Are you looking to get off the beaten track and experience somewhere unique that hasn’t already featured in your guidebook or Instagram feed? Is there a particular ‘wonder of the world’ that you simply have to see for yourself, or do you instead crave the chaos and excitement of a bustling Asian mega-city? Perhaps your idea of paradise is just relaxing on a beach and spending quality time with your family.

The best family travel destination is a personal choice, so any or all of these might be the right answer for you and your family.

But what about us? Well, we love to get off the beaten track and take our boys on true adventures, going to the edge of our comfort zone and peering over the other side. In the past this has meant overlanding Africa in a Land Rover, living in India for a year, or backpacking around Southeast Asia for three months. Closer to home, we’re sometimes just as excited about a family camping trip to France or a weekend city break.

So, to help you find your ideal destination, we’ve come up with our top 13 family travel destinations for 2026 to give you some inspiration. And, if you’re planning an even longer trip, many of these places also feature in our top worldschooling destinations.

We’ve travelled to 30 countries as a family, but these are the 13 that have made the shortlist. You might notice the list is heavily skewed towards Africa and Asia. We do love these continents but we’re always looking to broaden our horizons and we’re sure that one day we’ll make it to the Americas, with Mexico very high on our list.

As our boys get older, they have their own views on what should and shouldn’t be on this list. Clearly they already have different criteria to us, and there certainly are some differences appearing already. Make sure you check out their top ten list here and see who you agree with the most.

Anyway, let’s get to our list first. In no particular order, here are our best family travel destinations for 2026…