🌊 Water parks

You have picked a country and you are traveling with kids. One question is left, and it shapes a lot of the vacation: will the slides be on the hotel grounds, or will you have to travel to them separately? Catalog photos all look alike, but the terms differ from hotel to hotel. That is the question most readers bring to this section. We have gathered articles that help you compare options before you buy a package or tickets.

The core of the section is roundups of hotels with their own water park in specific destinations. For Turkey, there are separate articles on Kemer, Belek, Side and Alanya, plus a countrywide roundup of all-inclusive hotels. Turkey is covered in the most detail, so comparing resorts with one another is easier here. For Egypt, there is a general overview and separate pieces on Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh, where water parks stay open in winter too.

Next come other destinations for a family vacation. These are Greece, with Rhodes covered separately, Cyprus, Bulgaria with the resort of Albena, Croatia with its hotels and campsites, and Tunisia. For long-haul trips, there are roundups on Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Phuket. Besides hotels, the section includes reviews of standalone parks: the water parks of Turkey, the Chimelong park in Guangzhou, and a selection of parks with slides for adults who want adrenaline. There is also an article on the world's great waterfalls: Niagara, Iguazu, Angel Falls. It stands apart and is meant for readers interested in water as a natural spectacle rather than a ride.

Every article opens with a short takeaway: who the destination suits and what to look at first. Then come the practical blocks: which slides there are, what age and height restrictions apply, whether the water park is included in the room rate, and how far the sea is. For figures, we give the source and the date we checked them. We are direct about the downsides: slides may run on a schedule, some zones close out of season, and the kids' area sometimes turns out smaller than in the photos.

The section is meant for families with children who choose a hotel by its water zone and not only by its beach. It also works if you travel with teenagers: for them, the height and number of adult slides matter. It will be useful to adults who come for steep drops as well. If you want a quiet vacation with no entertainment team and no children's noise, these roundups are unlikely to help. Hotels with water parks tend to be loud and crowded.

Start with the country article if you have not chosen a resort yet: the general roundups on Turkey, Egypt, Greece and Bulgaria show the difference between regions. Then move on to the piece on a specific resort. There, the hotels are compared with one another in more detail. Before you pay, check the slide operating hours and height restrictions on the hotel's official website. These terms change most often.

The section is part of "Types of travel". Next to it you will find "Entertainment" and "Active recreation", in case water slides are not enough and you need other things to do on vacation. For general trip ideas, it is worth visiting "Vacation ideas" and "Tourist ideas". If budget is your main criterion, take a look at "Affordable vacation". Practical tips are collected in the "For a note" section, and short informative pieces in the "Interesting facts" section.

We update the articles. Hotels change their set of slides, access rules and meal plans, so we check the roundups against the official websites of hotels and parks. Each piece states the date of the last check. If the information on the hotel's website differs from ours, trust the hotel's website. We add new destinations as they are ready, with no promises on timing.

A water park is rarely the only reason to choose a hotel. But for a family with kids, it often decides how to fill the middle of the day. Compare several options in one resort, check the terms with official sources and make your decision calmly. Everything else is already laid out point by point in the roundups.