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Summer has arrived, the children are suffering from cabin fever, and everybody is ready to take a family vacation. But money is low and you are thinking that a family vacation is not an option or you have to take a stay-cation. Guess what, that is not the case! In this article, I will list several vacation ideas that will save you time and moneyand give you a step-by-step guide towards planning your perfect vacation.

If you are like me, you are faced with the task of planning a fun and exciting vacation that everyone will love and that is economical. When we were only a family of four, this process was much easier because it seems like the whole country is based on your family size not exceeding FOUR! We are now a family of 7 and the standard hotel room with 2 double beds is just not an option; at least not for stays longer than 2 nights. Airfare for larger families will completely break the budget, food will cost us a small fortune, which leaves us no money for theme park tickets, or maybe enough for just 1 day. So what is a family to do?

Choose what type of vacation you want to take: adventure, relaxation, beaches and sun, theme parks, or history and culture.

Adventure vacations and sandy beach vacations are absolutely the most affordable vacations.

Adventure vacations include low-cost outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking, bike riding, and camping. This type of vacation is ideal for older children.

Top Adventurous Destinations Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee Park City, Utah Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona Yosemite National Park, California Moab, Utah Glacier National Park, Montana Olympic National Park, Washington, Acadia National Park, Maine

Sandy beach vacations are also extremely affordable and include surfable waves, sandcastle building, great dining, and mile long boardwalks. This vacation theme is great for all ages especially babies and toddlers.

Family Beaches Locations Coronado Beach, Calif. Nantucket Island, Mass. Newport Beach, Calif. Santa Barbara, Calif. Siesta Key, Fla. Duck, N.C. Hilton Head, S.C. Myrtle Beach, S.C. South Padre Island, Texas

* If you decide to take a theme park vacation, find out if your bank or employer offers discounted tickets. Avoid purchasing tickets on EBay or Craig’s List, unless it is from a reliable seller or broker. Also, many theme parks now offer the convenience of child swap. With child swap, one parent can wait in line with the older children while the other parent goes up the handicap ramp with the smaller children. When the other parent gets off the ride, you swap and get right on the ride without waiting in line again. GENIUS!

Choose your means of transportation: fly, take the train, or load up the car.

Driving your own car would save you the most money. Many people don’t want to add miles to their car and decide to rent a car and that is fine too, but it will add additional costs. Even if you find cheap train, bus or airline tickets, consider the fact that you might still need to rent a car once you arrive at your destination, so get rid of the middle man and drive. If driving is not an option, check out www.priceline.com where you can ‘Name your Price’ on airfare and car rentals and save a significant amount of money.

Choose the best time for your family to travel: peak or off peak.

Of course you will get the best deals during the off peak season. Orlando’s busy season begins around May/June and ends August 10th. I use that as a guide to plan may vacations. Avoid holiday weekends; take the day off the following week and keep that extra money in your pocket.

Accommodations: vacation home, hotel, or condo.

Vacation home are perfect when traveling with a large group. Not only do you get a huge home to hang out in for a week, but you also have the company of other adults and hopefully other children to keep your children busy. Vacation homes, generally, need to be book several months in advance and you have to clean up after yourselves daily.

Standard hotel rooms are more readily available and perfect for smaller families. However, parents don’t have any privacy and you have to eat out every night, which can quickly total up to over $500 just for food. If you are looking for a standard room, Hotwire or Priceline (Name your Price) are your best options. Some people are leery of using these sites because you don’t know where you will stay until you have purchased the room. I have used Priceline many, many times and have never been disappointed.

My absolute favorite accommodation is a condo because it encompasses the best of all worlds. Parents and children have their own living and sleeping areas, housekeeping is available and they are equipped with full kitchens. You can save hundreds of dollars using the kitchen to prepare easy meals for breakfast and dinner. Most condos will also have a washer and dryer in your room. You can use the washer and dryer to wash all your clothes before returning home making it so much easier to unpack.

To keep the cost of the condo affordable, I would consider taking a time share tour. I know no one wants to spend 2-3 hours of your day on the tour, but you can get a great 1 or 2 bedroom condo at an incredible rate. To find time share deals, simply call the reservations department of the hotel you are interested in and ask them if you would receive a discounted rate for taking a time share tour. Another option is www.wyndham-vacations.com. This site rents out 1-3 bedroom condos on time share properties that are available without having to take a time share tour.

You are now ready to plan a fun and exciting vacation. I think it is best to decide what is most important to you and family be it location, transportation, entertainment or accommodations and spend the most money on that and scale back on everything else. Happy Travels!