The best trips in the U.S. for kids under 10 that aren’t Disney Parks

What are the best trips in the U.S. for kids under 10 that aren’t Disney Parks? Whether your family loves museums, zoos, interactive experiences, or the beach, any of these locations will keep them excited, entertained and engaged with age-appropriate activities. At least with my kids, the smaller they are, the smaller the attention span, so this tried and tested list of places offer a variety of things to do that will keep their interest and that parents will enjoy, too. 

If Your Family Loves Museums – Chicago 

With masses of museums, Chicago is first up on our list of the best trips in the U.S. for kids under 10. The Museum of Science and Industry is one of our favorite museums anywhere and takes a full day to appreciate. My kiddos love their incredible interactive exhibits like Science Storms where you can create and walk through a mini tornado and their toy making assembly line where you can see a spaceship top being made. 

Another super cool museum in Chicago is the Field Museum, one of the best natural history museums in the world.  It is known for its fantastic dinosaur fossils and bones, and other natural history exhibits. My boys also love the exhibit on ancient Egypt and the hands-on area dedicated to bugs.

If you are ready to get outdoors after exploring the many magnificent museums, Chicago has a ton of options  – walk along Lake Michigan and enjoy some fun games, shops and restaurants, and take a ride in a ferris wheel at Navy Pier (the Chicago Children’s Museums is there, too, with a special section for kids ages four to eight). But, our favorite outdoor space in Chicago is Maggie Daley Park. It has unique playground equipment and rock climbing walls that will keep the kids busy for hours. It’s also walking distance to Millenium Park with the famous Cloud Gate, or “bean”, structure.

If Your Family Loves Animals – San Diego

San Diego is one of the trips I recommend the most to families with young children, particularly if they like animals. You can see hundreds of animals over the course of a few days. 

The San Diego Zoo is truly one of the most amazing zoos on the planet -with the largest Giant Panda and koala populations in the U.S. and a new penguin exhibit with rocks, a beach and a huge water tank that mimics the area in South Africa where they are from. Our boys loved the birds’ eye view we got from riding a gondola from one part of the park to the other. 

The San Diego Zoo’s sister park, San Diego Safari Park, is also worth a visit and there will be times that you’re not sure if you are in the African savannah or in California. While I love both spots for kids under 10, make sure your crew is good walking a lot or comfortable in a stroller because you’ll walk miles and miles. My kids were so enraptured with all the animals that three to four miles of walking a day didn’t phase them except at night when they slept really well.

For watching mammals in the sea, there are a couple of companies that run whale watching boat rides off the coast. We love San Diego Whale Watching and had a great experience with them. Rides start out at three hours with a guided excursion from a marine biologist who provides great information about our friends living in the Pacific Coast waters. Depending on the season (January through June are best), whales are commonly seen on trips, and you can almost always count on seeing dolphins, seals and some cool sea birds along the way. Check out La Jolla Coves for more ocean dwellers – sea lions are almost always on the beach and the tidal pools let you inspect sea anemones, crabs and fish up close.

Coronado Island is another fun jaunt just over the bridge from San Diego. Not only does it have a great beach, but there are cute shops and restaurants to check out, too.

A favorite non-animal attraction is Legoland  – and great for kids under 10. There are age appropriate rides, dozens of incredible lego sculptures to tour and areas to build your own creations.

If Your Family Loves the Beach – Fripp Island, SC (Lowcountry/Charleston/Savannah)

In my opinion, the best trip for kids under 10 is the lowcountry of South Carolina and Georgia, and specifically, a home base at Fripp Island, SC. Fripp is located about 17 miles east of Beaufort, SC and is a barrier island along with Hilton Head, Harbor, Hunting Islands and many others. Many families vacation at Hilton Head, but for a more relaxed, non-commercial island, we prefer Fripp. What’s lovely about Fripp is that it is a private island, so you can only access it if you are staying there, and it is a National Wildlife Refugee, where dozens of types of birds and other wildlife call the marshy area home. The beaches are quiet and lovely, there are miles of walking and biking trails and you can rent boats, jet skis, kayaks, paddle boards, etc. at the marina. If you love to golf, there are two courses to play. There are boat tours (the dolphin tour is our favorite as the waters are teeming with these gentle sea dwellers), and driving around on golf carts is the best mode of transportation. 

Hunting Island, the island just west of Fripp, is a State Park and has a beautiful lighthouse (167 steps to the top), which is the only publicly accessible one in South Carolina. It also has a really cool beach area and kayak tours where you can see where they filmed some of the movie Forrest Gump. The Vietnam scenes were shot there because of the lush scenery and similarity to Southern Vietnam’s landscapes.

Fripp is about halfway between Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA, which makes it a great home base for doing day trips to both locations.

Charleston, SC is about 75 minutes to the north with a plethora of fun activities for kids under 12 – trip out to Fort Sumter, Patriot’s Point Naval and Maritime Museum, Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry, South Carolina Aquarium and so much more.

Savannah is about an hour to the south. Some of our favorite stops there for younger kids are the Georgia State Railroad Museum and the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum.

If Your Family Loves to Play – Indianapolis

I’d be remiss not to include my hometown in this list because it truly is one of the better places in the U.S. for a family trip with kids under 10. First and foremost is the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the biggest and (we think) best kids’ museum in the world. And, I know it’s perfect for younger kids and that it will stick in their memories because I still remember my first visit there many, many years ago when I was five.

 It’s five floors and outdoor pavillion include exhibits and interactive activities from Ancient Greece to life-sized dinosaurs to driving in the Indy 500 to exploring the Giza Pyramids and more. The newest part, the Sports Legends Experience, is worth a visit almost by itself with 12 sports represented and a huge outdoor park. Even my not-very-athletically interested 9- and 11-year olds stayed in this area for hours and loved channeling their inner Steph Curries, Mia Hamms and Mario Andrettis.

No trip to Indy would be complete without a visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the 500-mile race which is the largest spectator sport in the world.  There’s a museum where you can see several Indy cars, learn about the history of the race, and kiss the bricks like dozens of winning drivers. You can even take a ride on a bus around the 2.5 mile track, just at a fraction of the speed of the Indy car drivers.

With several pieces of public art and hiking trails, 100-Acre Wood at Newfields is a great way to enjoy the outdoors. It’s also an awesome way to introduce kids to art without strolling through a museum. Our favorite installation has swings on it – truly playing with your art.

The Indianapolis Zoo has some incredible experiential offerings – you can touch dog sharks and rays in a petting pool in the Oceans building; watch a dolphin show; and feed lorikeets and giraffes. Plus, the orangutan exhibit is one of the most incredible of any animal enclosures I’ve ever seen (they can walk above your head in giant manmade trees). I also love the Indy Zoo because of their conservation work to preserve and save species.

Whether your family loves learning about dinosaurs, feeding giraffes, playing at museums, or making sandcastles, these hot spots offer some of the best trips in the U.S. for kids under 10, perfect for younger kids and for making awesome memories.