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Summer time is here, cabin fever has set in and the entire family is ready to take a vacation. However, if you are one of many families who cannot splurge on a fancy family vacation, don’t get discouraged. In this article, I will list several budget-friendly vacation ideas that are great for all families.

If you are like me, you are the lucky one who gets stuck with planning the family vacation. You will probably spend hours on the internet trying to figure out where to go, what to do and how to do it for less. If you have a smaller family, this task might be a little easier because it seems like the whole world is based on having a family of four. But if you are a larger family, the standard hotel room with 2 double beds will not provide enough room if you are staying for more than a couple days. Airfare does not fit into our budget and the cost of food at a sit-down restaurant is staggering leaving us with very little money for fun and activities. So how can a family still take a great vacation for less??

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 the most cost-effective vacations.

Adventure vacations include free or affordable outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking, bike riding, and camping. This vacation is perfect families who have 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 economical and include surfable waves, sandcastle building, great dining, and mile long boardwalks. This type of vacation is ideal for all ages especially babies and toddlers.

Best Family Beaches in US 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 how you will arrive at your destination: fly, ride the train or bus or drive a car.

You would save the most money by driving your car. The best option is the drive your car; however a lot of families resist putting hundreds of miles on their car and choose to rent a car. If you find airline flights, bus or train at a reasonable cost, consider the fact that you might still need to rent a car once you land. However, if you decide the fly and rent a car, go to www.priceline.com where you can ‘Name your Price’ on airfare and car rentals and save a lot of money, many times more than the regular price.

Choose when 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.

If you are traveling with a large group, I would consider a vacation home. You get a huge home to hang out in for several days and you can laugh and enjoy your vacation with other adults and maybe other children to keep your children occupied. Because of the low inventory of vacation homes, they need to be booked several months in advance and you have to clean up after yourselves daily.

Standard hotel rooms are great for small families, there is a larger inventory of standard rooms, and they provide housekeeping. However, with hotel rooms there is no privacy for the parents and you have to eat at restaurants every day, which can total up to over $500 for food alone. If you are looking for a standard room, Hotwire or Priceline (Name your Price) are your best options. Caution: with these two sites you don’t know where you will stay until you have purchased the room. I have used Priceline on several occasions and have always been pleased with my accommodations and have been upgraded to a higher star hotel on many occasions.

With a condo you have the best of both worlds. Parents have a room and the children have a room. Most condos have a full kitchen and you can prepare simple meals for breakfast and dinner saving you hundreds of dollars. Condos also have a washer and dryer in the unit, perfect for when little Katie or Kevin make and big mess. You can also use the washer and dryer to wash all your clothes before leaving making it much easier to unpack when you get home. Icing on the cake, housekeeping is available!

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.

Now all you have to do is decide what is most important for your family; location, transportation, entertainment or accommodations. Whatever you decide, spend the most money on that and skimp on everything else. Happy Travels!