A ‘skip-gen’ vacation to remember | Meanderings by Mindy Stern
Published 2:10 pm Monday, February 23, 2026
When my son and his family moved from Seattle to Berlin four years ago, my husband and I were determined to stay relevant to our then-two and five-year-old granddaughters. We began a tradition of taking just the girls on vacation during school breaks, each time choosing a different destination. I didn’t know then that there’s a name for this kind of trip. “Skip gen” vacations include grandparents and grandchildren without their parents. When school is out for a week and parents have to work, we provide a child-care solution that’s win-win-win.
Our first skip-gen trip involved a 6-hour ICE (fast) train ride connecting Berlin to Amsterdam. Ambitious! At NEMO, the renowned child-friendly science museum, an enormous Rube Goldberg-like installation, the Grand Chain Reaction fascinated them. But what truly engaged them was found in a tucked-away corner on another floor, a simple collection of foam blocks. They played for hours constructing and deconstructing “forts.” Outside our lodging, they built forts out of twigs. Conclusion: no need to travel far. Find something way closer to home, allow time for outdoor and imaginary play, and if possible, book a hotel with a pool.
The following Spring break, we traveled to Nuremberg, home of Playmobil toys and Playmobil Park. ICE Train connections to Berlin are under three hours. Better. We spent a whole day at the park, which includes several water features, and our hotel offered rooms with a king-size bed plus bunk beds for the kids. Score.
Last year, traveling in December (brrr) on an ICE train got us to Dresden in less than two hours. Perfect. The highlights for the girls? Playing with ice chips from the banks of a frozen pond, a Christmas market with a Ferris wheel, and most of all, swimming all afternoon in our hotel’s indoor pool. Walking through Dresden’s historic streets, they’d chant, “pool, pool, pool” until we reached the hotel. Their memories are of swimming together, and having fun traveling with us.
Now approaching their 7th and 10th birthdays, they’d been asking for skiing lessons. Having learned that “kid hotels” are a thing in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, for their mid-winter break from school, I did a search and discovered a brand with mind-blowingly positive reviews. Started by an Austrian hospitality group, Familux has two resorts in Austria and two in Germany. Offering all-inclusive stays with activities for children up to the teen years, these resorts allow grownups to relax while youngsters are supervised and engaged by child-care professionals.
Meals, beverages, and snacks are provided, with daily-changing menus catering to both adult and young palates. Rooms are designed with families in mind and the locations, in popular, outdoor-recreation areas, include pools, playgrounds, bumper cars, climbing structures, etc., plus sauna, steam room, spa, gym, and more for the adults.
Oberhof, in the Thuringian mountains, is 3-hours from Berlin by train. At 2,700 ft elevation, it’s a winter sports hub, known internationally for biathlon competitions, and as an Olympic training ground for German competitors in other Nordic sports. The Familux Grand Green-Oberhof helped arrange ski lessons and equipment rentals for the kids. During the girls’ morning lessons, we had time to do whatever we wanted. Later, we swam and played together before they went to the “Kids Club” for activities. As Assistant General Manager Stefan Falk told me, “It’s a beautiful place, great for families. The kids get to play and see new things, meet new people, be safe. Parents can relax, get out of their daily life, feel like they’re in a second home. The name, Familux, says it all: luxurious family vacations. It’s a place to be happy.”
The quality and quantity of the food was astounding. Fish from Bremen. Duck from Poland. Beef and veal from Uruguay. Cheeses, smoked fish, breads, cakes and all kinds of desserts.
The Grand Green employs 40 cooks, an Executive Chef and three Sous Chefs to care for guests in 105 rooms plus eleven chalets for larger families. “Farm to Table” this was not – but three meals a day and abundant snacks in between were consistently finger-licking good, and served with a smile. I didn’t have to shop, cook, order in, or wrangle kids to and from restaurants, or bundle them up against the frigid mountain air. Now, that’s what I call a vacation.
If you’re considering a skip-gen trip with young kids, here are some tips. Find someplace relatively close to home. Forget about visiting historical sites and museums. Look for activities your grandkids enjoy, but be prepared to abandon your plans – put the skip in skip-gen! Budget plenty of downtime. As the kids grow up, your interests may merge. Best of all, the happy memories you create with them while they’re young will build a strong foundation for future travel.
Meanderings is an award-winning travel column by Mercer Island resident Mindy Stern. For more essays, or to comment, visit www.mindysternauthor.com.
