Family-Friendly Sites on the Web

Before you plunk down that hard-earned deposit for a week’s stay at a place you’ve never been, don’t you wish you could talk to someone who has vacationed there with kids?

You can--as long as you’ve got access to the World Wide Web. There are a growing number of family travel Web sites that not only will help you connect with a family that has been where you’re going, but will give you the inside track on planning your best trip ever, saving some money along the way.

More than 30 million Americans now use online services, surveys report, and more are turning to their computers to plan vacations.

Online travel bookings tripled to $827 million last year and are expected to surpass $4 billion by 2000, according to a new report from the Travel Industry Assn. of America, a national nonprofit lobbying arm of the travel industry. That doesn’t even count all those surfing the Web for information.

“Families don’t have a lot of time to plan vacations, and they know they can get the most current information on the Web,” said Nancy Schretter, who oversees America OnLine’s Family Travel Network, now drawing close to a million hits a month.

A few strokes of the keyboard and you can get customized information, from the most family-friendly B&Bs; (https://www.inns.com) in New England to upcoming kids’ activities in major cities (https://www.citysearch.com) to the best air and hotel deals (https://www.bestfares.com).

A general search for the place you hope to visit is a good place to start a Web search, says Stuart Schaefer, Webmaster at Boston’s Computer Museum. (Visit the Computer Museum Network at https://www.net.org.)

You can also search by activity. If you’re considering a family outdoor adventure, https://www.gorp.com will tell you the gear you’ll need, where to find an outfitter and how to get your kids to go on a hike without whining. Take a virtual visit to the national parks at https://www.nps.gov and search for the best family hikes at many parks.

All of this Web browsing can be time-consuming. But you can do your vacation research whenever you want--after the kids are in bed, for example.

Here are a few sites I have found helpful:

* Disney’s Family.com at https://www.family.com offers a substantial family travel area, including Road-Tested Vacations from parents who have been there, travel tips from Family Fun magazine and local calendars of family-oriented events via more than 100 local parenting publications.

* The Family Travel Network on America Online (keyword Family Travel Network) is the largest online site devoted to family travel. Trade tips with other traveling parents and find out about bargains for families--from skiing free to cruises to city hotels and air fare. You can take a virtual vacation to Hawaii, Mexico or the Florida Keys, among other places, or link to dozens of travel Web sites for more information on everything from children’s festivals around the country (https://www.festivals.com/~children/index.cfm) to family island adventures https://www.where2stay.com/islands/family.html).

* The Family Travel Forum newsletter Web site (https://www.familytravelforum.com) was designated by Yahoo as a top new site. Come here to post questions for other parents, scope out such off-beat destinations as Morocco and Tibet or get a guide to the best Miami hotels or French cha^teaux that welcome visiting families. The information has been fact-checked. There’s a list of family friendly travel agents and also links to sites providing information ranging from passports (https://travel.state.gov) to health tips (https://www.cdc.gov/travel/travel.html) to weather forecasts (https://www.intellicast.com).

A tip from the Forum’s Kyle McCarthy: Always double-check information from commercial Web sites to make sure it’s accurate and up-to-date.

The new Parents and Child Magazines’ site (https://www.parents.com) offers a family destination finder where you can search by type of trip as well as by place. Do you want to be at the beach or a ski resort? Even better, you can assess if a resort has kids’ programs for your child’s age and kids’ menus.

Go to the bulletin board to trade travel ideas with other families. There are “deals of the week,” and travel questions answered by Travel Mom.

The Assn. of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) site at https://www.astc.org will tell you the children’s and science museums close to your mother-in-law’s house, and link you and the kids to those hands-on museums around the country and world.

The American Zoo and Aquarium Assn. site at https://www.aza.org can help you plan times to talk to the animals, too. The ASTC travel guide also offers a state-by-state and international guide, complete with tips on visiting science museums with kids. (E-mail a request for the free list to info@astc.org or write the Assn. of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), Department VAC, 1025 Vermont Ave, NW Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005.)

Happy virtual travel. Now if only we could figure out a way to make real family trips go as smoothly as cyberspace trips.

Taking the Kids appears the first and third week of every month.