5 Vacation Spots for Families That Won’t Wipe Out Your Bank Account This Summer
Summer is creeping up fast, which means just about everyone has vacation on the brain. But let’s be real—traveling with a full crew gets incredibly expensive, incredibly fast. The trick isn’t staying home; it’s just being smart about where you go. You want to look for places where the summer crowd thins out a bit, or where the daily cost of food and lodging doesn’t feel like a punch to the wallet.
Also, a quick pro-tip before we dive in: stop by a local grocery store right when you arrive to stock up on snacks and breakfast items. Doing just that can save you hundreds of dollars compared to eating out three times a day with kids.
Here are five incredible spots where you can actually have a blast without stressing over the bill.
1. Ditch the Heat in Winter Park, Colorado
Most people only talk about Winter Park when the snow starts falling, but it’s actually a brilliant summer escape—especially if you can’t stand humid summer heat.
Instead of skiing, the mountains open up for hiking, massive ropes courses, gondola rides, and a massive alpine slide that holds the record as the longest one in Colorado. If you grab an activity day pass online before you arrive, it covers pretty much everything. It’s incredibly cheap for toddlers under four (only about $10), and older kids or adults run around $59.
Make sure to drive over to the nearby Snow Mountain Ranch too. They have a rare summer tubing hill where you can slide down on tubes without any snow, plus indoor climbing walls and mini-golf.
2. Hit the Streets of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
People are starting to call this place “Kidsburgh” for a reason. It is quietly becoming one of the best budget cities for a family trip.
For starters, you can take the kids to the local Children’s Museum or spend a morning checking out the animals at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. If you visit during the summer, you might catch their 10-day Grand Prix, which features vintage cars and tons of free walking tours around the city blocks.
The biggest budget saver here? The Golden Triangle subway line is completely free to ride around the downtown core. You can easily track down local burger joints and sandwich shops where a solid meal costs under $10. If you want some fresh air, rent a few bikes and explore the Great Allegheny Passage—a massive 150-mile trail that lets you cruise right past the city’s historic bridges and dark tunnels.
3. Keep It Classic at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
If your kids are begging for a classic beach trip, Myrtle Beach is a solid option that offers a lot of bang for your buck.
The strategy here is to book a stay at one of the massive mega-resorts right on the water, like The Breakers. Because they compete so hard for travelers, these resorts pack in crazy amenities for free. We’re talking five different water slides, six massive pools, a literal sunken pirate ship for the kids to climb on, and a long lazy river. When the kids get bored of the water, they usually have free lawn games like giant chess, cornhole, and shuffleboard set up outside.
Oh, and if your family likes mini-golf, this town is basically the world capital for it. There are over 50 completely different courses scattered down the strip.
4. Score Tons of Freebies in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an absolute goldmine for budget travel because so many of their massive cultural landmarks don’t cost a single dime to enter.
You can walk right into the Saint Louis Art Museum (which has awesome interactive stuff for kids) or spend a whole afternoon at Purina Farms watching dog agility shows and hanging out in the animal barns—all without opening your wallet.
If you do spend money on an attraction, make it the City Museum. Tickets are around $18, but it is entirely worth it. The place is basically a giant, surreal playground built inside an old warehouse, complete with a massive ball pit, a 10-story indoor slide, and a real Ferris wheel sitting right on the roof. Before you leave town, stop by Ted Drewes for some frozen custard. Their shakes are so thick the staff serves them to you completely upside down to prove it.
5. Take an International Leap to Lisbon, Portugal
If you want to cross the ocean this year without going broke, Lisbon is easily one of the most affordable European hubs for a family. It perfectly blends a historic city break with a beach trip.
You can spend your mornings exploring old stone castles and massive palaces hidden in the hills, then hop on a quick train to spend the afternoon lounging on the Atlantic coast. The city is famous for its bright yellow funiculars—steep little cable cars that pull you up the massive hills. A round-trip ride only costs about $4, making it a super cheap way to get a scenic tour of the old neighborhoods.
Keep an eye out for flight deals through TAP Air Portugal, as they frequently run family promotions and free stopover options that make the flight over much more manageable.