Inexpensive vacations for us means camping or visiting relatives or friends in the areas we want to visit. I drove from Ohio to Florida this past January and had a great time. We have a couple of camping trips planned this summer and fall. Total for all the trips will be less than $800 including fuel.
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So this is not as inexpensive as the examples above but if you go out of season, Croatia is about 1/4 of the price. Gorgeous 5 star hotels are almost empty and flights are half the price. The weather is beautiful and people are amazing.
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Inexpensive vacation for us is going to Grandma’s mountain house. We usually do that several times a year.
A medium expensive vacation for us is going to the beach for a week here in NC. We are splurging on a rental for $2230 this year and going with friends. There will be 7 of us. We drive. We eat out a fair amount, but definitely not every meal. Usually I find a rental under $2K, but we decided to splurge a little since this is D22’s graduation year. (She says she doesn’t want a fancy party or fancy trip, this is just an annual beach trip for us.)
If I get on a plane, it’s going to be an expensive vacation. We don’t do many of those. And I don’t want to be getting on a plane anytime soon anyway.
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Outer Banks, North Carolina. You could get a nice 5 bedroom house, with a pool, and a five minute walk from the ocean for $4000/week. We go there every year so are very clued into the rental prices. Not sure if that qualifies as inexpensive, but it’s a lot less than the house you linked above which was $3650/night. Once you’re there, no need to spend much money other than groceries- spend days at the beach or at the pool. There are some nice restaurants and other activities (jet skiing, minigolf, sailing, charter fishing, kayak tours, etc.) on the peninsula, if you want to spend money, but not required.
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You are a bigger spender than me! I usually spend less than half that for my beach vacay, but I see no need for a pool when you are at the beach. Also don’t need oceanfront. At other beaches in NC it’s even cheaper. I just checked another fave beach of ours and saw rentals as low as $1100k all taxes, etc, included. (It was $895 before taxes.) Less $$ = longer walk to the beach, though.
We are not there yet! All are out of high school, but 3 in college, so no after Labor Day rentals for us yet. We did book a house on LBI for mid June instead of our normal July, booked in the fall and inventory was lower than usual. Still $1700 a night plus taxes and fees, but 5 bedrooms and one house from the beach (we do this with my sister’s family every summer since they are out of state). Prices have increased so much due to Covid and folks wanting to stay local. Looking forward to enjoying the fringe seasons eventually (love the shore in September).
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Our cheapest vacations are cruises and Caribbean all-inclusives. Another great way to keep costs down is to buy a Groupon holiday. They are great deals.
When we did the beach trips, we’d go for a small condo (3-4 floors) across the street from the beach. I don’t mind crossing a street and walking to the beach, but not much further than that especially when we had the kids and their stuff in tow. Just going across the street saved a ton of money
And then you could always be like friends of ours and just cram more people into a smaller space. They have a 2 BR, 1 bath condo for… 8 adults! and now also 1 baby… That is a big no for me. Sleeping isn’t bad, but I need a ratio of 4 people to 1 toilet at least.
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For real. We prefer 3+ toilets for our crew of 7, but can make do with 2. All the 1 bathroom places are eliminated 
though.
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It is not cheap, but it is cheapER – the Caribbean in the off season. Everything’s cheaper: flights, car rental, house rental etc, and the temp is only a little hotter than in the high season.
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We are empty-nesters now and like to travel. I guess mainly because we are frugal but we always look for very inexpensive lodging as we would not consider a good vacation a place where we spend much time in the hotel.
I traveled quite a bit during my working life and stayed at the nicest hotels but I was only sleeping there (plus eating the breakfast usually) and always felt it was a waste of money.
We have been amazed that you can get a decent hotel room in Madrid, etc for quite a bit cheaper than you can for something comparable in many US cities…and for us I would much rather spend time in Croatia/Spain etc than most of the US cities I have visited…just have to stay long enough to offset the airfare hit.
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This vacation was only inexpensive because we used my husband’s many air miles, but if you can afford the cost of the plane tickets, Thailand is great value. Food and accommodation are cheap, excursions are not expensive. Our family of four went there in 2018 for ten days and it was one of our least expensive vacations. We all loved it.
Without plane fares, I always love going to DC. There are many wonderful things to do that are free or very low cost. An abundance of hotels means anyone can find accommodation to suit their budget.
Another favorite vacation was to Oregon in 2019. It’s a very reasonably priced destination with a huge variety of landscapes and excellent food. I can never say enough great things about the state. Portland is a super cool city with a lot of flights. The coast is superlative. There are no private beaches in Oregon so the coast is all yours. From Astoria, to Cape Meares, to Oregon Dunes, and the beautiful valleys as you head inland to the Cascades, it changes and becomes more beautiful all the time. The Umpqua region is spectacular, with lush forest, waterfalls, and thermal pools. Crater Lake is …. I can’t even describe it. Amazing. And I don’t even know Bend and all of its adventures, but it’s quite the happening place right now. Go to Oregon. You won’t regret it.
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Yes….the Jersey Shore in September is very nice. Prices can be very favorable as well. And it’s a lot less crowded during the weekdays.
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I am the same. That’s where I save when traveling. I look for great reviews for good but not high end hotels, as I’m out all day. I prefer free breakfast places.
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OMG this takes the cake. I love the spontaneity and lack of planning of this 50/50/50! Great idea!
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Hmmm…this must be off season rates?!
A family trip to Oregon for a wedding and then we added on a few days was among our best trips ever.
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@abasket we found that the season ends in the Carolinas earlier than north…because school starts earlier in August. Friends would drop their kids off at College of Charleston or UNC or wherever, and then take a week vacation at the ocean….with off season rates.
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I’m not the intended, but $4000 for a week is definitely not off season rates.
I have our splurgy-for-us beach house booked for June 4-11 for $2230, all taxes, etc included. I have paid a little more, still in the 2000s, for a house over July 4 week.
Off season we usually keep it just above $1k.
Lots of variables will effect the price in the Outer Banks, including especially 1) number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and 2) time of year. We get a five bedroom house because we go with three other families (so we split the cost four ways), and we go during high season (July). Rates are most expensive starting the last week in June through the first three weeks in August.
We stay in Duck - we like the small town there, and like that the peninsula right there is quite narrow so no house is more than a 5-10 minute walk from the beach. I could be wrong, but I think it would be pretty tough to find a five bedroom house in Duck in July for even close to $1100. But, if you had a smaller group and could go in early June (or May) or late August (or September) then I’m sure you could get a house for a lot cheaper.