Inexpensive Famlily Vacation
 

We are a family of 5 (3 kids ages 19, 15 and 12) without much of vacation budget this year. I was hoping Fodorites could suggest some vacation ideas.

We would like to go somewhere in either July or August. We have 5 frequent flyer free tickets that we'd like to use. We live in Pennsylvania. I'm looking for somewhere that we can rent a house, condo, etc. and use that as a base for 5 or 6 days - that would cut the hotel and meal expenses. We'd like to be near hiking, wildlife (maybe a national park), a town of sort for the kids to wander through would be great. Somewhere that would keep us occupied for 5 or 6 days without changing our home base. Warm weather preferred. Any and all suggestions welcome and appreciated!

www.beloins.com

Depending on what airline your ff tickets are, you could fly into Rockland Maine or Portland Maine.

Our frequent flyer miles are on USAir. We've never been to Maine - do you have any recommendations on where to stay or what to do?

You could rent a house on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Not sure where you'd fly into as we drive. If you go mid-late August you miss high season and get discounted rates.

Not sure how many FF miles you have, but St John in the USVI is fabulous (you actually fly into St Thomas then take a quick boat ride). There are lots of villas & houses to rent there as well. Not much of a town to explore but there are plenty of restaurants and as roughly 75% of the island is national park, lots and lots of hiking, snorkeling and pristine beaches.

I always thought that St. Johns was expensive. Any info on cost of villas, etc?

I would definitely book my accommodations through VRBO.com. You really can't beat the deals.

Also, if you stay a little bit away from the attraction, you can cut your cost of accommodations in half. For example, if you are going to a beach destination, instead of being oceanfront, try across the street from the beach. These often have the same view of the beach with minor obstructions.

I love Cashiers, NC in August. The weather is wonderful. It is actually cold in the evenings. There are lots of mountains to hike. We have rented houses there through a company called Mountain Realty. There is a small town called Highlands that has a downtown with funky shops. We barely went downtown though, and spent our time instead on the lake (rented a boat and skiied) or in the mountains. Asheville is an hour away.

florida is cheap during the summer because it is soooo hot. The suggestion of the Caribbean is a good one. The breezes keep it cool. Summer is low season.

Don't want to dump water on your parade - but you may have some difficulty getting 5 FF seats on same flight to anywhere - several posts here and on airline section speaking to that. Also, I have recently found that USAirways is severely limiting seats available at the minimum mileage requirement. Just tried to book 2 different flexible date trips Boston-Savannah and one trip Boston-Florida. On none of these was I able to find even one FF seat for 25,000 miles and was giving one week of flexible dates. These were not school vacation weeks, and Boston-Savannah in January is not exactly a prime route.

Since I am being Ms Negative, you might also want to consider if USAirways will even be flying in July/Aug. While it now appears likely they can muddle along thru June, there status after that remains uncertain. I hope they are able to fix things and continue to fly, but who knows.

Sorry - not trying to be overly negative - just trying to give you some info that might help prevent problems.

If you really want to save on this vacation and don't mind going rustic, look for cabins that rent in various state parks. As mentioned, using five FF tix on the same flight might be tough.

There are, for example, some great full-service cabins available in Southern Md. or on the Eastern Shore. Depending on where you go you could mix in outdoors activities with day trips into the free museums in DC or the Atlantic beach towns.

Other states have similar set ups. A downside is that parks are often a ways outside of towns.

This suggestion might work as a fallback if you can't book the FF tix. Just be aware of when the booking periods start and jump in fast.

If the FF tickets don't pan out, you could still drive to New England. Most of PA is within a day's drive of Concord NH, for example. You can rent ski condos in the mountains or a lakeside cottage on Lake Winnipesaukee or Winnisquam. The mountains are only a short drive from the lake. If you can get plane tickets, fly into Manchester NH. The personality of towns on the lake range from lovely old Wolfeboro to funky, noisy Weirs Beach. If you stayed in the Wolfeboro area, Portland Maine is about an hour away so the southern coast of Maine would be an easy day trip. Cottages in the Winnipesaukee area usually rent for $1500 and up.

Similarly to the above, Cape Cod would be an option. There are all sorts of price ranges! I'd stay either just outside of Hyannis (such as Centerville near Craigsville Beach) so the kids could do the honky tonk thing at night, if so inclined, OR around Chatham, for a more subdued atmosphere. Still, a nice little town to walk around, and a nice beach nearby. You could also visit the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham. Nantucket would be a great place to stay, but it might be trickier to find something moderately priced. (But worth the effort to try!)

Based on what you stated, Florida sounds a good choice. Besides the beach (keep kids happy all day) there's a number of other things to do (vary from city to city) that cost little or nothing.

Like snowrooster suggested, St. John would be an excellent choice! There are nice campgrounds with tent-like cabins that are an economical way to go! Great snorkeling! Many beaches to choose from!
Right now, flights there seem to be greatly discounted!(Probably won't last long!) OSB.

I think it may be hard for you to all fly together, but if you pick a bigger city, you may be able to fly in at similar times. My husband and I did that once and it worked out fine. He got there ahead with one of the kids, rented the car and got some needed info before the rest of us arrived.

Here's where I'd go....Seattle and Olympic National Park and with enough time you could cruise the San Juan Islands or go to Victoria on a ferry for a night or 2. We did this trip and it was awesome. In Olympic we stayed at the Lake Quinault Lodge (which was very reasonable at the time). We did a lot of rainforest hikes and some beachcombing. Only thing, you'll have to change your home base. Another nice area is Portland, Oregon. If you stay in that area, there a plenty of day trips to funky beach towns, waterfall hikes and great shopping. Good Luck!!

As I'm sure you know, USAir has a hub in Charlotte...not sure if that would make it easier or harder to use your ff's.

I'm thinking get a Cabin somewhere near Pisgah National Forest. Tons of hiking, biking, rafting, tubing, horseback riding, etc. Many of these activities are free or close to it. Towns of Asheville and Brevard nearby. YOu could fly into Asheville or Greenville, SC which are actually closer than Charlotte if that helped you use your miles. And in Asheville, some of the best dining is the least expensive...it's a hippie, artsy town.

Estes Park in Colorado would be great. You're at the foot of Rocky Mountain National Park and the town is just wonderful. The weather at that time of year in Colorado is beautiful!

A second vote for Cashiers, NC and visit Asheville while in the area!

My dh and I go to the Adirondacks each year - Old Forge, which is on Fourth Lake - it's beautiful! We stay at Palmer Point which has 5-6 cabins to rent - the one we stay in is $500 for the week which is the most expensive cabin of the bunch. We bring our food and cook breakfast and lunch there and most dinners - we only go out 2-3 times tops. It's right on the lake and has it's own small beach. This will be our fifth year there - we love it!

San Antonio, Texas would fit your bill. It has long been a favorite for Texas families to vacation, and if you do a little research beforehand, there are lots of inexpensive things to do there. The Hill Country and its many beautiful state parks are great for hiking and being outdoors. www.mysanantonio.com

Maine gets pretty expensive in the summers now. Las Vegas has very inexpensive rooms in summer, especially Sunday through Thursdays. You could take trips to Zion National Park, Grand Canyon, Bryce National Park, Lake Mead.