Algarve Getaway
Portugal’s Algarve region is a great summer family destination. The rugged coast is littered with quaint towns, 
beautiful beaches, national parks, water sports, great food and wine, history, culture and more. The upscale and family-friendly Vila Vita Parc has a special family package available from April through October with a minimum 4-night stay. Amenities are based on two adults and two children up to age 12. Your rate will include fresh seasonal fruit, a bottle of mineral water and a special VIP amenity for the children in the room on arrival; breakfast and lunch or dinner daily; a make-your-own-pizza cooking lesson for the children; one-day pass to Zoomarine (a marine theme park) or to Slide & Splash Water Park; kids club and use of the 9-hole Pitch & Putt golf course, 18-hole Putting Green and 18-hole mini golf. The property also showcases a spa, pools, gym, supervised care for babies and toddlers (6 months-3 years), teen activities, tennis, golf, water sports and more. Spacious accommodations include rooms, suites and private villas that sleep up to 10; ideal for multiple generations.
Luxury English Countyside
At the Four Seasons Hampshire your family can relax and enjoy the quitisential English countryside with wide 
variety of recreation and amenities. The resort offers biking, tennis, kids club, canal boating, spa, swimming, fishing, clay pigeon shooting (age 10 and up), falconry (age 12 and up), a ropes course (age 10 and up) and an equestrian center with a pony program starting at age 4. Children ages 7-16 can even “adopt” a pony for the day and learn hands-on all about caring for a horse. For Downton Abbey fans, the hotel can also arrange an after-hours visit to Highclere Castle where the show is filmed. You will be driven there in period style in a vintage Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith for your behind-the-scenes tour of the opulent estate. Explore many of Southwest England’s highlights from here. Other day trips include Jane Austen’s home, Winchester Cathedral, Stonehenge and Windsor Castle and theme parks such as Legoland and Birdworld. The Four Seasons sits on 500-acres and is an hour outside London. The resort is currently offering a third night free through the end of June.
Costa Rica Tented Resort
No trip to Costa Rica is complete without a visit to Arenal Volcano National Park, and soon it will be possible to 
stay in the park at Nayara Tented Resort, opening in early 2017. This resort, which is being designed and developed by Luxury Frontiers, will include 24 tented suites. These luxury suites will include a master suite and an en-suite bathroom. Another sweet touch is that the tents will come with an adjoining tent that can be used as a lounge or second bedroom — perfect for families. These tented escapes will each sit on their own platform among the tree tops. Your family will have an outdoor living area where you can sit and watch the sun go down and the surrounding nature. The suites will also have a plunge pool which will be filled from a nearby hot springs. The new resort will belong to Nayara Hotel which offers a restaurant, pool with a swim-up bar and the Wellness Oasis with spa treatments that include local, natural wonders like volcanic mud.
Tauck Bridges Additions
Tauck has announced additions to its Tauck Bridges itineraries, including new small-group departures for the popular eight-day Italia Bella: Rome to Venice itinerary, with departures on June 20 and July 12 and the Castles & Kings: London to Paris tour, departing June 24 and July 18. These trips will average just 24 passengers each. Tauck has also added more departures for its Blue Danube: Family Riverboat Adventure and Castles on the Rhine: Family Riverboat Adventure cruises. Book early for the best availability. Tauck’s family tours are also ideal for multiple generations with a nice variety of activities for all ages.
Starwoods New Children’s Programs
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has launched a new family program rolling out in more than 300 Le 
Meridien and Westin Hotels & Resorts around the world. In response to growing global family travel demands, the hotels are reinventing the kids club concept, reimagining family experiences within the hotel and introducing more meaningful branded amenities for young travelers. The programs specifically cater to the new way modern families travel. Westin is putting the emphasis on wellness, using components with nontoxic and largely recycled materials, adding natural light and installing indoor/outdoor tree houses, vertical gardens and storage cubbies. Parent/child yoga classes and healthier snacks and smoothies will be available at some hotels. Le Meridien is emphasizing creativity, global awareness and cuisine with herb gardens, art and music walls and global wall maps. The hotel has a partnership with Lego in which each guest age 12 and under receives a toy on arrival. Some of the hotels in the chain will add an Imagination Playground area that will spur creativity by letting your children design their own play spaces.
Ireland Youth Discount
Less active families can enjoy a self-drive vacation around Ireland and explore at your own pace. CIE Tours, an Ireland and United Kingdom specialty tour operator, is now offering a youth travel discount. Your children ages 8-17 will save 10% (up to $600 per person) on the land portion of any Ireland Independent Self-Drive 
Vacation or Ireland & Britain Escorted Coach Tour. Choose from a variety of itineraries and tour options to make the most out of your visit to the Emerald Isle. The Irish self-drive programs enable your family to mix-and match so that we can create the perfect Ireland vacation. Choose from Bed and Breakfasts, deluxe Irish castle hotels, elegant manor houses, cozy inns or modern properties throughout Ireland. CIE Tours also uses Hertz Car Rentals exclusively featuring current model vehicles with either manual or automatic transmission.
Southern Ireland Adventure
Thomson Family Adventures has added Southern Ireland to their list of tour destinations. This week- long tour 
is now available for departures on June 18 or July 21, 2016 (or as a custom departure). Set off to the Emerald Isle for an exciting family vacation multi-sport adventure. Ireland’s southwest is famous for many things from the calm and scenic sailing waters rich with marine life to the rolling green hills of the country side and you’ll get to experience it all. Learn to sail in the harbor of historic Kinsale, ride a bike through the Gap of Dunloe, and kayak around the shores of Baltimore. Explore small fishing villages and vast national parks while spending nights in a 16th century castle! This quintessentially Irish vacation is perfect for families with travelers of all ages.
Tuscan Villa Family Get Together
This year Rosewood Hotel & Resorts took over the management of Castiglion del Bosco Resort located in the heart of Tuscany. Founded by Massimo Ferragamo, this luxury resort is set within one of the oldest and best-preserved estates in Italy and is located in the heart of Val d’Orcia, a UNESCO World Her
itage Site. The resort showcases 23 suites and 10 villas along with a cooking school, organic garden, golf, spa, pool, two restaurants and gym. The family friendly property is now offering a Villa Family Get Together package that includes accommodation for 4 nights, one In-Villa-Delivery meal for 4 people, 3 hours baby-sitting service in your villa, SUV at your disposal for the length of the stay, pastry basket delivered every morning and groceries upon arrival. The package is available through November 22, 2016. Now is a great time to plan your luxury getaway Italy!
The Renewed Lanesborough
The long-awaited re-opening of The Lanesborough in London took place this past summer. The hotel, located at the entrance to Knightsbridge from Hyde Park Corner, had been closed since late 
2013 and is now be part of the Oetker Collection, which also operates Le Bristol Paris and other luxury properties throughout the world. The hotel loves welcoming children with welcome gifts, movies, games, daily treats and luxury picnic lunches. Rooms and suites also include 24-hour butler service. The hotel is now offering a Family Time package. When you book two interconnecting rooms, you will receive 50% off the children’s room. Plus you will also receive two free children’s breakfast when two adults dine.
Wizard School
The five-star Ashford Castle in Western Ireland invites parents and children to attend wizard school this 
Halloween and Thanksgiving season. The 2-night Wizard School package includes kid-friendly activities such as a painting class in the “Chamber of Art”; a cooking class for “house elves”; and a “Forbidden Forest” treasure hunt on the estate’s 350 acres of winding passageways, hidden alcoves and secret gardens. Children also have the opportunity to meet Dingle, Ashford Castle’s resident owl. On both evenings, a “Harry Potter” film is shown in the castle’s new cinema, while parents can enjoy a 5-course table d’hote dinner in the George V dining room. The Wizard School package starts at $1,349 for two adults and two children (under 12) and includes accommodations in a Deluxe Family Room, plus breakfast and dinner. The package is available Oct. 23-24, Oct. 25-26, Oct. 30-31, and Nov. 25-26.
