Family road trips were my absolute favorite thing in the world growing up! Packing up the mini van, a cooler between the seats filled with juice boxes and snacks, with music playing in the background. The sun shining as we stare out the windows embarking on a new adventure.
I love getting to explore new places with my family, but it's something we have to budget for to enjoy.
Here are 5 Budget Friendly Family Trips to take this Spring & Summer!
1. Home/Staycation
Depending on where you live; you can find a few hidden gems in your hometown! A bed and breakfast, explore shops in town, or have a movie night at home streaming the newest movie releases!
I pass by some of the cutest bed and breakfasts that are local to us. I've always pondered the idea of going on a overnight stay at one. Cozy bedrooms with homemade quilts or throws, sitting on a wrap around porch drinking wine, and eating breakfast at a table for two. I blame all the romantic comedies for making a bed and breakfast date night a bucket list item for me. One of the Bed and Breakfast locations I would love to visit is The Lakehouse Inn on Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio.
We also have a lot of small shops in our hometown and surrounding towns near us. Consignment shops, vintage shops, donut shops, coffee shops- you name it! Go for a afternoon trip exploring your local small shops and dine in some of them! It can be a lot of fun and you'll get to know your town a little bit more. A couple of my favorite spots to check out are The Refindary Vintage Market, Wall Street Coffee Company, and Bissel Maple Farm.
Last but not least, you simply can not go wrong with staying home in your PJ's and renting a newly released movie from your streaming device. Grab some movie theater boxed candy from the dollar store, pop some popcorn, throw a bunch of blankets and pillows down on the living room floor, and have a family movie night! I would think we're all professionals at this after the year we just had in 2020.
2. Fairs & Festivals
I love fairs and festivals! I believe most fairs you have to pay to attend (usually not that expensive), but festivals are FREE!
Right here in our hometown, we have the county fair location! I never thought I would say this, but I love living close to the fair grounds. In the summer, you can hear the grand stand announcers voice booming across the town. The air smells like Elephant Ears- yummy - and you can hear the revving engines from demolition derby. It screams summer family fun!
Our hometown also celebrates "The Covered Bridge Festival" and "The Strawberry Festival". The Covered Bridge Festival is my favorite. We live in Northeast, Ohio where you can find the world's largest covered bridge and the world's smallest. There's just something about driving around in a packed vehicle for 6-8 hours that I love. haha. Honestly, driving around on country back roads, passing cow farms and Amish houses, and chit chatting as you drive. Stopping off to take pictures of the Covered Bridges, listening to live music, and stopping off to grab a bite to eat. It's just taking time to do simply nothing and I love that.
Not to far away from us is also the "The Grape Jamboree" and "The Maple Festival". As I grew up, we attended both of these almost yearly. I was in a lot of parades for the Grape Jamboree with after school activities and we use to go to free pancake breakfast with my Grandma and Grandpa before exploring the Maple Festival. So many good memories. One of these years, I will get to do the Grape Jamboree right and go explore all the wineries. There are 18+ wineries just in Geneva, Ohio where the Grape Jamboree is held.
3. A Beach/Community Pools
We don't live near any fancy beaches on the ocean, but we're about 25-30 minutes from a few local beaches on Lake Erie. Beach days are my daughters favorite. Jumping waves, finding shells, and playing in the sand. Pack some drinks and snacks or pick up lunch on the way, and just hang out for a couple hours.
My personal favorite is a community pool and I was introduced to a local one a few years ago by my friend. I had NO idea that we even had a community pool near us. Sometimes the YMCA has outdoor community pools. You don't have to be a member to use it, but you do get discounts if you pay for a membership or live in that city. For us to travel 30 minutes to our outdoor Y and pay $10 per adult / children under 40" get in for FREE is well worth an all day adventure! Ours has a snack shack, picnic tables, playgrounds, and 3 different pools to play in. It may not be worth the money to go weekly, but to go there once a month during the only 3 months warm enough to swim in Ohio is not too bad!
4. A State Park
State Parks can be fun for the families that like to go camping, fishing, boating, and hiking!
I love to camp and went tent camping a lot growing up! I absolutely love being out in the woods, seeing the stars, and make S'mores- DUH!
Sometimes the State Parks have boat rentals or kayak rentals. We've even gone for just day trips to rent a Pontoon boat and watch my husband and his friends fish. I have zero issues with sitting on a boat for a few hours, sun bathing, splashing my toes in the water, and simply relaxing. Pack some drinks and snacks, magazines or a good book, a portable speaker, and you are set! I like pontoon boat rentals because even small children can go too! We took our daughter when she was about 3 years old. She had to wear a life vest, but literally never complained or tried to take it off. She loved fishing with her daddy and just riding on the boat.
Again, I LOVE camping, hate the bug bites, but LOVE to camp! We've always tent camped, but as I get older the ground hurts a little more every year. It's a dream of mine to own a camper, new or old (I'll renovate it), and go on road trips! My in laws own a camper and every year they try to talk us into buying one. One of these days, I will own one and it will be my very favorite thing in the world. haha. Camping can be expensive to start, but once you own all the things it's not too bad. Just the matter of paying for a camping lot and buying food for the weekend. Check out my Camping Board on Pinterest for some Camping Ideas here!
5. The Local Amusement Park
The local amusement park can be a cost friendly trip if you hunt for ticket deals. We have a local bank that sells discount amusement park tickets for a few places not too far from us.
Most Amusement Parks near us are water parks, but if you travel a couple hours you can find roller coaster parks too. Waldameer & Water World has 100 rides, roller coasters, water park, and attractions for all ages. It's very family friendly and is such a blast for only being an hour away! Spend the day or make it a family reunion trip!
6. The Zoo
The Zoo is probably my favorite on the list! First of all, the zoo is fun for all ages. We decided a few years back when our daughter was about a year old, that we would make going to the zoo a family tradition. We would travel to a NEW zoo every year! This is exciting to me, because eventually we will run out of zoos in Ohio and be traveling to zoos in other states!
Hello, Road Trips!
Zoos never get old; especially if you go to a new zoo! They can also be budget friendly by packing a cooler with lunch and drinks. Put the cooler in your kids wagon and leave it in a pavilion. We've never had issues so far with people stealing our food. Yes, I seriously worried about people running off with our cooler. Tell me I am not the only one? Zoo's also have restaurants in them if you want to budget for that too!
I love our Zoo Tradition! So far we have gone to the Cleveland Zoo, the Toledo Zoo, and in 2019 we traveled to the Pittsburgh Zoo in PA. In 2020, due to Covid-19 we did not get to go on our annual Zoo Trip. This year we hope to go to the Columbus Zoo! This zoo is 3 hours away from us, the largest zoo we've been too yet, and the most expensive yet. I'm very excited to go to this zoo! I've heard so many good things about it! There are 5 Zoos in Ohio. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Akron, and Toledo. We will have two more Zoos to explore in Ohio and then the possibilities will be endless!
Visit Ohio's Zoos:
7. The Children's Museum
I wish Children Museums were a thing when I was a kid. Have you been to one or heard of them!? The Children's Museum is on my bucket list! A Children's Museum is one huge play place!
Children get to play in all different exhibits; including "Adventure Cities" that have construction building materials, towns, grocery stores with play food, post offices, to "Wonder Labs" that teach children how things work through play, to theaters and stages, and even art and crafts room to create! I feel like you would have to come back to the Children's Museum a handful of times to be able to completely view the whole place and be able to play in every exhibit. There is so much to do and so much to keep little ones entertained and active for hours!
The Children's Museums are pretty affordable and sometimes children can get in for free! If you're looking for something fun to do I would highly recommend looking into the closest Children's Museum near you! I can't wait for our chance to go too!
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