Best U.S cities for affordable vacations.

[momof2gr8kids]

And outstate Minnesota has a ton of lakes - including the North Shore of Lake Superior. Fishing and golfing are big.

Just make a season commitment - lots of winter stuff to do in the winter and lots of summer stuff to do in the summer - and who in the heck knows in the spring and fall.

The North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota is beautiful! From Duluth up to the Canadian Border. If you're into outdoors stuff its amazing for hiking, skiing (at Lutsen in the winter), kayaking, golfing and the most amazing views of the lake. The state parks and campgrounds are awesome. Tons of little towns along the shore with great shops, restaurants, etc. It's one of my favourite places to go. Nothing beats sitting on the rocky shore when the waves are crashing in, or when's its calm and the sun is setting. It truly is a spectacular piece of paradise!

 

[crisi]

The North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota is beautiful! From Duluth up to the Canadian Border. If you're into outdoors stuff its amazing for hiking, skiing (at Lutsen in the winter), kayaking, golfing and the most amazing views of the lake. The state parks and campgrounds are awesome. Tons of little towns along the shore with great shops, restaurants, etc. It's one of my favourite places to go. Nothing beats sitting on the rocky shore when the waves are crashing in, or when's its calm and the sun is setting. It truly is a spectacular piece of paradise!

I'll be there this weekend. Friends own a house on the Lake about an hour South of Canada. Its lovely. Its never hot, often cold, but stunningly beautiful.

(And given I have friends with a place, practically free)

 

[elgerber]

The North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota is beautiful! From Duluth up to the Canadian Border. If you're into outdoors stuff its amazing for hiking, skiing (at Lutsen in the winter), kayaking, golfing and the most amazing views of the lake. The state parks and campgrounds are awesome. Tons of little towns along the shore with great shops, restaurants, etc. It's one of my favourite places to go. Nothing beats sitting on the rocky shore when the waves are crashing in, or when's its calm and the sun is setting. It truly is a spectacular piece of paradise!

Absolutely agree! This will be the first Memorial Day in 16 years we haven't spent in Duluth, and I am so very sad. It's such a wonderful place to just sit and gaze. And shop. And eat...

 

[Minnesota!]

Don't come skiing in Minnesota, its pretty flat.

But it is a nice place to visit. Good museums, a very active arts scene - lots of local theatres. Pretty much every major league sport. Great food. Beautiful lakes. Lots of places to bike or hike. The Mall of America if you like to shop.

And outstate Minnesota has a ton of lakes - including the North Shore of Lake Superior. Fishing and golfing are big.

Just make a season commitment - lots of winter stuff to do in the winter and lots of summer stuff to do in the summer - and who in the heck knows in the spring and fall.

I do think MN is a great vacation destination - it sometimes is hard to realize that when you live here/take it for granted. But anyone who loves the outdoors should come and stay a while. Get a cabin on a lake, get some walleye fishing in, cook your catch, and sit on the deck to eat it and take in the beauty!

I absolutely LOVE the North Shore. It's stunning!!

Twin Cities is cool, too. Lots of lakes, art/theater scene cannot be beat, sports, MOA, hiking, biking, Mississippi River for kayaking, boating, etc. So many cool little towns (love Red Wing, Winona, Stillwater, etc).

And you can get NICE hotels for under $100 (we stayed at the Airport Hilton for $75 or so a night...over New Years!).

That said, we are looking at San Antonio or Savannah for Spring Break 2014...both are on my bucket list

I have BTDT that KC - it's "eh" to me. Too much like home, but more landlocked.

 

[North of Mouse]

Not on the list, but we love Gatlinburg, TN. We camp just out of the there in the Smoky Mountain National Park and spend very little $$'s. We love to hike, bike, drive, picnic, through the mountains - so relaxing, and not expensive at all.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Have to agree with Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge, TN as a nice vacation spot. Spend as much or as little as you like, with Dollywood, hiking, shopping, dinner shows, aquarium, loads of stuff to do.

I'm not all that into vacations where you have to fly. Between the cost of plane tickets and the rental car, there's so much money that could spent on other things. I can drive my huge SUV to FL for $400 in gas (gas at $3.50/gall), which would cover about 1.5 plane tickets for my family of 4.

We've driven to FL, DC, TN, PA, NY, CT, VA, NC, SC, etc, and been able to use the money saved on plane and rental car to eat better and see more stuff. The boys loved DC and all the history there (ok, and the 2 Smithsonian Air & Space Museums).

Going to Williamsburg this year with the 14 yo and 12 yo. It will be a 9 hr drive for us, very doable. Planning to do the whole US history thing, plus Busch Gardens. So it will be fun and will dovetail beautifully with the 6th and 8th grade social studies curricula they just finished up.

 

[MrsJ Henry]

Thanks for all the kind words about Savannah! I am a lifelong resident, so to me it's not vacation, but it's nice to hear that others love my hometown! We live about 10 minutes from the historic district in one direction and 15 minutes to Tybee in the other, so we get the best of both worlds

Lucky Duck!!!!

 

[Planogirl]

New Orleans CAN be affordable.

I consider anywhere new and different to be a potential vacation spot. A city might have museums or historic sights or be close to parks or the coast. I can see myself visiting all of these easily.

 

[disykat]

It's not on the list but I love Indy and think it would be a great and affordable place to vacation. Our Children's Museum is regularly mentioned by various publications as the best in the World, and Connor Prairie is great for kids too. Our downtown is quite lovely as well, White River State Park hosts 2 lovely museums and the best minor league ballpark in the country, as well as a nice zoo and botanical gardens. (I'll be honest, I've seen better zoos/botanical gardens, but they are a nice way to spend a day.)

We're coming to Indy this summer for our vacation. Granted, we're coming specifically for DCI finals at Lucas Stadium, but it will be our only vacation this year. We're staying close to the stadium and it looks like there is lots to do in that area. Most cities don't have their big sports venues right in the middle of everything. We're looking forward to it!

 

[Irin997]

Both Nashville and Austin, TX are on my list of places to visit for the music scene alone.

I think you can honestly go anywhere and have fun - if you're that kind of person.

 

[beansmom]

Spent a couple days at Providence while at a conference. Looked for entertaining things to do. Not impressed. To vacation to it?? Um, no.

30 mins south of Providence, however, is Newport. It is lovely. Good food, good beaches, family friendly, museums, lots to do. It's our home away from home...in fact, i'm headed down thursday to celebrate my birthday in a hot tub on a rooftop overlooking Newport harbor. Fabulous.

 

[Denise W]

Plus Providence has fabulous restaurants on Federal Hill. They also have Waterfire, a world renowned music/fire/water show on the river that is free to enjoy. It is run most weekend nights during the summer.

Denise

 

[MichelleinMaine]

My inlaws live/lived in the Twin Cities area, so our "vacations" there have been to see family, but we have always had a nice time. (Family excluded ;0)

Minneapolis has a nice children's museum and there's nice science museum in St Paul. Plenty of parks and lakes in the area for walking, biking. MN Zoo is fun any time of the year, Como Zoo in the summer (and that is free). Of course, Mall of America is there too- all sorts of entertainments besides just shopping

My father in law is further outside the cities- great little small town Mayberry sort of place. Not necessarily "exciting", but a whole lot of piece and quiet on a lake is certainly good in the summer too.

Winter, well, yeah. I don't ever need to go in the winter again!

 

[elgerber]

My inlaws live/lived in the Twin Cities area, so our "vacations" there have been to see family, but we have always had a nice time. (Family excluded ;0)

Winter, well, yeah. I don't ever need to go in the winter again!

I live in here, and I don't want to be here in the winter either!

 

[peezee]

As a native and current Minnesotan and a frequent traveler, I always say there is no place I'd rather live April through October - November to March on the other hand....

 

[writersblock42]

Even though Washington DC is very expensive in terms of lodging, transportation, and food, most of the museums and sites are free. You can do a whole lot of things for free and there are hotels for under $150 per night.
Chattanooga was a really fun city that we visited. We loved it. I love the aquarium there and we stayed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. Rock City was cool but Ruby Falls was a tourist trap.
I know we don't think of our hometown as a tourist destination but actually a lot of people visit our area because we live right between Lancaster and Gettysburg in York, PA. The hotels, food and entertainment are very cheap. Most of the factory tours are free. We live within easy driving distance of Hershey, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Gettysburg, and Baltimore (less than an hour) We can take day trips to both Philadelphia and Washington DC (two and half hours).

 

[Chelley00]

It's not on the list but I love Indy and think it would be a great and affordable place to vacation. Our Children's Museum is regularly mentioned by various publications as the best in the World, and Connor Prairie is great for kids too. Our downtown is quite lovely as well, White River State Park hosts 2 lovely museums and the best minor league ballpark in the country, as well as a nice zoo and botanical gardens. (I'll be honest, I've seen better zoos/botanical gardens, but they are a nice way to spend a day.)

Woo Hoo. There is so much to do in here relatively cheap. You can walk most places from downtown, or you can stay in the burbs and drive in. Parking at venues is pretty reasonable. And there are 3 museums at White River (NCAA, Indiana State and Eitjeljorg)



I'm surprised St Louis isn't on the list. The hotels are cheapish if you don't stay by the Arch, the zoo is free, Grant's Farm is free and there are many many other things to do. One of our favorite budget trips!

 

[momof2gr8kids]

I'll be there this weekend. Friends own a house on the Lake about an hour South of Canada. Its lovely. Its never hot, often cold, but stunningly beautiful.

(And given I have friends with a place, practically free)

Jealous - Great weather this weekend to enjoy the lake.
Hoping to get up that way soon to do some camping & hiking!

 

[bartleby1]

The black hills area of South Dakota. Mt. Rushmore, Custer state park, badlands np (one of my personal favorites), drive over to devils tower in Wyoming, and if you are willing to drive to the eastern side of South Dakota, there is a great Little House on the Prairie site to visit (one of their homestead properties which has lots of hands on activities for the kids). Lots of history in South Dakota as well as beautiful scenery. One of our favorite trips (road trip from nj).

On another road trip (nj to California), we loved visiting Utah. Arches np, capital reef, Bryce, Zion. Just beautiful. Everyone should visit that area at least once in their lifetime. Unfortunately, it seems that while tourists from all over the world come thousands of miles to visit our national parks, they are often overlooked by the citizens of our country.

I know these aren't "cities" but the national parks can be a relatively cheap vacation and offer so much to see.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

The black hills area of South Dakota. Mt. Rushmore, Custer state park, badlands np (one of my personal favorites), drive over to devils tower in Wyoming, and if you are willing to drive to the eastern side of South Dakota, there is a great Little House on the Prairie site to visit (one of their homestead properties which has lots of hands on activities for the kids). Lots of history in South Dakota as well as beautiful scenery. One of our favorite trips (road trip from nj).

On another road trip (nj to California), we loved visiting Utah. Arches np, capital reef, Bryce, Zion. Just beautiful. Everyone should visit that area at least once in their lifetime. Unfortunately, it seems that while tourists from all over the world come thousands of miles to visit our national parks, they are often overlooked by the citizens of our country.

I know these aren't "cities" but the national parks can be a relatively cheap vacation and offer so much to see.

(bolding mine) I completely agree with South Dakota, it's absolutely beautiful and I was surprised at how much our whole family enjoyed it.

I also like Savannah, but I prefer Jekyll Island to Tybee.