Last Updated on August 21, 2023 by Leslie Stroud
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This is a sample guideline to get your planning started. Modify depending on where you are staying or how long you are visiting.
Table of Contents
Day 1
Arrival at Lihue Airport. Depending on your arrival time, either check into your home or hotel or hit Lydgate State Park Beach. It has a great playground and a protected ocean area perfect for kids!
Foods to try
- Tiki Tacos – perfect for your Mexican cravings! They serve regular and Gluten-free tacos.
- Hee Fat Shave Ice – go for their mac nut ice!
Day 2
Head north to Princeville. Try zip-lining at Princeville Ranch, including the longest zipline in Kauai at Princeville Farms. You can also try an ATV tour or watch the sunset while playing in the waves on Hanalei Beach.
Foods to try
- Chicken in a Barrel for an amazing, smoked chicken
- Shave ice at JoJo’s
- Or an açaí bowl at Wishing Well
Day 3
Enjoy Hanalei Beach once more (it is our favorite beach in the world!) and head north to Na Pali State Park after. This State Park is one of the most beautiful in the world! You can reserve a permit to hike and park. On the way north, you’ll pass many wonderful beaches such as Tunnels Beach.
At Na Pali State Park, I recommend you hike the first two miles of the Kalalau trail to a beach. This is ranked one of the most amazing (and most dangerous) hikes in the US.
Foods to try
- Postcards Cafe in Hanalei is perfect for a fancy dinner
- Federico’s for some Mexican dish
Day 4
Last day up north. Hit up Secret Beach, but don’t swim (it’s too dangerous). Instead, you can hike around the reef to the north to Dragon’s Belly if kids are old enough for a tricky hike. With littles, just enjoy the beach and the river outlet full of tadpoles.
Another secret-ish option that can be dangerous: Queen’s Bath in Priceville. People die here every year, so be very careful and maybe just observe the bath (and not get in).
Hideaways Beach near St. Regis also is a short, difficult hike down, but stunning.
Foods to try
Hit up one of the restaurants and ice cream in the Princeville Shopping Center.
Day 5
Time to travel south to Poipu. We love staying somewhere on the beach, but that can be expensive. Enjoy the pool or one of the many beaches: Shipwreck Beach, Brennecke’s Beach, or Poipu Beach.
Foods to try
- Puka Dog is an easy, fun find
- Brennecke’s Beach Broiler is also popular.
Day 6
Drive to observe Wailua Falls. Technically, only observable from the parking lot, you can slip past the gate and attempt the tricky, quick, steep hike down.
You can use AllTrails to pick a quick hike. We opted for Makawehi Bluff for the sunset over Shipwreck Beach. The Cave closes at 4 pm but looks really fun!
Foods to try
- Grab breakfast at Kountry Kitchen
- For dinner, try the Kauai version of ramen at Hamura Saimin
- Mexican at Da Crack (a hole-in-the-wall burrito place)
Day 7
Since all flights out are red-eye flights, use today to wear the kids out before your flight home. Rent some boogie boards and catch some bigger waves at Brenneke Beach. Or hit up your hotel pool.
Foods to Eat
- Malasadas at Kauai Coffee Compan
- Hawaiian glazed donut as a final treat
We absolutely love Kauai and know you will too!
Print off the itinerary below for quick reference and a seamless trip to Kauai with kids!
7-Day-Kauai-Itinerary-1Additional Reading
???? SPENDING OUR ANNIVERSARY IN KAUAI
???? MOVING ABROAD? 5 BEST PLACES TO MOVE WITH KIDS
???? BEST WAYS TO ENJOY MONTEVERDE, COSTA RICA WITH KIDS
RESOURCES-
FLIGHTS:
- Skyscanner. We love the “anywhere” feature to see where it is cheap to fly to.
- Kiwi.com. They will arrange the cheapest connection, which may mean a few different airlines. However, if flights change, they will find you a solution!
- Expedia. Since we fly so many different airlines, we love the Expedia points we can earn. We also get better deals the more we book through them.
- Other platforms we like: Priceline, Aviasales, Hopper, and Travelocity.
ACCOMMODATIONS:
- Airbnb. Our most common go-to, especially internationally. Book over a month and save a ton!
- VRBO and Homeaway. Similar to Airbnb and great for a short-term rental.
- For hotels, we love Expedia and Booking.com. Booking.com offers a combo of hotels and Airbnb to find what fits your family best.
- We also like: TripAdvisor or Hotels.com
ACTIVITIES:
- Airbnb Experiences
- Viator
- Get Your Guide
- These platforms allow you to put in the dates and location and will give you the option to book top activities in the area, straight from the site.
TRAVEL INSURANCE:
As a large, full-time traveling family, travel insurance is a must for us. It’s always a good idea to have travel insurance in case something goes wrong. With the unpredictable state of the world, it is more important now than ever.
We love World Nomads for our travel insurance. They provide travel insurance to travelers from over 130 countries and have many policy options to fit your needs. (Coverage may not be available for residents of all countries, states, or provinces. Be sure to carefully read your policy wording for a full description of coverage)
TRAVEL NECESSITIES:
For a comprehensive list of all the 7 Wayfinders Travel Must-Haves, Click Here.
Tip: If you are making an online purchase (airline tickets, hotels, clothing…basically anything you can imagine) be sure you are using Rakuten! You can either download the app if you are shopping on mobile, or open a browser on a desktop. You then type in the store you are looking to shop at (ie: hotels.com, amazon.com) and shop like normal. The only catch…you get money back! Each store is different, but you can get anywhere from 2%-35% cashback on every purchase! For us, it’s a no-brainer. We are shopping anyways, might as well get some money back!
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