Travel Guides For Kids, By Kids

By Laura Michonski
October 17, 2012
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Robb Kendrick

How do you know what your kids want to see when you travel? Why not ask kids who live in the city that you're visiting?

That's the concept behind a new guidebook app called Bound Round, which is scheduled to launch this December.

It's not the first travel guide geared toward kids—there are others such as Lonely Planet's "Not For Parents" series, and ABC Travel Guides for Kids (both of which have more U.S. options than Bound Round, which is based in the U.K.). It does, however, appear to be the first guide that has gone straight to the source and asked kids what they care about.

Because the guides are apps they're also interactive in a way that print guidebooks aren't. The program reveals a destination through stories, photos, videos, and games that are designed to entertain and educate young travelers.

The goal is to give youngsters the information they need to have a say in family travel decisions (and give them something to do while they get to their destination). There's also a section that makes it easy for kids to create a travel journal that they can share with friends when they return home.

Naturally, there's a parent-friendly section with plenty of boring adult details such as opening hours, directions, and so on.

The drawback? The program is based out of the UK, so destinations are likely to be places that are easily accessible from that side of the world and not necessarily from the U.S. (they're starting with Sydney, for example). Plus, there's always that pesky problem of scale—it takes a while to build out a guidebook series, so it may be months or even years before your next vacation destination is covered. Still, it's an interesting idea and one to keep an eye on if you have small children.

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