Tim Leffel's Cheapest Destinations

Cheap Family Travel in the U.S.

Since I do a lot of writing about international travel and focus on that in my books, naturally I think it’s a great idea to take your kids beyond your home borders. But even if it’s much cheaper where you’re going after arrival, it’s hard to beat the economic argument that driving somewhere a couple of hours from home is easier to fit into the household budget. It beats staying home, so better to get away somewhere close rather than sitting around watching TV and sitting on the deck, with the same view you see every week.

My buddy Sheila Scarborough writes for the blog connected to Perceptive Travel and she hosts the Family Travel blog over at BootsnAll. For about two years now I’ve been promising to do a guest post for her on family travel bargains in the southeast and I finally got it done. It’s a one-tank Tennessee and Alabama Road Trip, taking in a loop that can be done in two different directions. It covers my home town of Nashville, Chattanooga, the Unclaimed Baggage Center, and Huntsville. All great stops with plenty to keep the kiddies occupied. It’s pretty easy to find a good hotel deal along the way—even if you don’t pick up those motel coupons they have at rest stops—and there are plenty of state parks with campgrounds, lodges, and cabin rentals.

These are the kinds of places I visit when I want a quick getaway with the family and I’ve never come back feeling like my wallet got heisted. It pays to get out of the big cities and the destinations you see hyped to death.

These are some pretty good places to live as well: easy on the budget and generally better than the norm for job prospects. In fact a biz magazine I was reading on the plane the other day ranked Huntsville as #1 in the country for job creation. You’d better be a rocket scientist though, or at least more than a little smart. Lots of those jobs are in government-related tech fields.

Read the whole bargain travel loop story.