Fun Fall Affordable Weekend Trips to Take with The Kids

Fall is an awesome time of year to travel with the kids for a quick weekend getaway. It usually means lower rates, mild weather, and fewer crowds too. These family vacation ideas are sure to get you planning and packing with the family soon this fall season.

The Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee not only offers beautiful fall foliage, but a host of family friendly things to do. Enjoy hikes in Smoky Mountain National Park and go ziplining to take in all the wondrous colors from above. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! features numerous attractions, including a haunted adventure, mini-golf, an aquarium and more. Dollywood over in Pigeon Forge is a must experience for families, with rides, shows and more. And, in October, you can check out all of the illuminated jack-o-lanterns as well.

How about visiting the Pocono Mountains? It offers families an active weekend escape, fun for the entire family of all ages. Play golf on the Pocono Mountains Golf Course, and go head to the Adventure Center for a choice of activities, like ziplining, paintball course, rock climbing wall, and a paintball course. The resort has both indoor and outdoor pools and a lake with a sandy shore, perfect for swimming and water sports from May through September.

History buff? Go visit Washington D.C. It is like a trip through the country’s history to discover its origins. Visit the interactive and engaging Newseum, which explains, using different media, the importance of the First Amendment and its effect on the freedom Americans enjoy today. Stroll by the 555-foot marble Washington Monument, which honors George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. Visit the National Cemetery to honor America’s fallen heroes. Stroll through the local parks and city and shop and window shop the many plethora sites and sounds that make up the great city. Kids will absolutely love a visit to the National Museum of Natural History with its fossils, meteorites and 126 million specimens.

Other wonderful weekend family trips include booking an indoor waterpark, which are open year round and offer fun for kids of all ages, including arcade games, restaurants and year round 80 degree day inside the waterpark too! Enjoy museums? Go on a hunt for those unique and quirky museums in the towns you are visiting, but don’t forget about the typical ones too, like military museums, science and history museums, children’s museums, and aquatic and marine museums too.

Animal lover? Visit any of the numerous zoos across America for a quick weekend trip, or better yet, search for animal sanctuaries and wildlife parks and go visit them, taking the time to learn about these rescued animals more in-depth and one on one with a volunteer on a private tour of the place and consider donating to these animals daily care.

Rent an RV for the weekend and take a mini family RV trip. Find a campground, they are located in all 50 states and take a trip to it, stopping along the way to various interesting and fun spots you happen to find. Or you can go to a campground and just pitch a tent or rent a cabin anyways. You may find RVing super addictive, and won’t be able to wait until you plan your next RV trip too!

Fall brings about many different fall festivals and fairs. These can be music and rock festivals, cultural, themed, centered around a particular food (corn festival, rib fest, etc), or unique around a hobby or interest. They can be a cheap, fun way for the family to hang out and walk around and get to know each other better.

Lastly, as summer winds down, go visit a nearby beach or travel to a few beaches on a weekend, not to go swimming (brrrr, water may be colder), but to have a picnic on the beach, go grilling, play volleyball, make sandcastles, walk along the beach barefoot or in sandals, hunt with the kids for buried treasures under the sand, and watch wildlife.

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