7 Affordable Fall Vacations around the USA ...

National Parks are wonderful in fall. Some are blessed with incredible colors of the season, others are just brilliant because they are so all year round. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the USA’s favorite national park and offers so much to do and so many places to visit. You can enjoy the gorgeous natural beauty, get involved in all sorts of outdoor activities including, hiking, biking and fishing, go zip lining, view wildlife, spend more time than you really should at Dollywood and there are plenty of other options that are too numerous to mention. This is one of the best affordable fall vacations because you can either cram in tons of activity or just relax and enjoy the scenic surroundings.

Fall is a great time to visit Orlando because the summer visitors have gone home. This is great news if you love theme parks because the queues are so much shorter. Because of the reduced numbers at this time of year, you are likely to find some good deals on hotels and theme park tickets – look for deals combining the two. You’ll be guaranteed great weather and remember, Orlando’s theme parks cater for all ages and tastes and there are plenty of other activities around and about.

If you’re looking for a city break but Orlando doesn’t appeal, how about the City on the Bay? San Francisco has so much to see and do you can easily fill a long weekend or a week. Heck, you could probably spend a week in Golden Gate Park alone, and then there’s all those interesting districts set on the familiar hills, lovely Victorian architecture, the oldest Chinatown in the USA, Pier 39, ferries to islands and Alcatraz, a great café culture and let’s not forget the memorable experience of a trolley car ride.

The weather is still warm enough in South Carolina to enjoy a seaside vacation and Myrtle Beach is as good a place as any. Whether you’re visiting as a family or with girlfriends, the miles of warm sand and gentle ocean are perfect for relaxing during the day. Come sundown, you can enjoy the rides on the boardwalk, relive old times playing Pacman in the arcades, feast on seafood suppers in oceanfront restaurants and get tipsy on the finest from local micro-breweries. There are malls to shop or browse, mini golf to challenge your traveling companions, water parks and plenty of bars.

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly fall vacation to see the best of the colors of the season but offers more than just beautiful natural attractions, head for Massachusetts and the Berkshire Mountains. This is an especially lovely place if you want to spend your time between indoors and out. Base yourself in North Adams and you can have a vacation of relaxing hikes in the mountains interspersed with hours in museums. Within easy reach are the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, the Berkshire Museum and the Bennington Museum, with its Grandma Moses collection.

Like Orlando, fall visitor numbers are less than summer so there are some great deals to be found in Yellowstone National Park – particularly in the park lodges. The park is an ideal fall vacation location. There are more than 1000 miles of trails to hike from where you can enjoy awesome and breathtaking scenery, try your hand at rock climbing or abseiling or just enjoy trying to spot the incredible wildlife which includes more than 60 species of mammal. Visit Old Faithful and enjoy s’mores around a campfire.

Don’t think New York is a cliché. It is one of the greatest cities in the world and if you can find a decently priced hotel, you can have an absolute whale of a time on a limited budget. If there’s one city where everyone is a tourist, it’s NYC. There seems to be a landmark on every corner and if there isn’t, there’s one only a block away. Some of the most famous and iconic sights of the world are here, and many of them are free too. There’s always something happening in the city and more than enough places to visit and things to see whether you go for a couple of days or a couple of weeks.

Are you taking a fall vacation? Because you missed summer or just because? We’d love to hear where you are going.