Many people include hiking in their travel agendas when they come to New England.  Because of a National Park, a National Forest, several state parks and other preserved land, there are a lot of hiking trails in the 5-state area. What people may not know is how many of those trails include waterfalls. Over 400 of them!  A waterfall is always a treasured find on a hike.  No matter how big or how small, a waterfall holds a certain mystique to most of us.  We watch them; we listen to them; we photograph them a lot.

Most New England falls are not right off the road. A small hike, at least, is required. The reward is worth it, though. The trick is usually finding the way to your destination. If you’re in any of the New England sites and you’re planning a hike, before you head out, visit New England Waterfalls (which is a companion to the book of the same name) to find which hiking trails have a waterfall as an attraction.  It conveniently breaks down the destinations by state, offers photographs and the authors’ opinions.

Don’t forget to take your camera.

Photo credit: sskennel

Feet: A network of national walking trails already exists to tempt fitness-minded tourists in search of the perfect photo op. However, the completion of the Wales Coast Path – scheduled for May 2012 – will make it the only country in the world with an entirely walkable coastline. Vacationers interested in exploring the new path, 85 percent of which is within the national parks, will enjoy roughly 70 sweeping beach vistas, 15 picture-worthy ports and a number of secret coves. Also of note is the Cistercian Way, a long-distance trail which takes travelers on walking tours through a network of abbeys and churches located in the Welsh interior.

Festivals: Who doesn’t love a good party? Fun-loving travelers have a number of options when visiting this part of the UK, including the National Eisteddfod of Wales. With origins traced back to the year 1176, it is the oldest cultural festival of competitive music and poetry in Europe. With thousands of registered competitors and hundreds of scheduled performances, it is arguably the country’s premier artistic event. Additionally, the Hay Festival offers merriment in the form of music, comedy, gastronomy and more. The event celebrates its 25^th year in 2012, and is scheduled to take place in early June.

Food: One of the simplest ways to experience frugal fare in Wales is by ordering the fixed price lunch option. It’s a common practice at many of the pubs and eateries, allowing to you affordably taste test home-spun traditional favorites such as Welsh cakes, toffee waffles, Cawl Cennin – a leek soup – and Gower lamb. ( See also: Fun Picnic Lunch Ideas for Travelers )

Frugality: Priced as low as $21, the Cadw pass provides pay-once access to sought-after tourist sites, including the castles of Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and Beaumaris. Is free more your speed? National Museum Cardiff, and the National Coal Museum both offer complimentary entry.  Regarding accommodations, various camping options are available in the national parks, along with numerous boutique hotels if you’re interested in an affordable splurge. Examples include the cliff-top St. Brides Hotel Spa in Pembrokeshire, and the Parc Hotel in Cardiff, located within walking distance to both Millennium Stadium and Cardiff Castle.

Photo Credit: Duncan

All eyes will soon be turning to England for the 2012 Summer Olympics. For the budget conscious, reducing accommodation costs and looking for other ways to keep expenses low while planning to visit the Olympics will help make a visit memorable but not bank busting.

Photo courtesy Andy Roberts Photos

Food:

Happy hour deals offer a source of cheap eats for Vegas visitors. Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria and Cucina features several $7 bite-sized bar food items in a happy hour menu that lasts all day long. Snacks of note include baked polenta with sausage and peppers, grilled pork belly and a chilled mushroom antipasto plate. Matt Reider of Canuck Abroad, a Canadian travel Web site, favors late night dining for the best deals. Many restaurants and buffets offer steep discounts between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., advises Reider, providing penny-pinching meal opportunities for night owls and early birds alike.

Transportation:

If your desired destination is a little too far away to find your way to on foot, Reider also recommends the Deuce – a popular double-decker bus – to travelers looking to save money. This bus services the Vegas strip around the clock, with 24-hour passes ringing in an only $7. For affordable site-to-site transportation without all of the stops and starts that come along with bus travel, consider the Las Vegas Monorail. The $12 one-day pass allows unlimited transportation between all of the major stations along the strip, with climate-controlled cars that are clean and comfortable.

Accommodation:

Room rates in Vegas are frequently priced to entice. Travelzoo.com for example, currently lists affordable accommodation options for less than $100! While costs fluctuate with availability, the site provides real-time pricing options for vacationers in search of the ultimate Vegas deal. Condo rentals also offer significant savings. This was recently evidenced on a site called Flip Key, where I found a two-bedroom, two-bath condo listed for $149 per night which was connected to the MGM Grand by a moving walkway.

Experiences:

To get a sense of Las Vegas on foot, try a downloadable walking tour and scavenger hunt you can participate in from your cell phone. Strayboots.com has family-friendly options available for as little as $9 per person, providing an interactive tourism experience. Prefer something a bit more posh? Book any treatment at The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas and receive complimentary same-day access to common-area amenities, including heated relaxation chairs, vitality pools and personal experience showers. With face and foot treatments priced below $100, this can be an affordable spa strategy to spend the day in decadence.

Photo Credit: Http2007

Activities: Ready to relax? Align Spa’s atmosphere is part Zen garden, part Bohemian loft. Their $35 Ski Boot Revenge treatment includes a foot soak, paraffin dip and muscle-relieving leg massage. It’s one of several spa values the destination has to offer. Family adventure options include Park City Mountain Resort’s Alpine coaster and the 2,111-foot zip tour adventure at Canyons, each available for $20. Canyons Resort also offers free Saturday afternoon concerts all spring, which are fun to enjoy with a casual beverage. More than 400 miles of public trails provide free fun to those preferring snowshoeing or Nordic skiing to a downhill experience.

Food: Stay on budget by hitting the appetizer menus. At High West, a ski-in distillery and restaurant housed in an antique livery stable, you and a friend can sample a selection of in-house whiskeys for the price of roughly one cocktail each. Fun snacks include the $5 bourbon-caramel popcorn and $6 giant soft pretzels with rye-infused dipping sauce. Silver, a slightly more sophisticated venue, offers several hearty starters for less than $15, including mushroom crostini and potato pancakes with smoked salmon. Don’t want to leave the mountain? The Royal Street Café at Deer Valley serves noteworthy turkey chili and chive hummus with homemade pita chips for less than $10.

Savings: Ski free your first day! Out-of-state visitors taking a ski vacation can convert same-day boarding passes into complimentary lift tickets at any of the town’s three major resorts with the destination’s quick start program. Those with direct morning flights can be on the slopes by early afternoon. Park City Mountain Resort lets children six and younger ski free, and the area’s transit bus provides no-cost transportation to ski resorts, recreational areas and the historic downtown district.

Splurges:

Got extra dough? Summit Mountain Adventures offers 7,000 acres of snowmobiling with spectacular mountain vistas and a large meadow to indulge the need for speed. Prices start at $100. Utah Olympic Park’s $200 bobsled ride is the real deal, reaching five G’s in 55 seconds. Typically, astronauts experience only three G’s during a space shuttle launch, albeit for a longer period of time. Children will remember a real-life dogsled ride through the forest for a lifetime. At $350 through All Seasons Adventures it’s a bit spendy, but the rate allows for multiple little ones in the sled. Sacrificing a day’s lift tickets will help defray the cost and make a magnificent family memory.

Photo Credits: TrekHound.com

Fairbanks also enjoys the free rides on the Staten Island ferry, which provide a great vantage point for photos of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Here are other options for those trying to experience the Big Apple on a Budget.

Entertainment:

Podcast personality Brian Peters, of No Debt World Travel, is an avid excursionist. He recommends free tours through Big Apple Greeters. This not-for-profit organization is staffed by volunteers who greet travelers in more than 20 languages and offers free tours with a strict “no tipping” policy.

Food:

Pamela Parisi of The Elegant Tightwad, a frugal fashion and money-saving web site, dines for a buck in midtown Manhattan. Her menu includes pizza for $1 a slice at Bros Pizza and Z Deli. Poultry fans can score southern-fried goodness at Piece of Chicken for a buck, and fresh produce is sold for $1 per pound at the Stiles Farmers’ Market. When in a rush, Parisi buys hot dogs – also for a buck a piece – from her favorite vendor carts.

Lodging:

Pauline Frommer, author of “New York City: Spend Less See More,” had the inside scoop on where to rest your head on a budget. Dorm-style rooms can be booked at the Gershwin Hotel for as little as $34 per night, according to Frommer. As anyone used to taking holidays to New York can tell you, that’s one seriously great bargain.

Photo Credits: Trek Hound

Pitch a tent.

If you’re looking to visit someplace warm, then camping just might make your short list of top spring break ideas. It’s a great way to reduce your accommodation costs and keep things low key. Certain chains offer discounts for those with membership cards. One example is the national KOA campground franchise. Their just-outside-of-Washington, D.C. location boasts complimentary water and electricity as well as no-cost Wi-Fi at each campsite. Cabins are also available for those who like to limit how much they “rough it”.

The venue also offers shuttle service to a nearby commuter railway which that drops you off in front of the Smithsonian, which is free to visit. Hot showers, a maintained swimming pool and pizza delivery are all available at this location, which also plans family-friendly activities for those who are spring breaking with a school-age crowd. For those who want a little more nature, there’s also the option of camping at Shenandoah National Park.

Local is lovely.

If you already reside in a sought-after area, then reign in the budget by exploring spring break ideas that embrace local activities and attractions. Here in the Tampa Bay area for example, we have the beach at Fort DeSoto. It’s free to access and has been repeatedly voted one of the top 20 beaches in the United States. We also have the Lowry Park Zoo, multiple museums, several Tampa Bay walking tours and of course historic Ybor City for the club crowd.

Rentals rock.

If you’ve never explored the world of vacation rentals, then you are missing out on the mother of all money-saving spring break ideas. Whether you utilize this strategy for ski vacations in Breckenridge, or to maximize budget beach travel in places like Bermuda or the Bahamas, rental properties allow you pair up with friends on the overall tab and save further travel funds through in-house kitchen meal preparations.

Discounts save more than dimes.

Whether you are utilizing coupon books from the local convention and visitor’s bureau, considering a Groupon getaway or using Discover Card travel rewards for cruise deals and passes to local theme parks, vacation deals are worth scouting out. If you are traveling abroad, there are other international credit card use issues too. Be sure you do your research in order to save the most money possible.

Do you have any favorite spring break ideas you’d like to share? What are your favorite places to enjoy spring break or vacation travel in general?

Our love for the many creatures of this Earth may have been ignited by our local zoos and aquariums, showing us the many different species that share our planet. But as we become older, we want more. We want to see more, do more, and really live more. Our passion for the natural world goes beyond books and TV.

We want the adventure, the unspoken trust between two species, the ultimate encounter with an animal on their turf. Here’s a list of 9 wild animal encounters worth traveling to for those once in a lifetime experiences that touch our hearts forever.

1. Gorilla or Chimpanzee Trek- Rwanda and Uganda

These unique tours to see primates in the wild require a fair amount of physical activity and patience. It’s not easy to track a family of apes, but the reward of seeing multiple generations of primates playing and grooming one another is indescribable. Along the way, you may see other animals as a bonus.

2. Diving or Snorkeling with Whale Sharks – Central America, Australia

To be side by side to the largest fish in the sea and not feel any fear takes your breath away, literally. It’s only recently in the last 10-15 years that scientists have noticed a pattern to the whale sharks’ migrations. Though you can find whale sharks all over the world, Central America and Western Australia are probably the best known places to see and interact with them. Companies that offer encounters follow strict guidelines. Belize and Honduras  allow you to dive among whale sharks during their peak time of April and May, but Mexico only allows snorkeling in their waters from June through August. Cancun is the jump off point to see whale sharks in Mexico and Ningaloo Reef is the spot in Western Australia.

3. Swim with Dolphins –  Bimini, Bahamas

Many people have an affinity for dolphins. They have grace, beauty, and a perma-grin that tugs at our heart strings. Bimini has a resident pod of spotted and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins that are as curious about us as we are about them. Strap on some snorkel gear and do your best to mimic their movements.

4. Cage Diving with Great White Sharks – Eastern Australia, South Africa, Mexico

For adrenaline junkies, this is the ultimate adventure. Plunge into a steel cage in the middle of shark infested waters where you can observe the most feared predator of our oceans. Watch the great whites jaws extend as they chomp on chunks of fish. Great White Sharks are found all over the world, but for the high flying kind, head to South Africa.

5. Snorkel with Manatees – Florida

For those who prefer a safer, more relaxed interaction in crystal clear waters, the slow moving manatee is probably more your cup of tea. These gentle rolly- pollies move slowly, grazing on water plants. You can view them from the boat as they surface to breathe or snorkel to see them underwater. Crystal River has many tour companies to encounter manatees up through the river and springs. To spot a manatee from the surface, look for the “footprint”, a flat circle on the surface of the water from their tail.

6. Snorkel with Sea Lions

Not until you enter their world can you truly appreciate the sea lion’s speed and grace under water. Hornby Island, British Columbia and Isla Espiritu Santo off of La Paz, Baja Mexico are two prime areas to swim with wild sea lions. Large males glide below while juveniles and some females are curious enough to play a game of “try to take my picture”.

7. Kayak with Orcas – Vancouver Island

The abundance of sea life around Vancouver Island is incomparable. Resident orcas are numerous along with many other species of sea lions, sea otters, dolphins and other whales. This summer feeding ground offers wildlife encounters galore, and from the silent glide of a kayak, you can get very close to some extremely large animals. Pay close attention to the flocks of birds. They’ll let you know where the bait ball (hoards of fish) is located and that’s where all the action is.

8. Go on a Safari- Africa

Camp on the Serengeti and listen to the nightly rumbles from elephants and lions. Wake to giraffes cruising through camp on their way to the waterhole, the animal’s social hub. See hippos wallowing, and lions strategize on zebra and wildebeest herds. Every moment is unscripted, and National Geographic comes to life right before your eyes.

9. Snorkel in the Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands is the place for animal encounters. Because the animals are isolated on islands with very little human contact, they have not developed a fear of man. This allows the animal lover the opportunity to snorkel with marine iguanas, sea lions, penguins and turtles, or sit on the beach and watch the birds do their mating dance or a baby sea lion nurse.

These are just some of the incredible encounters you can experience around the world. Trips range in price from $55 for a 3 hour tour with manatees to $3,000 -$5000 for a safari trip in Africa. All these encounters are made possible through a mutual respect and curiosity. Except for the great White Sharks, no food is offered to entice or alter interaction behaviors of the animals involved.

Tiffany Karabaich always had a passion for animals. Her career as an animal trainer spanned 10 plus years, but vacations were always centered around wildlife opportunities. Read about her animal experiences and encounters at I Travel for Animals.

Photo Credits: Tiffany Karabaich

Activities: Free activities abound throughout Bermuda, including the skirling ceremony performed by authentically-kilted bagpipers, hiking the Railway Trail, and guided walking tours of historic St. George. Saturdays are a steal at the Tucker’s Point Golf Club, with $10 instructional tennis slots for children aged five – seven, and youngsters in the four – six year old age group enjoying free half-hour introductory golf sessions, complete with refreshments. Availability for these lessons is limited however, so call ahead for full details.

Transportation: Cabs can be pricey for travelers with tight funds. Fortunately, budget options do exist. Scenic, one-way ferry rides are available for a maximum price of $5, with kiddos less than five years of age granted free passage. Children younger than five are also allowed cost-free rides on Bermuda’s public bus system, with one-day pass rates of $12 and $6 for adults and older children, respectively. Pedal bikes are available to rent for a nominal fee at cycle liveries found throughout the country, making bicycle touring an affordable option.

Food: Consider dining al fresco at one of Bermuda’s picturesque parks, such as Fort Scuar, where the view comes with access to picnic tables. For affordable pub grub, try lunch at The Frog and Onion, located in the Royal Navy Dockyard. Beer is brewed on site, and it’s walking distance from The Bermuda Rum Cake Company, where you can nosh on free samples as you shop for just the right flavor of souvenir. The Barracuda Grill in Hamilton offers mid-range dining in a chic atmosphere. Their $12 grilled fig salad is a personal fave. Fine dining enthusiasts will enjoy splurging on The Point restaurant’s chocolate plate or the blue cheese soufflé at the Fourways Inn.

Spas: For those in search of spa values, a coconut body polish at La Serena Spa in The Reefs hotel includes a massage and a brief facial treatment, essentially providing three experiences for the price of one. Their waterfront relaxation area includes a complimentary tea bar and free access to the facility’s cliff-top infinity pool. While private spa suites with granite tubs and rain showers are popular with patrons of The Spa at Elbow Beach, extra relaxation time comes at a premium of $40 per 15 – minute increment. To save money, book treatments as a couple. While one person experiences their massage, the other can enjoy tub soaking and balcony lounging at no extra charge.

Photo Credit: Trek Hound

Fees: Driving in Boston can be tedious to say the least, and relying on taxis can rapidly run a tight travel budget off the rails. Curb cab costs by snagging a seven-day Link Pass from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Available for $15, the pass allows unlimited travel via subway, local bus and the inner-harbor ferry. Another avenue of savings is the Family-Friendly Value Pass available through the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. Bostonusa.com has further information about obtaining this free pass, which offers substantial discounts and freebies at a variety of venues and eateries throughout the city.

Fun: For a suggested donation of $2 – all of which goes to support local charities – beer enthusiasts can enjoy an affordable tour of the Sam Adams Brewery, including product samples and historical factoids about the famed brewer himself. Culture fans can experience Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art for free every Thursday evening from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m., and world-class street performers entertain at no charge in the historic Faneuil Hall Marketplace, which is a five-minute walk from the New England Aquarium, Paul Revere’s House and the Children’s Museum.

Food: When you’re ready for a rest, frugal food options can be found at the Red Sky Restaurant and Lounge in Faneuil Hall itself. The eatery offers half-price appetizers daily from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m., with prices starting at less than $4. Noshables of note include pot stickers, veggie quesadillas and beef teriyaki. If you happen to be in the Back Bay area, check out Brahmin American Cuisine and Cocktails on Stanhope Street. Numerous menu items clock in at less than $10, including their $8 grilled prawns with chipotle sauce and $7 truffled macaroni and cheese.

Feet: Pounding the pavement is one of the best ways to see Boston, regardless of your travel budget. Bostonharborwalk.com provides free, downloadable audio tours for tourists wishing to explore Beantown’s various waterfront neighborhoods. Park lovers won’t want to miss the Rose Kennedy Greenway, a ribbon-themed walkway connecting some of Boston’s most colorful public parks and neighborhoods, including Chinatown and the North End. Peckish penny pinchers will also appreciate the greenway’s frugal food trucks, which are some of the best in the country.

Photo Credit: Manu_H