Fun, Affordable Vacations For Families of All Sizes

Over the past 5 years, my family has been blessed enough to take a vacation every year. And every year I am faced with the challenge of putting together a fun, memorable vacation that everyone will love and that is affordable.
When our family was smaller, this process was a little easier because it seems like the whole world is based on your family size not exceeding FOUR! Well, we are now a family of 6 and the standard hotel room with 2 double beds is just not an option; at least not for stays longer than 2 nights. Airfare would eat up more than 1/2 of our budget, food would take up the other ½, and I will not even start on the theme park tickets. So what is a family to do?

Step 1- Choose the theme of your vacation: adventure, relaxation, beaches and sun, theme parks, or history and culture. Adventure vacations and sandy beach vacations are by far the most cost-friendly vacation themes.
Adventure vacations include low-cost outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking, bike riding, and camping. This vacation theme is perfect for older children.

Top Adventurous Destinations
Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington
New Paltz, New York
Mount Hood, Oregon
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Park City, Utah
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Yosemite National Park, California
Moab, Utah
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, California
Glacier National Park, Montana
Olympic National Park, Washington,
Hood River, Oregon
Acadia National Park, Maine

Sandy beach vacations are also extremely affordable and include surfable waves, sandcastle building, great dining, and mile long boardwalks. This vacation theme is great for all ages especially babies and toddlers.

Best Family Beaches in US
Coronado Beach, Calif.
Nantucket Island, Mass.
Newport Beach, Calif.
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Panama City Beach, Fla.
Siesta Key, Fla.
Poipu Beach, Hawaii
Duck, N.C.
Hilton Head, S.C.
Kiawah Island, S.C.
Myrtle Beach, S.C.
South Padre Island, Texas
Waikiki, Hawaii
Wailea Beach, Hawaii

* If you decide to take a theme park vacation, find out if your bank or employer offers discounted tickets. Avoid purchasing tickets on eBay or Craigslist, unless it is from a reliable seller or broker. Also, many theme parks now offer the convenience of child swap. With child swap, one parent can wait in line with the older children while the other parent goes up the handicap ramp with the smaller children. When the other parent gets off the ride, you swap and get right on the ride without waiting in line again. GENIUS!

Step 2 - Choose your means of transportation: fly, ride the train, or load up the car.
Your most affordable option would be to drive. Even if you find a great deal on air fare, chances are you will still need to rent a car once you land, so cut out the middle man and drive. However, if you do decide the fly and rent a car, go to www.priceline.com where you can 'Name your Price' on airfare and car rentals and save money, many times more than 1/2 the regular price.

Step 3 - Choose when to travel: peak or off peak
Of course you will get the best deals off peak. Orlando's busy season begins around May/June and ends August 10th. I use that as a guide to plan may vacations. Avoid holiday weekends; take the day off the following week and keep that extra money in your pocket.

Step 4 - Accommodations: vacation home, hotel, or condo
Vacation home are perfect when traveling with a large group. Not only do you get a huge home to hang out in for a week, but you also have the company of other adults and hopefully other children to keep your children busy. Vacation homes, generally, need to be book several months in advance and you have to clean up after yourselves daily. Standard hotel rooms are more readily available and perfect for smaller families. However, parents don't have any privacy and you have to eat out every night, which can quickly total up to over $500 just for food. If you are looking for a standard room, Hotwire or Priceline (Name your Price) are your best options. Some people are leery of using these sites because you don't know where you will stay until you have purchased the room. I have used Priceline many, many times and have never been disappointed. With a condo, you have the best of both worlds. Parents have a room and the children have a room. Most condominiums have a fully equipped kitchen and you can simple dishes for breakfast and dinner to prepare to save hundreds of dollars. Condominiums have a washer and dryer in unit ideal for small, do when Kevin and Katie or disorder. You can also use the washing machine and dryer to make all your clothes before leaving him to unpack a lot easier when you get home to wash.Icing on the cake, housekeeping is available!

Another option is to take a time share tour; I know it sucks spending 2-3 hours of your day on the tour because it never only takes 90 minutes. But you can get a great 1 or 2 bedroom condo at an unbelievable rate.

Every family is different and must decide what is most important for them, location, transportation, entertainment or accommodations. Whatever you choose, spend the most money on what is most important and skimp on everything else. So if you want to go to Hawaii, you will spend the most money on airfare and you will have to skimp on entertainment and accommodations, but at least you made it to Hawaii. Happy Travels!

Affordable Family Vacation Ideas: Low-Cost Vacations That Are Fun For All

These days, finding affordable family vacation ideas can be challenging. Two questions must be answered when making these difficult decisions. First, you have to know that you will be able to pay for the trip. Second, you have to make sure that you choose a vacation location that the whole family will enjoy. Here are some travel tips on making your vacation perfect.

Choosing a Location

When choosing a location, you must decide, as previously stated, a place to go that your family will enjoy. An easy choice would be resorts or theme parks that have multiple activities going on at all times. The problem is that these places can be very costly. In addition to paying for the right to participate in their activities, you have to pay for hotels, food, beverages, transportation, and travel games (to keep the kids occupied).

The best tips I can offer in this category are that you choose a location that is both close to you and you can find a place to stay for free (such as a friend or relative's home). Doing so will make transportation and accommodations relatively inexpensive. Additionally, make sure you can find activities that everyone can enjoy in the place you visit, as not everyone enjoys shopping or fishing.

Timing is Everything

When choosing a time to travel, my suggestion is to avoid holidays. Most people choose to travel during a holiday season (especially Thanksgiving and Christmas), making traveling more expensive due to traffic. Additionally, if your vacations take place during the spring or fall, gas will be cheaper as you won't have to run the AC or the heater. Finally, it would be a good idea to do most of your driving during a weekend, as interstates are usually cluttered on the weekdays.

Affordable Family Vacation Ideas

My greatest suggestion for an inexpensive vacation is to go somewhere with plenty of outdoor activities. If you can find an area with a forest and a lake, that would be excellent, as it would offer hiking, swimming, fishing, and camping, usually for free or for a low-cost. Additionally, these locales are very peaceful and relaxing, as it will remove you from the hustle and bustle of city life.

For those who are not too fond of the great outdoors, I suggest visiting a big city where you have relatives or friends living. By staying with them, you'll eliminate many of your unnecessary costs, and big cities offer major amounts of activities, such as seeing professional sports, shopping, factory tours, parks, and many others.

No matter where you go, remember the key to a successful vacation is ensuring that everyone has a good time. Vacations are meant to be the fond memories that people hold onto, as they break up the monotony of everyday life. Just make sure you don't get in over your head and end up remembering the vacation for the debt it caused rather than the experience you had.

Affordable Family Vacation Ideas: Low-Cost Vacations That Are Fun For All

These days, finding affordable family vacation ideas can be challenging. Two questions must be answered when making these difficult decisions. First, you have to know that you will be able to pay for the trip. Second, you have to make sure that you choose a vacation location that the whole family will enjoy. Here are some travel tips on making your vacation perfect.

Choosing a Location

When choosing a location, you must decide, as previously stated, a place to go that your family will enjoy. An easy choice would be resorts or theme parks that have multiple activities going on at all times. The problem is that these places can be very costly. In addition to paying for the right to participate in their activities, you have to pay for hotels, food, beverages, transportation, and travel games (to keep the kids occupied).

The best tips I can offer in this category are that you choose a location that is both close to you and you can find a place to stay for free (such as a friend or relative's home). Doing so will make transportation and accommodations relatively inexpensive. Additionally, make sure you can find activities that everyone can enjoy in the place you visit, as not everyone enjoys shopping or fishing.

Timing is Everything

When choosing a time to travel, my suggestion is to avoid holidays. Most people choose to travel during a holiday season (especially Thanksgiving and Christmas), making traveling more expensive due to traffic. Additionally, if your vacations take place during the spring or fall, gas will be cheaper as you won't have to run the AC or the heater. Finally, it would be a good idea to do most of your driving during a weekend, as interstates are usually cluttered on the weekdays.

Affordable Family Vacation Ideas

My greatest suggestion for an inexpensive vacation is to go somewhere with plenty of outdoor activities. If you can find an area with a forest and a lake, that would be excellent, as it would offer hiking, swimming, fishing, and camping, usually for free or for a low-cost. Additionally, these locales are very peaceful and relaxing, as it will remove you from the hustle and bustle of city life.

For those who are not too fond of the great outdoors, I suggest visiting a big city where you have relatives or friends living. By staying with them, you'll eliminate many of your unnecessary costs, and big cities offer major amounts of activities, such as seeing professional sports, shopping, factory tours, parks, and many others.

No matter where you go, remember the key to a successful vacation is ensuring that everyone has a good time. Vacations are meant to be the fond memories that people hold onto, as they break up the monotony of everyday life. Just make sure you don't get in over your head and end up remembering the vacation for the debt it caused rather than the experience you had.