Our Very Best Summer Vacation Ideas. Beaches, mountains, cities, theme parks, road trips, outdoor adventures... Get moving!

Summer is at its midpoint -- but no worries if you still haven't planned your summer getaway!. We've partnered with Family Travel Forum to come up with the best 2014 family summer vacation ideas.  These ideas will help you take the kids-and the grandkids and any other kids in your lives-and give all of you the best bang for your vacation buck and, more importantly, create lifetime memories.

If you have teens ages 13-18, encourage them to participate in the 8th annual Teen Travel Writing Scholarship. What better way to keep their brains from turning to mush than to blog for a merit scholarship? It's easy and a great cause we support each year.  

HERE ARE SIX YOU MAY NOT HAVE THOUGHT OF:

1. HEAD TO THE CARIBBEAN OR MEXICO where many call summer bargain season with lots of special family deals. Puerto Vallarta offers a wide array of family activities, including a visit to a traditional Mexican ranch, or a tour of a native Huichol Indian village or wildlife watching on the Marietas Islands, home to turtles, dolphins, tropical fish and seabirds including the famed Blue-footed Boobies. Here's a column I just wrote with lots of ideas.
2. TAKE A WEEKEND CITY BREAK when the business travelers are gone and hotel rates drop significantly. Go to a museum, a play, a summer festival-the city's official tourism site can tell you the latest deals and special family offerings. Let the kids help you plan a visit to a city near you with my KIDS GUIDES series (featuring, New York, Washington DC, Orlando, Chicago, Los Angeles and, coming soon, San Diego, San Francisco and Denver-Boulder).
3. HOUSEBOATING is easy, economical and a great option, especially when you share a boat with family or friends with similar aged kids.
4. Time-travel on a Windjammer Cruise sailing the Maine Coast on a historic schooner, eating just caught lobsters on a deserted beach while the kids learn skills like knot tying, rowing and more.
5. THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB offers a variety of opportunities for families to get outdoors and explore whether staying at their famous huts along the Appalachian Trail, or their lodges in Maine and New Hampshire.  We love that there are guided activities every day and that you can borrow whatever gear you need without charge.
6. VOLUNTEER, especially if your kids are older. The website Together for Good lists over 90 places that families can give back-even just for a day- on a land-based vacation or cruise in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.  Organizations like Cross-Cultural Solutions, Earthwatch and Global Citizens Network among other non-profit organizations can help you find a family volunteer opportunity;  Greenloons, the company that helps families make sustainable vacation choices, lists volunteer options on its website.