I have toured those properties in several locations and have always been impressed by their facilities for children ranging from four months to the early teen-age years. Children enjoy activities of their own (from circus training to snorkeling to scuba diving--all supervised, of course), but rejoin their parents at breakfast (and at other meals if the family wishes), and everyone is able to enjoy the "privacy" of a vacation with their own age group. For more information, visit its Web site at clubmed.com.

Second, the several all-inclusive hotels maintained primarily for families on the island of Jamaica in the Caribbean. These include the Wyndham Rose Hall Beach Resort, located on an old sugar plantation and now home to the largest water park in the Caribbean: Sugar Mill Falls. The Wyndham's "Kids Klub" keeps children occupied with everything from arts and crafts to swim races. For more information call 800/WYNDHAM, or visit wyndham.com. Also, contact the Jamaican Tourist Board at 800/233-4JTB for an array of literature describing the family resorts that exist on that island to an extent not found elsewhere in the Caribbean. Try, too, the FDR Resort of Jamaica (phone 888-FDR KIDS or 800-654-1FDR), where every family gets their own Vacation Nanny when they arrive to take care of the kids. See the Web site a fdrholidays.com.

Third, the several Holiday Inns known as "SunSpree" resorts, where special check-in facilities and dining areas are maintained for children, supervised children's activities programs are ongoing; and children twelve and under eat free. Some of these properties have now even developed "kidsuites" ("a comfortable, home-like environment that gives kids their own space, their own entertainment, and their own beds in a themed, fun hotel room within a room designed especially for them"). SunSprees are now operated all over the world, with more added each year. The first "SunSpree" was the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort in Lake Buena Vista (800/366-6299 or sunspree.com), and you can ascertain the addresses and numbers of the others by phoning 800/HOLIDAY.

"Inter-generational" programs

For grandparents and grandchildren only, look into the "intergenerational" programs of the famed senior citizen "learning vacation" specialist, Elderhostel. The majority of its programs are geared towards grandparents over the age of 55 and grandchildren between the ages of 8 and 15, and they cover a wide range of activities from wilderness survival courses to in-depth visits to museums and historical sites to arts and craft seminars. Call   Elderhostel at 877/426-8056. Or visit its Web site for an online brochure at elderhostel.org. You may also want to read our lengthier article on Elderhostel and its programs.

Of note as well, but much pricier are the tours of GrandTravel, featuring trips to such destinations as the gameparks of Kenya, and the South of France. Prices range from $3,500 to $8,000 per person (and that sometimes doesn't cover airfare). If you can afford to splurge at this level, contact the company at 800/247-7651 or grandtrvl.com.

Those pioneering educators who created "Elderhostel" some 25 years ago, have now developed another, low-cost, study tour program of similar or even greater potential. In "Family Hostel," brainchild of the University of New Hampshire's Division of Continuing Education, parents or grandparents travel with their children or grandchildren (ages 8 through 16) to universities domestic and abroad, and there jointly explore the culture and history of the destination. They stay together in three, four, and five star hotels, attend separate lectures (one for adults, one for children), and then travel together on afternoon or daylong excursions to key sites.

To various European locations, prices for ten-day trips (round-trip airfare, lodgings, meals, tuition, sightseeing) average $4,100 for adults, $4,000 for children 12 to 15 years of age, $3,900 for children 8 through 11; and for the newly inaugurate Oklahoma program (native American crafts and culture) prices run $695, $795 and $895. A recent schedule of Familyhostel trips featured Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria (Salzburg, historic castles, the stone-age village of Uhldingen and a chance to participate in the Munich Children's Olympics), England and Wales (The World of Harry Potter), Ireland, Italy (Rome and Sorrento), Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington, New York City, Hawaii and Alaska. The trips run from the end of June through the middle of August. Contact Family Hostel: University of New Hampshire, 6 Garrison Ave., Durham, NH 03824. Tel: 800/733-9753. Visit its Web site at learn.unh.edu/familyhostel/.

Tour operators that specialize in family travel

There are a vast number of travel agencies and tour operators that specialize in family travel. Among the masses, we would recommend VacationKids, (610) 681-7360; Web: vacationkids.com a consistently excellent source for low cost vacation packages to the Caribbean, especially of the all-inclusive and last minute variety. A pricier Carib expert, Rascals in Paradise, 415/921-7000, Web: rascalsinparadise.computs together scuba diving holidays, dude ranch vacations and barging tours of Europe along with standard beach holidays. For something more adventurous (albeit expensive), the family division of adventure tour operator Journeys International offers ecologically friendly, enjoyably educational tours of such far-flung destinations as Costa Rica, China and Bhutan. Itineraries are challenging, to put it gently. On one tour, days are spent exploring underground caves and the culture of the Mayan people in Belize; another visits the Serengeti during the wildebeast migrations on a big game safari; still another takes families hiking and camping in Nepal (children under 50 pounds are carried in special porter baskets). Contact Journeys, (800) 255-8735; Web: http://www.journeysforfamilies.com/ or http://www.journeys-intl.com/.

Hotels and resorts have special family-oriented programs

A number of hotels and resorts have special family-oriented programs. Thus, Hyatt Resorts was the first of the major hotel chains to commit itself wholeheartedly to servicing the needs and desires of the family market, and it is still the only major hotel company to maintain a consistent, system-wide children's activity program known as "Camp Hyatt." For detailed information, phone (800) 591-1234 or consult Hyatt's Web site at: hyatt.com/corporate/resorts/camp.html.