Cheap trips
Sightseeing by bike
Join a multi-day tour and see the best of the Upper Midwest on a bicycle.
As people who like to ride bikes know, an organized bicycle tour is one of the great deals of vacation travel.
Why pay big bucks to an "adventure'' outfitter when you can join a local tour for very little? You could pay Timberline Adventures of Denver $1,800 for its tour of Missouri's Katy Trail — or you could pay Missouri state parks $250 for the same thing, albeit with accommodations in tents, not hotels.
For anyone who's reasonably fit, bike tours are the best possible way to see the countryside, and sponsors do everything for participants except pedal and set up tents.
Mom-and-pop motels of Grand Marais
Cheapskates love 'em, but so do traditionalists and anyone who just needs a room.
In summer, when the cities start to sizzle, a lot of people suddenly realize they’d rather be in Grand Marais.
This village on Minnesota’s North Shore is awash in Lake Superior’s cool breezes, and it has everything else a tourist could want – restaurants, shops, galleries, nightlife and scenery.
But it doesn’t always have enough room for all of the escapees, especially on festival weekends.
Cheap summer getaways
No money, no problem: Here are 30 great vacations that cost $100 or less.
In summer, it’s not as hard as you’d think to take a trip for $100 or less.
Many of the great travel experiences in the Upper Midwest can’t be bought, anyway — paddling under a full moon, bicycling around a lake, living in a lighthouse.
For $100, you won't be riding the flumes at a Wisconsin Dells water park, but you can ride Elvis' favorite roller coaster
until you're dizzy. You won't be spending the day at Lollapalooza, but you can hear Leo Kottke for $16.
Cheap spring getaways
Here are 15 spots where a fun weekend costs $100 or less.
Even in a dismal economy, there's no need to stay home.
If you're on a budget, you'll have to look beyond fancy resorts, spas and bistros.
Watch prairie chickens courting on the central Wisconsin sand plains or go up north to Ely for a guys getaway. Look for wildflowers from a cabin in northeast Iowa or bicycle the Munger Trail from a lodge in eastern Minnesota.
Table-hopping in bluff country
On a culinary adventure to Decorah, we tighten our belts, then let them out.
Lately, we’ve been traveling like kings . . . and paupers, too.
I suspect a lot of other people are doing the same thing. To get what we want, we save on something else.
Our favorite splurge is eating out, but a meal for two in a really good restaurant costs $60-$100, same as a hotel room. Our solution? We pitch a tent.
Playground in the woods
At Deep Portage, adults take a tip from the kids.
As adults, we sometimes forget how great it is to be a kid.
People give you toys to play with. They show you new games and explain things in interesting ways. They feed you freshly baked cookies and s'mores.
Kids take it for granted. But I didn't one January, when I got to stay at Deep Portage Learning Center, in the woods north of Brainerd.
Bargains for beginners
Free or cut-rate ski and snowboard packages make it easy to learn.
When you’re a beginning skier, it’s nice to catch a break.
Alpine ski areas want to foster lifelong skiers and snowboarders, so most offer great deals to first-timers. Places are limited, so reserve in advance.
In Duluth, Spirit Mountain offers free Learn a Snow Sport
days on Jan. 8, 22 and 29. Skiers 13 and older get free equipment, conveyor lift and a 1½-hour lesson, a $45 value.
A roof in the woods
In state parks, visitors love their camper cabins.
For people who love the outdoors, luxury is in the eye of the beholder.
Is it a Jacuzzi or a latrine? A four-course breakfast or a fire ring?
The answer is not so obvious. If the choice also includes starry skies, silence and snow-laden pines, many folks would take a camper cabin over a fancy inn, even if they have to use vault toilets and cook over a fire.
Cornucopia of coupons
Sign up for online discounts, and you'll rarely have to pay full price.
These days, everyone wants to give you a good deal.
Sign up for the many online discount programs and you’ll get offers for lodgings, restaurants, theater tickets and spa services delivered to your in-box every day.
Groupon and LivingSocial are duking it out with a
platoon of challengers, which now includes Google Offers.
Cheap winter getaways
Here are 15 places where a fun weekend costs $100 or less.
In the Upper Midwest, we tend not to brag — except when we find a great bargain.
My, do we love our bargains. We love them even when times are good. But now that they're bad, we need them, especially when
cabin fever strikes in winter.
One of our favorite winter getaways is the Sports Dorm at Giants Ridge alpine ski resort on Minnesota's Iron Range. It costs less than $20 per person to stay there, but it's only yards from a chairlift.
Cheap Chicago
Here are 10 tips to make a trip to the Windy City easy to afford.
Chicago is on a roll. Millennium Park is wildly popular, and the city has been crowned the western White House.
But long before Barack Obama made Chicago cool by association, people had noticed that it's a whole lot of fun. These days, tourists have to compete with hordes of conventioneers and suburbanites fleeing back to the city. Prices, of course, have gone up.
But Chicago is a populist town, and there's lots to do for free. Here are 10 tips for making a trip affordable.
At home in a hostel
Feeling adventurous? The dorm-style lodgings are open to everyone, and you can't beat the price.
To get a bargain on lodgings, you can try Priceline or Hotwire. You can clip coupons or use AAA or AARP discounts.
You can try every angle, but a single traveler still won’t find a bed that’s cheaper than those at hostels.
Many Americans think hostels are used only by college-age backpackers in Europe. That’s how most of us discover them.
Cheap fall getaways
Here are 20 places to enjoy autumn colors without going into the red.
Fall is the busiest travel season of the year — we all know the nice days are numbered, and we're going to try our damnedest to make them count.
But with pretty much everyone heading out to look for fall color, especially on weekends, there are few bargains.
That's why those of us on a budget look to our old friends: the parks, the mom-and-pop motels, the environmental centers, the hostels, the outdoors clubs.
Braking for jelly beans
With the siren call of free samples, factories reel in visitors.
On the I-94 corridor between Chicago and Milwaukee, tourists get to go trick or treating all year-round.
In Pleasant Prairie near Kenosha, they get packets of jelly beans. In Chicago, they're handed chocolate and cheesecake. In Milwaukee, it's caramel corn and cheese pizza.
Everyone loves free samples, and factory tours are a fun way to spend an hour or two. But watch out: They usually end in an outlet shop, where you'll be sorely tempted to spend real money.
Staying with Airbnb
Like meeting people? Like a deal? An online service makes travelers guests in private homes.
Apparently, hotels are so 20th century.
These days, people are staying anywhere but. They’re renting vacation homes through VRBO and HomeAway. They’re house-sitting at Caretaker.org. They’re staying for free at HomeExchange.com, Servas.org and Couchsurfing.org.
Now, we have Airbnb.com, whose slogan is “Travel like a human.’’
Camping out west
Not far from the Twin Cities, county parks provide easy access to beach life.
In Kandiyohi County, it's thanks to the last Ice Age that life's a beach today.
Near Willmar, a lobe of the last glacier came to a grinding halt 12,000 years ago, dumping massive blocks of ice that made big dents in the ground.
Now, they're lakes, popping up like mirages at the edge of soybean fields, behind screens of ash and cottonwoods. Farther north, they're hidden amid rocky meadows and rolling hillocks full of glacial rubble.
Swapping houses
For budget travelers, keys to a borrowed home open a lot of doors.
It’s a leap of faith, letting strangers stay in your house.
But if you take that leap, you can land in some pretty nice places.
The home-exchange concept is simple: You vacation in my house, I vacation in yours. It was pioneered in 1953 by teachers in Europe, and it got a big boost by the 2007 movie “The Holiday.’’
Cheap stays
In summer, college residence halls are a boon to budget travelers.
Until recently, my memories of college dorms mostly involved sloppy drunks, sloppier roommates and a bathroom shared by the whole floor.
Then my husband and I stayed at Marquette University in Milwaukee. It was as quiet as a cathedral, and we had a private bath and a panoramic view of the city from our 17th-floor picture windows.
We paid $28 apiece, which was nice because we like to save money. But mostly, we stayed at Marquette because it was so
convenient, three blocks from the special bus that takes summer visitors to the lakefront Henry Maier Festival Park and right
on the route that takes baseball fans to Miller Park on game days.
A cabin in Iowa
Spectacular scenery lies at guests’ feet in a resort-like state park.
What a way to spend a weekend: hiking up and down ravines, clambering on rock, admiring views of water from ridgelines.
“It’s like hiking on the North Shore,’’ my husband said.
But it wasn’t Lake Superior’s North Shore. It was Iowa. And everyone knows Iowa is one big, flat cornfield.
Follow the leader?
On a guided trip, drop a bundle or a bit — the choice is yours.
Want to save money on trips? Then, step away from the fancy catalog.
Glossy pages of snow-capped mountains and medieval castles are eye candy for travelers. But the prettier the brochure, the more eye-popping the prices.
Luxury excursions are like Jaguars and Jimmy Choo shoes. We covet them, we window-shop for them, but only a few of us can afford them.
8 great travel tips
Planning a summer vacation? Here are a few good things to know.
We get a lot of questions at MidwestWeekends from people planning vacations.
We’re glad to help, because we believe in planning. Spontaneity is a wonderful thing, but it’s risky in summer, when the rest of the world also is on vacation.
Most common questions: Where can I get a deal in the Wisconsin Dells/Duluth/Minneapolis? Where should I stay? What should I bring to a rented cabin? How can I avoid bugs?
Ponies and putters
In the Minnesota River Valley, a state park makes golfing and horseback riding easy to afford.
Of all the fun things a person can do, riding a horse is not one of the cheapest. Unless you’re part of the country-club set, it’s an expensive hobby — kind of like golf.
But there’s one place where you can go on a trail ride and golf and stay overnight — for less than $100 per person.
My friend Debra knew about a Minnesota River Valley stables that offers scenic three-hour trail rides for $60. I knew about a guesthouse right on the golf course in Fort Ridgely State Park where five of us could sleep on the floor for $15 apiece.
Listening for a deal
If you belong to public radio or another arts organization, check your benefits before traveling.
Before you head out the door, check to see what deals are waiting for you – because all you have to do is ask.
Many people know that their AAA card gets them a 10 percent discount at most hotels. But I suspect many members of public radio and other arts organizations have forgotten about the great deals they can get on inns, restaurants and entertainment.
If you’re a member of Minnesota Public Radio or Wisconsin Public Radio, you can get two nights for the price of one at Fitger’s in Duluth, which has downhill and cross-country skiing right in the city.
Happy deals
For rock-bottom hotel rates, learn how to use Priceline.
When reserving a hotel room, there are deals, and then there’s Priceline.
Five years ago, I tried the on-line bidding service, which has a big catch: You don’t know what hotel you’ve
reserved until you’ve paid for the room. We got a hotel in Miami’s South Beach that had a decent location but was
noisy, had an unfriendly staff and charged an extra "resort fee.''
After that, I’d had it with Priceline – until friends made me reconsider.
© Beth Gauper, 2007 - 2012 all rights reserved
