Why cruises, safaris, and road trips are the three greatest ways to travel as a family in 2026, and how to do all of them right.
Some trips are just vacations. And then there are the ones your family never stops talking about. The road trip where you got a little lost and found something amazing, the safari morning when everyone fell silent watching a pride of lions (with cubs) walk by the swimming pool deck, or the time the ellies came to drink from the pool where you were relaxing… the holiday cruise where nobody had to cook and everyone actually relaxed and focused on each other. This is a guide to book those trips. The ones worth planning, and planning well.
Summer is here. And if you are anything like many of the families I talk to, you have been meaning to plan something extraordinary for months. Something beyond the usual resort week. Something everyone will actually remember but then somehow June arrived before the itinerary did. I get it. Life is relentless. But… some of the best trips I have ever taken, personally and professionally, came together in weeks, not months. So let’s talk about what is still possible, what is worth doing properly, and why 2026 might genuinely be the best year in recent memory to travel as a family, in all its gloriously chaotic, multigenerational, nobody-agrees-on-the-restaurant reality.
My personal experience: The two RV camper road trips through Southern Africa with the entire “fandamily” all talking at once. The safari where my seven-year-old niece fell silent watching a lion with her cubs walking next to the vehicle. The river cruise where my grandmother cried at the Christmas markets because it looked exactly like the village she grew up in.
These are not accidents, they are what happens when you choose the right format for the right family. And in my experience, here are the trips that work: the White Lotus trip, the Road Trip, the Cruise, and the Safari.
The White Lotus Effect: Go Where the Story Takes You
I will start with the trip that has been living rent-free in everyone’s head since Season 3. If your group chat has not exploded about Thailand or any of those destinations yet, give it a week. White Lotus did what great storytelling has always done. It made a destination feel urgent, cinematic, and deeply personal all at once. The difference in 2026 is the speed at which that desire travels. Within weeks of the season airing, searches for Koh Samui spiked, river cruise itineraries through Southeast Asia sold out, and families who had never once discussed Thailand were suddenly sending each other reels about infinity pools overlooking the Gulf.
What makes this moment genuinely interesting for multigenerational travel is that for once, everyone is watching the same thing. The 26-year-old and the 66-year-old are both obsessed with the same show, dreaming about the same aesthetic and arguing about whether the villa is worth it. That shared cultural starting point is rarer than you think, and it is one of the most powerful catalysts for a multigenerational trip I have ever encountered. When the whole family already agrees on the vibe, half your planning battle is won before anyone opens a browser.
Road Trips: Start Close to Home.
After years of traveling all over the world, I’ve landed on four types of trips that I believe are genuinely the best formats for family travel, especially a multigenerational family. Road trips. Cruises. Safaris and Heritage trips. Each one works for a completely different reason and they cover almost every kind of family.
What makes road trips the ultimate multigenerational format is flexibility. Grandparents can sleep in while the younger ones hike at dawn. You can stop at the roadside market nobody planned for and you can take the scenic route just because someone spotted something interesting from the window. There are no excursions to cancel and no schedule to miss. The destinations are endless! Iceland’s Ring Road, the Scottish Highlands, a Patagonia circuit, a classic American National Parks run, or simply a long weekend to the mountains, a few hours from home. The journey is also the destination when you are on a road trip.
My family and I loved road trips, especially self drive safaris across Southern Africa, and winding drives through Europe, with the family (all ages) piled into vehicles together. We often camped and stopped when some gorgeous location caught our eye… and the best moments were seldom the ones on the itinerary and that is the best thing about road trips. To this day, one of my favorite things is to simply get in the car and drive. No fixed plan or any reservations. Just stop wherever I find an interesting spot along the way. During the pandemic, when the world effectively shut down, those spontaneous road trips kept me sane. Just the open road and the freedom to figure it out as I drove. Turns out you don’t need a passport to have an adventure and some of the most extraordinary trips start just a few hours from your front door.
Big Bear, California. Your SoCal Family Escape.
If you live in Southern California and haven’t done a Big Bear family trip yet, put it on the bucket list. It’s about two hours from Los Angeles and it works in every season. Big Bear has that rare quality of feeling like a real escape without requiring four connecting flights. It is one of those trips families do once and then find themselves going back three four times a year. It becomes a tradition before you even realize it.
In winter, Snow Summit and Bear Mountain offer skiing and snowboarding for all skill levels, and if your little ones have never seen snow before, watching their faces when it clicks is something you won’t forget. Summer opens up the lake for kayaking, paddleboarding, and long lazy afternoons on the water. Fall is golden with some of the best hiking and biking in Southern California. Spring brings wildflowers and fresh mountain air with far fewer crowds.
What makes Big Bear work so well for families is that there’s genuinely something for every age and every energy level. Grandparents can sit on a cabin deck with coffee or glass of wine and a enjoy a stunning view, while the kids tackle the slopes or the trails. Teens stay engaged, toddlers are enchanted by everything and you can choose from so many lodges and activities! You have the option of a cozy budget-friendly cabin tucked in the pines, or a fully appointed lodge with a hot tub, mountain views, and everything taken care of. Ultra luxe or totally down to earth, your choice.
Need last minute plans for a weekend away? Off to Big Bear! Need a romantic spot for a weekend away from the kids? Big Bear of course! Need a glow-up retreat for you and your besties before the wedding? Yep, you guessed it, Big Bear! Tap here for everything you need to know about planning a trip to Big Bear.
For Families Ready to Venture Further.
Beyond Big Bear, some of the most memorable family road trips takes shape with intention, where every stop builds on the last. Iceland’s Ring Road. The American National Parks circuit, by train! The Scottish Highlands. Patagonia. These aren’t trips you wing, they’re trips you build carefully, with the right properties pre-booked, buffer days planned in, and a few unexpected moments along the way that become the highlights of the whole journey.
✈ PRO TIP(s)
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Always build in at least one buffer day per week of long distance road trips. Things run long, kids need downtime, and the best moments often happen when you’re not rushing to the next thing.
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As your travel advisor I will add a small welcome touch at your first stop, a local treat, something personal waiting in the room that will set a warm tone that carries through the whole trip.
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Working with a travel advisor makes a bigger difference on especially international road trips than almost any other style of travel. You can Google a route, but you can’t Google which properties are genuinely great for families (vs. which ones just say they are), which ferries are not operating any longer even though your AI search says it does or which roads get congested and when, or who to call when something doesn’t go to plan. That knowledge and those relationships are what turn a good trip into one your family talks about for years.
Cruising: One Bag, One Check-In, No-One Cooking Or Decorating = The Best Trip Ever.
For a family juggling different ages, energy levels, and opinions about what a vacation should look like, that kind of built-in simplicity is genuinely a gift. Not to mention the different types of cruises available! River cruises, ocean cruises, adventure cruises, Christmas market cruises… small and large ship ocean cruises…
Thanksgiving on the Water
Think about what Thanksgiving actually asks of your family. Someone hosts. Someone cooks for twelve or more people. Someone flies home to sleep on a pull-out sofa. Everyone argues about cleanup. It’s wonderful and exhausting in equal measure.
Now imagine this instead: the whole family in adjoining staterooms, a full Thanksgiving dinner that no one had to cook, a new port to wake up to on Friday morning, and zero dishes. Families who try a holiday cruise once tend to come back to it. Once you’ve handed the logistics to someone else and just shown up to enjoy your family, it’s hard to give that up.
Christmas Market River Cruises
For families that span multiple generations, Christmas market river cruises along the Rhine and Danube are something truly special. Grandparents get the magic of twinkling lights, mulled wine, and beautiful old towns — without the brutal walking of a land-based tour. Parents get the culture and cuisine they’ve been craving. And for kids, sailing from one glittering Christmas market to the next is basically living inside an advent calendar.
River ships tend to carry 150 to 200 guests, which keeps the whole experience intimate. No one gets separated. No generation disappears to a different pool deck on a mega-ship. The family actually stays together — and somehow that’s easier when the ship itself is the size of a really nice boutique hotel.
✈ PRO TIPS
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Connecting staterooms and family suites are the first things to go on holiday sailings — if that matters to you, it’s worth getting your preferences locked in early.
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Christmas market river cruises on the Rhine and Danube book up 12 to 18 months in advance. If this is on your radar for the coming holiday season, the time to start looking is well before summer.
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If you’ve never cruised before, river cruises are often a wonderful first experience — smaller ships, immersive destinations, and a pace that actually lets you slow down and take it in.
Safaris: The Trip That Works for Every Generation
A safari is one of the only travel experiences where a seven-year-old and a seventy-four-year-old are equally, genuinely riveted — sitting in the same vehicle, completely silent, watching a lion walk six feet away. That moment doesn’t care how old you are. It reaches everyone the same way. And families who experience it together tend to come back from safari with something that’s hard to describe — a shared reference point, a deepened connection, a story they all lived at the same time.
Private Game Drives: Worth Every Penny
For families — especially those traveling across multiple generations — private vehicle game drives transform the experience. No strangers setting the pace. No compromising on what to stop for. Your guide shapes the entire drive around your family: lingering at the things your kids are wild about, taking it slower when grandma wants to just sit and absorb the landscape, picking up the energy when the teenagers are ready for more. It costs more than a shared vehicle. It’s worth it.
Freedom Within Togetherness
The best family safari camps are designed around what I’d call freedom within togetherness. Grandparents can stay at the lodge — sundowner in hand, watching the bush from the deck — while the younger generations head out on a game drive. But come nightfall, everyone is back around the same bonfire. And grandma gets to hear the lion story with the same wide eyes as the seven-year-old telling it. That shared ending to a day that everyone experienced differently — that’s what makes safari unlike any other family trip.
✈ PRO TIPS
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Age minimums vary significantly between camps — some premier lodges in Kenya and Tanzania require children to be between 8 and 12 years old. Always check this before your family falls in love with a specific property.
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Think through mobility and physical needs for every traveler in your group before booking. The vehicles, the terrain, the lodge layout — these details matter and are easy to plan around when you know about them in advance.
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The best family-friendly camps book out well in advance, especially during peak wildlife season. If safari is on your horizon, starting the conversation 12 or more months out gives you the best selection.
Holidays Are Here: Let’s Get Planning!
The families who end up with the trips they really wanted are almost always the ones who started planning earlier than felt necessary. Here’s what’s coming up and what’s worth thinking about.
Thanksgiving 2026
If you’ve been curious about a holiday cruise, Thanksgiving 2026 is a wonderful one to start with. Caribbean sailings, warm-weather itineraries, and early holiday voyages all make beautiful Thanksgiving trips — and they fill up faster than you’d expect. Connecting rooms for a larger family group are especially limited, so if that’s part of the picture, it’s worth getting started sooner rather than later.
Christmas & New Year’s 2026–2027
Christmas is one of the most meaningful times of year to travel as a family — and one of the most popular, which means availability goes quickly. Whether you’re drawn to a Christmas market river cruise through Europe, a snowy mountain escape to Big Bear or the Alps, a warm Caribbean holiday, or a safari under African skies, the options are genuinely beautiful. What they share is that they all reward early planning.
New Year’s Eve somewhere new — a European city, a tropical beach, a mountain lodge — is one of those experiences that has a way of becoming the trip a family remembers for a long time. If that’s an idea that appeals to you, it’s worth exploring what that could look like.
Summer 2027
Summer 2027 may sound like a long way off — but for families with school-age children, peak summer travel fills up faster than almost any other season. East Africa safari season, National Parks road trips, European river cruises, big international adventures — these all reward being planned well in advance. If you have a dream trip in mind for next summer, now is genuinely the right time to start mapping it out.
The families who get the trips they dream about are the ones who give themselves enough time to do it right.
Let’s Find the Right Trip for Your Family
Every family is different. The right trip for yours depends on the ages of your kids, who’s traveling, what you all love, and what you need most from a vacation right now. Sometimes that’s adventure. Sometimes it’s simplicity. Sometimes it’s just time together without the usual noise.
Whatever that looks like for your family, I’d love to help you find it and build it well. Reach out and let’s start the conversation.
Ready to book your next travel adventure? Contact me today to craft your personalized experience. With exclusive local partnerships, insider itineraries, and seamless logistics handling, I’ll transform your destination into your next unforgettable reality. Reach out to me at the email below. Alternatively, complete the form with your dates and interests for your (and or your loved one’s) upcoming trip. These memories will warm your heart for years to come.
Contact me at Contact@luxetravelpartner.com. You can also find more information about my agency at www.luxetravelpartner.com.
