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The Basics - 10 factors that make a great vacation a good valueBy Adriane G. Berg www.moneycentral.msn.com Do you want a remote getaway, a popular destination or to take in a big event? To help you determine what you want in a vacation, check out our 10 criteria. Finding the perfect vacation spot isn’t like picking a number on the roulette wheel and then giving it a spin. Luck doesn’t have anything to do with it. If you know what you want and know how to find it, you can choose the yearly getaway that leaves you with lifelong memories. Determine what’s important to you by creating a set of objectives for what you want out of the trip. To help you, we’ve devised 10 criteria for how to choose a vacation. The criteria were set by studying a mix of factors. They included discussions with travel agents, representatives of tourist bureaus and travel publications, personal experiences and reviews of other information. Choose the criterion most important to you or a mix of all of them. 1. A wide variety of lodgings in every price range. Lodgings will be one of the biggest line items on your vacation budget. And how you feel about the importance of accommodations may vary from “I only sleep there, who cares?” to “Sheets with less than a 500-thread count depress me.” Maybe like me, you find it fun to both rough it and spend time in posh surroundings on the same vacation. If so, large cities and routine tourist destinations will give a smorgasbord of accommodations. In Orlando, Fla., where Walt Disney World is based, for instance, you can stay at a campground for as little as $25 a night or stay in a four-diamond hotel at rates of up to $1,000 a night. If you want to think about something a bit more adventurous, you can get a surprising variety in national parks such as northern Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park or the refined outdoors of New York’s Adirondacks. 2. Currency equal to or weaker than your dollar. One of a vacationer's greatest pleasures is to get more for less. Eating at a Brazilian rodizio (unlimited meat roasts and vegetables served at the table) for $7 per person or buying fine Canadian wool at two-thirds the price in the United States makes spending guiltless. Even trips within the United States can give you that “wow, this is cheaper than home!” excitement. For example, cities such as Louisville, Ky., with its Kentucky Center for the Arts and world-renowned Actors Theater of Louisville and, of course, the Kentucky Derby, can be a treat for vacationers. Or stretch your dollar in Las Vegas, where everything from movie theaters to food is subsidized by huge gambling revenues. If you don't gamble, you can luxuriate in fabulous pools, eat like a king and watch the big stars while the guys at the blackjack table are footing half your bill. If that bores you, check the nearby desert or even the Hoover Dam. 3. Easily accessible by air and good roads, trains, area transportation. From Antarctica to the African plains, you can get most anywhere these days, but at what price? The journey may be too strenuous for you (Himalayan adventures are graded by arduousness.). Other destinations are deceptively simple to visit until you arrive. For example, Crans Montana in the Swiss Alps is a short train ride from Geneva. Once you get there, it's a cable car up and down the mountain and a treacherous drive on narrow icy roads to explore nearby France and Italy. U.S. destinations are best if they’re destination or “hub” airports, in which airlines use that locale as a staging spot to send travelers on to other cities. An exciting U.S. location with non-stop flights from almost anywhere in the country is Nashville. It’s a relatively inexpensive city that offers the Grand Ole Opry and the new Country Music Hall of Fame. 4. Different but on the beaten path. One of the most satisfying vacations you can spend is one that doesn’t place you in the middle of 400,000 other tourists but still offers you resort accommodations and plenty of things to do. If you’ve always wanted to visit Hawaii but don’t want to join the masses, consider the island of Kauai. It’s the South Pacific’s tropical Switzerland, 15 minutes by plane and 110 miles west of Honolulu. A contrasting type of exotic locale is found in the pioneer life of the Black Hawk Hills of Northern Illinois. A good time to visit is in autumn, beginning in Rockford, Ill., where you can enjoy the quintessential all-American road tour into a country unchanged since 1834. 5. Great or interesting cuisine. For price and quantity, Latin America offers incredible deals not just on the food but on accommodations and overall cost. A three-course, fresh fish meal in Honduras, including wine, is $15. For European cuisine, it's a tie between Greek festival foods like skewered lamb and onions and the heavy Portuguese peasant cuisine. Don't forget the Uzo with the Greek food, and finish the Portuguese menu with a beaker of port and a cream cake from Belem. All for well under $20 per person. 6. Fascinating sightseeing, both day and evening. Surveys show that we prefer and take shorter, more frequent vacations. That means we want every minute to count. Whether playing tennis at midnight or sitting in a smoky cabaret, it's important that the facilities be open. For round-the-clock activity, few U.S. destinations beat San Antonio, home to the Alamo, the Riverwalk, and one of the nation’s great Cinco de Mayo celebrations. After their visit, your kids might think that Sam Houston was the first president of the United States but at least they'll learn some Mexican-American history. 7. Opportunity for unusual cultural/adventure experiences. If the purpose of travel is to momentarily peek into the culture of others, you must check out the travel services that cater to "agenda" travelers. Anything from volunteer work to mountain climbing to learning a language abroad is available. Perhaps, for example, you'd like to experience Russia. For a first visit, you're better off with a semi-escorted trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Most leave every Wednesday and return a week later, at moderate prices. A very different peek into the hearts and minds of a people can be found in the Waterfowl Festival in Easton, Md. The signposts are in the shape of carved ducks. Art exhibits, carvings, bird-call contests and more honor the miracle of migration, a natural ritual just as much a part of the fall as the changing of the leaves. 8. Good for both escorted and independent touring. As much as your choice in lodgings, the degree to which you are helped with travel plans -- before and during the trip -- are a matter of preference. Getting on and off a bus at the pace of a group can be deadly if you want to take your time. A popular compromise is an independently booked flight, a rental car and a few local sightseeing excursions with a tour guide. However, some areas that attract knowledgeable older travelers offer wonderful escorted itineraries that give you an independent feeling. Affinity group tours may especially make sense. Horticulturists will thrill at Nemours, near Wilmington, Del. A chateau there was built in 1910 by Alfred DuPont and named for his great-grandfather, a prominent economist and political figure during the reign of Louis XVI. (He was also an early promoter of France’s selling Louisiana to the United States.) Soon after the DuPont family fled to America in 1800, they became its richest immigrants. Alfred patterned Nemours after Versailles, with 102 rooms and the full board of carved ceilings, inlaid floors and priceless antiques. The mansion is on the grounds of the Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children. 9. Things to do and see that are free. On vacation, once transportation and hotels are paid for, you may not have much money left. That shouldn’t stop you. Museum passes, long walks and the surprise festival are the experiences that make the vacation. For Americans, the sights you get on the open road have always been a lure. Consider parks like Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee. Joining the two is the famed Blue Ridge Parkway. Or, of course, there are also such natural masterpieces as Yosemite in California Yellowstone in Wyoming, Grand Canyon in Arizona, or Olympic National Park in Washington state. Many national parks and monuments are free. Some like Yellowstone and Yosemite have fees. Perhaps the world champion of free sightseeing is our nation's capital. Even if you’ve been there before, start with the mall area. Surrounding it are the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art and many other world-class museums. It's easy to spend a month here for next to nothing in sightseeing costs. 10. Other interesting areas within an hour's drive. Oddly enough, even the most sedentary of us tend to get restless on vacation. A great experience can be to settle into a place, then leave it for a riveting few hours -- a vacation from the vacation. Cape Cod, Mass., is 70 miles long with dunes, white beaches and art colonies. Its summer cuisine, casual chic and families with sand pails define a summer decompression chamber. Meanwhile, the very scenic Mt. Hood National Forest in northern Oregon is just a few hours' ride from Portland. For a bit more drama, the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is a day-trip away from the population centers of Seattle and Portland, Ore. Have A Great Vacation... But Don’t Over Do It!www.yourfamilyshealth.comFew things in life can hold a candle to a really terrific vacation. You know the kind...where you do exactly what you want to do, when you want to do it. For some, basking in the sun and listening to the gentle sounds of waves licking the shore is the perfect vacation scenario. Others yearn to spend time in the shadow of majestic mountain peaks, beside clear, cold streams full of fish. Some people, however, would simply opt for uninterrupted solitude with time to read a good book, or pursue a favorite hobby. "Whatever kind of vacation you choose," explained Juan R. Amell, M.D., founder and medical director of Red Oak Cardiovascular Center, "it should provide rest and relaxation, new experiences and entertainment . A vacation should not, on the other hand, be a source of stress and anxiety -- especially if the person taking the "time off" has a heart condition." "For people who have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, vacations will require a little more planning. Certainly, you can have fun," the cardiologist continued, "there are just more factors to consider before leaving home. While we might have been willing victims to the seductive kiss of the sun when we were younger, for example, soaring temperatures and too much direct sunlight on aging skin can be a dangerous combination." Here are some of Dr. Amell’s suggestions to help cardiac patients enjoy their leisure time and stay healthy, too:
The dictionary definition of vacation is "a period of rest." Achieving this objective could be exactly what the doctor ordered! |