Home >  Do It Now >  Spring >  Good deals

Other stories in "Spring"

• Miles to ride
  Chances are, there's a great new bicycle trail near you.
• A new trail and two state parks
  A variety of scenery makes for a great day in southeast Minnesota.
• The mushrooms are coming
  The search is on for the wily morel.
• Work for food (and lodgings)
  In spring, do chores or clear a trail and get a free or cheap trip.
• The season's first ship
  For a free trip to Duluth, guess when the first saltie will arrive.
• Without reservation
  If there's a big festival in your future, stake out space as soon as possible.
• Finally, the Bunyan is done
  Last stretch of paving creates a 106-mile trail between Bemidji and Brainerd.
• Blazing a trail
  Like to hike? Then help out your favorite places.
• Gotta have a twist cone
  When the mom-and-pop ice-cream stands open, happy days are here again.
• Planning ahead
  Tour a tall ship, reserve a campsite, find the mother lode.
• Road Trip/Wildflowers in bluff country
  On two sides of the Mississippi, see thousands of lovely blooms in one day.
• Culinary getaways
  On artisan farms, help pick your own dinner, then dine alfresco.
• Snap up copy of new biking guide
  In Wisconsin, new trails await bicycle tourists.
• Friend us on Facebook
  Watch for cool events and new picture galleries.
• A room in the Zona Romantica
  In a Puerto Vallarta neighborhood, a B&B fosters friendships.
• Guest List/Andrew Slade's Top 5 North Shore campgrounds
  Guest list.

Good deals

Grab a Deals in the Dells card at Culver's.

If you're planning a trip to the Wisconsin Dells with kids, the free Deals in the Dells card from Culver's restaurants will save you a ton of money.

One adult can get up to four free admissions for kids 11 and under to the Kalahari, Mount Olympus and Chula Vista water parks, the Upper and Lower Dells boat tours, two Ducks tours (pictured), two jet-boat adventures, the new BigFoot zip line, the Tommy Bartlett Show and five rides at Noah's Ark Waterpark.

It's also good for free kids' admissions at the nearby International Crane Foundation, Circus World in Baraboo and and House on the Rock in Spring Green.

Lodgings also are discounted with the card, and campers get a free bundle of firewood. Deals are good through Labor Day. Pick up the card at your local Culver's, but call first to make sure it's in stock.

June deals at resorts: June, when many people are busy with graduation parties, can be slow at resorts, so it's a good time to find deals. On Minnesota's North Shore, June, when many people are busy with graduation parties, can be slow at resorts, so it's a good time to find deals. On Minnesota's North Shore, Cascade Lodge is offering one for hikers: Three nights, three breakfasts, two brown-bag lunches and a trailhead shuttle starting at $149 per person, $133 midweek.

Free tours of Glensheen: In Duluth, there's an even better deal at Glensheen mansion (pictured): Tours are free on Friday, May 28, to celebrate its 31 years as a museum. It's first-come, first-served, so come early if you're interested.

Coupon codes: Thanks to a Budget Travel magazine story about coupon codes, I scored an extra $30 off an Expedia hotel stay through the site RetailMeNot, where you also can shave a few bucks off your deals at Orbitz, Travelocity, Amtrak, Megabus and many hotels, airlines and rental-car agencies.

People planning summer trips to Chicago could have gotten $109 rooms at Hotel 71, one of the city's best-located hotels, through Groupon, which also offered half-price lakefront bike tours. AirFareWatchdog listed the cheapest flights — $116 — and LivingSocial offered half off at Bice Ristorante, where I once splurged on a meal.

TravelZoo alerted me to 80 percent-off deals at Restaurant.com, and Kayak told me about a new Midwest Airlines sale and 40 percent-off deals at Chicago hotels.

This spring, everyone wants to give you a deal. So if you don't mind a few additions to your in-box, and you know how to comparison shop, sign up now.

Traveling midweek: If you can travel midweek, or even tack a couple of days onto the weekend, you can really score some good deals.

Airlines have been offering $99 Midwest fares, most recently Midwest (Minneapolis-Milwaukee $99, $118 from Milwaukee to Kansas City or St. Louis). But to get the lowest fares, you can't fly on Fridays or Sundays.

Here are a few more midweek deals I've seen lately:

The Bernard Schwartz House in Two Rivers, Wis., a four-bedroom Life magazine "dream house'' designed and furnished by Frank Lloyd Wright (pictured), rents for $195 midweek in winter.

At Timber Ridge Lodge and Waterpark in Lake Geneva, Wis., pay $85 midweek through May 25 for a suite with kitchenette, whirlpool and fireplace plus four passes to the 50,000-square-foot water park. Book by Feb. 28 and use code TRVLZOO.

Travelzoo has come up with some good deals lately; I recommend subscribing to its Top 20, sent weekly. The recent $99 round-trip air fares (including taxes) on Delta, United and American were so popular the deal ended early — so if you see a good deal, don't wait to snap it up.

Trollhaugen, near the St. Croix River in western Wisconsin, is offering wannabe skiers and boarders who take a lesson in January a free lift ticket — value $41 — for use any time this season.

Lessons are $25-$45; for $67, add rental and lift ticket. Call ahead to reserve.

Ski 13 for $80: Many resorts have deals for beginners; check web sites. Here's a great deal from the Wisconsin Ski Industries Association: For $79.95, you get one lift ticket apiece at 13 ski mountains, including Trollhaugen,  Cascade Mountain and Devil's Head near the Dells and Alpine Valley, Wilmot and Mountain Top near Lake Geneva.

You'll also get tickets to Mount La Crosse, Mont du Lac near Superior, Tyrol Basin near Mount Horeb, Christie Mountain near Ladysmith, Camp 10 near Rhinelander, Sunburst near Sheboygan and Nordic Mountain near the Fox Cities.

And if you're a beginner, Spirit Mountain in Duluth holds three Learn to Ski or Snowboard Free days, with free equipment rental,  conveyor lift and 1½-hour lesson. They're Feb. 7 and March 7; reserve at 800-642-6377.

Stay at Itasca: In Itasca State Park, the rates for the Itasca Suites, the newest lodgings in the beloved northern Minnesota park, have been reduced to $99 from now until Memorial Day weekend.

They're near Douglas Lodge in two buildings that sit on either side of a large asphalt parking lot. There's no view, but the suites are attractively furnished, and they have kitchenettes, large satellite televisions and Internet access. In summer, they're $132; in winter, they're the only lodgings in the park besides the Mississippi Headwaters Hostel.

For more, see Lodgings in Minnesota state parks. For more about Itasca, see The people's park and Itasca in winter.

Last updated on May 19, 2010