Large family vacations

[Rebecca]

I am wondering if I could ask the Hive for suggestions for large family vacations. We have never taken one before, and I did not grow up taking vacations. I was thinking maybe beach or maybe lake...  I want to rent a house (not camping). Can you share your favorites? Do you go back to the same place year after year? It needs to be for 10+ people.  We are in Maryland, and I think 6 hours (which is travel to Outer Banks) is our travel limit.

Thank you!

[busymama7]

Well we are campers big time. People don't understand why I willingly took my nine children camping by myself without my husband but I always ask them if they'd ever take a nine children to a hotel.   🙄😜  We like camping because there's something to interest and entertain kids of any age. We also love the beach but we're on the west coast so I'm not sure how different it is on the East Coast as far as kids being able to play a lot in the water and stuff. 

 

But an Airbnb that sleeps that many also works really well and we've done that too.

 

As noted hotels are kind of a nightmare. First of all you need multiple rooms and then you have to figure out how to split up the family in a way that makes sense and leaves adults or at least older teens in every room. And there's the noise factor and nothing for the kids to do except the swimming pool if they have one.  The Airbnb is certainly cheaper than multiple hotel rooms too

[PeterPan]

We've stayed here and it's a lovely, quiet end of the island. https://www.rentalsatthebeach.com/vacation-rentals/just-beach-cottage  That property manager service has many other rentals too, so you're bound to find something. It's within a short drive of many pleasant things to do (naval ship, kayaking, amazing pie shops, etc.). And yes, it's a place people like to go back to year after year.

Edited April 26, 2021 by PeterPan

[Slache]

Rent a beach house.

Gatlinburg.

DC.

Maine.

Niagra Falls.

[2squared]

In the last few years we have rented beach houses on Sunset Beach and Tybee Island. Both vacations were a lot of fun. We rented within walking distance to the beach, and we preferred early evening beach time. We alternated beach days with non beach days, and we would split up according to interests and/or ages. Both vacations were with cousins as well, which greatly increased the fun. 

other times when we travel, we rent multiple hotel rooms, preferably at least one with a sitting area. We also like hotels with gathering areas for game playing in the evening. We usually have one female room and one male room. That works well, too, because we have activities during the day and swim in the evenings at the hotel. We, obviously, eat out for lunch and dinner when we stay in hotels. Our last hotel vacation was in Chicago and we had a hotel near Lake Michigan where we either walked to attractions or took public transportation. 

[Forget-Me-Not]

My DH is one of 7 kids. 6 are married and there are 19 grandkids. Several times we have rented a huge vacation home (ILs usually pay a big chunk and all the kids pitch in some). Once we rented a whole campground that had a combo of cabins, tent sites and RV hookups.  A time or two we’ve rented out a block of rooms in a hotel, but meals get tricky. It’s much better if you have a kitchen. 

My big advice is don’t over-itinerize it. The first few years we had reunions, my (then childless) SIL wanted to pack every second with activities. It was a nightmare for those of us with little kids, and my MIL would get stressed and anxious when things went off the rails. It’s been much better as we’ve learned to plan for a couple of big outings and allow for plenty of down time for visiting and board games. 

[Spryte]

We don’t go back to the same place year after year.  We do return every couple years, if we love a place, though.

You can’t really go wrong with the Outer Banks. That would probably be my choice, in your shoes.

We really enjoyed Vermont, too.  But that might be a bit far?  

One more suggestion not too far from you - Chincoteague.  You could rent a house there, too.

 

 

 

[Carrie12345]

For our big, extended family vacations, we’ve always rented houses. One year, we even got a property that had 2 houses on it. My kids want to go back to that one.

Location should depend on what you want to do while you’re there.  We’ve done over scheduled (imo) and almost non-scheduled trips. The scheduled ones really need proximity to activities.  The ones where we just hang out, eat, and let a million kids run wild? Secluded properties in the middle of nowhere work best.

Highlights for us have been the Jersey shore (not so much for kids running wild,) Helen, Ga, and nowheresville VA.

Oh, renting in the Poconos was fun too, but I live here now, so... I’m good, lol.

My mom’s favorite site is VRBO, but she does sometimes book through AirBnB.

[Kassia]

We always rented a beach house in Emerald Isle, NC with either Emerald Isle realty or Bluewater Realty.  We did this for many years until we started taking all-inclusive vacations, which were the absolute best (but expensive).  

[freesia]

We do the Outer Banks every other year. Some years we get one big house, mostly we have two. When the kids were small it was nice to have each family with kids in a separate house. We then have a couple of all family meals, then each family hosted my mom and brother for dinner a couple of times and they other family had alone time. It works well. 

[QueenCat]

Another option would be Deep Creek Lake. My sister did a house rental there recently.