New England Family Vacations

[kaleighmariesmom]

So we have been out of the New England area for about 7 years. Now we have moved back and had 3 kids. I have been looking and looking for a "summer vacation" for the family and everything seems so EXPENSIVE!!!! hotels like $200 a night?? really??? when we were down south it seemed a lot less $$.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to a budget friendly place???

 

[Pooh2]

Go Camping!

 

[pyrxtc]

what kind of stuff are you looking to do ? Where do you want to go. It has always been high prices for hotel up here.

 

[kaleighmariesmom]

what kind of stuff are you looking to do ? Where do you want to go. It has always been high prices for hotel up here.

I am looking for anything. We lived in NC for the last 3 years and went to Myrtle Beach all the time. Just hung out in the pool and beach. Nothing fancy. I guess I never went on vacation in NE before. We did when I was a kid but I never knew how much it was.

Camping is out my DH is afraid of bugs!!!

 

[Scrappygrrl]

Consider renting a house. We are renting a house across the street from the beach in Maine for $1200 for the week on vrbo.com.

 

[ZandZsMom]

Papoose Pond in North Waterford, Maine. We go for a week and for a long weekend each year. They have sites from tenting up to renting a lake house.
My kids love it! Very friendly, clean and relaxing. They have the pond, heated pool, mini golf and all kinds of activites throughout the week. Next to Disney, it's our favorite.

 

[mrsboz]

How about North Conway, NH. You can find hotels, motels in various price ranges. I dont' know how old your children are but they have Story Land, Santa's Village, North Conway Railroad, miniature golf, tons of restaurants, some shopping and the Kangamangus Highway has lots of picnic, hiking places to visit. We love it and go every year. Lots to do. Lots of beautiful sites like waterfalls, mountains.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Go Camping!

I agree! We live in Virginia but we went to New England for about 2 weeks last summer--our family of 6 only spent about $1200 becaue we mostly camped (a couple nights in hotels, but those were paid for through rewards points).

We camped in Acadia National Park in Maine and we rented a little cabin (just one room, no plumbing) in one of Vermont's state parks.

 

[Pooh2]

Ahh,, too bad about the camping!

Four Seasons Motor Inn in Twin Mountain gets good reviews by my picky mom and she said it is under $100 a night, they have an outdoor pool. Twin Mt. is a little quieter than Conway, close to Mt. Washington and a beautiful drive through Crawford Notch to Conway for the more touristy stuff.

The Lodge across from (and owned by) Mt. Washington Hotel is nice. We got a special deal of $99/night last year, but it's reg. priced around $179 in summer.

There are lots of cool little swimming holes along the river (in back of St Patricks Church and lower Amanoosuc Falls are two favorites). Bring some cheap tubes for floating. (And bug spray for your hubbie!)

It is close to Mt. Washington Hotel, the Cograilway.

 

[chris1gill]

With kids? Smugglers Notch in the summer!!!

 

[amyy]

Papoose Pond in North Waterford, Maine. We go for a week and for a long weekend each year. They have sites from tenting up to renting a lake house.
My kids love it! Very friendly, clean and relaxing. They have the pond, heated pool, mini golf and all kinds of activites throughout the week. Next to Disney, it's our favorite.

Thanks for sharing. Love that you can get a site with a bathroom. I know it seems silly to some but I think it is great. I have never seen this offered before.

 

[An_Island_Girl]

Sebasco Harbor Resort in Maine is always fun. Golf, ocean kayaking, salt water pool, outside lawn style games, options of private cabins or newer suites. They have a kids camp too, which makes it great to sneak away for a massage!

We also really like going to Mystic CT. There is so much to see and do there! Aquarium, Mystic Seaport, go on a real submarine, endless options.

 

[CTdiznymom]

We also really like going to Mystic CT. There is so much to see and do there! Aquarium, Mystic Seaport, go on a real submarine, endless options.[/QUOTE]


If you're in the Mytic area, you can also include the Groton Sub base. The kids can explore the subs and climb on all the equipment.

 

[ZandZsMom]

Thanks for sharing. Love that you can get a site with a bathroom. I know it seems silly to some but I think it is great. I have never seen this offered before.

YW That was how I convinced my husband to go the first year lol The weekend escapes are so much fun and the food is really good, surprisingly!

 

[goofystitchfan]

How about North Conway, NH. You can find hotels, motels in various price ranges. I dont' know how old your children are but they have Story Land, Santa's Village, North Conway Railroad, miniature golf, tons of restaurants, some shopping and the Kangamangus Highway has lots of picnic, hiking places to visit. We love it and go every year. Lots to do. Lots of beautiful sites like waterfalls, mountains.

That's where we are heading. Don't forget the outlets too! We trade some of our DVC points and have a wonderful time.

 

[monorailsilver]

Last year we did a few day trips at the end of the summer.

We live in CT, coastal CT/along the CT river just to give you an idea of where we are.

We did Six Flags one day (gag on the dirtyness!). I hadn't been there since it was Riverside.

We went to Yankee Candle one day. On that day we did the butterfly museum too. Oh & we had the best chocolate in the whole world. OK I thought it was from that candy shoppe just north of Yankee Candle.

The next day we went to Mystic Seaport. We got a free pass from the library so it only cost us gas & food/snacks.

So go & check out your library for 'free' passes or discounted passes on things.

People come to ride the Essex Steam train & riverboat but since I live 10 min from there we only go on the North Pole Express & the free ride for 'neighbors'.

Stowe-isn't that where the alpine slides are? One of those ski resorts has them, or a few do.

Kent Falls state park (never been but it is on my list of things to go to one year, some year...).

Hike the appalacian trail.

Obviously anything coastal hotel wise is going to cost $$$. Watersedge in Westbrook, CT is nice but I am not sure of the price but I know it isn't cheap.

We were looking for a mini-vacation this summer too. My sister gave me some free nights at any Hilton anywhere in the world. I wanted a kitchen but I could of dealt with not one. But every one I looked at was not on the beach & I knew we (OK I) would want to be on the beach. So we picked Maryland instead.

 

[CTdiznymom]

If you are a Bank of America customer they offer free admission to select museums wherever you vacation. Check their website for details.

 

[3boymthr]

You can definitely rent a hotel room in New England for less than $200 but you have to be willing to compromise and travel a little bit further to get where you want to be. Same goes for houses/cottages. You also have to be willing to rent a cottage as opposed to a house. I rented a cottage last summer for $1,300. It was waterfront on Cape Cod, but it sat on a 50 foot bluff thus I had no beach access so I had to drive to get to the beach. I also found numerous other cottages for less than that. The beaches around here tend to not have condos. I think because the development is very old (with many cottages dating from before the 50s) and Massachusetts in particular has regulations preventing developers from building buildings that obstruct the view and access to the ocean.

If you're willing to go north to the woods and go for a condo you can find one for even less. My former co-worker used to rent her condo in North Conway for $650/wk.

 

[mountdew1]

There definitely are expensive places in NE, but there are also affordable places. If you stay at most hotels on Cape Cod during the season, they will tend to be expensive. And lots of the cheap ones are a bit sketchy. But if you deal with a home owner or such, then you can get something more affordable. Same if you don't stay right in town. I.E. don't stay in Boston, stay just outside the city. Plenty of smaller towns that mean a slightly longer drive, but you can save money that way. The Conway area in NH is usually popular, most of the ski areas in NE have alpine slides, mountain biking, and a host of other things you can do. New England is a big area, so it really depends on what you were looking to do. Go to your local library or AAA if you are a member, and grab a New England travel guide and get a good idea of what you want to do. Beaches? Mountains? Boston? Shopping? Hiking? Our town, about 1 1/2 hrs from the coast has plenty of hiking, outlets are maybe 30 mins away, you can beach at a lake, hit Boston in an hour, etc. I can point out a half dozen reputable chain hotels in the area for under $100 a night, most including breakfast.

 

[amyy]

http://www.polandspringresort.com/
I have read about this place in a budget travel magazine. The location is good and the price is pretty cheap.