May 9, 2008
Here are my daughter Pauline's 10 top budget destinations for summer 2008
My daughter Pauline has just published her list of the world's most attractive, budget-priced destinations, and it contains a number of places that aren't well known, even among the most avid travelers. With her permission, I am summarizing them below in greatly condensed form you can see the entire list here).
1. Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, home of the Bathhouse in Berkeley Springs State Park, where you can soak in thermal waters and then receive a Swedish massage for a total of $40. All other recreations are similarly cheap, as are lodgings.
2. Boundary Waters Canoe area of northern Minnesota. For canoeing close to 1,300 miles of navigable waters, outfitters will rent you a canoe and supply you with food for the trip, for extremely reasonable sums.
3. The midcoast of Maine (Rockland, Maine), where you'll find the superb Farnsworth Museum (Andrew Wyeth, Louise Nevelson), many small galleries and restaurants, Windjammer cruises, and low-cost mom-and-pop motels. All of which makes it a fine jumping-off point for such pricier places as Kennebunkport, Bar Harbor, and the area near Acadia national park.
4. The Wisconsin Dells. "Waterpark capital of the world," charging $30 to $35 a day for most waterparks. There's fishing, golfing and rock-climbing, and (with some effort at ferreting them out) reasonably-priced motels for as little as $40 a night.
5. The Oregon coast, spectacular in its vistas, with wine areas further inland. Go, especially, to the little town of Yachats (where I've vacationed), with its excellent, reasonably-priced restaurants.
6. The Dominican Republic (you know about this one).
7. Newfoundland, Canada. Puffin colonies and caribou herds, whales, bird-watching, hiking, excellent camping facilities. Gros Morne National Park here is a World Heritage site.
8. The Mayan Riviera, just south of Cancún on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Fast-developing, its hotel-resorts challenge those of the Dominican Republic as the world's least expensive. White sand beaches and Mayan ruins are the lure.
9. Peru. Cusco is a favorite jumping-off point, as is elegant Arequipa. Wonderfully low-priced.
10. Bulgaria. Europe's budget champion, with its Black Sea beaches and well-preserved medieval villages.
Pauline's brand-new travel guides, now numbering 12 titles, and eventually to be a series of at least 24, are in all major bookstores, and I urge you to scan their pages. Once you do, I'm sure you'll choose the Pauline Frommer's Guides for your next trip. Two of the books (on New York City and London) were recently named best travel guides of the year by a prestigious group of travel journalists.
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1. Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, home of the Bathhouse in Berkeley Springs State Park, where you can soak in thermal waters and then receive a Swedish massage for a total of $40. All other recreations are similarly cheap, as are lodgings.
2. Boundary Waters Canoe area of northern Minnesota. For canoeing close to 1,300 miles of navigable waters, outfitters will rent you a canoe and supply you with food for the trip, for extremely reasonable sums.
3. The midcoast of Maine (Rockland, Maine), where you'll find the superb Farnsworth Museum (Andrew Wyeth, Louise Nevelson), many small galleries and restaurants, Windjammer cruises, and low-cost mom-and-pop motels. All of which makes it a fine jumping-off point for such pricier places as Kennebunkport, Bar Harbor, and the area near Acadia national park.
4. The Wisconsin Dells. "Waterpark capital of the world," charging $30 to $35 a day for most waterparks. There's fishing, golfing and rock-climbing, and (with some effort at ferreting them out) reasonably-priced motels for as little as $40 a night.
5. The Oregon coast, spectacular in its vistas, with wine areas further inland. Go, especially, to the little town of Yachats (where I've vacationed), with its excellent, reasonably-priced restaurants.
6. The Dominican Republic (you know about this one).
7. Newfoundland, Canada. Puffin colonies and caribou herds, whales, bird-watching, hiking, excellent camping facilities. Gros Morne National Park here is a World Heritage site.
8. The Mayan Riviera, just south of Cancún on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. Fast-developing, its hotel-resorts challenge those of the Dominican Republic as the world's least expensive. White sand beaches and Mayan ruins are the lure.
9. Peru. Cusco is a favorite jumping-off point, as is elegant Arequipa. Wonderfully low-priced.
10. Bulgaria. Europe's budget champion, with its Black Sea beaches and well-preserved medieval villages.
Pauline's brand-new travel guides, now numbering 12 titles, and eventually to be a series of at least 24, are in all major bookstores, and I urge you to scan their pages. Once you do, I'm sure you'll choose the Pauline Frommer's Guides for your next trip. Two of the books (on New York City and London) were recently named best travel guides of the year by a prestigious group of travel journalists.
Write and read comments about this post.
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
