{"id":11240,"date":"2018-03-20T21:07:43","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T02:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/?p=11240"},"modified":"2026-03-11T07:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:50:12","slug":"my-favorite-websites-for-vacation-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2018\/03\/20\/my-favorite-websites-for-vacation-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Noteworthy Websites for Vacation Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"9<\/p>\n

Whenever I plan a family vacation, I always check these 9 noteworthy websites as I map our our itinerary. I do this whether we’ll be driving thousands of miles or staying close to home. Whether we’ll be gone for three days or three weeks. Whether we’ll spend all our time in one place or traveling from city to city.<\/p>\n

The majority of these sites are specific to US travel<\/strong>. With our large family, it’s normally more economical for us to drive than to fly. (Unless, of course, we’ve used frequent flyer miles to get free airfare. We’ve earned enough free tickets to Europe<\/a> — 26 total — to backpack that continent three times already. For tips on doing the same, check out this post: How to Fly Free to Europe<\/a>)<\/p>\n

As homeschoolers, we do most of our traveling during the off-season. Since school is still in session, we gravitate toward activities that are both fun and educational<\/strong>. In that sense, most of our travels are “learning vacations.”<\/p>\n

Here’s the process I use to plan unforgettable family trips. Once I’ve chosen our destination, I search the following websites to help plan the stops we’ll make en route<\/em> and what we’ll do once we arrive<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"9<\/p>\n

9 Noteworthy Websites for Vacation Planning<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. \n

    Factory Tours Guide<\/a><\/h3>\n

    There are lots of reasons our family loves factory tours<\/a>, not the least of which is the fact they are fun and informative. Over the years, we’ve toured glass factories, pecan groves, chocolate factories, tea plantations, plus dozens of others, most of which I found through websites devoted to the topic. Factory Tours Guide<\/a> is by far the best site for the most up-to-date information on available tours (last time I checked, they had information on nearly 1100 tours spread across 46 states). Simply click on the state you plan to visit to see a listing of all the businesses within its borders that offer factory tours — many of them for FREE. (Note: if you want to use the map feature to search, open in a browser other than Chrome.)\"5<\/a><\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Associations of Zoos and Aquariums<\/a><\/h3>\n

    We normally buy a family membership to our local zoo every year. With a crew as big as ours, it pays for itself within two visits and also gets us discounted admission to zoos all across the country. I keep a printed copy of zoos that participate in the reciprocity program<\/a> and cross-reference it when vacation planning. It’s worth checking the list, even if you aren’t a zoo member, as it includes a lot of zoos (highlighted in green) that are free to the general public<\/strong>, as well.<\/p>\n

    \"Fort<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Association of Science and Technology Centers<\/a><\/h3>\n

    We also buy an annual membership to our local science museum. This not only gives our family unlimited visits all year long, but membership also grants us free admission to hundreds of science museums across the country<\/strong>. You’ll find a list of currently participating museums here<\/a>. Almost every trip we take includes a (free) visit to at least one museum on this list. They are all different. And our kids have had a blast and learned a lot exploring the couple dozen we’ve visited so far.<\/p>\n

    \"Rebekah<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    National Park Service<\/a><\/h3>\n

    Many of our National Parks offer free admission, in addition to wonderful museums, educational videos, and interactive exhibits in their visitor’s center<\/strong>. Your children may also enjoy completing a short workbook to earn a badge in the Junior Ranger Program<\/a> (which is often free, as well). Check the National Park Service site<\/a> to see what parks may be near your next vacation destination (or en route to it)!<\/p>\n

    \"National<\/a><\/li>\n

  5. \n

    American Horticultural Society<\/a><\/h3>\n

    We do not always have an annual membership to a garden listed with the American Horticultural Society<\/a>, but we’ll occasionally join the Dallas Arboretum<\/a> or Garvan Woodland Gardens<\/a>. On years that either of those memberships are current, I check their reciprocity lists when planning vacations, so as to get the most of our membership. Many cities (like ours) have beautiful parks and gardens that are free and open to the public.<\/strong> I’d love to find a state-by-state listing of those places. If you know of one, please send me the link! In the meantime, I’ll keep searching this site<\/a>, then clicking through to the individual garden’s website to determine admission policies (note that most of the gardens labeled “free admission” on the master list means free reciprocal admission for AHS arboretum members, not necessarily free for everybody).<\/p>\n

    \"Arboretum\"<\/li>\n

  6. \n

    AAdvantage Dining<\/a><\/h3>\n

    Of course, you have to eat while you’re on vacation. We normally choose hotels that serve breakfast (or stay in places with a kitchen so we can eat cereal in the morning and crockpot meals in the evening), but that still leaves at least one meal per day that we eat out. I make those meals count by finding restaurants that award us with airline miles, as well <\/strong>(typically 5 miles per dollar spent, but we sometimes get double that rate). To check your next vacation destination for participating restaurants, follow this link<\/a>. If you select “map view” to look at the results of your search, you can easily locate the restaurants closest to your hotel or travel route. For more information on how this program works, read this post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"Dining\"<\/li>\n

  7. \n

    Restaurant.com<\/a><\/h3>\n

    I also check Restaurant.com<\/a> to see if any restaurants in the place we’ll be visiting offer discount dining certificates. This is not quite as flexible as Aadvantage Dining and requires an upfront investment, but is well worth it when it helps you save as much as $100 off a $200 tab. Certificates are available in much smaller denominations, but we are normally feeding such a crowd that we go for the bigger discounts. Sometimes we can even find restaurants that accept dining certificates and<\/em> award aadvantage miles — for a double bingo!<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"Soup\"<\/li>\n

  8. \n

    Groupon<\/a><\/h3>\n

    I used to get frustrated with the Groupon site, as it seemed to mainly list offers that were of no interest to me. Then I learned how to use the site’s search bar! Just plug in the city you’re visiting and search for “FUN”<\/strong>. That will sufficiently narrow the results so that you don’t have to wade through pages of stuff you don’t want to find something you do. The couple of minutes it takes to scan the relative offers really pays off! For instance, it saved us 30% off tickets to Kentucky Horse Park<\/a> and got us half-price admission to WonderWorks<\/a> last time we were in Myrtle Beach. A substantial savings for our big crew!<\/p>\n

    \"Groupon\"<\/a><\/li>\n

  9. \n

    US Family Guide<\/a><\/h3>\n

    I also do the same kind of search on the US Family Guide website. Plug your destination city into the search bar, and pull up dozens of coupons to family-friendly attractions in the area.<\/strong> By way of example, I’m currently in the process of planning a road trip to the west coast, and my search yielded the following offers:<\/p>\n