1. San Francisco
An urban trail and new recreation area with stunning Golden Gate views get top marks from families
In San Francisco, city kids can learn that becoming a hiker doesn’t necessarily mean a trip to nature. The recently completed Crosstown Trail winds through the city diagonally, from its southeast corner at Candlestick Point to its northwest tip at Lands End, winding through gardens, hills and through urban streets for nearly 17 miles.
Along the way, the trail passes through the Presidio. This 1,491-acre military post-turned-popular national park offers stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge and in July celebrated the opening of the 14-acre Presidio Tunnel Tops. Designed by the same firm behind Manhattan’s High Line, the new venue sits atop tunnels and concrete freeway hums with a plastic-free outdoor play space, food trucks and campfire chats.
2. Trinidad and Tobago
One of the world’s most important leatherback nesting sites highlights the importance of sea turtle conservation programs
Consider that sea turtles survived the dinosaurs, but may not survive this century. Kids eager to help save turtles—and encounter hundreds of them, too—can head to Trinidad and Tobago. With loggerheads, greenbacks, leatherbacks, hawksbills and loggerheads (five of the seven species of sea turtles) swimming off its shores, this Caribbean nation is a mecca for turtle tourism.
Nesting sites are found on both islands, with the leatherback being the most abundant – during the nesting season between March and August, about 6,000 to 10,000 turtles mass on the country’s shores. Trinidad’s Grande Riviere Beach, on the north coast of the island, is home to the densest leatherback nesting site in the world.
Turtle viewing programs led by certified guides generate revenue to help save these creatures, which are under attack from climate change, habitat loss and plastic pollution.
3. Colombia
The enchanted land of Encanto has birds, indigenous cultures and alluring coasts and mountains
Colombia’s bustling bird life is as vibrant and delightful as Encanto, the Disney animated film set in this biodiverse South American country. More than 1,900 different birds (almost 20% of the world’s bird species) live here, in places like the Perijá Mountains, making Colombia the richest haven for bird life on the planet.
Where can families gather with them? The Northern Columbia Birding Trail, for extreme and more casual birders, explores the country’s range of habitats. Tours with the National Audubon Society use 4X4 vehicles to visit the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the highest coastal range on the planet, as well as the beach-blessed Tayrona National Park on the Caribbean coast. Visitors can spot species including the crested kezel, the Santa Marta parakeet and the sickle-winged guan. Colombians and Wayuu Indians work along the route as bird guides.
4. Manchester, UK
This mecca for football fans is growing as a center of art and culture
In 2023, Manchester launched a series of attractions to encourage its revival after the pandemic. The centerpiece of the year is the spring opening of Factory International, a new £186m cultural space in the city centre, designed by the architectural firm of Rem Koolhaas. Named after the local record label that made hometown bands Joy Division and New Order globally famous, the Factory will become the permanent home of the Manchester International Festival. The city’s biennial cutting-edge arts jam showcases the best in theater, opera and music for all ages.
The year also marks the re-opening of the re-imagined Manchester Museum, which features new galleries focusing on Chinese, South Asian and British Asian culture and a specially designed comprehensive, family-focused gallery which shows how people , plants and animals flourish together. Also coming into its own is the National Trust’s new ‘sky park’ at Castlefield Viaduct, a Victorian-era walkable railway bridge.
5. Switzerland
A precision rail network takes you to quaint Alpine towns for chocolate, hiking and skiing
On any given day, Switzerland’s transit network transports 6.6 million riders in a country of just 8.7 million people, luring families on vacation with some unique journeys on its famously punctual trains featuring spectacular mountains, classic cookies and even a Wonka-style chocolate tour.
The Gotthard Panorama Express begins on a Lucerne steamboat that crosses the city’s famous lake before boarding a train in Flüelen for a journey through southern Switzerland with an Italian influence. A cookie train from Bern to Lucerne stops to eat at Kambly’s bakery, where kids can bake their own cookies and design a cookie tray to take home. A chocolate train departing from Montreux starts with chocolate croissants and hot chocolate served on board, stops in Gruyères to explore its medieval old town and world-famous cheese, and ends in Broc for a chocolate factory tour Maison Cailler.
Making it all sweeter is the Swiss Family Card, a rail pass that allows anyone under the age of 16 to travel for free or at a 50% discount.
6. Bathroom
The UK’s only dual World Heritage site is developing new attractions
Bath may be one of the UK’s most visited cities, but it hasn’t rested on its laurels in recent years. Following a £5.5m renovation of its Roman baths in 2011 and becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021 – one of 11 European spa cities – the Bath World Heritage Center opened in May 2022, featuring interactive exhibits and displays about Bath’s history, Georgian architecture and unique geology.
But the city founded as Aquae Sulis by the Romans is not only about its ancient past. In September, Cleveland Pools, Britain’s oldest lido, reopened after decades of neglect. Set on the banks of the River Avon, the Grade II* listed outdoor pool dating back to 1815 was restored after an 18-year campaign to restore it.
And the £20 million Bath Abbey Footprint project, which saw a full restoration of the abbey’s medieval church, is nearing completion with the new Discovery Centre.
7. Wicklow, Ireland
A multi-million pound treetop walk is just one part of Ireland’s garden county’s new attraction
Wicklow is Ireland’s ‘Garden County’ – similar in size to England’s Cotswolds and filled with mountain trails for hikers and cyclists, grand Palladian mansions, wild waterfalls and an underrated coastline. As of this year, it’s also home to Ireland’s tallest slide and a new thrill ride that gently rises to plunge visitors into the tree canopy itself.
Beyond the Trees Avondale is a renewed experience at Avondale Forest Park. The fully accessible canopy walk opens up bird’s-eye views of an estate of over 100 species of trees, while the spiraling, 12-story slide is the centerpiece of a wooden structure shaped like a giant pint of Guinness (the sounds you hear splashing inside are from adults and children alike).
Read more from World’s Best: 35 Incredible Trips for 2023 and Beyond
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