The best family vacation ideas create the kind of formative memories that stay with kids all the way into adulthood. But planning those memorable family travel adventures can be exhausting, especially when simply trying to choose a restaurant for dinner can ignite bickering. That’s why parents often choose family tours, which eliminate almost all the hassles from the vacation planning process.
When you travel on guided family tours, you get knowledgeable leaders privy to locals-only spots and hidden gems you’d probably never find on your own. They handle all the tedious details and decisions before you depart and organize everything during your trip, freeing you to simply have fun. Guided family tours almost always include accommodations and at least some meals for the ultimate in vacation ease.
2024’s Best Family Travel Tour Companies for Group Tours and Private Tours
While family group tours are not for everyone, they’re a great option for families who enjoy mingling with others as they explore the world. Here are my most highly recommended picks for 2024’s best family tour companies operating in popular family vacation spots in the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean, and around the world.
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1. Adventures by Disney
Disney and families go together like milk and cookies, so it’s no wonder Adventures by Disney (ABD) is a leading provider of family tours. Adventures by Disney offers more than 40 family adventures to destinations on all seven continents. Most of ABD’s tours for geared toward families, but the company does offer a few adult-exclusive itineraries as well. Adventures by Disney’s guided family tours are led by knowledgeable Disney-trained trip leaders called Adventure Guides, who take care to every detail and ensure a memorable vacation from start to finish.
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You can expect Disney’s trademark magic to shine through with special activities for children, exceptional service, and VIP experiences such as up-close photos with the Great Sphinx of Giza in Egypt, sailing past polar bears in the Arctic, and horseback riding in the shadows of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park. After your first trip, you’ll be eligible to join the company’s Adventurer Insiders program for special savings on trips throughout the year.
Quick Facts about Family Tours with Adventures by Disney
- Average guided tour group size: 30 people.
- Price category: Upscale.
- What’s included: Disney-trained Adventure Guides, family-friendly accommodations, transfers, most meals, and gratuities for housekeeping, drivers, and waitstaff.
- What’s not included: Airfare, alcohol unless specifically noted, and gratuities for your Adventure Guides.
- Primary audience: Families.
- Destinations: More than 40 destinations across all seven continents.
2. Family Tours from G Adventures
Tour operator G Adventures believes travel can change the world, and its family guided tours aim to open the world to kids by introducing them to diverse people and cultures. The company also offers exclusive tours in partnership with National Geographic, which means adventure-loving families with children age seven and older who are interested in wildlife, photography, and geography can book a National Geographic Family Journey with G Adventures to places like Iceland, Morocco, and Alaska.
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G Adventures has a range of small group tours for families to suit most travel styles and ages, including hard-to-please teens and tweens. Most trips blend must-see destination highlights with meaningful cultural exchange. Enthusiastic guides are hand-selected for their desire to work with families.
Quick Facts about Family Tours with G Adventures
- Average guided tour group size: 12 people.
- Price category: Moderate.
- What’s included: Accommodations and some meals.
- What’s not included: Airfare.
- Primary audience: Family tours are generally appropriate for ages six and up.
- Destinations: More than 750 trips in 100+ countries across all seven continents.
- More tours: 10 Best G Adventures Tours to Take in 2024
3. Family Tours from Trafalgar
From family tours to foodie adventures to safaris, Trafalgar has an itinerary to fit your style. All of Trafalgar’s tour directors have at least three years of road experience, and many have been with the company for decades. Tours cover all accommodations (typically four-star hotels) and most meals, activities, and transportation during your trip. One-of-a-kind experiences such as dining with locals, sleeping in a castle, and VIP entry to iconic sights sweeten the deal.
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Children as young as five are welcome on Trafalgar’s travel tours for families. Notably, Trafalgar also offers single-parent vacations. From meeting a real-life cowboy in the American West to experiencing life as a gladiator in Rome to letting your inner Harry Potter loose in England, the company’s family vacations provide adventure for all ages. (Read our full Trafalgar review here.)
Quick Facts about Family Travel Tours with Trafalgar
- Average guided tour group size: 40 people.
- Price category: Moderate.
- What’s included: Accommodations, daily breakfast, many meals, luxury coach transportation, Wi-Fi in most countries, airport transfers, and luggage handling.
- What’s not included: Airfare.
- Primary audience: Family tours are generally appropriate for ages five and up.
- Destinations: All seven continents, with kid-friendly trips to Europe, Britain, and the American West among the most popular options for families.
- More tours: 10 Best Trafalgar Tours to Take in 2024
4. Intrepid Travel’s Family Tours
Responsible, experience-rich travel is a mission at not-for-profit Intrepid Travel, with small group trips geared to young adults, women, solo travelers, active travelers, and families. On its family tours, groups are made up of three to five families from all over the world, plus a guide. Many participants have an interest in the preservation of indigenous cultures, climate education, and conservation, so fast friendships with like-minded participants tend to develop quickly.
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Personal connections with locals are an integral part of the Intrepid experience: Kicking a football with Massai tribesmen in Kenya, learning about indigenous cultures in Costa Rica, and baking bread from a traditional recipe with a Berber family in Morocco are just a few examples. Family trips prioritize kid-friendly hotels with swimming pools and activities like riding in a tuk-tuk through the streets of Bangkok or searching for wildlife with a wolf tracker in Yellowstone National Park.
Quick Facts about Family Tours with Intrepid
- Average guided tour group size: 12 people.
- Price category: Budget.
- What’s included: Accommodation, local transport, and some meals.
- What’s not included: Airfare, travel insurance, and tips.
- Primary audience: Middle-age females and solo travelers, though families are well represented; some tours are geared specifically towards families.
- Destinations: More than 1,000 trips to 100 countries across all seven continents.
5. Luxury Family Tours with Abercrombie & Kent
Group tour operator Abercrombie & Kent pioneered the concept of luxury small-group travel more than 60 years ago, and today the company continues to lead the pack with small group journeys to more than 100 countries and on all seven continents. Highlights include wildlife safaris to Kenya and Tanzania, history-focused trips to Israel, and Peruvian explorations to Machu Picchu. On family tours with Abercrombie & Kent, a Resident Tour Director remains with the group throughout, facilitating a richer understanding of local customs. He or she is assisted by specialized local guides who encourage guests to take a meaningful dive into immersive insider experiences.
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Your tour price includes everything from meals to activities to hotels, which are high-end properties suitable for discerning guests. Mid-journey laundry service, luggage transfers, and Internet are also included. Participants are often Gen X and baby boomer couples. The company’s luxury family itineraries to places like Costa Rica and the Galapagos are timed with school breaks.
Quick Facts about Luxury Family Travel Tours with Abercrombie & Kent
- Average guided tour group size: 14 people.
- Price category: Upscale.
- What’s included: Inter-itinerary flights, accommodations, luggage transfers, meals, mid-journey laundry, activities, and expert guides.
- What’s not included: Airfare to and from your destination, though a flight concierge is available 24/7 to assist with airline delays.
- Primary audience: Gen X, boomers, and multigenerational families.
- Destinations: More than 100 countries across all seven continents.
6. Butterfield & Robinson’s Family Tours
Guided tours with Butterfield & Robinson often include biking and hiking, though you don’t need to be an athlete to enjoy strolling a serene country lane or pedaling an e-bike on a flat path. The company’s family adventures cater to children as young as eight and are designed and test-driven by actual parents to prioritize a balance of family togetherness and adults-only time. Families with older kids will also find special itineraries for traveling with teens and young adult children. A walking trip in Peru or biking in Cambodia and Vietnam allows your family to bond in a whole new way.
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The presence of other young people creates the opportunity for peer friendships to blossom, though all of the company’s family tours leave room for independent activities and cultural experiences, so you’re not tethered to the group. On Butterfield & Robinson trips, accommodations are curated to fit the region you’re visiting; you’ll never stay at a cookie-cutter chain hotel. And while meticulous planning goes into each trip, you can expect impromptu pit stops and last-minute simple pleasures that make travel so worthwhile.
Quick Facts about Family Travel Adventures with Butterfield & Robinson
- Average guided tour group size: 10 people.
- Price category: Upscale.
- What’s included: Accommodation, meals, wine/drinks, and guides.
- What’s not included: airfare, pre- and post-trip accommodation, and travel insurance.
- Primary audience: Butterfield & Robinson’s family tours are geared toward active travelers who want to dig deeper into a destination.
- Destinations: 55 countries across six continents.
7. Family Tours with REI Adventures
If you love fresh air family adventures that celebrate America’s rich natural beauty, REI‘s guided family tours will fit like a glove. Kayaking, hiking, and biking in the U.S. are their specialty. There are typically two guides on every trip, and they know the secret swimming holes, the primo selfie spots, and exactly what species of bird is singing in the early morning. The guides do it all from prepping meals to sharing information about wildlife.
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REI offers trips for hard-core adventurers, solo and female travelers, and active families. Travelers with children ages eight to 17 may select small group adventures specifically for families, like hiking in Yosemite National Park, kayaking in the San Juan Islands, or trying a treetop aerial challenge course in the Great Smoky Mountains. Guides on family tours are trained to keep kids engaged. On some trips you’ll camp under the stars in comfy tents (your guides will set up the tents); on other trips you’ll sleep in comfortable lodges. REI members receive a discount, as do children.
Quick Facts about Family Travel Tours with REI Adventures
- Average guided tour group size: 10 people.
- Price category: Moderate.
- What’s included: Camping gear, meals, and national park fees.
- What’s not included: Transportation to the trip’s starting point.
- Primary audience: Family tours are geared toward kids ages eight to 17 years old.
- Destinations: Eight states including Wyoming, Alaska, and California.
8. Road Scholar
Not-for-profit Road Scholar trips attract lifelong learners who are keen to plunge beneath the surface rather than just skim it. The company caters to baby boomers and seniors, with programs for skip-gen vacations (grandparents and grandkids traveling together) and multigenerational vacations (grandparents, parents, and grandkids traveling together). These trips present multiple opportunities for adults and kids to learn together. But while incorporating learning into a family vacation can be a welcome benefit, the kids will be having so much fun they may not realize how much knowledge they’re absorbing.
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All of Road Scholar’s family tours have two group leaders who know how to appeal to varying ages, interests, and attention spans. They take care of logistics while local instructors add expertise on a range of topics. Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, whitewater rafting in the Grand Canyon, and discovering iconic landmarks in Paris are some of the most sought-after family itineraries.
Quick Facts about Family Tours with Road Scholar
- Average guided tour group size: 22
- Price category: Moderate
- What’s included: Accommodations, most meals, hands-on experiences, gratuities throughout the program, and the Road Scholar Assurance Plan
- What’s not included: Travel to and from the program and trip cancellation insurance
- Primary audience: Baby boomers and seniors, including grandparents traveling with their grandkids
- Destinations: 150 countries and all 50 states in the U.S.
9. Tauck Bridges
Family-owned Tauck has been offering epic guided vacations for nearly 100 years. In 2003, the company launched its family travel tours called Tauck Bridges, which are designed for family travelers of all ages (parents with kids, skip-gen trips for kids with grandparents, all three generations traveling together, etc.) with 20 itineraries in North America, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. Highlights include exploring the Alps, listening to Irish music, and viewing slot canyons in the American West.
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The distinguishing factor of these family tours is they’re created with an eye toward engaging all generations so that everyone in the family will have a great time. Tauck’s trip guides are known for their personal touch and have expertise in local customs, traditions, flora, and fauna. Meals and hotels are always top-notch.
Quick Facts about Family Tours with Tauck Bridges
- Average guided tour group size: 35 people.
- Price category: Upscale.
- What’s included: Gratuities, sightseeing and admissions, most meals, airport handling, luggage transfer, and taxes.
- What’s not included: Airfare and adult beverages.
- Primary audience: Tauck’s family tours cater to multiple generations traveling together.
- Destinations: More than 100 destinations in 70+ countries across all seven continents.
10. Family Travel Adventures with Austin Adventures
Tour operator Austin Adventures forged its reputation by specializing in tours to America’s national parks, and the company remains an expert in this area. Its guided group family trips are ideal for anyone who gravitates towards hidden gems and the lesser-known side of national parks. If you book a trip to Yellowstone, for example, of course you’ll watch Old Faithful erupt—but you’ll also hike a semi-secret trail. Activities such as rafting and zip lining up the fun factor for kids.
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Guides are first-aid certified, and with a 6:1 guest-to-guide ratio, there’s plenty of time to chat and get acquainted. The guides on family tours, some of whom are teachers during the school year, know how to plan kid-friendly activities that allow parents time to relax. All but one meal is included, presenting the opportunity to have an evening on your own or perhaps with newfound friends. Austin Adventures offers popular family tours to bucket-list destinations like the Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, and New Zealand.
Quick Facts about Small Group Family Adventures with Austin Adventures
- Average guided tour group size: 12 people.
- Price category: Moderate.
- What’s included: Meals and snacks except for one dinner, any necessary equipment and gear, and accommodations.
- What’s not included: Airfare to your destination, gratuities for guides, alcoholic beverages, and one dinner.
- Primary audience: Its family tours are best enjoyed by active families.
- Destinations: 21 countries in North America, Europe, South America, and Africa.
