Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've got a $1200 budget after flying him to the states (incl. visa fees). I don't want to go to any place where the typical spring breakers will be. No sunny FL beaches, no expensive hotels, etc.
I'm open to pretty much anything, really, though I prefer someplace rural so that things are as cheap as possible. I was raised on vacations where we drove to KY, slept in a $40/night hotel, went fishing and to the beach for a few days, and were treated to Red Lobster one night. This is the kind of thing I'm looking for here.
Here's what I'm looking for:
low key, non-touristy town.
near a nice national or state park.
>$120/night hotel/chalet (chalet/cabin preferred so that we can cook our own meals & more romantic)
there must be a greyhound station in town (lol...)
In one of these states: CO, NM, UT, NV, AZ, TX, KS, MO, or NE.
Check out Eureka Springs, AR....hilly, beautiful views, lots of trees, lakes, many nice cabins at the lake; the little town hangs on the side of the mountain and is full of beautiful romantic Victorian B&B's. You can stroll the streets...won't be many stores open as early as Spring Break but there are places to eat....explore the Crescent Hotel at the top of the mountain and take the ghost tour. The town is romantic and quiet but still has places to get out and hike and explore.
Flagstaff, AZ. There are countless hotel rooms and rental homes/condos in the area due to the close proximity to the Grand Canyon. Because it will be March, you still have the option of some excellent powder skiing up at Arizona Snowbowl, plus its "low season" for Grand Canyon and Flagstaff is still wearing its "normal town" clothes. Its a big enough town that even in high season it doesn't really feel that touristy. Within a 2 hour radius of town you have Grand Canyon, Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, the San Francisco Peaks, Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater Volcano, Walnut Canyon, Montezuma & Wupatki Indian dwellings/ruins, Sedona, Jerome, Grand Falls on the Navajo Reservation, Mogollon Rim, Glen Canyon Dam & Lake Powell, etc, etc...
Flagstaff, AZ. There are countless hotel rooms and rental homes/condos in the area due to the close proximity to the Grand Canyon. Because it will be March, you still have the option of some excellent powder skiing up at Arizona Snowbowl, plus its "low season" for Grand Canyon and Flagstaff is still wearing its "normal town" clothes. Its a big enough town that even in high season it doesn't really feel that touristy. Within a 2 hour radius of town you have Grand Canyon, Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, the San Francisco Peaks, Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater Volcano, Walnut Canyon, Montezuma & Wupatki Indian dwellings/ruins, Sedona, Jerome, Grand Falls on the Navajo Reservation, Mogollon Rim, Glen Canyon Dam & Lake Powell, etc, etc...
I'm going to 2nd this one. I love this area.
And you could even be......standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona.
Check out Eureka Springs, AR....hilly, beautiful views, lots of trees, lakes, many nice cabins at the lake; the little town hangs on the side of the mountain and is full of beautiful romantic Victorian B&B's. You can stroll the streets...won't be many stores open as early as Spring Break but there are places to eat....explore the Crescent Hotel at the top of the mountain and take the ghost tour. The town is romantic and quiet but still has places to get out and hike and explore.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,801 posts, read 58,331,069 times
Reputation: 46311
CO could be plenty snowy during spring break, so... Fly to Denver get a cheap rental car (he'll think you are going to Colorado UNTIL you head north up I-76, and swing into Sidney, NE (Cabella's, nice sporting shop / museum) Possibly tent camp at their pond / campground. (they allow RV's but not sure about tents). Eat at local diners in small towns, get to know the locals (ask quetsions and engage in conversation about their locale., study up on doing this in farm / ranch country, listen to livestock market reports and know your stuff!)
Then north to Chadron / Alliance, NE and Carhenge The official website for Carhenge. Try to get a spot to stay on a ranch. (guest house).
Now before you shut down and tune me out, HEAR ME OUT!
I am a Las Vegas aficionado but a very atypical one, and I want to share with you my reasons for why you should take him to Vegas, based on my own experience. I will also show you how you can be in that city and NOT part of any kind of "Spring Break scene". It's very easy, actually. And it's all very budget-friendly!!!
Most people who go to Las Vegas spend the majority of their time on the Strip. They stay in nice, trendy rooms and they eat at celebu-chef restaurants, they gamble, they go to see big-name shows like Bette Midler or Elton John or Cirque du Soleil. They spend time at the luxurious pools and the fancy bars and clubs. What I'm recommending is very different.
First, stay in a hotel downtown. I have stayed in many of them, and that includes all the lowest-end ones. ALL of them have been clean and provided a nice, clean, no-frills room which was comfortable enough for a great night's sleep, a good shower, and even some sitting around to relax. But the best thing is that they have always cost me anywhere from $10 to $40 a night. For the money, you just cannot go wrong. I'd recommend you look into Binion's (they have a pool on the roof, too), El Cortez, Las Vegas Club, The Plaza, and the Golden Gate. If you are willing to spend more you can stay in a really nice room at the Golden Nugget, and get much more for your money than you'd get on the Vegas Strip.
Other hotel options in that price range or maybe a little higher are "off-strip" properties like the Orleans, Palace Station, Gold Coast, Boulder Station, Arizona Charlie's, and several others. Do an Expedia search for "downtown" and "off-strip" and list them by price, then check out their reviews on Expedia and TripAdvisor. You will find a good place, for sure.
Airfare and car rental will tend to be much cheaper for Las Vegas due to their high volume, particularly if you plan in advance.
Downtown is historical - it's the original "strip", the original collection of casinos and hotels. It is interesting to see a lot of the history that remains. Also, food in Vegas will be cheap, particularly if you indulge in some of their excellent buffets.
Rather than gamble your time away or go to shows, bars, clubs, etc. take advantage of the opportunities nearby. Red Rocks Canyon is good. Valley of Fire is even better, and further out in the desert. It is all red rock, which glows like orange fire, particularly in the last couple hours before sunset.
Lake Mead includes the Lake Mead Recreational area, all the undeveloped, protected desert surrounding the lake. It is stunningly beautiful and you can drive through it to get to Valley of Fire. There are plenty of hikes, a couple of oasises, and for much of the area you don't even see the lake, although there are many areas where you get a great view of the lake. There are many access points to the lake, where you can go to swim, fish, or rent a boat - anything from a houseboat to a small personal watercraft. It is a fun lake to explore, it's huge with lots of "fingers" and coves. The water is usually reflecting the bright blue sky and it contrasts nicely with the dark beige and orange desertscape.
Hoover Dam is a big tourist attraction but definitely a man-made wonder and worth visiting. Aside from parking it is free to visit, but various tours have various pricing and the tours let you see more if you so wish. I have found that for many people I take to Vegas it's enough to just see it and take in the free information that is available. It's also fun to walk across it (it's a short walk) and wind up in Arizona which is an hour different due to the time zone (Hoover Dam is the border between NV and AZ).
A good day trip that I have often done is to hit Hoover Dam first thing in the morning, then get out of there by about 10 or 11, then drive up through the Lake Mead Rec. area, stopping along the way to take in sights (including a drive down to the lake at one of the access points or marinas), and then on to Valley of Fire where I like to catch that last couple hours of daylight, then I drive out to I-15 and down back to Vegas.
From Vegas, you can also visit Mt. Charleston. If you are going in March, or even April, there's a chance that you'll be able to catch some last-minute skiing or snowboarding at the top of the mountain. It's a great experience, within 40 minutes you go from the city of Las Vegas, through hot desert, and then as you drive up the mountain the temperature drops and the landscape changes from desert to alpine! Joshua trees and sagebrush give way to Pinon Pines and other mountain plants. From the top, you have a view of the entire Las Vegas valley, including the H-bomb test site, which plaques at the lookout point will educate you on.
You can plan a trip to Zion and Bryce parks in Utah from Vegas. It's about a 1.5 hour drive to St. George, UT where you can get an inexpensive hotel room for a couple nights. From there, you are 1/2 hour from Zion and about an hour from Bryce, and you can do one park per day.
The beauty of Las Vegas is that if you DO happen to tire of the "atypical" stuff, the nature and hiking and all that, you have EVERYTHING else you could possibly desire at your disposal, 24/7. But if you want to avoid all that, it's remarkably EASY to avoid it all. Still, you can avoid it all while taking full advantage of the cheap deals and huge financial benefit of visiting Las Vegas.
Just walking around Las Vegas is interesting in itself, to see some of the huge mega-hotel/casino/resorts. There is plenty of free entertainment in the various casinos and hotels, much of it right on the strip. Also in Las Vegas, you have some history. The old Mormon Fort is an excellent, educational option that is not the typical tourist attraction and only costs a couple bucks. Same with the Spring Mountain Ranch. Also there is the Neon Boneyard where some of the great old-time neon signs of the "original Vegas" are kept.
If you still need more to do, you have Death Valley about 2 hours away, and I HIGHLY recommend that. One of the most beatiful and unique places on earth and definitely impacted me. Be sure to cruise through artist's drive to see "artist's palette" - it's amazing that in the desert, with so much beige around, you also see every other color in the rock, like pink, green, blue, purple, yellow, etc. (you will notice this in Lake Mead Rec. area also, but in DV's artist's palette it's more striking).
So take advantage of Vegas' low airfares, cheap and great food, absurdly low hotel rates, and their location near several beautiful desert parks like Zion, Bryce, Death Valley, Lake Mead, etc. and enjoy a trip that is not only atypical but also inexpensive yet incredibly stunning. The best value is that the things you will see are worth so much more than the very little money you may spend on entrance fees (usually $5-10 per park) and such a great value compared to man-made entertainment.
Make good use of the buffets and you'll find yourselves eating well for very little money. Ones I'd recommend on a budget are the Orleans and the Gold Coast, and Palace Station, Main Street Station - these run around $12 each for dinner. For around $18 for dinner there's the Green Valley Ranch, the Palms; for about $23 I highly recommend the Rio which has often been considered the best for the money in Vegas (and it is my overall favorite). Lunch buffets will cost less.
Also, Vegas is a normal city once you get away from the strip and downtown, so hit up the supermarkets for bread and coldcuts to make picnic sandwiches and pick up some bottled water for these day trips - you will save money, eat well, and see a little of what Vegas is REALLY like as a city (down to the slot machines in the grocery stores, etc.!).
There are so many choices, but when you said you had that budget, I wouldn't even consider going anywhere else on that budget, because in Vegas you can have little money and not feel deprived.
One other thing I'd recommend - at least one night, go out in Vegas. Go online for the Rio's Voodoo lounge, they usually have a coupon that gets you in for free before 10 - go there and enjoy a beautiful lounge/club on the top floor, with an amazing, amazing view of the strip (one of the best in Vegas). It's a fun place, very nice with the "flair" bartenders and all that, but should be fun for you and your b/f to relax and take in the view.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
