Searches For “How To Travel With A Baby” Hit Two-Decade High. Study Lists America’s Top 20 Best Baby Travel Destinations This Summer – Five Are in Florida
- Orlando is crowned as the most baby-friendly holiday destination, joined by another four Florida cities in the top 20.
- To keep animal-loving siblings entertained, Milwaukee, San Diego and Orlando have the greatest variety of attractions, though nearly all the shortlisted cities have at least one zoo.
- For light travelers, you can find the most baby paraphernalia to buy or rent in stores across San Diego, Orlando, San Francisco and Miami.
Parents are more overwhelmed than ever ahead of summer holidays. Going on a family trip with a baby for the first time is often an exhausting and costly lesson in how not to relax. Global searches for “how to travel with a baby” reached a two-decade high in February and March this year, with a 22.5% year-on-year increase from 2024. A new study reveals the most baby-friendly destinations within the US to try out this summer, with five Florida cities featured among the nation’s top 20.
Researchers at Lake.com, a popular rental platform, analyzed how baby-friendly 50 of the most populated waterfront cities in the US are for a family of four taking a one-week trip in August 2025.
They evaluated each city against eight factors, weighed differently in the following order of priority: the number of family-friendly hotels, as marked on Tripadvisor (25%), how many of these were rated four or five stars (15%) and offered babysitting services (15%) or airport transfers (15%), and the number of indoor play areas (10%), playgrounds (10%), baby stores (5%) and zoo attractions (5%) in the city per 100,000 residents using Foursquare.
Top 20 Most Baby-Friendly Cities in the US for Summer Travel
| # | City | State | Family Hotels* | 4-5-Star Rated | Also Offer Babysitting | Or Airport Transfer | Baby Stores | Indoor Play Areas | Playgrounds | Zoo Attractions | Baby-Friendliness Score |
| 1 | Orlando | Florida | 240 | 204 | 5 | 34 | 18 | 16 | 188 | 40 | 70.92 |
| 2 | Madison | Wisconsin | 36 | 33 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 113 | 4 | 58.88 |
| 3 | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | 75 | 44 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 73 | 1 | 58.09 |
| 4 | San Francisco | California | 73 | 49 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 17 | 286 | 22 | 57.75 |
| 5 | New Orleans | Louisiana | 88 | 76 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 109 | 22 | 56.83 |
| 6 | Boston | Massachusetts | 56 | 50 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 175 | 7 | 56.34 |
| 7 | Providence | Rhode Island | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 36 | 5 | 55.17 |
| 8 | Miami | Florida | 79 | 61 | 2 | 23 | 15 | 3 | 50 | 5 | 54.10 |
| 9 | Urban Honolulu | Hawaii | 59 | 49 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 65 | 5 | 53.80 |
| 10 | Hollywood | Florida | 26 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 35 | 1 | 52.02 |
| 11 | Oakland | California | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 70 | 3 | 50.80 |
| 12 | Frisco | Texas | 17 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 81 | 4 | 49.53 |
| 13 | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | 28 | 22 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 193 | 44 | 49.16 |
| 14 | Brownsville | Texas | 7 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 48.98 |
| 15 | Oceanside | California | 15 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 42 | 1 | 48.78 |
| 16 | Salt Lake City | Utah | 46 | 38 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 48.69 |
| 17 | St. Petersburg | Florida | 17 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 69 | 4 | 48.38 |
| 18 | San Diego | California | 182 | 138 | 4 | 9 | 30 | 12 | 305 | 44 | 47.31 |
| 19 | Seattle | Washington | 45 | 40 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 177 | 19 | 46.58 |
| 20 | Charleston | South Carolina | 38 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 61 | 0 | 46.28 |
*This refers to all accommodation available to book via Tripadvisor for 1-8 August, 2025, for a family of four consisting of two adults, one child aged 3 and another under one year, labeled as “Family-friendly” under Tripadvisor’s style category, collected as at February 26, 2025.
Orlando, Florida, is the most baby-friendly city in the US for summer travel. A place already on many families’ bucket lists, this theme park center boasts the greatest variety of family-friendly accommodations of all evaluated cities, counting 240 options for a busy August getaway. 85% of these are rated at least four stars. 34 of them offer airport transfers for a smoother journey, while five of these hotels even offer babysitting services.
A family of four, comprising two adults, a three-year-old toddler and an infant of less than 12 months, also has the widest choice of indoor play areas (16), playgrounds (188) and zoo attractions (40) in Orlando.
Madison, Wisconsin, is the second most baby-friendly destination in America. While there are only 36 hotels labeled on Tripadvisor as being family-friendly, available in August for a family of four, 92% of them are rated four or five stars. Every third family hotel will offer their guests a ride to and from the airport. As a relatively compact city, getting around and going on stroller-friendly, heat-free August walks simplify family trips tremendously.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida,ranked third for baby-friendliness, where 75 hotels are family appropriate, of which 44 are highly rated. Ten of them will whisk their guests to and from the airport, while two offer parents a chance to make a date night by offering babysitting services. The sandy beaches make the entire trip worthwhile. You can avoid the high midday temperatures by visiting one of the four indoor play areas in the city.
San Francisco, California, ranked fourth for baby-friendliness and has the most hotels with babysitting available (7) of all evaluated cities.
“While some families prefer to bring a babysitter with them on holiday, there are hotels that offer babysitting services for parents wanting a quiet dinner out,” said Stephanie Ciccarelli, CMO of Lake.com. “San Francisco, Orlando and Boston stand out for offering babysitting services, where we spotted at least five to seven highly rated family hotels in each.”
New Orleans, Louisiana, takes the fifth spot with 76 great family hotels to choose from.
Boston, Massachusetts, ranked sixth, knows how important babysitting is, with at least five highly rated hotels offering such services.
Providence, Rhode Island, though limited in hotel variety in general, is the seventh most baby-friendly destination and fits those who prefer less crowded places.
