If you are mulling over a 2012 trip to Italy and are looking for was to engage your kids in the experience, I highly recommend the Art al Sole day camp for international children (the program is in English).

Developed for ages 6-12 (Apprentices) and ages 13-17 (Masters), Art al Sole introduces children to a variety of art principles and practices within an array of glorious historical settings in the Italian countryside.

Sometimes I wonder how my family fits it all in. Life with a teen and tween is busier than I ever imagined which makes me appreciate our time together traveling even more.

It’s time to explore new places and relax, instead of finishing homework and racing off to swim practice. We’ve been incredibly fortunate to visit some fabulous places this year. And along with great destinations came equally impressive family-friendly hotels and resorts.

You can spend months planning a family vacation only to find when you actually hit the road that it’s the unexpected stuff that steals the show. Case in point, critters. Animal meetings on family adventures are often surprises that tend to lead to success.

I did more traveling than I’ll admit to before it clicked that Kids & Kritters are a great traveling combination.

Michelle Duffy is Wandermom, the co-author of the how-to family travel book Traveling with Kids, and a co-founder of the incredible travel blogger fundraiser (going on right now!) Passports with Purpose. She just returned from an insane world tour with her 12 and 14-year-old boys in tow where they visited 26 countries in 365 days.

The logistics involved in a trip like this are massive. Of course, it was worth every minute of work in the end. Michelle’s stories are nothing short of astounding.

A Disney family vacation is on many wish lists this season. For good reason, Disney is guaranteed entertainment for every age.

When you enter Disneyland during the holiday period, you’re effortlessly transported into your own little winter wonderland. It looks like a classic Christmas card with garland-wrapped lamp posts tied with big red ribbons. The bows are tied just right and for some reason, there never seem to be any strings of lights out.

When we travel to destinations in remote regions where day-to-day life for local people is a struggle, we try and select accommodations that support the communities around them.

Fortunately for all, Sustainable Tourism is fast-growing around the world. If your kids are old enough to process the shift in how people live versus what they are used to seeing at home, staying in accommodations that are deeply integrated …

London is a fantastic place to eat out with your kids, as long as you know where to look. Wander along the main tourist thoroughfares of Knightsbridge, Oxford Street and Regent Street and you could quickly enter panic mode as the time creeps nearer to dinner time, and the ‘I’m hungry whines turn to I’m starving and you’re searching in vain for a decent restaurant.

The answer is normally to head down a side street, or alternatively, call up this blog on your smart phone. Here are my recommendations:

Marrakech has experienced a huge tourist boom over the past several years and the hotel possibilities are endless, particularly for couples in search of a romantic retreat. For families, however, the list of optimal options is quite small.

Staying in a riad, a traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior courtyard, seems appealing at first blush as many are in heart of the atmospheric old city (medina). The challenge of this accommodation category …

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.

Oslo, the oldest of the Nordic capitals, located between a fjord and the forest, is breathtakingly beautiful and offers a several parks and recreational activities. Add to that castles and its intriguing Viking history and you get a city where a family can easily wile away 72 hours.

The Akerhus Castle has gone through many reincarnations, starting as a medieval castle in the 13th century, then becoming a fortress in the 16th century and finally being rebuilt in the 17th century as a renaissance castle.