Best & Worst Spring Break Destinations—Our Unfiltered Picks!

In this episode of Her Travel Expert, Kirsten and Meagan share top spring break tips, from planning tips to budget-friendly hacks. They highlight great destinations, including beach getaways, ski resorts, and unexpected international spots like Panama and Italy. Listeners get insider tricks for scoring deals on spring break getaways. This episode is a must-listen for anyone planning a spring break trip!

Kirsten Maxwell

Hi and welcome to another episode of Her Travel Expert. Today we are talking about all kinds of tricks and tips to make sure you and your family have a successful spring break.

Meagan Wristen

Plus where you should go.

Kirsten Maxwell

So let’s start it off with spring break tips and tell me, Meagan, how far in advance should somebody start planning spring break? Does it matter? Do we need to start a year in advance? Can it be last minute? Give me your take on this.

Meagan Wristen

I don’t think it matters when you plan it. I mean, if you want to go big, that’s going to take some planning. You want to go to Thailand? Yeah. You should plan that in advance. But I think a lot of it comes down to airfare right now because airfare is so high and has been so high for the last year and a half that there’s no such thing as getting a good last minute deal on airfare these days. If you’re going to Asia, my gosh, you better have planned that out months ago.

If you’re going to Europe, you probably should have been at least a month ago. I mean, but you know, last minute you can road trip. That’s pretty easy to do. Super last minute.

Meagan Wristen

If you’re within driving distance you can plan the night before. I’m a very last minute person, so I’ll even leave the country last minute, but that’s me.

Kirsten Maxwell

I think that’s exactly right on. I think for from what I’ve seen just in our family travel Facebook group, people are planning, if you’re staying in an all-inclusive resort, Caribbean’s on your radar for spring break, likelihood is that’s out. Every destination has been booked for months. Hotels have been booked for years. That’s not really a good last minute destination if you’re looking for it.

Same with Hawaii, I feel like. I tried to do Hawaii Spring Break a couple years ago and I could get flights, but everything else was booked. All the hotels were booked. There weren’t rental cars available. It may be a little different this year. I haven’t looked at Hawaii, but things like that were, and you said Europe, but I actually think Europe, if you could find a reasonable flight, it could be doable because it’s just so big. We’ve done some last minute, but when I say last minute, I mean, we may be planning December for a March trip. So a few months lead time.

Meagan Wristen

Well, I know one one thing I’ll do on Skyscanner is can choose, you can type in your airport and then choose everywhere. Then you can put in your spring break dates and it will look everywhere and start listing countries from cheapest to most expensive. So that’s how, that’s typically when we go that last minute, that’s how I found the deal.

So, and that’s why we’re in that particular country. Because I just happened to come across something crazy like, like Turkey. I booked that a few weeks out because I i think I booked it in June and we went in July.

Kirsten Maxwell

I’ve used Mo Mondo. M-O-M-O-N-D-O does the same thing as Skyscanner where you just pick your dates and say everywhere and it’ll show you what what’s available and what the prices are for flights. So that that could be another tool to use to find last minute things.

I also love Costco Travel because they put together some really good vacation packages. You can kind of look through their website. They do Caribbean, Hawaii. I think they do some Europe packages, but you can always put in your dates and see if they have anything available last minute that might be worth Booking.

Meagan Wristen

That’s great. I’ve never used them. The only package thing I can think of that I’ve done something like that was Apple Vacations. It sounds very similar.

Kirsten Maxwell

A package is usually airfare, hotel, and transfers and who doesn’t love that. And when you’re traveling with a family makes it super easy.

Meagan Wristen

Yeah, I will say my cousin Kyla was hitting me up a couple of weeks ago about spring break. She’s like, I think I waited too long and they really wanted to Mexico and had kind of like a real specific idea in mind of what they wanted to do. And she’s like, it’s booked. I told her to look at Costa Rica because it’s further, but not by much.

Kirsten Maxwell

Good idea.

Meagan Wristen

It’s still easy to get to Spirit Airlines flies direct down there from quite several airports in America. So you could still maybe get a cheap ticket.
The rule of thumb for us being able to go to Mexico or the Caribbean is whether or not it’s on sale during Black Friday.

Kirsten Maxwell

Yep.

Meagan Wristen

If you’re looking for a deal, hit Black Friday, Cyber Monday sales and book then. That way it’s not sold out by the time January first hits.

Kirsten Maxwell

So tell me, do you have a favorite spring break trip that you’ve done with your kids? Whether it was last minute or fully planned is there one that comes to top of mind? Like hey this was great! Let’s start with international. Maybe you have an international destination you recommend for spring break?

Whistler

Yeah, I’ve got two that we’ve done for spring break. One was Whistler. We did a ski trip. While we were there we did tubing, ziplining in the snow, we went skiing and the mountains there are massive. You could ski for three days and you’re not going to maybe do a third of what they have. Plus it’s like a village. Everything’s walkable. The shuttle service is really good around the little area. Everything you can eat is right there. The store, the playground, the hotel, the mountain, any of the other activities. It’s all right there, which I just find to be super convenient, especially if you’re traveling with younger children. Makes it really easy.

Kirsten Maxwell

Yeah, I think you had Panama was one of your other ones

Panama

Oh yeah, Panama is great. I haven’t done that for spring break, but Panama, much like Costa Rica, which I can recommend both of those, you’ve got jungle, you’ve got incredible ziplining and rappelling in the jungle. You’ve got waterfalls you can hike to. You’ve got beaches. I mean you can go surfing or you can just chill at the beach.

In Panama you can see the Panama Canal. A lot of the animals that you can see in Costa Rica you can also see in Panama. I think I know a lot of people complain that Costa Rica is too busy or or they can’t get quite the availability. They wanted to look at Panama. I think that’s a great opportunity, to a great alternative to Costa Rica. And they’ve got a ton of lodging too.

They have both coasts just like Costa Rica. So you can stay on the Atlantic or the Pacific side. I’m trying to remember which side we stayed on when we went. I think we were on the Pacific and it was lovely. But yeah, we saw monkeys and we got to go down the Panama Canal and a boat. I thought that was super interesting. It’s a neat experience. How about you?

Italy

Kirsten Maxwell

I would not recommend visiting this year because it’s Jubilee and also because last minute but Italy is great for spring travel. We’ve gone on spring break before and we did plan it a little bit. We bought our airfare on Black Friday. We had priced it out compared to a ski vacation and a Disney vacation, and Italy came in cheaper. When you figured in the cost of ski school for your kids or the cost of all the Disney park tickets, Italy was like $4,000 cheaper than what it would have cost us to go to either one of those destinations. So we did spring break in Italy.

We did Rome, Pompeii, Florence, and Venice. We had 10 days, I think. I kept the kids out of school a little bit longer. But the weather there is interesting in the spring because it was nice in Rome the first day. It was hot in Pompeii. It was snowing in Venice. And it was pleasant and a little cool in Florence. I think it’s kind of hit or miss there with what kind of weather you can expect in March slash April. I think it’s a good off season because not a lot of people are, especially from the States, planning to travel to Italy or overseas in general for spring break.

Meagan Wristen

Well, you get such a short window. I mean, only seven days typically, or let’s say you throw in both weekends and nine days. We’ve gone to Asia twice for a spring break, but I had my kids miss an additional week of school.

We used to live in Oregon and they don’t have school requirements. The kids could miss as much school as they wanted to, but, you know, I mean, it it’s taking you a day, just a day to get there and a day to get back.

I mean, two days are gone. Just flight times. It’s a long way to Asia. Same thing if you want to go to South America, man, it is a haul, so keep that in mind.

But a flight to Rome is pretty easy. I mean, that’s, well, shoot, you can go to Turkey in 10 hours from DFW airport.

So what are you in Rome in seven?

Kirsten Maxwell

I know it’s about 10. So still and yeah, yeah.

Meagan Wristen

Is it 10? Okay. So there you go.

Kirsten Maxwell

I just did that in August, it was 10. It’s so easy. It really depends on your kid’s ages. I think it’s easy for me, but not necessarily easy for somebody traveling with small kids.

Meagan Wristen

Well, that’s true because we’re gearing up to go back to Sri Lanka this summer. That’ll be our third time to go it’s one of my most favorite places on earth, but you have to have 11 days minimum. So that way you’re in the country for at least nine.

Honestly, 10 days in the country would be better. I mean, if you’re going to go that far. DFW to Qatar is 16 hours and then Qatar to, or Qatar, however you pronounce it, into Sri Lanka is like another five to seven hours depending on flights. So you’re not doing that with little kids. That’s just too hard.

Kirsten Maxwell

Tell me what would be some of your favorite road trip or road trip or spring break or road trip destinations in the US, both of them.

Meagan Wristen

Well, if we’re going to road trip, we’re not going that far.

Kirsten Maxwell

Right. I think that’s what a lot of people are doing over spring break is because you are limited on time. Road trips have become quite popular for families over spring break.

San Antonio

Meagan Wristen

I really like going down to San Antonio, the San Antonio Riverwalk. Plus there’s a Six Flags there. There’s a water park. There’s really good food. I mean, the Mexican food there is incredible. There’s a lot of cultural elements throughout the city because it was they some of the original missions were there.

There’s a lot going on which is surprising because it’s not that big of a city. It’s growing quite rapidly, with a lot of new hotels. Love the Pearl area. Since Hotel Emma opened up, it’s been shocking to kind of watch that area grow because first it was just a hotel. Now it’s restaurants and bars. The last time I was there I found this incredible jazz bar (which I didn’t expect to have like such a most excellent jazz experience in San Antonio, Texas, but), and then they’ve got rooftop bars.

For the adults, for the college students on spring break, there’s a lot to do. For the families with little kids, Morgan’s Wonderland is there, which if you have a special needs child and you want to be able to take them to have an amusement park experience, that is absolutely where you want to take them. Every ride is handicap accessible. If you have one child that is not special needs and one that is, they can both ride the same ride together. And it’s just incredibly well done. They added a water park and they have wheelchairs that go into the water. You don’t even need to own that equipment to be able to go and enjoy that experience.

Chattanooga

Kirsten Maxwell

I love that they do that. And San Antonio would have been one of my recommendations too, but I was also going to recommend a road trip we took when we lived in Chicago. One year, my husband couldn’t travel with us for some reason. So I did a road trip with the boys and we drove from Chicago to Chattanooga. On the way down, we stopped in Louisville because you can do the Louisville Slugger Museum.

They have Mega Cavern, which are like these underground caverns you can actually drive into during like the holidays. They have a big display. It was fun, just kind of a stopover. Next we went on to Chattanooga, and Chattanooga has Ruby Falls, which is in, I can’t, I swear, it’s at least five stories, probably bigger than that, it’s a waterfall inside a cavern. So we did that, Ruby Falls. We did the Chattanooga Aquarium, which is amazing. Probably one of the best aquariums I’ve seen in the United States with my kids.

They also have Rock City, which is just as it sounds, it’s all of these natural rocks that kind of form a park that you kind of walk through and the kids loved it. I mean, because you can climb, you can go in little caves, there are views out over the countryside. So that was really great.

On the way back, we stopped in Nashville, which is another great place for kids. they also have a science center there. They had the, you know, the granule to operate, took the boys. We did a backstage tour. and They got to be on the stage live during a performance, which was really fun. They also have, what’s the other thing there? Bellmead Plantation. they They have Cheekwood Gardens. I mean, there’s all kinds of things there. It’s the perfect, I thought spring break getaway because it just had like the good weather and it was easy to get to and each destination offered a ton to do for kids.

Meagan Wristen

I gotta say I thought Louisville was great. I did a trip there with my kids and my nieces and we we did a bunch of different stuff while we were there. I ate a lot of really good food. The Southern food is top notch and quite enjoyable. Loved Big Bad Breakfast. I loved that place so much I bought the cookbook.

Kirsten Maxwell

Oh, funny.

Meagan Wristen

There’s a really good children’s museum that we took my nieces to and we found a hotel where it like slept six people. That was nice because there were a bunch of us. So we didn’t have to get an Airbnb, which I was thankful for.

Colorado Springs

Meagan Wristen

So, something you said about Chattanooga made me think of Colorado Springs. That’s a great destination because it has Seven Falls. Pikes Peak. There’s a bunch of stuff to do there.

Kirsten Maxwell

Is it cold during spring break though? That would be my question.

Meagan Wristen

Yeah, and it’s a little cold there in the summer too. I think my mom took us in the summer when we were kids and it was chilly.

Kirsten Maxwell

It is a beautiful destination too. So tell me, have you ever done a staycation with your kids where you stay and explore from home, maybe in your own backyard, things that you wouldn’t necessarily check out?

I’m sure you explored Oregon. I know you have because there’s some pretty cool places near where you lived in Oregon.

Meagan Wristen

Well, yeah, but we didn’t like take the week off to do it. It was just over the weekend, you know.

Portland, Oregon

Meagan Wristen

I mean, yeah, living in a Portland, Oregon, there was a ton to do. I mean, you could hike a different waterfall every day for two weeks there.

Kirsten Maxwell

That’s awesome.

Meagan Wristen

The foodie scene is incredible. There was a lot of different interesting things to do around the city. They have OMSI, which is probably the best science museum I’ve ever seen for kids. And they even have a special room inside of it. It’s for up to five years old and it’s extensive. It’s like a museum in a museum. So I mean, you could easily spend a day there. We used to have a membership.

We would go fairly often because the zoo, the zoos on the west coast are next level. and I didn’t know that until we lived on that in that part of the country. But I mean, because they’re just so much bigger than zoos in other parts of the country. Not to bash on zoos, bu the zoos on the west coast are five times, six times, 10 times bigger. So, their habitats are much more extensive and it’s a really beautiful way to spend the day and pack a lunch.

And sometimes they had concerts there and you know, they’ve got, they’re often so big, they have other stuff happening.

Kirsten Maxwell

Yeah, the San Diego Zoo is one of my all time favorite zoos, I mean, as far as zoos go, but they do a wonderful job with habitat and West Coast kind of, yes, San Diego’s on the West Coast.

Chicago

Kirsten Maxwell

I think for me, i you know, we did do a lot of Chicago staycations when we lived there since we lived outside the city. I’d spend the week kind of going around with the kids and checking out different things. One of our favorites was the Museum of Science and Industry there. There’s also the Field Museum, which is like the Dinosaur Museum.

There’s the Shedd Aquarium, which I don’t really love. We used to live near the ocean so it’s kind of a weird thing for me to see. You have Maggie Daley Park which is a huge outdoor play structure. They have ice skating ribbon during the winter months. So if it’s still cold enough during a spring break, you can check that out. You go to Navy Pier, ride the Ferris wheel. So, I mean, there’s a lot to do in Chicago, which most people don’t think of during spring break, but it’s kind of nice because because it’s not so crowded.

Seattle

Meagan Wristen

I know we popped up to Seattle quite a few times, like little weekend trips. I do think we did spring break up there one time. Same thing. There’s just a lot to do. Hiking museums, good food, an interesting city.

Dallas Fort Worth

We’re both based near DFW airport now and there’s a ton of stuff to do around Dallas Fort Worth. I mean, you can pop into Fort Worth and go to the stockyards and kids can do the petting zoo, watch the cows. They have a maze out there and you can ride a mechanical bull. Then they have all these bars. You can just walk around and drink now. That’s new in the last few years.

Kirsten Maxwell

Just not with your kids.

Meagan Wristen

They have a lot of live music out there. There’s a gunslinger show. The train from Grapevine comes in and stops there. It goes back and forth from there to Fort Worth, so you could do you could do the train. Or you can go into Dallas and see the Sixth Floor Museum and learn about what happened to President Kennedy or go to the Dallas Zoo. Fort Worth has a zoo. Six Flags is in Arlington. Grand Prairie’s got an indoor amusement park and indoor water park.

The whole area is growing so rapidly. We’ve got a Meow Wolf in Grapevine. We do stuff all the time around here. There’s Andretti Race Car Driving in The Colony.

The Colony is becoming more and more of a destination because they have added a lot of attractions in recent years. Tiger Woods decided to launch his own putt putt type courses.

Kirsten Maxwell

Oh yeah. PopStroke.

Meagan Wristen

There’s one in The colony. There’s the manmade surfing in The Colony. There’s kind of like the Sphere in Las Vegas, they’ve got a smaller version of it at at Grandscape.

Kirsten Maxwell

Every time I drive out there it has just grown more and more. There’s so much to offer and I believe a Nickelodeon amusement park coming. I’m not sure exactly when, but I feel like it’s within the next two years. I think it’s in Frisco.

Meagan Wristen

It’s not Nickelodeon, it’s Universal. Yeah, but it’s going to be a Universal for younger children.

Kirsten Maxwell

Yeah, I’ll be interested to see how that all plays out.

Meagan Wristen

I feel like the first renditions I saw of it are smaller than what they’re saying it’s going to be now. The last map I saw it looked a lot bigger. Also, North Richland Hills is getting a Peppa Pig amusement park that literally should open if it hasn’t already. It’s soon because they broke ground not this past summer, but the one before I believe.

Kirsten Maxwell

So if you find yourself not being able to afford or swing a vacation this year, why not just explore your own backyard? As we said, there’s obviously tons to do in Dallas where we live, but I’m sure there’s tons to do where you’re located as well.

Anything else you wanted to add about spring break ideas?

Meagan Wristen

There’s two different destinations I’d recommend driving to.

Panama City Beach

Meagan Wristen

I think a lot of people head to the panhandle of Florida. The kids and I went to Panama City Beach a few years ago for spring break and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had outlawed alcohol on all public beaches.

Kirsten Maxwell

Wow.

Meagan Wristen

So that crazy party scene that you used to see on MTV and Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre down on the beach and everybody’s going nuts. That’s over. It was like really quiet. It was great. So it was a wonderful, like, it’s a very family oriented area with go karts and putt putt and good seafood. The beaches are beautiful in the panhandle. Really all of Florida’s beaches are beautiful.

Gatlinburg

Meagan Wristen

Another destination I think that is good to drive to, depending on where you’re at in the country, is Gatlinburg. I went there for the first time last September, and it was incredible. I was super impressed with the whole area. I drove out through Dollywood. It looked just as good too. In Gatlinburg, we went fly fishing, hiking. There was camping everywhere. I know a lot of families camp instead of staying in hotels.

It looked like a fabulous camping destination. I saw a ton of campgrounds, so that would make it way more affordable. I stayed at an Embassy Suites resort, which I didn’t know they had resorts, but to be a resort, they had to have two food options. It had a restaurant and ice cream parlor, and then it had multiple pools, including a zero entry pool and a lazy river for the kids. So that was nice. And it’s free to get into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

You just have to have a parking pass. And then once you’re in the park, they have some paved hiking. If you have a stroller, you could do the hike.

They had a lot more challenging hiking, obviously. I mean, it’s a national park. I was just super impressed with the whole area. There was a Ripley’s and mountain coasters.

We went up to a place called Anakeesta, where they had two mountain coasters. They had a really elaborate playground built into the mountain, which was really neat. I remember jumping on it kind of like a trampoline top floor. And then the slides were crazy because they went down the mountain. And then they had Illuminate, I think is what it’s called, which is in a couple of different destinations now. You walk through the woods. It’s super dark. And then you come across this light art installation. There are close to seven different installations.

So you’re walking down this path and, I thought that was really neat. It’s unique, very different. And again, for the parents, there’s a lot of moonshine tasting you can do. There were wineries and shopping, but there were tons for families to do.

Pigeon Forge

Kirsten Maxwell

It’s funny because I actually took Ronan and we did Pigeon Forge, which is right next to Gatlinburg.

Meagan Wristen

Oh, that’s where Dollywood is, right?

Kirsten Maxwell

Yeah, it’s right next door to Gatlinburg. So they’re kind of two different vibes. Gatlinburg seems like a much more so small townish and Pigeon Forge is like a strip mall full of activity. They even have dinner shows. We went to a pirate dinner show and that was kind of fun.

We did miniature golf. We went to The Island in Pigeon Forge where there’s shopping, arcades, restaurants, those kind of things. We took a pink Jeep tour into the national park and that was a ton of fun. A little bit like off-roading. It was just like you think it would be.

Meagan Wristen

Yeah, is that the same pink Jeep tours available in like Sedona, Arizona?

Kirsten Maxwell

Yes, yes. I believe that it’s the same company, but they may be franchised, so don’t quote me on that. But we had a great time. We did some of those Alpine coasters as well. It is a really great destination. I think probably most of the year when it’s not, I mean, in the winter, maybe that’s when you take your romantic getaway there. But definitely I’d say spring to fall. I mean, it’s perfect for families because there’s a ton to do.

Meagan Wristen

Do you want to talk about, I know a couple of years ago, we both ended up in the same state, but two different cities, and we both had the worst spring breaks ever.

Kirsten Maxwell

Well, mine wasn’t terrible, so I can’t, I can’t vouch for that. Mine wasn’t like yours was, so I’m like not going to bash on that.

Meagan Wristen

We went to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Hated it.

Kirsten Maxwell

I haven’t been, so I can’t, can’t speak to it. I know you did not like it.

Meagan Wristen

Let me save all the families the trouble of showing up in Hot Springs and having nothing to do. The weather isn’t good enough by March to take a trip there, period.

Kirsten Maxwell

It’s funny you mentioned that because we did a road trip from Vegas to the Grand Canyon to Zion back to Vegas for spring break and I thought the weather would be much better than it was. We got stuck in a snowstorm outside of Flagstaff. I think we stopped the car stopped at two and then we didn’t start going again till two in the morning and we spent the night in a Loves truck stop.

So just when you think that spring breaks the time to visit those national parks, you might want to reconsider because some years they do get snow and we had snow in Zion. We canceled our Narrows hike because it snowed that day. So just something to keep in mind. Everything looks good on a map. Like it should be warm. It’s Arizona. It’s Nevada. Not always the case.

Meagan Wristen

Yeah, and in Hot Springs defense, I could have done some research. I assume that there were going to be a lot of hot springs that we could enjoy because I like hot springs.

Kirsten Maxwell

You would think. No?

Meagan Wristen

No, they have bathhouses that are not always open.

Kirsten Maxwell

Okay. Well, that’s kind of a bummer.

Meagan Wristen

Let me tell you what, I did a bathhouse once in Budapest. Yuck. I don’t want to be with a bunch of hairy men. Gross.

Kirsten Maxwell

We’ll probably end on that note so everybody can just have this visualization of hairy men sitting in their hot bathhouse, and we’ll we’ll leave it at that.

Meagan Wristen

I can make it worse. It got worse.

Kirsten Maxwell

Anyway, hopefully we’ve given you some inspiration for your spring break trip planning and we will catch you on the next episode.