Create memories, no matter your budget, by exploring these destinations with your family.
BUDGET
Savannah
Many picturesque spots in Savannah are free, with 22 shady squares for strolling, picnicking and playing. You can see the Waving Girl sculpture at Morrell Park and the grand fountain in 30-acre Forsyth Park (visitsavannah.com/essential-savannah/squares-parks.aspx, @visitsavannah). Walk along the waterfront on River Street or shop and let the kids play in the water in the City Market.
Affordable sites include the Wormsloe Historic Site, a Georgia state park that features tabby ruins of a Colonial estate made of oyster shells, sand and other materials (gastateparks.org/Wormsloe, @GaStateParks). Girl Scouts may want to see the birthplace of the organization's founder, Juliette Gordon Low (juliettegordonlowbirthplace.org, @jlowbirthplace). The Georgia State Railroad Museum and Savannah Children's Museum are in Tricentennial Park (chsgeorgia.org). At the Jepson Center, which has a collection of contemporary art, the ArtZeum is a 3,500-square-foot interactive area for kids (telfair.org/visit/jepson, @TelfairMuseums).
While Savannah has upscale boutique hotels and bed-and-breakfasts catering to adults, options for families on a budget include chain hotels with mini kitchens, camping/RV sites and vacation rentals (visitsavannah.com/map/places-to-stay.aspx, airbnb.com).
Visit Savannah, 101 E. Bay St., Savannah, 877-728-2662, visitsavannah.com, @visitsavannah.
New Orleans
To make the most of your budget in the Big Easy, here are some simple ideas: The French Quarter's architecture, with courtyards and wrought-iron balconies, offers free sights for a budding architect, interior designer or gardener. A focal point is the Andrew Jackson statue. For breakfast, a snack or dessert, there's the original Cafe du Monde (cafedumonde.com), where you can get an order of three hot beignets coated with powdered sugar for about $2.50.
City Park has 1,300 acres and is home to the Carousel Gardens Amusement Park, with rides including an antique wooden carousel (neworleanscitypark.com, @NOLACityPark). Also in the park, the five-acre Besthoff Sculpture Garden is free to explore (noma.org, @NOMA1910). Other attractions include the Audubon Nature Institute, with its zoo, aquarium, butterfly garden and insectarium, and an Imax theater. Ticket packages are available for all the attractions, or if you only want to do one, the most affordable one-day ticket is to the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium (auduboninstitute.org, @AudubonNature).
Cheap transportation and sightseeing options include the $1.25 historic streetcar (standard one-way fare) and the $2 Algiers Point/Canal Street ferry ride across the Mississippi River (nolaferries.com). Although home to bed-and-breakfasts and luxury hotels, the city has major chains and suite properties with discounts on websites such as neworleanscvb.com.
New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2020 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, 504-566-5011, neworleanscvb.com, @neworleans.
Orlando
Explore state parks, gardens and other natural attractions and discover the (not-so-small) world beyond the theme parks.
Some of Orlando's 100-plus attractions cost $10 or less a day. Among them: Harry P. Leu Gardens (leugardens.org), a 50-acre park with a butterfly garden, bamboo and palm gardens, a house museum and the largest camellia collection outside of California.
Instead of feeling your stomach drop on a roller coaster, get a sense of adventure by seeing alligators at longtime attraction Gatorland (gatorland.com, @gatorland) or see a 12-foot alligator and other creatures at airboat operator Black Hammock Adventures' free exhibit (theblackhammock.com). Manatees are a must-see attraction as they congregate at spots such as Blue Spring State Park (floridastateparks.org, @FLStateParks), about 35 miles from Orlando, during the winter and spring. The 2,600-acre park, a designated Manatee refuge, is home to the largest spring on the St. Johns River.
Consider this: With little ones, all the adventure they may need is a free ride on the Monorail around Walt Disney World property (parking lots are $17 per day).
Suite-style hotels, time share villas and rental properties provide kitchens to save on dining costs, as well as amenities such as pools, mini golf and kids crafts at no additional cost. Campgrounds also are listed as well at Visit Orlando (visitorlando.com/places-to-stay).
Visit Orlando, 8723 International Drive, Suite 101, Orlando, 1-800-972-3304, visitorlando.com, @VisitOrlando.
MODERATE
Puerto Rico
Beaches spanning 272 miles, caves, forests, waterfalls and forts such as San Juan Historic Site (nps.gov/saju) can fill days with affordable fun in Puerto Rico, which does not require U.S. visitors to have a passport.
The dry season runs through mid-April, so spend a day or more at Carolina Beach Park near San Juan or snorkel, swim, paddleboard and kiteboard at Shacks Beach in Isabella, on the north end. Surf with the kids — or just watch the surfers — at Rincon (rincon.org). Go ziplining and cave exploring in towns such as Utuado, Camuy and Orocovis, or visit Rio Cumey Cave Park in the Porta Atlantico region. Arrive early to get a spot on Aguadilla's Crashboat Beach, a historic area where old Navy ships once docked. Head into the mountains, with lake settings such as Lagos de Bocas in the Utuado region. At night, tour one of the three bioluminescent bays in kayaks to see the glowing water.
Rental condos are available through sites such as vrbo.com, and you can try to negotiate the rental price. Puerto Rico also has all-inclusive resorts, beachfront hotels such as Copamarina Beach Resort in Guanica (copamarina.com), chain hotels with suites, and small boutique properties. Some lodges have an eco-friendly focus.
See Puerto Rico, 1-800-866-7827, seepuertorico.com, @PRTourismCo.
New York City
The challenge in the Big Apple is balancing free activities such as walking through Central Park (centralparknyc.org) with pricier attractions and entertainment.
One cost-saver is a multi-attraction pass, which saves from 40 percent to 60 percent on admission to sites such as the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Discovery Times Square and Circle Line Cruises (nycgo.com/attraction-passes). Certain museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum of Art also have free entry days or pay-what-you-wish times (nycgo.com/schedules-and-admissions). The TKTS booths (tdf.org/tkts, @TKTS) offer 20 percent to 50 percent discounts on Broadway and off-Broadway musicals and plays, and the lines have gotten faster over the years.
A must-see for kids that fits into a moderate budget is the Statue of Liberty ferry ride and monument visit (statuecruises.com).
In the mornings, you can have a free outing by being part of the crowd outside the studios for “Today” and “Good Morning America,” and your trip may coincide with a free outdoor concert for one of the shows.
The average daily hotel room rate in New York is $290 and the average cost of a dinner in 2014 was $48.15, according to Zagat and NYC & Co. Staying in a suite property or rental through sites such as airbnb.com can allow you to prepare some meals and leave room in the budget for unique NYC fare or theme restaurant visits as well as entertainment and souvenirs. (If you're staying for more than a day or two, sign up for a drugstore or grocery loyalty card for discounts.)
NYC & Co., 212-484-1200, nycgo.com, @nycgo.
Bar Harbor, Maine
Get in touch with nature on Mount Desert Island, which features Acadia National Park (nps.gov/acad, @natlparkservice) and Bar Harbor, the largest city on the island. Acadia has more than 120 miles of hiking trails to help you and your family explore the park's 35,000 acres. There also are 57 miles of carriage roads built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. Be sure to check the schedule, because some entrances, trails and tours may be closed or not available during the winter.
Outdoor activities include cycling, boating, fishing, climbing, horseback riding and even cross-country skiing and snowmobiling in the snowy winter months. Tours include bus, carriage and ranger-narrated boat cruises (nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/guidedtours.htm). Be sure to snap some shots of the scenery from Cadillac Mountain, the tallest mountain on the North Atlantic seaboard.
After a long day in the park, head to Bar Harbor, where there are plenty of moderately priced hotels, including the Harborside Hotel, Spa and Marina (theharborsidehotel.com), which offers harbor views. Downtown Bar Harbor includes plenty of shopping and local restaurants. House and condo rentals on other islands are available as well.
Bar Harbor, 1201 Bar Harbor Road, Trenton, Maine, 1-800-345-4617, barharborinfo.com, @BarHarborCC.
SPLURGE
Lego vacation in Denmark
Lego lovers of all ages can find unique experiences on a luxury scale by traveling to company’s headquarters in Billund, Denmark.
The three-day Lego Inside Tour shows those age 7 and up how the little bricks are made in the factory, includes a visit to Lego founder Ole Kirk Christiansen's original house, and introduces Lego designers. The planned 2015 tours, priced at around $2,260 per person, sold out quickly when registration opened in November (lego.com/en-us/AboutUs/lego-group/programs-and-visits/lego-inside-tour).
The city also is home to a Legoland amusement park with more than 55 rides and attractions, and the full Lego experience is offered by staying in themed rooms at the four-star Hotel Legoland, Legoland Pirates Inn or Legoland Wild West Cabins. Lego is slated to open its Lego House (lego.com/en-us/legohouse) in 2017. Built to look like the iconic bricks, the house will be a play-and-experience center at its headquarters.
Legoland, Nordmarksvej, DK-7190 Billund, 45-7533-1333, legoland.dk/en.
Western national parks
The priciest (and most time-consuming) part of a trip to U.S. national parks out west, such as Yellowstone, Glacier, Badlands and Yosemite, is just getting there. You can fly out west to a city near one of the parks and rent a car, although it may still be hours before you reach your destination. To save time, another option is to charter a flight to a smaller airport closer to one of the parks. Or set out on a road trip to rival the Griswolds by renting an RV or van.
At parks such as Yellowstone, hotel accommodations can be at least $200 per night during the peak season for a basic room inside or outside the park gates, but camping also is available.
If you are planning to stop at multiple parks, buy the $80 annual pass for access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites. Otherwise, the entrance fee is $25 for private noncommercial vehicles, and from there, your family can enjoy day hiking, swimming, skiing, wildlife viewing, fishing, picnicking, cycling, horseback riding and guided tours.
At Yellowstone, seeing major sites such as Old Faithful is free once you are in the park, and an array of guided tours are available from morning to night on which you ride around in historic yellow buses (yellowstonenationalparklodges.com).
National Park Service, nps.gov, @natlparkservice.
Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
At this popular East Africa safari destination, visitors can view black rhino, tusker elephants, lion, zebra, wildebeest and other wildlife in the Ngorongoro Crater (tanzaniaodyssey.com/tanzania/ngorongoro-crater), known as the world's largest volcanic caldera.
An estimated 25,000 large animals inhabit the area in northern Tanzania. If you want to stay on the rim, be aware that rooms at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge can run into the thousands of dollars per night, according to online price quotes. Older hotels and lodges, coffee plantations and guest houses offer other ways to experience the area; you will need to check to see what age children are allowed by the properties and safari operators.
Activities include vehicle safaris, hot air balloon rides and hiking through the conservation area, which also includes Oldupai (also spelled Olduvai) Gorge, a major archaeological site where some of the earliest remains of humans have been found.
Tanzania Tourist Board, tanzaniatouristboard.com.
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