Olympic Games Brought to Life through Travel
Although I’ve never had the pleasure of attending an Olympic Games, we have traveled to many a city that has hosted the Olympics once upon a time. There is nothing better to get the stories of old athletes or Olympic feats flowing than standing in the stadium or swimming in the pool in which they once competed. Here are a few excellent ways for your family to experience the Olympics without actually attending an Olympic Games. Outside of family travel, we have made the Olympic Games come to life by…hosting an Olympics party with an Opening Ceremony where kids carry the flags representing their ancestry, having mini-Olympic Games on the beach, in the pool, or in a park, and playing family Olympics Tournament on Wii!
Opening ceremony flags at Olympic party
We’d love to hear about where you have experienced past Olympic Games…respond in comments section below.
We’d love to hear about where you have experienced past Olympic Games…respond in comments section below.
Beijing Summer Olympics 2008
Bird’s Nest, Beijing Olympics, China
There is an outdoor park in front of the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, China where you can watch locals speed skate on roller blades and gather for evening fun, but the best part of visiting icons from the Beijing Olympics 2008, is inside the Water Cube where you can see the pool where Michael Phelps set so many records…
Pool where Michael Phelps set his records in Beijing Olympics, 2008
and even better in the kids’ eyes…slip and slide through the water park in what was the warm up pool!
Water Cube, Beijing Olympics, China
Athens Summer Olympics 2004 and Ancient Olympics
You can visit many iconic sites from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece but our favorite are the older sites from the ancient Olympic Games like the Panathenaic Stadium, which was originally built in the 4th century B.C. It was refurbished and used for the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and in the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 hosted archery and the end of the marathon. Our kids loved running the track…
Running track at the Panathenaic Stadium, Athens, Greece
and pretending to be “Emperor judges” in the big marble seats!
Panathenaic Stadium, Athens, Greece
Park City Winter Olympics
Putting an amazingly fun twist on a ski vacation is a trip to Park City’s Olympic Park where kids can learn Olympic History, “hold” a torch…
“Holding” an Olympic Torch, Olympic Park, Park City, Utah
check out the ski jump…
Yikes…how do you make that first ski jump?!?
and bobsled track…the day we were there the Paralympics team was actually training…
Watching paralympic team bobsledding, Olympic Park, Park City, Utah
Paralympic hopefuls on bobsled track, Olympic Park, Park City, Utah
and let the kids test out sitting in their bobsled!
Nathan and Seamus in bobsled, Olympic Park, Park City, Utah
Let us know how you bring the Olympic Games to life for your family by responding in comments section below!
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