Rome, Italy

Known for: The Colosseum, Vatican City, family-friendly guided tours

Rome is one of the best first international trips for a family or group: walkable, dense with history, and endlessly forgiving of a flexible itinerary if kids need a gelato break every few hours (which they will, and that’s fine).

Skip-the-line tickets for the Colosseum and Vatican Museums are worth booking well ahead: lines without them can eat up half a day. Dave typically builds in a guided tour for at least one major site, since context genuinely changes how much kids (and adults) get out of it.