical Index allows families to locate attractions across the world or simply across town. Photos throughout the book help bring destinations to life.

Free companion podcast is available for download!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description

500 Great Reasons to Say,"Are We There Yet?"

This bestselling guide takes you across town and around the globe to 500 of the mostexciting places on earth. With more than 40 new destinations, this revised edition is packed with things to see, do, and explore—from the Painted Desert (United States) and the cave homes of Coober Pedy (Australia) to a camel safari (India) and Dracula's Castle (Romania).

Complete with hotel information, age recommendations, Web sites, and more, this guide provides the advice you need to plan a trip the whole family can enjoy—and remember for a lifetime.

Places to Go & Things to Do Around the World

• The natural world: awesome vistas, flora, and fauna

• Offbeat attractions: weird and wacky fun

• History: from ancient wonders to modern marvels

• Rides and thrills: bobsleds, dogsleds, and everything in between

• Art and architecture: galleries, buildings, and monuments

• Science: space centers, natural history museums,and more

• Sports: halls of fame and sporting events

Look Inside Some of the World's Most Kid-Approved Places (Click for more information)

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks: Giant Trees of the Sierras	Versailles: Palace of the Sun King	Biscayne National Park: Florida’s Homegrown Coral Reef
Howe Caverns	Liverpool Beatles Tour	Parc Guell: Super City Park
Sea Kayaking in Acadia National Park	Rollercoasters: Bigger Is Better in New Jersey	Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"a handy guidebook featuring all the must-sees around the globe that kids of all ages can appreciate, not to mention their parents as well." (New York Daily News, August 20, 2006)

"…there will be something here to inspire the adventurous spirit in most families." (Mail on Sunday, October 2006)

"...you will have a richer knowledge of the world and of course—you will enjoy your travels…Go fetch now!" (The Big Buzz Magazine, October 2006)

"It’s the perfect gift for anyone who travels with children." (Spanish Magazine, October 2006)

"…includes some of the best-known sights in the Southern hemisphere…" (Selling Long Haul, November 2006)

"If ever there was a ‘bible’ of worldwide must-see places for children to visit, this is it…truly comprehensive…" (Blackpool Gazette, November 2006)

"…packed with experiences the next generation of globe-trotters adore…" (Wanderlust, November 2006)

"…brilliant, unusual ideas." (Primary Times, December 2006)

"…full of wonderful suggestions…" (Families Thames Valley East, January 2007)

"…a life saving new book…" (Club News, January 2007)

"…makes any trip possible, even with the kids in tow. It’s the perfect book for anyone who travels with children and gives them 500 opportunities to say ‘Are we there yet?" (Army Families Federation Journal, March 2007)

"...not only does it showcase the very best destinations around the world for the family, its aimed at the young and the young at heart." (ABTA Magazine, July 2007)

"a truly fantastic guide, packed full of must-see destinations your kids will love." (Families South West Magazine, July 2007)

"…a guidebook for all ages." (Essentially America, Autumn 2007)

“…fascinating guide of interesting places that will create a lifetime of…memories while visiting destinations the whole family can enjoy.” (Family Interest, March/April 2008)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Wiley Publishing, Inc.; 1st edition (August 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764595881
• ISBN-13: 978-0764595882
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #710,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

118 of 124 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but Unrealistic, August 17, 2006

By 

Austinlvr "movie lover" (Merritt Island, FL USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up (Paperback)

I had high expectations for this book but they fell flat. First, the layout is o.k. but not great. Areas are grouped by categories such as "Out and About" and "On the Water." As the book covers the world, I think it might have been better to be laid out geographically and maybe cross-referenced. As for the selections, they are very diverse. Some make sense but some I really don't feel are appropraite for children, except for maybe the very well travelled child. For example, number 397 is Mount Fuji: Scaling the Symbol of Japan. The age range is 8 and up. The author writes, "Take a shortcut directly to Kawaguchiko's Fifth Stage by bus from Shinjuku Station (be sure to book in advance); the trip takes about 2 1/2 hours. From this starting point it's about a 6 hour climb to the summit, with another 3 hours to make the descent; at the top, a 1-hour hiking trail circles the crater. The highlight of the classic Fuji Climb is to watch the sunrise from the peak, which in summer means being there by 4:30 am." I was hoping for more "kid friendly" suggestions. I don't think I'll be visiting number 280 "Hiroshima: The Original Ground Zero" or number 277 "The D-Day Beaches of Normandy" with my son anytime soon. Perhaps the child that is a huge history buff would understand the significance.

The positives are that the author provides good detail for each area with tips and tricks, good hotel, airport and contact information, and age ranges. There are some very unique groupings which make for an interesting read.

The negatives are that is it is an unrealistic travel guide for the average family, the "Why They'll Thank You" is weak, and it still didn't help me decide what to do next summer!

71 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Aspirational list, January 31, 2007

By 

penguinblue (CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up (Paperback)

I'm surprised by the number of negative reviews of this book so I thought I would offer my own counterpoint. This is the best list I've found of aspirational places to take children. The only comparable list book I've found is the ever-popular 1000 Places to See Before You Die, which isn't oriented around kids at all. Of course they will all want to go to Disney World, but this is a different type of list. These are places that kids should visit to understand more about the world, how people behave, how science works, and what life is like for people who aren't always like themselves. It is not a list of fun places to take little kids.

We've been lucky enough to have visited 97 of the places with our kids, now aged 15 and 20. It's been a blessing to us to be able to visit places like Thailand, which is wonderful, and the Great Barrier Reef and indeed Mount Fuji and Hiroshima. People in Japan take many kids ages 8 to 10 to the muesum at Hiroshima; it's a fantastically well done museum about a topic that every kid--and adult--should understand. The only one of the places that really didn't give us much of a thrill was Agate Fossil Beds in Nebraska. My guess is that the authors HAD to pick something in Nebraska. We just used the book to pick #97 which was the Spy Museum in Washington DC -- a great spot we hadn't heard of.

The only reason I don't give this book 5 stars is that it really could benefit from a geographical cross-reference. Many items do offer a list of items nearby which is helpful.

So maybe it is easier to take kids to Disney World, but think about these places too. A terrific book to think about for a lifetime of travel with your family.

65 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A fairly useless book, January 11, 2007

By 

IndyDon (Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up (Paperback)

Wow, was I disappointed when I cracked this book open. My two main complaints are layout and site selections. I cannot believe that sites are grouped by general similarity rather than geography. The geographical index at the back of the book just does not satisfy me. Any book like this should be organized from a geographical standpoint in my opinion. You will be required to look at the geographical index at the back of the book to find anything specific. I was hoping the book focused on the US or let's be wild and say North America. While I did not count them up, I would guesstimate that almost half of the sites are outside of North America. You would have to be extremely wealthy to visit many of these places and a fair number really are not place where I would want to take "kids" as they would only appeal to high school age or above. There are better books out there - in this case the Internet would serve you better.