5 fun vacations for tech-loving families

Family-affordable trips to Silicon Valley, live lightning shows, vintage arcade games and journeys to infinity and beyond – here are five fun destinations for tech-loving families.

The Bay Area, California

San Francisco has plenty to keep tech-obsessed adults entertained and the Bay Area is ideal for a family trip. Check in to the Convention Center Inn & Suites, a popular choice among families and directly opposite the Children’s Discovery Museum.

Begin your day at the Tech Museum of Innovation and check out the 9,000+ square feet wraparound screen at the IMAX Dome Theater. The Museum also runs skill-building workshops for aspiring Girl Scouts to earn their Home Scientist badge.

After, take a daytrip up to the Exploratorium where exhibits include a bridge made out of fog, a simulation of what it’s like to be inside a tornado and a tactile dome which you navigate in total darkness.

Chicago, Illinois

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago hosts the permanent Science Storms exhibit that allows visitors to control forces of nature, including a 40-foot tornado. There’s additionally a Virtual Reality spacewalk, flight simulators and the interactive Dream It, Design It workshops where young coders learn how to design and develop their ideas.

Visit Chicago in the summer and enroll the kids at an iD Tech STEM Summer Camp to discover more about 3D Printing, game design and robotics. While the parents have free time to head to the Links Taproom, a Chicago bar with a digital beer menu telling you everything from the kind of glass your drink comes in, to the number of ounces left in the barrel.

If you fancy picking up a few new skills, try a different kind of technology at the Spudnik Press Cooperative printing workshops. With so much to do, stay central at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel where you will find plenty of family rooms available.

Boston, Massachusetts

If anyone in your family is a future barrier-breaking astronaut like Mae Jemison or a tech leader in training like Kimberly Bryant, a trip to Boston will leave you both entertained and inspired.

Plan your visit for September and go to the Boston Mini Maker Faire where you’ll see junior scientists working on projects like robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and video game design.

Boston’s Museum of Science is full of exciting displays, including chicks hatching and giant animal taxidermy exhibitions. Elsewhere at the Van de Graaff Theater of Electricity you can view lightning up close or stargaze at the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory.

The YOTEL Boston is a tech hotel that’s highly rated among travelling families.

Orlando, Florida

Take your budding astronauts to the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando and witness one of the regular rocket launches. Once you’ve seen a real life rocket blast into space, go inside the center to browse through their collection of moon rocks.

As the base for CodeTeachers, Orlando hosts a series of classes and workshops for kids and teens to learn game design, coding foundations and app building. While the kids are occupied, go on a tour of Universal Studios or relax back at your hotel.

Laconia, New Hampshire

Introduce the kids to the delights of Donkey Kong and Pac-Man, spend a few hours on the pinball machines, or play some rounds of indoor mini-golf at Laconia’s legendary Funspot.

The centre is sure to keep the whole family entertained for hours as adults get nostalgic over the collection of vintage video arcade games. When you’re not destroying asteroids, soak up the sunshine by staying near the beach. The Grand View Motel Cottages have an outdoor swimming pool for when you’re ready to unplug.