San Juan keeps surprising us. Two urban finds we recently discovered are the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, dedicated to the island’s visual arts and Finca Cialitos, a historic area café devoted to serving Puerto Rican coffee picked according to standards the owner learned at his grandfather’s farm.

To experience the alluring scenery of Fiordland National Park on New Zealand’s South Island, we hiked the trails of the Milford Track and cruised deep into Milford Sound.

Visit Boston in winter? Certainly. Weekend hotel rates drop from spring and summer highs, museums showcase new exhibits and theaters host new entertainment. You can also tack on a ski or tubing outing to a snowy hill within 60-minutes of the city.

Despite the best preparations, some vacations are terrible. These misbegotten journeys become the ones remembered for all the wrong reasons. In Australia, my son, daughter and I discovered how a four-day camping trip could morph into family legend, an experience funny now, but not then.

Washington, D.C., is in the spotlight as the city readies for President Obama’s second inauguration, January 21, 2013. Whether you plan be in the District for the festivities or visit the city later this winter, there’s much that’s new and interesting.

Adventures aren’t superfluous; these special experiences, whether high-end dream trips in Kenya tracking elephants and wildebeest or budget sleepovers exploring sea wonders at your local science museum, create important family bonds and bring more bonuses than the same old trips.

‘Tis the season of giving, but most of the time during the holidays kids are consumed with thoughts about what they are getting. One answer: hand your youngsters Charity Checks so that they can give to others.

Farms, food and fine crafts are part of any Lancaster, Pennsylvania, getaway. Along with the city’s art galleries, vintage shops and theaters, Lancaster city as well as the county offer all the treats of a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Country getaway. And that’s part of the fun.

In Lancaster, PA, we enjoyed a mix of urban sophistication plus comforting rural landscapes. We expected—and looked forward to-- the farmlands since Lancaster County beats as the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. What surprised us: the galleries, vintage shops, boutiques and good restaurants.

Puerto Rico’s Porta Atlántico stretches west from Dorado to Camuy, 63 miles from San Juan. The region’s northern coastline and inland forests and farms lure adventurers with cave explorations as well as the chance to see the world’s largest single dish radio telescope at Arecibo.