• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About Us
  • Work With Us
  • Shop
  • Blog Coaching
  • Disclosures
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Amazon
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok
    • YouTube
How many of you have heard you will no longer be a How many of you have heard you will no longer be able to travel once you have kids? I find most people who say these things don’t even have kids or if they do they have never traveled with their kids!

I’m not really into counting countries and we enjoy visiting places more than once, seeing the beauty all over the US and right in our state too. You don’t have to travel far to give your kids amazing experiences but you can also take them wherever you want. Y’all know my motto, if kids live there kids can visit!! 

Where have you been that people said you were crazy for taking your kids (or your parents for taking you) but you were so glad you didn’t listen to them and went anyway.

#travellingwithkids #familytravel
Everything you need to know about visiting Chichen Everything you need to know about visiting Chichen Itza, one of the 7 Wonders of the World (SAVE + SHARE this post).

Chichen Itza is 2.5 hours from Cancun, 2 hours from Playa del Carmen, and 90 minutes from both Tulum and Merida.

You can get here by renting a car, booking a private tour on Airbnb Experiences like we did, coming on a tour bus or for budget travelers taking the ADO bus. 

Most tours from Cancun are all day long, leaving as early as 7/8 am and as late as 9 pm drop off. This is because you’ll visit cenotes outside of Chichen Itza and the town of Valladolid. Since we only had 4 days in Cancun we didn’t want to spend a full day on the road but also really wanted to visit so booking private transportation allowed us to skip all the other stops and just go there and back. We were picked up at 9 and back at the hotel by 4 so we could have a relaxing evening.

Current admission is $533 Mexican pesos for adults, $80 for kids 3-12 and free for kids under 3. That’s about $30 US for adults and $5 for kids.

Once inside there is the main attraction that everyone comes to see but there are also other Mayan dwellings and a cenote. I recommend coming with a guide or hiring an official guide once on site so they can give you information on the history.

Have you been to any of the 7 Wonders? If so, which one(s)?

Hubby and I climbed the Great Wall of China together in 2007, Jordyn, James and I have been to the Colosseum in Rome, the girls and I have been to Petra and we all visited Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, Chichen Itza and the Great Pyramids of Giza together!

#chichenitza #7wondersoftheworld
Today is the last day of school and I could not be Today is the last day of school and I could not be more proud of Jordyn! Look at all those awards she racked up at her end of the year ceremony. She’s reading 3 grade levels above hers, was only 9 points away from a perfect score on her state reading test and made the Honor Roll every quarter of the year. It’s time to celebrate, let summer begin!!!
We’ve been to 34 states and while we haven’t v We’ve been to 34 states and while we haven’t visited them all yet these are 4 states you should consider visiting this summer. (SAVE + SHARE this list for inspo)

📍Idaho- Last year we explored Southern Idaho and it blew us away. City of Rocks National Reserve, Kayak to Shoshone Falls, white water rafting, and walking behind Perrine Coulee Waterfall are musts!

📍Alaska- We visited the South East part of Alaska, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan and WOW talk about stunning. You’ll love exploring ice caves, walking on glaciers, canoeing through ice bergs, seeing the volcano and hopefully spotting some bears!

📍Utah- From the famous national parks like Zion and Bryce to the lesser known areas like Kanab, Utah is stunning. You can’t miss sand boarding through Coral Pink Sand Dunes and ATVing through the gorgeous landscape.

📍California- Where else can you surf and ski/snowboard in the same day? California has the most national parks in any state so you know the beauty is beyond amazing. Having lived there for 3 years I’ve explored so many cities and there is something for everyone!!

Would you like me to share my website link for our itineraries for each of these trips in stories? Have you been to any of these? Which state intrigues you the most from this list? What city/state would you like to see us cover?

#visittheusa #bucketlisttrip #travellingwithkids
We have been traveling with our girls since they w We have been traveling with our girls since they were 6 weeks old. Is traveling with kids always easy? Nope! Are there added costs to traveling with kids? Yes! But having status with World of Hyatt has helped elevate our travels, making things a little easier and saving us money, here’s how (SAVE + SHARE this post).

1. Being a family of 4 standard hotel rooms can be kind of cramped. Having status with World of Hyatt means we’re eligible for free upgrades when available including suites as a Globalist.

2. Eating out for breakfast everyday on a vacation starts to add up really quickly. As a Globalist we get free breakfast for 2 adults and 2 children.

3. At hotels with club access Globalists also get free access which includes drinks and snacks, the perfect way to hold kids over until dinner without spending money.

4. I don’t know who decided 9 or 10am was a good time for check-out, hello we’re on vacation, we want to sleep in! Having status with World of Hyatt means you qualify for late check out at 2pm or 4pm depending on your level of status. So whether you sleep in, hit the pool or use the other amenities at the hotel you can enjoy a little longer. It especially helps us when we have flights later in the day.

5. After paying for our hotel room we hate having added fees. Thankfully when you have Globalist status with World of Hyatt resort fees are waived on free night awards and/or eligible rates.

6. Free hotel nights! There is nothing like booking a hotel and not paying a penny! Having joined World of Hyatt we rack up points (on more than just stays) and the higher your status, the more points you earn to get free stays faster.

7. As World of Hyatt members we even earn American Airlines miles on our Hyatt stays, getting us free flights faster to save even more money!

From being more comfortable to finding more ways to earn, you’re missing out if you haven’t joined World of Hyatt!

@hyatt #HyattPartner
4 Ways to Redeem Points at Hyatt Hotels & 7 Ways t 4 Ways to Redeem Points at Hyatt Hotels & 7 Ways to Earn World of Hyatt Points & (SAVE + SHARE):

Ways to Redeem
1. Redeem points for rooms at Hyatt hotels. There’s nothing like experiencing luxury without the cost, so glad I could redeem Hyatt points for this stay with one of the best views of Tokyo.

2. Redeem points to cover your meal at participating restaurants at Hyatt hotels.

3. Redeem Hyatt points to cover your spa treatment at participating spas at Hyatt hotels. 

4. Redeem points through World of Hyatt FIND experiences. With over 200 experiences like cooking classes, tastings, & walking tours there are so many activities to choose from!

Ways to Earn
1. Are you an elite member with American Airlines? If so, you can earn 1 Hyatt point for every $1 spent on AA flights. These are in addition to the normal miles you’ll earn on American, just sign into your AA account & link your World of Hyatt account.

2. Rent a car through Avis & can earn 500 Hyatt points per rental. Just provide your Hyatt membership number when making the reservation & use AWD code K817700.

3. Book a FIND experience by World of Hyatt and earn 10 points per $1 spent. Hyatt offers over 200 experiences such as culinary classes with celebrity chefs, hot air balloon ride in Arizona, guided bike tour over the Golden Gate bridge and more.

4. Even if you aren’t staying at a Hyatt property, if you eat at the hotel restaurant or book a spa treatment you can earn 5 points per $1 spent. We actually ate at a Hyatt restaurant in Kyoto & even though we weren’t staying there I gave my World of Hyatt number & received points!

5. Earn points on everyday spending with a World of Hyatt credit card: 2 points per $1 spent on restaurants, airline tickets, local transit, rideshares, & gym memberships plus earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

6. Transfer points earned on other credit cards who partner with Hyatt such like Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, Freedom Unlimited & Freedom Flex. 

7. Book a cruise with Lindblad Expeditions & earn 5 points per $1 spent.

Are you doing any of these?

📍Andaz Tokyo

@hyatt #HyattPartner
If you visit Lisbon or any mainland city in Portug If you visit Lisbon or any mainland city in Portugal I highly recommend adding a trip to Madeira! It’s an island off the coast of Portugal, actually closer to Africa than Portugal. Here’s how I spent 6 days in Madeira (Save + Share this post):

🇵🇹Day 1: Pool day at my hotel (NEXT Hotel) for most of the day and then I went running up the crazy hills of Madeira to see Funchal by foot.

🇵🇹Day 2: I explored the NW part of the island visiting Seixal Beach, Ponto Moniz, Fanal Forest and Ilheus da Ribeira da Janela.

🇵🇹Day 3: I went on a sidecar adventure where I explored Valley of the Nuns, the Cabo Girão Skywalk, and the fishing town of São Pedro with @madeirasidecartours.

🇵🇹Day 4: Whale and dolphin watching tour but we only saw dolphins. In the evening I did an Airbnb Experience at a locals farm house where he cooked a great dinner where 90% of the items were picked directly from his gardens that day. He also taught us how to make poncha, a favorite local drink. The tour should already be linked in my Maderia story highlights.

🇵🇹Day 5: I toured the SE part of the island visiting Ponta do Garajau, Monte Palace, and ended the day at the most beautiful views from Pico do Arieiro (the shots of me on the clouds).

🇵🇹Day 6: I watched the sunrise from Miradouro Ponto do Rosto and then did an 8 mile hike of Levado do Caldeirão Verde. After the hike I relaxed at the pool!

If you want photos taken in Madeira I recommend @robframing.

Honestly Madeira was everything and I don’t see it dropping out of my top 5 international destinations anytime soon.

The Traveling Child

If kids live there, kids can visit!

  • Affording Travel
  • Destinations
    • Africa
      • Kenya
      • Morocco
    • Asia
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
    • Australia
    • Caribbean
      • Aruba
      • The Bahamas
      • Barbados
      • Cuba
      • Grand Cayman
      • Jamaica
      • Puerto Rico
      • Trinidad
    • Central America
      • Costa Rica
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • France
      • Italy
      • Spain
      • The Netherlands
    • North America
      • Alaska
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Hawaii
      • Idaho
      • Illinois
      • Kansas
      • Louisiana
      • Mexico
      • Nevada
      • New York
      • South Carolina
      • South Dakota
      • Tennessee
      • Texas
      • Utah
      • West Virginia
      • Wisconsin
    • South America
      • Brazil
      • Colombia
  • Travel Tips
    • Tips on Traveling with Kids
    • Trip Planning Tips
  • Reviews
    • Airline Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Product Reviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Buy Our Book
  • Blog Coaching

Things to do in Austin With Kids

May 12, 2022      Destinations, North America, Texas

Our family finally made it to Texas and because of all the amazing things we heard we made Austin our first stop! Austin has grown tremendously in the last 10 years and with their amazing restaurants, music and outdoor landscape it was the perfect city for us to explore. Plus their breweries are mostly family friendly so parents can have all the fun they want too! Here are some of our favorite things to do in Austin with kids.

How to Get to Austin with Kids Affordably

With 16 airlines servicing Austin International airport there are endless opportunities to find flight deals. Whether you choose to fly budget airlines like Spirit (read tips here), Frontier and Allegiant, mid-range airlines like JetBlue or the main airlines like American, Delta and United your choices are endless. Coming from an international destination? British Airways, Air Canada, Aeromexico, and Lufthansa all service Austin. There is even an Amtrak station in Austin if you’re not ready to fly.

Things to do in Austin with Kids

Zilker Park

One of the most popular attractions in Austin for anyone regardless of age is Barton Springs Pool in Zilker Park. The pool is 3 acres and has diving boards, a lap section and more. The water is always a cool 68-70 degrees no matter what time of year you visit.

Congress Avenue Bridge Bat Colony

If you’re visiting Austin with kids from late March to early fall you have to take them to see the bats, who live under the bridge. The best time to see them is around sunset when they wake up and take their night flight but honestly this could be anywhere from 7:30-9:45pm. If you want to find parking and a spot on the bridge to watch or below it on the grassy patch you must arrive early. The parking lot at Austin American-Statesman at 205 S. Congress Ave. fills up quickly.

PHOTO

Another option to watch the bats is to take a bat tour on the water. There are two companies, Lone Star Riverboat and Capital Cruises that offer nightly bat tours in a boat. If you want to get a little exercise in while you watch them you can do a bat-watching kayak excursion with Love Love Paddle or Austin Kayak Tours.

Lady Bird Lake Hike or Bike

The Lady bird is surrounded by the 10 mile Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. We biked it after renting bikes from Barton Springs Bike Rental and Tours across the street. If the weather is good bring bathing suits as there is a splash pad at Butler park along the trail. If you’re walking and need a stroller the trail is stroller friendly!

Thinkery

We didn’t get to visit the Thinkery on our trip because it was closed during our visit but it was all the things to do in Austin with kids article that I read so that must mean it’s good, right? It’s a hands-on children’s museum and from what I read on their website similar to my daughters’ favorite museum in Las Vegas. Hopefully we’ll get to experience it on our next trip but if you get to before then drop a comment and let us know how it was.

Explore McKinney Falls State Park and Horseback Ride at Renegade Trail Rides

Did you really go to Texas if you didn’t get on a horse? While the downtown area of Austin is very popular, the city has an entire beautiful countryside. We explored McKinney Roughs Nature Park on horseback at the ranch on the Hyatt Lost Pines property. Kids 6 and up can go on the big horses but younger kids are not left out as they can ride the ponies. Don’t forget to ask to feed the miniature horses!!

Splash Around at the Indoor Waterpark at Kalahari Resorts

The perfect activity year round but especially on a rainy day or if it’s cold outside but you still want to have some water fun. We first enjoyed Kalahari Resorts indoor water parks on our winter trip to Wisconsin Dells. It was amazing, we’d go snowboarding one day and the waterpark the next (check out that itinerary here). Believe me the kids will love it if you take them to the one in Austin.

Take in Austin’s Street Art

You won’t find a block in Austin that doesn’t have street art and well that’s due to a local ordinance that requires each one to have public art accessible to everyone. Since street art is such a huge part of Austin we took a tour with Austin Detours. This two hour tour took us all around the city visiting some of the more famous art pieces Austin has to offer. Our guide taught us about the different types of street art, about the artists and she even had a surprise for us at the end.

When we finished the exploration part of the tour it was time for the hands on part at Something Cool Studios. Here we had a professional graffiti artist give us a lesson on graffiti and we had the opportunity to create our own piece of street art. Instead of on a wall we did it on a canvas so we could take it home with us!

Lake Travis Zipline

If you have adrenaline junkie kids like I do you’ll have to head to Lake Travis for ziplining. My girls first ziplined at 3 years old in Costa Rica and have been hooked since now having ziplined in Costa Rica, Orlando, Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, and South Dakota. The ziplining at Lake Travis has 5 ziplines, one of which is the longest in the entire state of Texas.

Mount Bonnell

Whenever I’m traveling with my girls my plan is to always tire them out during the day so they go right to sleep when we get in for the evening. This is why I think visiting Mount Bonnell is one of the best things to do in Austin with kids. You can not only see the entire city from the highest point in the city at Covert Park there is so much open space for the kids to run around and play. Don’t forget to pack snacks and water and you do have to climb quite a few stairs to get to the top.

Have Lunch in Pease Park

Pease Park is the perfect park to have a lunch picnic. Even if you don’t have a blanket for the grass there are plenty of picnic benches. The playground is huge with multiple sections and something for everyone. You can’t leave the park without finding the tree house!

Inner Space Cavern

If your kids have never been in a cave or even if they have they might enjoy the Adventure Tour at Inner Space Cavern. They’ll see fossils and they’ll be able to mine for gemstones outside after the tour.

COTA Karting

If you’ve ever wanted to see a Formula 1 track here’s your chance. Home to the only one in the United States, COTA Karting lets you go karting at up to 55 MPH. Kids do need to be 14 and at least 58”to drive and 48”to be a passenger. There is a Junior Kart for those at least 12 years old and 48”. Besides the go karts they also have a zipline on site which most kids can ride.

Chase Waterfalls Hiking at McKinney State Park

Usually when people think of cities like Austin they definitely don’t think about nature but if you and your family love the outdoors McKinney State Park is for you. There are tons of hiking trails to fit every fitness level. For younger kids who won’t be able to hike the trails themselves, be sure to bring a carrier as a stroller won’t work here. We used this hiking stroller on our most challenging family hike at Pedro de Telegrafo but when our children were younger our Ergobaby carrier sufficed!

Where to Eat in Austin with Kids

If you don’t eat anywhere else in Austin with kids make sure you eat at The Picnic. It’s Austin’s food truck park and I don’t know about you but we love food trucks. It’s the perfect place for picky eaters because they literally have something for everyone! Personally, my favorite was the Thai food truck!

Everyone told us the best BBQ in Austin was at the Salt Lick. Now it is a little out of the way but we went there after visiting COTA Karting as it’s close to there. They are known for having a tremendous wait time. I recommend ordering ahead for take out and sitting at the open picnic field they have. They sometimes have live music here. If you do have to wait, rest assured there is a playground with swings and slides to keep the kids busy.

Where to Stay in Austin with Kids

We’ve always been a fan of vacation rentals when traveling with kids and Austin is no different. We love the space, ability to wash clothes if needed and hang out comfortably after a day of exploring. There are tons of Airbnb’s in Austin, we personally love the South Congress area, check out my 8 tips to guarantee a great Airbnb experience.

If Airbnb’s aren’t your thing there are plenty of hotels to choose from. The only ones I’ve personally stayed in are the Aloft and the JW Marriott both in downtown. Personally I don’t like staying downtown with kids due to the extremely overpriced parking which is valet only and always takes forever to get your car. At night with the tons of bars and the party scene it’s not my ideal place to walk around with younger kids. However, out of the two hands down the JW Marriott. The Aloft was not my favorite at all, the bathrooms are on the smaller side and it just wasn’t well kept in my opinion.They do have a nice restaurant on the property though! 

We had a great first visit to Texas, there are just so many things to do in Austin with kids. If you found this article helpful please share it. If you’ve been to Austin and think we left something off, drop your suggestions in the comments.

Share
Tweet
Pin
Email
Share

Newsletter Subscribtion

 
Join Our Mailing List
You'll get tips on affordable travel, flight deals and detailed itineraries for every trip we've been on (family, girlfriends getaway, baecations and solo) to make your planning process easier.
Thank you for subscribing!

Primary Sidebar

  • Amazon
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • YouTube

Hi! We’re The Hambricks

Hi! We’re The Hambricks

If kids live there, kids can visit! That's our motto and you'll often find us exploring destinations most don't find "kid friendly". We've traveled to 35 countries on 6 continents with our children since they were 10 weeks old and share tips to make it easier and affordable. But mom and dad are people too so we also write about solo travel, baecations and girlfriend getaways.

Newsletter

Subscribe to Our Newsletter
You'll get tips on affordable travel, flight deals and detailed itineraries for every trip we've been on (family, girlfriends getaway, baecations and solo) to make your planning process easier.
Thank you for subscribing!

Recent Posts

  • The Best Christmas Markets in Europe
  • The Best Christmas Markets in the USA
  • The 11 Best Eiffel Tower Photo Spots
  • The Best Places to Go for Halloween
  • Things to Do in Southern Idaho

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

Facebook

FOLLOW US ON PINTEREST

Copyright © 2023 The Traveling Child, LLC.