The best islands for a family trip

Puerto Rico wins because no other island pairs this much to do (a 9) with this easy a trip (8.9 for access). Grandparents can stay in Isla Verde, on the calmest city beach, next to the airport. Teens get bioluminescent bays, El Yunque and surf lessons. Luquillo, east of San Juan, is a long sheltered beach with food kiosks beside it. At our entry prices, a week of San Juan hotel nights for two runs about $800 to $850. The catch is distance: the drive around the island takes five to six hours.

Martinique reaches 8.2 on value (8.3), crowds (7.0) and an 8.5 for things to do. Families rent villas or gîtes, shop in French supermarkets and split days between southern beaches and the north's rainforest. Grande Anse des Salines is calm most days, and turtles graze close to shore at Anse Dufour. Older children can hike Mount Pelée or walk the ruins of Saint-Pierre. The catches: the only US nonstop is from Miami, French is the working language, and prices are in euros.

Crete ties Martinique at 8.2 with the best beach and sights scores on the list, a 9 and a 9.5. It is a big, drivable island with villas, all-inclusive resorts and sights for every age, and it stays open in winter. Chania rooms were $59 in January and $112 in July. An overnight ferry from Piraeus starts at about $37 (€33), useful for a group with luggage. No US airline flies nonstop, and the island is 162 miles (260 km) long, so choose one half.

Maui has the highest weather (9.7) and beach (9) scores here, and nonstops from 18 US airports with no passport. Families base in Kihei condos, swim the south shore on calm mornings and plan three big days: Haleakala ($30 a car for three days, plus a $1 sunrise reservation), the Hana Highway and a boat to Molokini or the whales from November to April. Value is its weak spot (4.3): $296 in Kihei on January 13, and the cheapest Wailea hotel was $605.

Barbados is the easiest island here for mixed ages: English everywhere, cheap buses along the south and west coasts, and nonstops from 8 US airports. Hotels, apartments and villas cover every budget. Harrison's Cave runs tram tours from $69 per person, and the Oistins Friday Fish Fry works for every generation. It ranks fifth because crowds score 4.8 and things to do 8, with no big hikes. South-coast rooms were $140 in January and $92 in July.

Antigua has a 9 for beaches and five US nonstop gateways. Groups rent villas around Jolly Harbour, where the southwest bays such as Darkwood and Ffryes are long and usually calm. A day on Barbuda is about 90 minutes each way on the Sea Bridge ferry, $120 (EC$325) round trip per adult. Things to do score only 7, and beach rooms are dear in winter: the cheapest near Dickenson Bay was $222 on January 13. You will want a car; driving is on the left.

Fiji's value and crowd scores are both 10, which keeps it level with Antigua. Viti Levu has a road network for mixed-age day trips, including the Sigatoka Sand Dunes and Natadola Beach on the Coral Coast, and island resorts range from backpacker lodges to family suites. Fiji Airways showed round trips from LAX or SFO from $898 in a sale ending November 3, 2026. The cheap rooms are in Nadi, not on the beach, and the cyclone season runs November to April.

Sicily has a perfect 10 for things to do: Etna, the Valley of the Temples, Palermo, Siracusa and the baroque towns. With a rental car and a villa, mixed ages can split beach and sightseeing days for a week or more. San Vito Lo Capo is the best family beach, long and shallow. Beaches (7) and access (4.9) hold it to eighth. Taormina rooms were $116 in January and $140 in July, but many hotels there close in winter. Plan two or three bases.

St. Thomas is the easy family base of the US Virgin Islands, with the most flights (16 US airports) and no passport. The cheapest room was $93 on both dates, about $650 for a week for two. The Red Hook ferry to St. John costs $16.30 round trip per adult, and Trunk Bay there charges $5 per person 16 and older. It sits ninth because things to do score 6.5, and Spirit's shutdown on May 2, 2026 cut its Fort Lauderdale and Orlando flights.

The Big Island suits families who like road trips: resort and condo bases on the Kohala and Kona coasts, a live volcano and a 9 for things to do. A $55 Tri-Park annual pass covers Hawaii Volcanoes, Puuhonua o Honaunau and Haleakala on Maui. It is tenth because value scores 4.2 and beaches 7: rooms were $261 and $269, and many shorelines are lava rock. Families with toddlers usually do better on Maui or Oahu.