Best Places to Visit with Kids from Australia

Planning your next family getaway? Whether you're looking for cheap family holidays close to home or epic long-haul family travel to a once-in-a-lifetime destination, this guide covers the best places to visit with kids from Australia. From short-haul trips with kids across the Asia-Pacific to bucket-list adventures in the United States, Europe, and beyond.

For Australian families, overseas travel with kids offers something genuinely rare: uninterrupted time together, away from the pull of screens and packed schedules.

Living on an island continent means that crossing a border immediately introduces children to entirely different cultures, languages, food, and environments. And with Australia's geography, there's a kid-friendly destination to match every budget, age group, and appetite for adventure.

Key benefits of taking your family overseas:

• Provides an opportunity to enjoy quality family time away from everyday distractions
• Can build confidence, independence, and adaptability in children
• Introduces kids to different cultures, languages, foods, and ways of life
• Provides a chance to create memorable shared experiences
• Genuine educational travel for kids beyond the classroom

Short-haul trips with kids can reach Bali in roughly six hours or Fiji in under four hours from the east coast. For families ready for more, Japan and the United States offer extraordinary long-haul family travel experiences that more than justify the flight time.

Family Travel Planning Tip: Popular school holiday destinations, particularly July and September breaks, book out three to six months in advance. Planning early means better availability, better value, and far less pre-trip stress. Once flights and accommodation are sorted, travel insurance for your whole family can be the next step. InsureandGo Australia policies can cover dependent children under 18 at no extra cost when named on the policy and travelling with you.

Bali, Indonesia - Best for Cheap Family Holidays

Bali is consistently one of the most popular kid-friendly destinations for Australians, and for good reason. Short flights, affordable prices, and a wide variety of experiences make it one of the best places to visit with kids from Australia, especially for families taking their first step into overseas travel with kids.

While certain areas like Kuta and Seminyak may be known for their lively social scenes, you can escape this and opt for places like Sanur, Nusa Dua, and Ubud, which have areas with kids’ clubs, calmer beaches, and cultural experiences that cater to both younger children and teenagers.

Culture can be experienced through traditional dance performances, temple visits, local crafts, or getting outdoors to visit the rice terraces and various wildlife parks. After days of exploring, families can then return to a modern resort built around comfort, babysitting services, kids’ menus, and organised activities specifically focused on younger guests.

Compared to many other international destinations, Bali remains one of the best options for cheap family holidays without compromising on quality. You often get the benefit of spacious accommodation, flexible dining options, and a healthy choice of tours and attractions that won’t strain your family travel budget.

Fiji - The Ultimate Family Resort Destination

Fiji is always an option for Australian families seeking a relaxed overseas holiday, reachable on a short flight from Australia’s East Coast, yet delivering an immediate sense of a foreign escape without the fatigue of long-haul travel.

Known for luxury resorts and romantic getaways, Fiji is also surprisingly well-suited to families. What sets Fiji apart as one of the best family holidays from Australia is how resorts are specifically built around the needs of families. Many Fijian family resorts with kids clubs go well beyond a pool and a playground, offering:

• Supervised kids clubs with structured daily activities
• Nanny and babysitting services, ideal for toddler-friendly travel
• Shallow pool areas purpose-built for toddlers and young children
• Calm, sheltered lagoons that are well suited to families with young swimmers, among the best beach destinations for kids in the world

Enjoy snorkelling in calm, shallow lagoons with your kids, where tropical fish are often visible just metres from the shore. Or book a short boat trip between islands, which offer guided visits to Fijian villages. Families can learn traditional customs first-hand, and many resorts host cultural song-and-dance performances and hands-on craft activities that keep children engaged.

New Zealand: Best for Family Adventure Holidays and Wildlife Trips

With relatively short flight times and similar culture, our neighbour across the Tasman Sea is often considered one of the easiest options for overseas travel with kids, especially if you’re planning on taking your first international trip as a family.

New Zealand is one of the most naturally rewarding destinations for Australian families in terms of outdoor adventure and wildlife. Spot native birds like the kiwi and kea, ancient tuatara, dolphins, and fur seals. Add to that dramatic landscapes of glaciers, mountains, lakes, forests, and geothermal attractions, many within a short drive of each other, and it's ideal for family adventure holidays built around a flexible road-trip itinerary.

Highlights include the glowworm caves, the Hobbiton movie set, interactive museums, hiking, skiing, kayaking, and zip-lining.

Japan - Best for Educational Travel, Culture, and Theme Park Holidays

Japan blends tradition and technology in a way that's equally entertaining for children and adults. And its highly organised transport and clean public spaces make it widely regarded as easy to travel, making it ideal for families.

Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto offer ancient temples like Asakusa's Senso-ji and Kyoto's historic Gion district alongside futuristic attractions like teamLab digital art museums, robot cafés, and high-tech entertainment centres. Interactive museums such as Tokyo's National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation let kids engage hands-on with robotics and space exploration, making Japan an excellent destination for educational travel for kids.

Younger children are often drawn to themed cafés, anime culture, and interactive exhibits, while teenagers gravitate toward shopping districts and technology hubs. And then there are Japan's world-famous theme park holidays, including Disneyland and DisneySea among the biggest family drawcards in the country.

If Tokyo's on your list, check out our Tokyo guide for first-timers and confirm whether Australians need a visa for Japan.

United States - Best for Theme Park Holidays and Long-Haul Family Travel

We mentioned Japan offering families fun theme parks, but the United States takes things to another level. It’s impossible to ignore its world-famous family attractions found from coast to coast. Almost the entire country is a giant playground for all ages.

West Coast highlights:

• Disneyland Resort, Anaheim: the original Disney holidays experience, and still one of the world's most immersive theme park holidays
• Universal Studios Hollywood: blockbuster rides and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• San Diego Zoo: one of the world's finest zoos, ideal for wildlife and nature trips, easily combined with LEGOLAND California
• California Science Center, Los Angeles: home to Space Shuttle Endeavour and outstanding educational travel for kids

East Coast and Florida highlights:

• Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando: the definitive Disney holidays destination, with four theme parks, two water parks, and a vast resort precinct
• Universal Orlando Resort: Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Volcano Bay, and the newly opened Epic Universe
• Kennedy Space Center: one of the most genuinely powerful educational travel for kids experiences in the world
• Florida's Gulf and Atlantic beaches: warm, calm beach destinations for kids ideal for a mid-trip break from the parks

Beyond the parks, long-haul family travel in the US can include road trips through Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite; authentic American sporting events; airboat rides through Florida's Everglades in search of alligators; or frontier history at Mount Rushmore and South Dakota's Black Hills.

Check out Visit California's family travel resources and see our USA family travel insurance page before you depart.

How to Choose the Right Family Destination from Australia

The best places to visit with kids look different for every family. Use this table to match your priorities to the right destination.

Family Travel Tips and Planning: What to Sort Before You Go

Book Early

The most popular school holiday destinations, especially for July, September, and December breaks, book out months in advance. Flights and accommodation secured early could mean better pricing, more choice, and less pre-trip stress. This is true whether you're booking short-haul trips with kids to Fiji or long-haul family travel to the US.

Consider Your Children's Ages

The same destination can feel very different depending on whether you're managing toddler-friendly travel or travel with teens. Fiji and Bali are excellent for younger children; Japan and the USA tend to resonate more strongly with teenagers. Plan for who your children are now, not who you'd like them to be.

Build In Downtime

Over-scheduling is the most common family travel mistake. Children, especially on long-haul family travel with jet lag in play, need slower paces, familiar meals, and occasional resort days to stay happy and regulated. Leave space for unplanned moments: they're often what children remember most.

Finding the Right Family Adventure

The best family holiday looks different for every family. Some children are drawn to the excitement of theme parks and roller coasters, while others may be happiest exploring nature. What matters most is choosing the best places to visit with kids from Australia that suit your family’s interests, budget, and travel style.

Whether it’s a short break or a long-haul journey, the destinations we highlighted offer a mix of fun, discovery, and connection that makes family travel so rewarding.

Before You Go: Consider Family Travel Insurance
Wherever your next family adventure takes you, you may want to consider cover for the whole family. Get a family travel insurance quote with InsureandGo Australia; dependent children under 18 travel covered at no extra cost¹ when eligible and a 10% discount applies when two or more adults travel together².