Plan Your Next Family Vacation – 5 Affordable New England Adventures

Prepare for your next family vacation to New England and make the experience all the more enjoyable. By planning ahead, you can save money and stay on budget with your vacation expenses. Throughout the New England region there are plenty of activities and adventures to be had, and most of these cost next to nothing. To get you started, choose among these top five affordable family vacation ideas for all year long in the New England states.

Summer Road Trip

Instead of spending a fortune on a multi-week road trip, take a weekend adventure with a seacoast excursion. The New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development features the Colonial New Hampshire seacoast ride, which is a 40-mile trip from Portsmouth to Hampton. You can choose from historical haunts or beach side retreats [JC1] to make this an adventurous and affordable family vacation all your own.

Lake Retreat

Spend the weekend at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. This quaint lake shore was where the famous American author Henry David Thoreau spent time strolling and writing. Any time of the year is a fine time to visit the Walden Pond State Reservation. 

The best season is the summer when families are free to enjoy fishing, hiking, boating, and swimming. If you want to avoid the crowds, consider visiting Walden Pond first thing in the spring as soon as the last snow thaws. You get a fresh viewpoint of the pond and its beautiful spring plant life.

Aerial Adventures

Take to the tree canopies with an aerial adventure courtesy of ELC Outdoor Adventure Outpost. Located in Errol, this is ground zero for adventures in New England. Kayaking, whitewater rafting, canoeing along the Northern Forest Canoe Trail—it’s all available here.

You can also choose to tackle the zip line and ropes course in the trees. There’s even a pontoon boat ride that will carry you along Androscoggin River and Lake Umbagog. Bonus points if you plan your vacation around the peak time to view leaves during the autumn season. This would give you the once in a lifetime opportunity to be up close and personal with these gorgeously colored fall leaves.

Leaf Viewing in the Fall

The fall is perfect for viewing leaves in New England. But this year, do more than just drive along the meandering highways and byways staring through the windshield. Get outside into nature with a hike along one of the many top foliage hotspots. These include most trails in Rangeley, Maine; Burlington, Vermont, and Letchworth State Park in New York.

Walk the Freedom Trail

Another historically important activity you can do for your next family vacation in New England is to visit the Freedom Trail. This free, family-friendly activity is a two and a half mile long walking tour through Boston. The self-guided tour covers the most popular attractions in the Revolutionary era as related to Boston. 

Note that this tour does not include the Paul Revere House, the Old State House, and the Old South Meeting House. However, these historically impressive locations can affordably be added to your itinerary. 

Other Honorable Mentions

As you continue to fill up your itinerary for your next New England family vacation, here are a few honorable mentions. You can sample the beer for free with a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery located in Merrimack, New Hampshire. The tour is free, too. You can also take a free sample when you tour the Cape Cod Potato Chip Company.

Located in Hyannis, Massachusetts, the famous chip maker provides free tours with free chips freshly fried in the factory onsite. Another company that also provides free tours is the Yankee Candle in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. Here at the flagship store, you can indulge your candle loving senses for free. When it comes to the actual candles, though, you’ll have to pony up some dough.

Saving for your next trip? Check out saving options at Members Plus today!