If you’re dreaming of an incredible Swiss ski experience, Zermatt, home of the Matterhorn, delivers. Insane mountain scenery paired with an old-style European village transport visitors to a winter paradise.

Winter and summer months alike, I always urge friends and family enjoying Swiss vacations to experience Zermatt, at least for a night or two. Located just a few hours via car or train from both Geneva and Zurich, Zermatt is surprisingly easy to access given the remote location.

Navigating a ski resort in Europe is not an intuitive experience. Many of the resort areas are vast and comprised of multiple ski areas within a single destination. Language barriers create additional complexity.

Last week’s Photo Friday post featured Grindelwald in the Jungfrau Region of Switzerland. Grindelwald is a stunning winter destination and the ultimate Swiss Alps ski experience. Due diligence, however, is required to ensure you experience more pleasure than pain. It’s worth it!

When you ski in the Alps, you’re skiing mountains not runs. The sense of open space is incredible and one of the things that makes skiing in Switzerland so epic.

Here’s a shot of our 9-year-old Devon skiing in Grindelwald, Switzerland last weekend. Believe it or not, this was taken on a bluebird Saturday, i.e. where are the other people?

Kimpton Hotels recently hosted five writers in five cities across the country as part of a holiday blogger getaway event.

My family loves Kimpton as this kid-friendly brand offers a fresh departure from typical hotels with updated décor and whimsical themes. We stayed at Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge for our family getaway and it was quite a treat!

The elves at Trekaroo have decided that we’ve been such parents this year that we deserve a big present before Christmas arrives. They’re giving away a 2-night stay with airfare and lift tickets to Mammoth Mountain in California.

If you’ve ever driven to Mammoth with kids you know how very long that drive can be and how sweet it would be to hop on a plane instead!

Fantastic winter vacation venues are in great supply and I always find it hard to choose between a week-long ski week where everyone has the opportunity improve their skills and an escape into sunshine. In addition, urban getaways in Europe can be a blast in winter when cities are filled with locals instead of tourists.

I combed through our portfolio for our 2012 Family Vacation Dream List. The best part is there’s something here for a variety of budgets and interests, so just maybe, that dream can become a reality.

Paradise Point is located on Mission Bay in San Diego, within walking distance to Sea World and close proximity to many of San Diego’s family-friendly attractions. After only a few minutes at the resort, we watched bicycle surreys carrying several generations of families cruise by us.

Paradise Point has two key factors that make it great for family reunions: a beach with calm waters and loads of activities for families.

Since we’ve been highlighting multiple ways to explore DC through Dana’s posts about Touring the White House, Choosing Kid-Friendly DC Tours, and DC Kid-Friendly Museums (to name a few) — I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon.

Last spring, I tried to hunt down some new ways to explore Washington DC with my kids as they’ve been there many times. This is the follow …

The great state of Colorado is a skier’s dream with epic conditions, varied terrain, and a long list of ski resort options for all abilities and interests. Selecting the right ski resort for a winter family vacation takes a bit of legwork to ensure it will meet the needs of every person in the family (see How to Find the Best Family-Friendly Ski Resort for my list of critical things to consider).

I visited Keystone, Colorado this month and although it’s still pre-season, I can see why so many families …

In a house with kids, it’s easy to lose a weekend. I’m sure you know what I mean. With homework, swim meets, birthday parties, you can forget to take some time to just relax. I can’t do it sitting at home. The list of things to do is too long, so I try to plan fun family adventures right in my Northern California Wine Country backyard.

This was one of our best summer’s yet. Splashing on a hot day at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, riding through Chalk Hill’s Vineyards with Wine Country Trail Rides and ziplining through the redwoods. Now I can add a California Castle to the growing list.