Educational Vacations for Families: Day Trips + Travel Ideas

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Educational Vacations for Families

There’s an opportunity to learn anywhere you travel. Between kid-friendly vacation spots with guided tours, interactive exhibits, self-guided strolls, and living history museums, learning experiences abound for families traveling the United States and abroad. In this section, you’ll find some travel tips, plus places our Kidding Around Team members have traveled with their families. They discovered some really fabulous learning opportunities.

If you’re thinking about a road trip, start with these 30+ tips for educational trips with kids from a mom who has traveled by car with four kids on several weeks-long adventures.

If you’re headed anywhere near a national park, don’t forget about the free national park pass for 4th graders. Every 4th grade student and their family can get into national parks for free. We’ve used this pass to visit the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and more!

Don’t miss the junior ranger programs while you’re at the national parks. Kids will learn a lot about each park or site and earn a special badge or patch when they complete the booklet. Read about our experiences at the following national parks.

• Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
• Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee
• Congaree National Park, South Carolina

If you’re a homeschool family who likes to travel, check out the opportunities at Traveling Homeschoolers. Here’s a review of a trip we took with them to the Rocky Mountains.

South Carolina Educational Vacations

Educational Places to Visit in Charleston, SC

Here’s an entire trip to Charleston, SC loaded with learning opportunities for the whole family: An Educational Trip to Charleston, SC

Here are some individual educational sites and venues in Charleston:

• Black History Sites, Charleston
• South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston
• Charlestown Landing, Charleston
• Sandlapper Boat Tours Eco-Tour, Charleston
• North Charleston Fire Museum, North Charleston
• Patriot’s Point, Mount Pleasant
• Fort Moultrie, Sullivan’s Island

Looking for a unique place to stay in Charleston? You can sleep on this yacht right in historic Charleston.

Educational Trips for Families Near Hilton Head, Port Royal, Beaufort

You can find some excellent tips for educational vacations in Unique Ideas for Family Fun in the Port Royal-Hilton Head-Beaufort Area of the Lowcountry, including:

• Port Royal Sound Maritime Aquarium, SC
• Old Sheldon Church Ruins, SC
• Island Explorer Dolphin Tour, Hilton Head
• Kayak Hilton Head, Hilton Head

Need a place to stay in Hilton Head? Check out this affordable Hilton Head villa by the ocean.

Educational Vacations in Myrtle Beach, SC

Spending time in Myrtle Beach? It’s an excellent educational trip for families since there are tons of ocean-related adventures, an aquarium, historic sites, and more!

Brookgreen Gardens, Myrtle Beach
Huntington Beach State Park, Myrtle Beach
Ripleys Aquarium, Myrtle Beach

North Carolina Educational Vacations

Outer Banks, NC is full of history, beach critters to explore, and tons of educational opportunities, including:

• North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island
• Wright Brothers National Memorial
• Fort Raleigh, site of the lost colony of Roanoke
• Roanoke Island Festival Park, interactive indoor and outdoor exhibits celebrating the first English colony in America

Looking for a place to stay in North Carolina’s Outer Banks? Check out this beach house in Kill Devil Hills. It’s near the beach and has its own pool and hot tub!

Tennessee Educational Vacations

Titanic Museum, Pigeon Forge, TN
PINK Jeep Tour, Pigeon Forge, TN
Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, TN
Ripley’s Aquarium, Gatlinburg, TN
The Lost Sea, Sweetwater, TN
Chattanooga Zoo, Chattanooga, TN

For more adventure, don’t miss our Chattanooga, TN Guide.

Want to stay in the middle of it all? Here’s a gorgeous townhouse in downtown Chattanooga.

Washington, DC Educational Vacations

A visit to the nation’s capital is one of the top educational vacations you can go on with your family. With monuments, museums, and rich history on every corner, this trip is one for the memory bank.

Read about our experience at Mount Vernon.

Florida Educational Vacations

The mild weather all year round make Florida a wonderful place to go on an educational trip with your family! If you’re interested in space, nature, or marine life, Florida is THE place to go learn and have fun.

St. Augustine Alligator Farm, St. Augustine, FL
Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL
Myakka River State Park, Sarasota, FL
Blue Springs State Park, Orange City, FL

Turn your trip to the Kennedy Space Center into a fabulous beach vacation with a stay at this oceanfront condo, just a short drive away.

Ohio Educational Vacation

National Museum of the US Air Force

The museum is totally free and has loads of history to experience and learn.

Michigan Educational Vacation

The Reptarium

Alabama Educational Vacation

Alligator Alley

Learn About Sea Turtles

Have a budding marine biologist on your hands? Plan a visit to Jekyll Island for a visit to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. You’ll learn all about sea turtle health and what threatens them in the wild. You’ll even see the sea turtle hospital.

Or, if the Outer Banks of North Carolina are more to your liking, you can visit the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. Here, you’ll get to learn about sea turtles and see a sea turtle rescue hospital called the STAR Center. The aquarium is also home to many other sea creatures and reptiles.

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Educational Day Trips Near Upstate, SC

There are so many educational day-trip adventures that are accessible to those living in the Upstate. There are some fabulous opportunities in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. If you’re thinking a day trip might not be enough of an escape, just string a few of these options together and grab a hotel or VRBO for a little vacation not too far from home.

Day Trips to See Dinosaurs! Plan a day trip to one of these fabulous places to see dinos in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

North Carolina Educational Day Trips for Families

See elk at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, Cherokee, NC
Carl Sandburg Home, Flat Rock, NC
Blue Ghost Firefly Tour, Pisgah Forest, NC
Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC
WNC Nature Center, Asheville, NC
North Carolina Arboretum, Asheville, NC
Holmes Educational State Forest, Hendersonville, NC
Cradle of Forestry, Pisgah Forest, NC
Team ECCO Aquarium and Shark Lab, Hendersonville, NC
KidSenses, Rutherfordton, NC
Winchester Creek Farm, Waynesville, NC
Carolina Raptor Center, Charlotte, NC
Schiele Museum, Gastonia, NC
Ellaberry Llama Farm, Hendersonville, NC
Sullenberger Aviation Museum, Charlotte, NC
North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro, NC

South Carolina Educational Day Trips for Families

Fish Hatchery, Walhalla, SC
Stumphouse Tunnel, Walhalla, SC
Kings Mountain Battlefield, Kings Mountain, SC
Split Creek Farm, Anderson, SC
Duke World of Energy, Seneca, SC
Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, SC
Eden Farms, Marietta, SC
Strawberry Hill, Chesnee, SC
SC Botanical Garden, Clemson, SC
Revolutionary War sites, Camden, SC
Bob Campbell Geology Museum, Clemson, SC
Denver Downs Farm, Anderson, SC

Pickens, SC Educational Day Trip Ideas, including:

• Soapstone Slave Cemetery, Pickens
• Table Rock Tea Company, Pickens
• Hagood Mill & Petroglyph Center, Pickens

Riverbanks Zoo, Columbia
EdVenture, Columbia

Georgia Educational Day Trips for Families

Black History Sites, Atlanta, GA
Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, GA
The Delta Flight Museum, Atlanta, GA
The Atlanta Zoo, Atlanta, GA
Dunwoody Park and Nature Center, Dunwoody, GA
State Botanical Gardens, Athens, GA

Visit Blairsville, GA, learning opportunities include:

• Track Rock Gap Petroglyphs
• Meeks Park and the Appalachian Sculpture Project

What fabulous educational adventures have you discovered while traveling? Let us know in the comments!