Lighthouses For The Night
August 7th is National Lighthouse Day and if you've never thought about staying in one, this is your chance. In 1789, the United States passed an Act in support of all lighthouses,...
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Travel Search Engine Smackdown Reveals Cheapest Airfares
FTF tests out travel metasearch engines to find which site returns the most results and cheapest flights. And the winner is Momondo.com.
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Cheyenne Wyoming Welcomes Families
Cheyenne, Wyoming describes itself as the place to "come live the legend" and during the annual Cheyenne...
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Saving Euros on a European Adventure
Since summer is the most expensive time to visit Europe, we're sharing the euro-saving tips we learned from our own recent adventure. And, with the strong exchange rate, drop in tourism due to several...
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Road Trip USA: The Pacific Northwest From Portland To The Olympic Peninsula
With its combination of sophisticated citylife in Seattle and Portland, and the scenic wilderness of the Olympic Peninsula, this road trip satisfies all ages.
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Surviving Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month
Tackling a new sport like skiing -- whether you're my age or a toddler -- is a challenge that the snow sports industry helps overcome each January with
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Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park
From NASCAR to Dollywood to Sevierville, the region bordering Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers an unusually interesting array of manmade and natural attractions. Impact-Site-Verification:...
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Paris On A Petite Budget
Mon dieu! A trip to Paris is still considered too expensive by many potential visitors, especially those traveling with kids. Inexpensive European travel in Paris, France is really possible if you take...
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More Great Summer Vacation Ideas
Will this summer be for mountain hikes and canoeing? Beaches and sandcastles? Shopping, shows and food truck tours? Perfecting your Spanish, celebrating our National Parks? Whatever your pleasure,...
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Top 10 National Parks For Family Vacations
Everyone agrees that the national parks are a treasury of great escapes from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Working with an annual budget over $3 billion and a crew of...
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New England Camping For Novices
Are you ready to join an experienced camper and learn how to make New England wilderness camping more fun with young kids? Hope so! As a native of Boston, Massachusetts, I have often sought out more...
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Blizzard Beach, Orlando’s Cheap Theme Park
Blizzard Beach, a Disney water park, is one my favorite places to take my sons Wyatt, age 10, and Joseph, age 12, as well as my husband. Done up only as Disney can do, a day at Blizzard Beach is all about...
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Ireland is Our Land
It must have been the "Luck of the Irish" rubbing off on us when three generations of our clan set down at Dublin airport to sunny 70°F (21°C) weather... and it stayed that way for the entire week. That...
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No-Cost Fun In Indianapolis, Indiana
Head to Indy for concerts, museums, history, transportation and endless fun throughout spring, summer and fall (winter's cold!) The best things in life are still free, at least in Indiana's capitol of...
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FTFChat Twitter Tips On Money And Family Vacation Planning
Learn from Twitter Tips that came out of a Family Travel Forum -
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A San Francisco Tahoe Weekend Away
Our San Francisco Tahoe Weekend is a brief, wallet-friendly California road trip. Drive from fabulous San Francisco to the sunny slopes of Lake Tahoe's mountain resorts to get...
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A T Line Tour Of Food + Art In Boston, Massachusetts
FTF's Lee Dunlap hunts down the best places to eat and see art on Boston's T Line public transportation system. Boston is a...
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Custom Itinerary: San Francisco And Yosemite on Tight Budget
Q. Cathy P. and family of St. Peters, Missouri are visiting San Francisco and Yosemite National Park and want budget hotel and sightseeing ideas along...
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Atlantic Morocco: Beach With Benefits
An Atlantic oceanfront view of north Africa's most intriguing country, Morocco, presents this family with a relaxing and rewarding vacation. We knew a few things from our first trip to Morocco: its...
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Cheap Skiing In Family-Friendly Brighton, Utah
Brighton is this skier's pick for the best value snowsports vacation in Utah, where ski hills are many, close to Salt Lake City and super competitive. Salt Lake City, Utah sits in the epicenter of one...
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6 Ski Destinations Worth Swapping Your House For
Lodging, lift tickets, lessons and rental equipment all make ski holidays seem expensive, so we often avoid what could be the winter trip of a lifetime due to cost. Now, home exchange is here to help...
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Disney World: Money-Saving Tips For Maximizing The Fun
By doing some extensive research and talking to lots of traveling families, the FTF staff has come across several ways to save money on your vacation, with these exclusive Walt Disney World...
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10 Best Free and Low Cost Activities in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Straddling the junction of major interstate highways I-29 and I-90, Sioux Falls, South Dakota should not be one of those cities that most summer road-trippers zip right through. Whether...
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Mi Casa, Su Casa: Home Exchanges
What's the best money-saving and culturally educational accommodations option available to travelers today? Well, I'm not planning a trip to the French Caribbean right now, but the idea of a complimentary...
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Going Wild At Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is a perfect vacation spot where you can appreciate some quality time without interruption, save...
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L.L. Bean Guarantees A Bargain Weekend In Freeport Maine
Fun for all ages, great learning activities, eco-adventures and quality merchandise share the shelves of L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine....
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Bryce Canyon And Zion National Parks
Bryce Canyon and Zion: their names are known by every family contemplating a national parks road trip because of their unusual geological formations. Along the far West edge of the Colorado...
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Ennis Texas Polkas On
Start practicing your steps for the National Polka Festival and decide what traditional cotton frocks to wear to the tiny Czech town of Ennis, Texas. The annual dance festival is a great party, packed...
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14 Family-Friendly and Free Things You Should Do in Las Vegas
Traveling with your entire brood can start to get expensive, especially when taking the family to a destination like Las Vegas. Dotted with casinos and high-end hotels, the Las Vegas Strip isn't exactly...
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You’ll Strike Gold in Northern California
In Northern California's gold country, the western frontier and gateway to the foothills of the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains, Tuolumne County came to be in 1850, the same year California achieved...
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Skiing Vermont On A Tight Budget, No Snow
Whether there was snow or no snow, we decided to ski in Vermont over the winter holidays. Now, as a family of four, we ski on a tight budget. This is tough with the high price of lift tickets, especially...
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Discover Great Theatre Off Off Broadway
Fans of Broadway dream about visiting New York to catch a live show in one of the 40 professional theatres located near Times Square and Lincoln Center. “In New York, we have tourists coming...
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Spend Three-Days in Florida’s State Parks
Give me 72 hours and I'll show you a side of Florida you never imagined. Planning a Florida family vacation usually involves rushing from theme park to theme park to hop on the latest ride and pose...
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Tracks Across The Sabi Sands Of South Africa
Savanna Tented Game Lodge provides a surprisingly comfortable home base for a Sabi Sands safari for familes in South Africa. For personal comfort level, expectations were kept in check when we arrived...
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Family-Friendly Nights At The Museum
Picture yourselves bundled in sleeping bags, waiting for the dinosaur skeletons to walk and the mummies to exit their sarcophagi -- it's a night at the museum a.k.a. Family Museum Sleepover. Imagine...
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Falling Peso Means Big Savings on Fall Trips to Mexico
In the last six months, the value of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar has decreased about 15%, making Mexico vacations more affordable than ever. New direct flights from Southwest have added...
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Disney World Value Hotels And Camping
Disney World offers accommodations in all price ranges, including newer themed resorts for Disney fans on a budget. And even the least expensive lodging carries certain privileges like early admission...
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Road Trip USA: The Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco To Los Angeles
Perhaps the best known stretch of highway in America -- California's Highway 1 between Los Angeles and San Francisco is 400 miles of coastal beauty that's become our "favorite family roadtrip." What...
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Disney World Moderately Priced Resorts
Disney World Resort has a wide range of hotel, room and villa options priced around $80 on up to $500 or more. But this list reflects a level ranging from moderate to less expensive luxury options. At...
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Puerto Plata’s Cheap All-Inclusive Beach Getaways
Cheap all-inclusive resorts became really popular when the recession started to take its toll on the economy, so Family Travel Forum selected our award-winning
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Overnight At America’s Top Aquariums And Zoos
From coast to coast, special sleepovers at aquariums and zoos are available to travelers who book ahead. Interested in sleeping with the fishes or feeding reptiles after dark? Not only...
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Free National Park Family Programs
Combining a road trip with a national park visit makes one of the top budget family vacations we know, especially when there are so many free children's activities. Thanks to federal...
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Europe by Eurail: A Student’s Tips
Join FTF's student correspondent as she rails across Europe with a Eurail Pass, a backpack full of guidebooks, and not-quite-enough funds. It seems that traveling across...
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Leaving Las Vegas, A Western Road Trip
Our Road Trip: You may know the slogans: Vegas, Baby Vegas, What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. You may know the sites; the fountains at the Bellagio, The Pirates at Treasure...
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Beautiful Downtown Burbank, Where Movies Live
Johnny Carson always opened "The Tonight Show" with Greetings from beautiful downtown Burbank! because his show was taped in this sleepy, southern California city dominated by the aerospace...
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Motel 6 is Back and Better than Ever
At a recent press conference hosted by G6 Hospitality LLC, the corporate entity managing the economy hotel brands Motel 6, Studio 6, Motel 6 (pronounced Seis) and Estudio 6, we had a chance to learn...
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5 Multigenerational Vacation Ideas You Can Afford
Multigenerational travel in all combinations is already enjoyed by 42% of American travelers according to MMGY Global, who are...
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Lodge at Chaa Creek, Belize
A previous winner of FTF's Top 10 Getaways for Family Togetherness award, The...
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Finding Bargains At Lesser-Known All-Inclusive Caribbean and Mexican Resorts
No matter whether it's a bear or bull market, all-inclusive resorts will continue to be a good value for active family vacations in the Caribbean, Atlantic and Mexico. Due to the vagaries of...
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