Travel Articles by Experts

Traveling with your grandchildren—without their parents—is a wonderful way to grow closer to them, especially if you live far away and seldom have a chance to get together. It’s a rare opportunity to get better acquainted, strengthen your relationships and have a very good time. You may even find that your grandchildren are the best travel companions you’ve ever had.

Whether it’s a one-day tour of a nearby city, an overnight camping trip, a weekend at a farm, a week at the beach or a dude ranch, or a 10-day tour of the national parks or Europe, this is the kind of togetherness that really counts.

It needn’t cost a lot of money, either, especially if you go somewhere near home and do your own driving.

Super money saver: Choose hotels that offer a good senior discount and a children-stay-free policy—or maybe an inexpensive “suite” hotel with a kitchenette, so that you can prepare some of your own meals. Cooking together can be part of the fun.

Even easier: If you don’t want the responsibilities of traveling on your own with children, you can go with a tour company that specializes in intergenerational vacations. Everything is planned for you from morning till night, with most activities for the two generations together but some just for the adults alone, so you’ll get an occasional breather.

Some tours are designed for children in a certain age range, while others accept all youngsters ages seven or older, up to 17 or 18. Available in all price ranges, these tours are almost always scheduled in the summer, or sometimes during winter breaks, when the kids are out of school.

Some of the tour companies that will take you and your grandchildren on a fun, well-planned vacation…

•Elderhostel. For an educational, low-cost vacation, sign up for one of Elderhostel’s intergenerational programs in the US or Canada. For example, next summer, you and your grandchildren ages eight to 12 could enjoy a six-night stay in Minnesota’s north woods, hiking to spectacular overlooks, paddling a canoe under tall cliffs, looking for native animals or learning to climb rocks. Or choose a city, perhaps spending five nights in a hotel in San Francisco, riding cable cars, visiting all of its neighborhoods from Chinatown to Fisherman’s Wharf, seeing a fortune-cookie factory, and visiting the Gold Rush Museum and the Exploratorium. Cost: For Minnesota, $531 per adult, $486 per child ages eight to 12. For San Francisco, $748 per adult, $225 per child ages eight and older. *

Information: Elderhostel, 877-426-8056, www.elderhostel.org.

•Sierra Club. The largest environmental group in the country, the Sierra Club plans many affordable “outings.” Among them is an annual six-day stay at the club’s Clair Tappaan Lodge at Donner Pass in Tahoe National Forest, California, for grandparents and kids at least six years old. The activities include short hikes, fishing, swimming, picnics and a tram ride at Squaw Valley. Cost: $525 per adult, $425 per child ages six and older.

Information: Sierra Club Outing Dept., 415-977-5522, www.sierraclub.org/outings.

•Grandtravel. The first company to send grandparents and grandchildren (ages seven to 17) off on vacation together, Grandtravel offers intriguing five- to 15-day deluxe tours. These trips are educational (led by teacher-escorts), limited to 20 participants and expensive, with destinations ranging from New York City to Alaska, Kenya, Italy and Australia. Coming up next summer is a 10-day tour of Italy that starts in Venice, complete with a palazzo hotel, gondola ride, boat trip to the Lagoon Islands and a tour of the city. Then on to Florence by train to see the Duomo and its famous bronze doors, the statue of David, the Uffizi Gallery’s art treasures, ending in the Tuscan countryside and an excursion to Siena. Last stop is Rome to explore the city, including the Forum, Colosseum, the Villa d’Este in Tivoli and Vatican City. Cost: $7,690 per person.

Information: Grandtravel, 800-247-7651, www.grandtrvl.com.

•Generations Touring Company. Another deluxe tour operator, this one offers tours in the US and other parts of the world from Costa Rica to England and Scotland, and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. Some of its trips are classified as “journeys” and aren’t too physically demanding. Others are “adventures,” for grandparents and children who especially enjoy physical activities. An example of an adventure: A week in Ecuador, which takes you to Quito, the capital of the country, then to Guayaquil to travel by ship for a few days in the Galapagos Islands. Using small pangas (boats), you climb ashore on many islands for close encounters with giant tortoises, iguanas, blue-footed boobies, albatross and sea lions, among other creatures. One of the company’s more relaxing journeys: Eight nights in Costa Rica takes you to San Jose, the capital, and then to Tortuguero by bus and covered boat to view birds and sea turtles in this wildlife preserve. Fly to Arenal Volcano National Park and walk across the forest canopy on a suspended bridge. Visit the Cloud Forest Reserve in Monteverde, where you can see a butterfly farm and a local school to learn about Costa Rica’s way of life. Cost: For Ecuador, $3,199 per adult, $2,099 per child ages 11 and under. For Costa Rica, $2,599 per adult, $2,099 per child ages 11 and under.

Information: Generations Touring Company, 888-415-9100, www.generationstouringcompany.com.

*All prices are double occupancy and exclude airfare.

Joan Rattner Heilman is an award-winning travel writer based in New York. She is author of Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can’t Get Unless You’re Over 50 (McGraw-Hill).