Story-based Vacations for Kids

A trip to the location of a child’s favorite story can be a dream vacation.  The melding of imagination and reality can be an eye-opening and memorable experience.  Here are a few ideas for the perfect story-based vacation.

Older kids might like a Harry Potter-themed trip to London.  They will find that the rows of shops bring to mind the fictional ones that Harry went to for his before-school shopping.  The British Tourism Authority actually publishes a map of locations used in the Harry Potter books and films.

Also in England is the home of children’s author Beatrix Potter.  A tiny farmhouse and its surroundings in Sawrey, England were the setting many of Potter’s stories about rabbits, ducks and cats.  A walk in the fields around the house will lead to encounters with real life Peter Rabbits. 

Collodi, Italy is the home of Pinocchio author Carlo Collodi.  The little puppet who became a real boy is still very famous in town.  There is a park with puppet shows, a Pinocchio-themed playground and gardens.  Most people find the park to be full of old-world class.  It is not your typically cheesy theme park and kids will love it because of its whimsical appeal.

Older girls might like to visit the stomping grounds of Anne of Green Gables on Price Edward Island in Canada.  There are plenty of Anne-themed activities, including a visit to Green Gables, horse and buggy rides and strawberry picking.  Simply roaming around the island and enjoying the scenery with the Green Gables book in hand is a worthwhile experience. 

Young fans of the classic story Make Way for Ducklings will find bronze likenesses of the young birds in Boston Public Garden.  A map guides you along the path that the ducks took in Robert McCloskey’s most famous story.