Costa Rica is a super family friendly exotic and adventurous vacation destination, and there are many regions to explore - whether you love beaches, jungles, mountains, cities, food, nature, wildlife, or Pura Vida lifestyle - you can enjoy them all here! If you are short on time, prefer slow travel, or have car sick kids (all 3 of these applied to my family on our recent trip and our first time in Costa Rica) you should stick to ONE region. For this Spring Break multigenerational family vacation, we chose the region of La Fortuna / Arenal Volcano! Why? After doing lots of research, that volcano just SPOKE to me. It's iconic! And while their beaches look beautiful, I just knew I could not miss Arenal Volcano. And turns out, there is PLENTY to do within 20 minutes of La Fortuna! Watch our highlights video and keep reading for more details about what to do with kids in Costa Rica, how child and senior friendly various activities are, and of course links to book the hotels and activities we absolutely loved and were perfect for our family, who ranged from 9 to 76 years old!
Disclaimer: links marked with * are affiliate links - you don't spend more but I receive commission from eligible purchases and bookings made after clicking.
FLIGHT:
Obviously the flight you book depends on many factors, most importantly your home airport options and if you prioritize price or convenience (aka flight times and stops)! We prefer flying out of Newark because it's closer and much cheaper to get to with a car service, but since my parents were coming with us, we wanted to get a direct flight, and the cheapest option was JetBlue out of JFK. It ended up being under $500 per person roundtrip, including free carry on, wifi, in-seat entertainment with tons of movies, drinks, and snacks! Check your flight options here* (just TRIPLE check you're searching San Jose (SJO) in COSTA RICA and not San Jose in CALIFORNIA - my mom made this mistake ha!!) At the time of booking, I signed up for their Barclay's credit card which gave me $250 credit and gets me 4 free checked bags (which we shared with my parents since we only needed 2). Score! The flights were smooth, under 5 hours. That might be long for some, but for seasoned long haul travelers like us, anything is easy when you're used to 24-hr travel days getting to Japan!! 
HOTEL: SAN JOSE AIRPORT AREA
Since our flight arrived in the late evening, we decided to stay at a nearby hotel rather than go into the city or take the 3hr road trip up to La Fortuna in the dark (not recommended!!!!!) After some research, I picked Country Inn & Suites by Radisson San Jose Aeropuerto* because it checked all the boxes:
HOTEL: LA FORTUNA / ARENAL VOLCANO AREA Arenal Volcano area is renowned for it's luxurious hot spring resorts, which yes, are obviously amazing, but quite an extravagant splurge for mid-range travelers like us! We decided to go a much more budget-friendly route and I was SO happy that my hours of research paid off when I stumbled across Hotel Lavas Tacotal*. They have spacious motel-style rooms as well as single unit adorable bungalows, laid across their gorgeously landscaped and tropical grounds, with 2 small but lovely pools, volcano views, and a huge open-air restaurant with DELICIOUS breakfast buffet. It's also open for dinner, with a full bar, though we never dined here outside of breakfast. They're very conveniently located as well - a 5 minute WALK to Go Adventure Zip Line meeting point, as well as a convenient store for all of your necessities, and a couple of decent restaurants. And about a 10 minute drive in one direction to downtown La Fortuna, and 10-20 minute drive in the opposite direction to Arenal Volcano. 
RENTAL CAR:
We booked our rental car with Adobe Rent-A-Car, after finding a great discount code on this Two Weeks in Costa Rica blog post - not only is it a great 10-20% discount, but you get some great freebies like a 2nd driver, booster seats, and car delivered to your hotel (which we needed since our flight arrived very close to their office closing and we didn't want to risk it)! We had a great experience with them - all the taxes and fees are straightforward from the get go, no hidden costs like some other companies often shock you with at the desk! RENTAL / DRIVING TIPS:
5 DAYS IN COSTA RICA ITINERARY:
DAY 1:
CATARATA DEL TORO: There are numerous ways to drive from San Jose to La Fortuna. We went to the east and had a nice pit stop at Catarata Del Toro waterfall. We had a later-than-planned-departure from San Jose (due to hubby needing to take some morning work calls at the hotel), otherwise we also would have also visited Blue Falls (literally right next to the other, we just didn't have a moment spare for it). Catarata Del Toro was GORGEOUS - an impressive 270 ft cascading waterfall within an old volcano crater! The water was actually grey due to nearby Poas Volcano current activity, but the color fluctuates. The entrance fee was $15, and you see the waterfall from above pretty much right away. We decided not to decend the hundreds of steps to the bottom due to the rain, instead we hiked around in our ponchos and had a nice relaxing adventure that broke up the drive perfectly. They have a restaurant on site that we were planning to lunch at, but the cook was sick, so we were out of luck there. This was our first lesson in "go with the flow, expect the unexpected" in Costa Rica! Pro tip: always have lots of snacks in the car for unexpected things like this, and being stuck behind cows or construction on the road for random 20-30 minute spans of time! 
NIGHT HIKE:
A night hike to see frogs, sloths, and other creepy crawleys at night in the jungle is a MUST DO in Costa Rica. But there are SO many to choose from, I found myself spinning in circles!! Save yourself the time and just book La Fortuna Hikes & Trails night hike* (about $43 per person), which is the one we did and includes a really unique tortilla making class (it actually ended up being a really hefty snack / light meal so consider this when making your dinner plans before or after the hike). 
Our guide was SO amazing! We were all given rechargeable flashlights, and she walked us through pointing out creature after creature, telling us all about them, letting us take our time capturing endless photos and videos. I had purchased and brought mosquito repellent bracelets and we all wore one but didn't notice many mosquitos, which was shocking - in the jungle and in Costa Rica as a whole. After 5 days I went home with only 2 bites, the kids had more unfortunate because they left the bedroom door open too long and had some in their room overnight. Oops! 
Day 2:
MISTICO HANGING BRIDGES There are a few options for hanging bridges, we opted for Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges* (about $40 per person) and absolutely loved it! It's a long hike, with lots of steep inclines, through gorgeous jungles, but the paths are paved and they even had strollers you could rent so that speaks to how well the paths are made! We didn't book tickets with a guide but recommend you consider it - they will help spot wildlife, take group photos etc! We occasionally came across a group with a guide and were lucky enough to have them point out a couple of vipers and other wildlife for us, so if you don't get a guide, try to stay near a group that does ha!! 
One of my 3 kids was terrified of the hanging bridges, I did not anticipate that, so keep it in mind if you have anyone afraid of heights in your group. They are QUITE high, they creak, they swing a bit if anyone isn't walking carefully one foot in front of the other. They are spectacular though, some offer views of rivers, others of the volcano. We just loved it! And it was mostly shaded, we didn't even bother with sunblock and were just fine. Be sure to use the bathroom beforehand, as there's nowhere within the park to go.
LUNCH: After finishing your hike, they do have ice cream and a restaurant with a stunning view, but if you want to save money, drive a few minutes down the road to Soda La Palma which was recommended to us by a Mistico staff member. It has great food, and even had a mini petting zoo behind it! 
DON JUAN ARENAL COFFEE + CHOCOLATE TOUR I should preface this by saying my mother and I almost opted out of this one. It sounded boring for us and the kids, we were just going to send the men while we stayed behind to let the kids swim. Boy oh boy were we mistaken, and I'm SO glad we all went along, despite the pricey admission tickets (about $50 per person)... this tour was EPIC!!!! So hands on, lots to smell, taste, and do. Our guide kept it fun for the kids and was so informative about EVERYTHING involved in the process of growing these crops. We saw a sloth on property, picked and ate fresh bananas off a tree, sucked on fresh cocoa pod seeds (they taste like fruit candy!!), even got to make our own chocolate! Don't sleep on this one, get your tickets for Don Juan Coffee + Chocolate tour here*!! 
Don Juan is located quite close to the La Fortuna Hikes & Trails, so could be nicely paired back to back with a hike there, although that's a LOT of guided tour in a row if you ask me (and my kids). They're also pretty close to downtown La Fortuna, so we booked the last tour of the day at 4pm and finished at late dusk and headed into town for dinner. We ended up at Volcano Steakhouse, which had a shockingly long wait (not sure if that's typical or they were down on staff) but food was good and vibe was fun, and my parents treated the kids to Pops ice cream afterward! 
Day 3:
LA FORTUNA WATERFALL
When in La Fortuna, visiting La Fortuna Waterfall* is a MUST DO. Again, like everything else, you must pay to see it, but it's worth it, trust me! It's about $20 per person, there was no discount for kids but my parents got in for dirt cheap after inquiring about their senior rate. There are 500 steps down, and another 500 steps back up. My mother opted to sit that hike out but there is a great viewing platform at the top, so she still got to see it from above and waited in the shade for the rest of us to hike down, SWIM at the base of the waterfall, and hike back up. We were all nervous about that climb back up, but honestly, take it slow, take lots of breaks (for just looking around and enjoying nature!), and it's no problem, really!! 
Be VERY careful though, the rocks by the waterfall are VERY VERY SLIPPERY!!! Also, if swimming out, be careful not to kick the rocks, there's a drop off a bit out where you can swim without concern about rocks, but when coming back in, just use your arms as you get closer. Ask us how we know (ouch!). Also, be mindful of your things. There was some security guards down there, not sure I would rely on them. They have lockers at the top so I advise you to leave valuables at home or in the lockers, and only bring down your clothes, shoes, towel, water bottle, and your phone in a waterproof phone pouch (see my "Costa Rica shopping list" at the bottom of this post for other must-brings)! 
GO ADVENTURE ZIP LINE Zip lining is right up there with night hiking for "must do" in Costa Rica. There are many locations and companies to choose from, and we struggled big time with this decision, especially since my father has Parkinson's and he was very very nervous about his ability to properly hold onto the line. We ultimately chose Zip Lining with Go Adventure* because at about $60 per person they were MUCH cheaper than some others, the tour included multiple zip lines AND an optional (but no extra fee) rappel, a Maleku experience, and admission to nearby Montaña de Fuego hot springs (and hot springs in the area are quite pricey so it was like 2 birds one stone here). Oh, and the meeting point was literally a 5 minute walk from our hotel. Winner winner chicken dinner! 
And were were 1,000% happy with our pick, Go Adventure was amazing!!! It was the first time zip lining for all of us, and we had THE best time! SO exhilarating, terrifying, breathtaking - all the feelings at once!! We were overwhelmed with the instructions at first, and totally anxious walking out to that first line. But everything felt very safe and secure - you were hooked onto the tree or the cable line basically at all times. We were SO high up but after that first zip, everyone felt amazing, even Mia who had been terrified on the hanging bridges was fine with this - so funny!! They have lockers at the meeting point so you can leave bags and valuables there. They don't recommend bringing ANYTHING with you on the zip lining tour, but I wore my DJI Osmo action camera on a harness (on my shopping list at the bottom of this post!), and my husband brought his iPhone and kept it secured in his pocket while ziplining. If you do bring a camera, make sure it is held close to your body and fully secured. You dont want to get tangled, and you dont want to drop something - all the platforms are a gridlike metal so very easy for little things to fall through or larger things to bounce and be gone forever in the jungle! You can hire a professional camera person there, it was quite pricey but if you dont have a camera that can be secured safely, and want to capture amazing stuff, you may want to splurge. But we were happy with the DIY videos and photos we got on our own. 
After such an adventurous day, we were all exhausted and were glad to find nearby Mirador Arenal Steakhouse (across the street from our hotel) for dinner (and I treated myself to a Passion Fruit Mojito - YUM!), and afterwards, a cute little convenient store (next to Go Adventure) where we were all treated to ice cream again by my sweet toothed Mom! Score!! Sweet end to a sweet day! 
Day 4:
ARENAL 1968 LAVA FLOW LOOP HIKE
As if we hadn't done enough hiking, JUST ONE MORE we told the kids! The Arenal 1968 hike (about $25 a person) is a must do in the area, it was a much more strenuous hike than we anticipated, AND we opted for the shorter loop, too! It also had lots of sunny areas - my shoulders deeply regretted not putting on that sunblock today! Definitely put on sunblock, bring water, use the bathrooms, and grab the hiking sticks they have at the entrance. There's plenty of wildlife to see, bring a guide for the best experience, otherwise just pay attention to other hikers looking at stuff, that's how we discovered most of the creatures we saw in Costa Rica! On this hike we saw a sloth, a Coati climbing through the trees, and some gorgeous birds with very interesting calls (listen to them in my youtube at the top of this post)! 
At the end of the hike is a cute cafe with GORGEOUS views, but again, we opted to drive onward to a Soda for a cheaper lunch. This time we visited Soda Arenal, which had amazing food and a super cute dog my mom and kids had fun feeding from the table, ha! 
Montaña de Fuego hot springs + pool Montaña de Fuego is one of the few all-inclusive resorts in Costa Rica, maybe the only one in La Fortuna area? It's a beautiful property, and they have a lovely pool with swim up bar, jacuzzi, kiddie pool, 3 lovely manmade healing mineral hot springs, and volcanic mud to slather on your body - and a day visit for these is included with your Go Adventure wristband!! You don't have to go the same day, just don't take off your wrist band and you'll be admitted! There are no lockers, towels, or changing rooms though, so keep that in mind and BYO stuff. They do have bathrooms to use, so no worries there. You can also purchase food and drinks. It's a fun and relaxing time, we really enjoyed it as a "free" way to have the volcanic hot springs experience essential in La Fortuna (the bigger venues are very very pricey, but again, do your research - you may find buying day passes worthwhile, or you may decide to splurge on a luxury Hot Spring Resort as your accommodation, which includes use of their hot springs). 
Day 5:
Check out and go home day, we chose La Paz Waterfall Gardens as our pit stop on the road trip back this time and it was PERFECTION! Definitely give yourself plenty of time there, I think we were there about 5 hours and could have stayed longer!! The grounds and location were spectacular, possibly the best "zoo" we've ever been to - it's an animal sanctuary so all of the animals are rescues, and all (or mostly all?) local to Costa Rica. There's a butterfly aviary where they fly all around and land on you. You can see UP CLOSE tons of animals including spider monkeys, sloth, puma, jaguar, ocelot, toucan, venomous snakes, and more!
I highly recommend paying a little more for the admission ticket that includes the buffet lunch, for one because there's nothing else in the area and honestly the cost is barely more than you'd pay at a soda, and it's BUFFET with drinks, too. Admission is about $54 per adult without lunch, and $69 with lunch. The food was delicious!!! And great way to fuel up for the lovely hike that takes you to FIVE waterfalls!! At the end of the (up and down hike with lots of stairs) they have a free shuttle that takes you back to the entrace. Even my parents did the hike, so while it's not stroller or wheelchair friendly, it's quite doable for most people. 
TIPS, TRICKS, + PERSONAL TAKEAWAYS:
SHOPPING / PACKING LIST:
Some of our other Travel Guides + Family Friendly Itinerary we think you'll enjoy:
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Volcanos. Glaciers. Whales. Geothermal pools. And SO so so many breathtaking waterfalls. Iceland is a nature lover's paradise, a quick flight from NYC area, and everyone speaks English fluently (more or less)! If the Land of Fire & Ice is not on your travel bucket list yet, I hope this blog post inspires you to add it right at the top!
We did Iceland on a budget, so I'm thrilled to share our trick to scoring cheap flights to Europe, and booking a cheap hotel in Iceland (that is big family friendly!). While I have you, don't forget to download our FREE travel prep + packing check list here (for ANY travel, not just Iceland). While most travelers plan their Iceland trip during their more temperate summer months, I'm thrilled to show you why spring is perhaps the BEST time to visit Iceland (spoiler: there are zero crowds, there are gorgeous snowy landscapes galore, and you'll have enough night time for Northern Lights but long enough daylight for 12+hr sightseeing days). I'll share every aspect of my family's Iceland itinerary so you can quickly copycat our multigenerational family vacation, and I will include tons of tips and things to consider when planning and customizing your trip. If you want to sit back and be entertained with beautiful footage of Iceland, watch our youtube highlights video below first! Then read on for all of the details!!
Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored but we were provided some tickets free to in exchange for including them in our vacation guide, and they're noted below. This post also contains some affiliate links below, noted with ** - as an Amazon Associate, I receive commission from purchases made after clicking those links.
FLIGHTS:
Flight times and prices will vary depending on your home airport and time of year, but I was able to find $280 roundtrip direct flights on Iceland's budget carrier, Play Airlines, for my family flying from Stewart International Airport in Newburgh NY (1 hr from NYC) to Reykjavik. INCREDIBLE!! It was about 4 hours there and 6 hours back, an easy peasy flight from the US east cost!
When on Play's website, play around (see what I did there LOL) with the dates to find the best fare, and definitely also check out Kayak and Google Flights to compare with larger carriers. Think of how much baggage you'll need to bring and calculate that into your total cost. For example, with Play, only a "personal item" (SMALL backpack) is included in the lowest fare ticket. My family purchased ONE checked bag to share, and it was an amazing deal for us! But if your family needs a checked bag for each person plus you want in-seat entertainment and meal service, a higher priced ticket with a traditional carrier might be a better deal.
If budget travel is your thing, make sure to come back and read these 2 blog posts (or click over and bookmark them now!):
ACCOMODATIONS:
We traveled with my parents (in their 70s) and our 3 kids (ages 8, 8, 11) and wanted to be together in a stair-free accommodation, so our needs were a bit exceptional. We decided to stay the entire trip in Reykjavik, because researching and finding a different place in each stop was too much of a headache. Plus, we didn't want to be driving a 10 passenger van all over, which would have been necessary to fit the 7 of us and our luggage. After hours and hours (no joke) of research, I booked a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom "Superior Apartment" with kitchen and balcony at Downtown Reykjavik Apartments on Booking.com**. It was PERFECTION! A true home away from home! It was very quiet while being centrally located in the city - just a 10 minute walk to the main street and bus depot. It was too cold to hang out on our 4th floor balcony but I set my alarm a few times each night to go out and look for Aurora and one night I actually did capture them on my phone from there!! They had an elevator, free wifi, we never had trouble finding a free parking spot, and there was a luggage room which worked out great because our flight arrived at 4:30am and our bus got us to the hotel at 8am but we couldn't check into our room until 3pm LOL! Just dropped our bags off, bundled up, and headed to breakfast at Sundholt Bakery followed by a FULL day on our feet sightseeing (more on that below)! If looking for a house, Airbnb** and VRBO** are great places to search. 
Our 5-7 day Iceland Itinerary:
BLUE CAR RENTAL:
Figuring out who to rent a car from was another hours upon hours of research I put into our trip, but you can save yourself the hassle and just choose Blue Car Rental, which was amazing!!! AND you can save 5% with my commission earning affiliate code Usjapanfam by clicking this link**!! One thing that's so great about Blue Car Rental is they have an office at Keflavik Airport AND in downtown Reykjavik, so you can pickup and dropoff at either. Personally, we only used the city location because we wanted to get a 7-seater, which was just big enough for our group WITHOUT our luggage. The Kia Sorento was less than a year old, in perfect condition, and all of their cars have studded tires (see photo below!) so you don't have to worry so much about weather, well, not when it comes to the car anyway! 
Car Rental Tips:
SELF-DRIVE ITINERARY:
Road Trip #1: Southern Golden Circle (12hrs)
Picked up our rental car at 8am and headed out bright and early... we all crashed at 6pm our first night so it was actually perfect, despite our bodies still being on Eastern Time (4 hours behind Iceland)! 
Stop 1: Urriðafoss / Urridafoss Waterfall
Not super tall but large and powerful, very short path from parking lot i.e. you could do as few as 5-30 minutes here) 
Stop 2: Lava Centre
An amazing hands on educational center that gifted us tickets in exchange for including them in our review. They had a beautiful volcano movie (with bean bags on the floor the kiddos loved) and so many exhibits where you could learn about how volcanos work, how Iceland is divided between 2 spreading tectonic plates so the country grows bigger at a rate of 2" per year! They even have an earthquake simulator!!! Very cool place!! We probably spent 1 hour here, followed by lunch on the road nearby. 
Stop 3: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
Beautiful tall (almost 200 feet) and narrow waterfall from a glacier-capped volcano. You can see it from quite a distance as you approach it by car. In summer you can walk behind the waterfall (bring a poncho) but in winter and in spring when we went, the back path is iced over and blocked off, and even the matted path in front was pretty icy (my kids loved "skating" around and had a hilarious fall a stranger caught on camera for us (see below photo!). We didn't want to risk my parents falling so they stayed back beyond where the mist was hitting (and freezing). This is a MUST stop, absolutely gorgeous! It's not far from the parking lot, maybe 5-10 minute walk, plan for at least 30 minutes here, more if you want to hike and see more waterfalls along the way. 
Stop 4: Rútshellir Cave
A quick, free, and unique stop to break up the drive but you do need to be rather agile to maneuver the little ladder over a fence to access the cave (my 70 year old parents had no problem, but just a heads up). 10-15 minutes is all you need here. 
Stop 5: Skogafoss Waterfall
This waterfall was spectacular, my favorite of all of them! Almost 200 feet fall and 82 feet wide. When we were there in early April, there was a lot of ice all around which made it even more stunning, there was a rainbow over it at one point, and you could hear ice break off and fall down occasionally. It is about a 10 minute easy walk from parking to the waterfall, plan for at least 30 minutes here, more if you are adventurous enough to climb the MANY stairs to view it from the top (we did not). You can walk right up to it but the mist gets heavier and heavier as you get closer (and the ground icier and icier). 
Sólheimajökull Glacier:
We did not stop here but rather admired it while driving by on the Golden Circle, which was enough for us. There are plenty of tour groups that organize hikes here, they'll provide the gear and everything! 
Stop 6: Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach
A beautiful beach, infamous for "sneaker waves" which suck a few people each year out into the frigid open waters. There are warning signs up - never turn your back to the ocean and don't go past the dry sand too close to the shoreline. Even when waves look calm, there could be a random one that "sneaks" up on you. Best case, you get wet and someone adds a video of you to countless other Reynisfjara sneaker wave videos on TikTok. Worst case, it knocks you down, pulls you out, and game over. That said, it's a beautiful beach which my kids will tell you is NOT black sand, it's black pebbles LOL! And the gorgeous basalt structures to admire, just wow, I loved those!! 
Stop 7: Vík i Myrdal
We didn't spend much time here but it's a popular place to spend the night if doing a multiple night ride around the Golden Circle. Defintiely see their iconic church and have dinner at Black Crust Pizzeria (it's not black from volcanic ash but rather charcoal, to go along with the black sand beach vibe - SO yum!! I highly recommend the #2 (pizza with duck, cream cheese, syrup soaked orange, cashew nuts + chilli), and the sweet bacon wrapped dates. OMG. I'm drooling just remembering these!! 
Dinner completed our first road trip and we drove 2.5 hours back to Reykjavik, with a brief pit stop for ice cream and bathroom at a nice convenience store on the highway.
Road Trip #2: Northern Golden Circle (8hrs)
Stop 1: Brúarfoss Waterfall
This was a nice waterfall but a bit scary as there was a portion before the bridge that had no guardrail - if you have little ones, please be careful! The view over the waterfall from the small foot bridge is lovely! It's probably the longest trek from parking to a waterfall that we did, but still quite short, maybe 10 minutes, so schedule 30 minutes here to be safe. If I were forced to drop any of the waterfalls from our itinerary it'd probably be this one, but only if FORCED. It was beautiful, just a bit of a drive off the Circle and then a walk, so took quite a bit of time if you're rushed, consider dropping this one to save time. 
Stop 2: Strokkur Geyser
There is an amazing visitor center here - very new and modern with a huge variety of delicious food options!!! Depending on your schedule, you may want to plan for a meal or a snack here, then head over to the geyser. It's a quick 5 minute walk and erupts with a spout of water 100 feet high every 10-20 minutes. Lots of bubbling hot springs around so just stay on the path. The larger Geysir is dormant now, unfortunately, but Strokkur was still impressive! Allow at least 30 minutes here. 
Stop 3: Gulfoss Waterfall
This waterfall is incredible!! If you have time you can walk along the path for a few different angles, it's not far from the parking and this one also has a wonderful visitor center with great food options! Give yourself at least 30 minutes here. 
Stop 4: Laugarvatn Fontana Geothermal Bakery Tour & Geothermal Baths
To be honest, I heard about this place on Netflix's Down to Earth with Zac Efron and reached out to see if they'd host us for a visit, and they did!! And this place did not disappoint!!! You MUST schedule this on your trip to Iceland, it's right on the Golden Circle and provides some once in a lifetime kind of experiences!!! Book the Geothermal Bakery Tour and they'll take you out to their lake, dig up bread that's been baking in the ground for the last 24 hours, and bury a new loaf for tomorrow's tour to dig up. You'll see the water in the ground actually boiling!! Geothermal energy, baby!!! THEN, you go inside and they cut the Icelandic Rye Bread open - it's still steaming hot!! And you'll eat it with fresh Icelandic butter and smoked trout caught in the very lake you are at!!! It was absolutely delicious!!! 
We followed up the bakery tour by relaxing in their geothermal baths. Bring your own towels and swim suits or you can rent from Fontana. They have nice big locker rooms where you can safely stow your items and wear the key on a wrist band. You'll need to scrub down in the showers before putting on your swimsuit and heading outdoors to the various naturally heated geothermal pools. I'm not gonna lie, it was COLD when we went. They were having a wind storm and it was honestly probably 0 degrees Fahrenheit wind chill!!! You briskly walk from the locker room and then plunge down into the hot baths and it feels SO good!!! The lake was frozen but they pound out the ice so you can do a cold plunge if you please (we did not but many people did), and you've also got snowy mountains in the background. After bathing, head back to the locker room - they've even got shampoo and hair dryers for you (but no shower curtain... when in Rome)!
Both bakery and bath adventures at Fontana were so incredibly unique, this place goes down as one of my top 10 most memorable and recommended travel experiences ever, 100%!!!
Stop 5: Þingvellir / Thingvellir National Park
This is supposedly the only place on earth where you can see on land where two tectonic plates meet and it's spectacular. We learned at the Lava Centre the day before that the two plates are spreading apart, making Iceland grow 2" per year! To see it in person the next day was just really cool! The parking lot is very close so you could do this in as little as 10 minutes but it's a HUGE park if you want to spend hours hiking and exploring, you can. It's only 45 minutes from Reykjavik so this could be its own day trip if you have time, but we crammed it into the larger half Golden Circle trip. 
REYKJAVIK ACTIVITIES:
Reykjavik is a really cute town! The main street is lively with lots of shopping and restaurants, really nice to walk along and explore, wide variety of architecture and colorful buildings going on which I really loved! But it's not a huge city. I would have been content with a single day in the city and the 2 full road trip days, but having 5-6 days gives you much more flexibility and more of a slow travel vibe. I found Reykjavik the perfect place to have as our base camp, so you can go about leisurely if you have extra time, or book last minute tours (or rental car) out of the city.
Perlan Wonders of Iceland Museum:
Perlan's observation deck has THE BEST view in town (see below)! You can buy tickets for just the observation deck OR an all-inclusive museum ticket, the latter which we were gifted in exchange for including them in our vacation coverage. It is an amazing museum with lots of hands on exhibits and ways to learn about the science behind this amazing land of Fire & Ice! Their manmade 100m long Ice Cave was one of the highlights of the trip for me - made with 350 tons from Iceland's Blue Mountains and is kept at a frigid 14°F (-10°C)!! I also really enjoyed their Northern Lights show in the planetarium, but several in our family slept through that one since we went on our first day in Iceland after flying overnight with no sleep... oops! 
Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral:
Perhaps the most iconic building in Reykjavik - you can pay to go up top for a great view from their tower, but we just went inside for free and listened to beautiful pipe organ), and our kids had fun on the swings outside! 
Whale watching tour with Reykjavik Sailors / Special Tour:
There are MANY whale watching tours running but Reykjavik Sailors had the best pricing I could find, definitely a splurge for us but totally worth it - we had a great trip! It was a nice big boat with TONS of seating inside (great for the 45 minute ride to and from the bay, if it's cold weather), drinks and snacks for purchase, free wifi, life jackets (required for kids under 12), nice bathrooms, and a great deck on top for viewing. We saw soooooo many whales and even a few playful dolphins. I was nervous about my son and myself getting motion sick but 99% of the ride was shockingly smooth and we all did totally fine! 
Public geothermal swimming pool (Sundhöll):
If you have time, this is a really local experience that is fun for the whole family! Supposedly the indoor/outdoor public pools are where Icelandic people go to hang out regularly, all year round, and it seemed very much the case when we went!! Maybe bars and restaurants aren't as popular because alcohol is so expensive?? I digress... We went to the Sundhöll Reykjavíkur because it was very close to our hotel, but if you have time I think Laugardalslaug looks even more fun for kids (it has a huge water slide!) Kids are free, it's about $10 per adult. They have lockers and you just take the little key with a wrist band, they even had footies to cover your shoes so you didn't get the locker room dirty where people are walking around barefoot, and they had floaties for non-swimmers. You bring your own towel and swimsuit, scrub down (naked) then suit up and go enjoy the pools! They're geothermally heated - the pools were gloriously warm, the hot tubs were amazing, and ours even had a cold plunge (which my husband did, how!?!?!). They had an indoor pool that was being used for kids swim lessons, so we stuck to the many outdoor pools and it was such a unique experience. No cameras were allowed in the pool area so I don't have any photos or videos of that but we had a great time! 
Grotta Lighthouse:
We drove since we still had our car but it's walkable from Reykjavik. It's a really cute lighthouse! Check the tide times though (they're listed there but it'd be better to know before hand so you can plan your day accordingly) - you want to have enough time to walk out and not get stuck out there!! This is a popular (dark) spot to come out at night to see Northern Lights for those who can't get out of the city. 
Árbæjarsafn / Arbaer Open Air Museum:
This is another one we squeezed in because we still had our car and wanted to use it LOL! They provide a tour guide and you can learn a lot about Iceland's history, I highly recommend it, though younger kids may find it a wee boring. 
Smáralind / Smaralind Shopping Mall:
This was another one we randomly added to our free day with a car. I love going to grocery stores and shopping malls in foreign countries, don't you!? One big plus about this one is they have a Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur store in the mall, where you can try the famous Icelandic hot dog without standing in line for an hour and eating outside in downtown Reykjavik with the rest of the tourists LOL!! Don't try to pick and choose your toppings, you need to go all in with the standard which includes onions, fried onions, ketchup, lamb/pork/beef hot dog, remoulade, and mustard! SO YUM!!! 
There are tons of activities and museums and day tours you can do in Reykjavik, and tons of excursions that will pick up and drop off there. So do your research and figure out what are musts for your family - do you want to hike a volcano, explore a glacier, do the FlyOver Iceland ride, visit the Blue Lagoon (it was closed due to volcanic activity while we were there), see the Lava Show, take a walking food tour or book a bus tour out to see the Northern Lights? Viator is a great place to book your tickets and tours, and don't forget to install the Rakuten extension** so you can 10% cash back on Viator purchases!!
WEATHER / WHAT TO PACK:
In winter and spring, pack for super cold weather with some base layers. Inside is nice and warm but outside can be brutal. You need a WARM winter coat, hat, gloves, snow boots or waterproof hiking boots. I recommend my magical combo of sherpa lined leggings and wind/waterproof pants**. This fleece lined hat and neck gaiter** also did me goooood!! There are places you can rent gear in Iceland, but it's expensive and probably only necessary for those coming from warm places who do not already have a warm coat and boots. If you're coming from northern US or Canada, you'll be fine in your winter gear. To save money on your flight, just wear all your gear on the plane ;) No joke, we did, and it saved us from having to purchase a second checked bag!! You can bring a travel umbrella if you want, but we brought ponchos instead so we didn't have to worry about wind. In the end, we didn't have any rain the whole week we were there, only got a bit of snow while boarding our flight home!! Got really lucky!! 
Don't forget to pack a bathing suit for visiting a geothermal pool or two, a waterproof phone pouch** for your phone if you want to take photos in the pool, and consider a tripod if you are serious about setting up for some amazing northern lights photos.
Of course you'll also need sunglasses, phone and charger and TRAVEL ADAPTER because they use different plugs (type C/E)!! We brought 2 because between the 5 of us we had a TON of devices. This Lencent travel plug adapter** folds in and has 4 outlets, 2 USB and 2 USB C, and this Trond adapter** has 3 outlets and 2 USB. They use different voltage (230v), which is fine for most phones and laptops and tablets have a wide range (110-240v) and will be fine, but triple check all electronics before bringing - hair dryers, sound machines and things like that will NOT be ok.
Iceland Travel Tips
aka things that surprised me about Iceland:
NORTHERN LIGHT TIPS:
PHEW! Did I warn you I was going to give you ALL you need to know about planning a spring vacation to Iceland or what!??!
Questions? Comments? Suggestions??? Leave them all below! We honestly LOVED Iceland and the whole vibe of this vacation SO much we are already trying to figure out when we can go back, definitely looking to go during summer next time because I want to see it all gloriously green and full of puffins and flowers! 
Photo Credit: Princess Cruises
When winter, spring, and summer breaks approach, we often think:
But there are SO many other types of amazing memory-making insta-worthy bucket list vacations out there... RIGHT HERE in the United States!! In this post, I'm hoping to open your eyes to two types that you may or may not have pondered on before: The Traincation and Coastal & River Cruises! I'm going to highlight some absolutely epic options, some kid-friendly and some adult-only, but ALL of them right here in our own backyard!
TRAINCATION
For train enthusiasts, a traincation is a sit back and relax bucket list kind of vacation, and can be done in a couple of ways. You can book each leg yourself, utilizing sleeper cars as well as hotel stays between segments. OR you can book a room and board type package with a travel agent or the train company itself!! Here are a couple of really amazing ones to consider (click through to their websites to discover their other destinations, there are tons!!) 
Photo Credit: Rocky Mountaineer
Rocky Mountaineer
Rocky Mountaineer is the epitome of North American luxury train travel, offering a number of routes through the US and Canada. Their Rockies to the Red Rocks tour, for example, is 6 days 7 nights (2 of those days aboard their train with food included and a beautiful glass dome car for viewing scenery, other days' transport via coach) from Las Vegas to Bryce Canyon, Moab, Glenwood Springs, ending in Denver. While most guests are adults, children are welcome but it's important to note train days are 8+ hours of sitting around in your assigned seat on the train, with no wi-fi... I don't know about you but that might be tough with my 3 kids. I see this as more of a luxury sightseeing getaway with your romantic partner or bestie(s), when you just want to sit back and not be stressed about traffic and driving! 
Photo Credit: Amtrak / Sleeper Car
Amtrak
Amtrak has two very affordable rail pass options. Their USA Rail Pass is $499 per adult for up to 10 days of travel in 30 days. The California Rail Pass is $150 per adult and $79.50 per child for 7 days of travel within 21 days, and you can upgrade segments for sleeper car as needed. Using the rail passes, you have incredible flexibility in your itinerary and can see all the major sights in California whether you do it in a rush or take all 3 weeks! Pro Tip: The Coast Starlight Train is said to be one of the most spectacular train routes, passing by mountains, forests, and the Pacific coast beach, from Seattle to Los Angeles. 
Amtrak Superliner Lounge / Photo Credit Amtrak
For those wanting a more curated traincation, book an epic rail vacation through Amtrak Vacations. There's a 9 day trip from Chicago to Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon and Zion National Park, that includes 2 overnights on the train and 6 in hotels. There's another one out of Chicago, this one is 15 days with stops at Salt Lake City, Yellowstone, San Francisco, Seattle, and Glacier National Park! I mean, come on, is there a better way to see all of that in one trip!?? Certainly not renting an RV and trying to drive that monstrosity around! On a tighter budget or time limit? How about their NYC - Niagara Falls train package, just $399 per person including round trip train ticket, 2 nights hotel accommodation, and admission to the Skylon Tower Observatory Deck!
RIVER CRUISES
You won't find kids clubs or all of the bells and whistles of the GINORMOUS transatlantic cruise lines here, but you will find gourmet dining, nightly entertainment, much larger staterooms (all with river views, most with balconies), and a much more intimate laid back relaxing experience. 
Photo Credit: Viking Cruises
Viking Cruises
If looking for a unique getaway with your partner or your bestie, look into a sailing on one of the kid-free Viking Cruises such as their 8 day New Orleans & Southern Charms cruise or 12 day America's Heartland cruise, both going up and down the Mississippi River. Included in your booking you'll get one free shore excursion per port, free wifi, coffee / tea / beer / wine / soft drinks with onboard lunch and dinner, enrichment lectures, destination performances and more! The stateroom includes binoculars, plush robes, slippers, and underbed storage. And just check out that infinity plunge pool on the back of the boat (above photo)!!! 
Photo Credit: American Cruise Lines
American Cruise Lines
Another great one to look into is American Cruise Lines, the largest river/small ship cruise line in the USA - operating 19 river boats and small ship around the United States in 2024 (5 riverboats on the Mississippi, 5 on the Columbia & Snake, and 9 small coastal cruise ships that operate river cruise itineraries along both US coasts). While kids are technically allowed on this one, there are no pools, babysitting, or even kids meals so one might assume guests are not expecting a wild bunch of kiddos running amok on board, and I would certainly take that into consideration if booking your family. That said, they have some incredible routes and accommodations!! Check out their 8 day Hudson River Fall Foliage Cruise or Columbia & Snake Rivers Cruise. ACL boasts the largest staterooms in the industry - all facing outward with furnished private balconies. They use fully stabilized and intimate sized ships holding 90-180 guests, have onboard historians and entertainment, all-inclusive dining with wine / beer / soft drinks / wifi included.
COASTAL CRUISES
If you want the massive exciting kid-friendly cruise ship experience, but you are terrified of the open sea, consider one of the coastal routes by a major cruise line! Some of them are 100% domestic and don't even require you to have a passport! 
Photo Credit: Norwegian Cruise Line / Pride of America Inter-Island Hawaiian Cruise
Norwegian Cruise Line
NCL's Pride of America, for example, cruises around 4 of the Hawaiian Islands, you'd have to fly to Honolulu but from there you'd be hugging the islands for 7 days. Head ashore or stay on the boat which features 3 main dining rooms, a buffet, a few casual cafes, deck games, an arcade, 4 hot tubs, 3 pools, a (parent attended) playroom for babies and toddlers, drop off kids club (ages 3-12), a teen hangout room (ages 13-17), a theater with live entertainment, a jogging track, a spa, and more!! 
Photo Credit: Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises
Or maybe you want to explore glaciers up north? Princess Cruises has two routes to Alaska that don't require passports! They have two 7 day roundtrip routes from Seattle and an 11 day roundtrip cruise from San Francisco that hug the Pacific coast never veering too far from land. The boat is massive with 900 balconies, 3,000 passengers, freshwater pools and hot tubs, Discovery at SEA enrichment programs, sports court, live shows, a casino, a spa, and drop off kids clubs (ages 3-7, 8-12, and 13-17).
So, are you intrigued!??
Jumping to book one of these vacations?? Have you taken one before? Leave a comment below to let us know!! 
Photo Credit: Princess Cruises (upper) / Rocky Mountaineer (lower)
Trying to book your spring break family vacation (or travels throughout the year) but feeling overwhelmed and nervous about your budget? You're not alone. Family of 5 here. Traveling can cost an arm and a leg but you're in luck cuz I work my butt off finding and reviewing the best family vacation spots, and am always looking for the best way to save money (and also featuring which things are worth splurging on!), so here are some of the hacks I use, wrapped up in one handy dandy "How to save money on your spring break family vacation" blog post!! Let's go!!!
Disclaimer: There are some affiliate links included below, noted with ** You don't pay more but I receive commission from qualified purchases or registration after clicking.
No Frills Budget Airlines When I say no frills, I mean no frills. Which means if you pick the right day, you can get tickets for dirt cheap! You'll pay extra for everything other than a basic seat and small personal item (i.e. purse or small backpack). BYO food and drinks (or purchase in flight), don't expect in-seat TV or power outlet. If you need a carry on and a checked bag for every passenger, or need to guarantee family sits together, you're better off booking with a regular "full service" airline, because the price will be the same and they have more flights and partner airlines. The no frills airlines usually don't have partner airlines, so if you miss a flight or it gets cancelled, you can really run into trouble re-booking, especially if you have a large family. Having travel insurance here is key and worth the extra expense (we always use Allianz Travel Insurance), though it can't save the time and hassle of re-booking, it can save you having to pay out of pocket for same day flights with a different airline or couple nights hotel waiting for the original airline to find seats for you. Some "no frills" budget airlines include Spirit, Breeze, Allegiant, Frontier (if you're single with a flexible schedule, look into their "Go Wild" annual pass - you pay $599 for unlimited domestic and international flights, or $149 for their monthly pass), and a newer international budget airline we just booked our upcoming spring break travels with is Play! I played around with the dates (this is key because you'll see one set of dates is 3x more than another set, so you really have to spend some time looking at all of the options), and I got us tickets from Stewart Airport in NY to Iceland for spring break in March for $280 round trip per person! CRAZY!!! It's $120 extra per 44lb checked bag round trip though, so we purchased ONE for our family of 5... packing will be interesting (or we may have to splurge for a 2nd bag at the last minute). For 2022 spring break we got great priced tickets with Spirit to Cancun ($290 per person roundtrip from NYC), and in 2023 spring break we saved huge with Frontier flying to Phoenix. Had a really great experience with both of them - we were careful to pay for 1 checked bag (the five of us shared!) and made sure each of our "personal item" was a small backpack each well within their size limitation. You hear some horror stories on TikTok about getting charged a huge fee to check your "oversized" personal item at the gate, so you really REALLY have to be careful with that!! When searching flights, not all travel websites include every no frills airline... Expedia** and Kayak do include Play, whereas Google Flights does not. So, check a few places and sometimes it ends up being on the airline's website where you can play around with dates to find the absolute best deal. 
Miles & Points Hacking If you're about to be applying for a mortgage or car lease, or if you are working hard to increase your credit score, you may not want to consider this... but for everyone else, I'll go on a (non-professional non-expert) limb and say that the benefits of "smartly" mile and/or point hacking with credit cards outweighs the risks of little short term credit score dings (consult a professional if concerned!!). I generally go for the credit cards that are free for the first year, to get the huge sign on bonus - this year I got 60k miles and 2 lounge passes from United's Chase card** and 100k points with Hilton's AmEx card**. Then before they renew and charge me, I cancel and sign up for another program/card. You really have to set reminders so you don't miss the chance to cancel before you get charged, and there are limits to how many times you can sign up to a certain type of card in a specific time frame, so be careful and read all the fine print! People who travel a LOT may find that some of the platinum card benefits with huge annual fees (we're talking $695) more than pay for themselves with all of the "free" benefits they offer. It's not worth it for me or my family, but I have a lot of travel creator friends who find theme extremely worthwhile. While we're talking about earning points, make sure however you're shopping, you're getting cash back or earning points or miles with your purchases through a great credit card AND cash back through Rakuten** (yes, double dipping FTW) - I have Rakuten installed as a Google extension and it activates every time I'm on a site they're partnered with. We're talking 10% cash back shopping on Hotels.com**, 8% back booking tours with Viator, up to 3% back on Walmart.com**, heck, I even got 2% cash back buying our new fridge on Lowes.com last month!! One of my credit cards gives me 3% cash back for groceries, and Rakuten gives me 1% back when I shop Aldi on Instacart - boom - 4% cash back!! 
Hotel Alternatives I love a good five star hotel or all-inclusive resort, absolutely LOVE them, but they're not always the best choice when it comes to finances and convenience. A rental home may be a better choice when vacationing as a larger family, with multiple families, or as a multigenerational travel group - plenty of separate rooms and bathrooms, a kitchen, you name it! VRBO** and AirBNB are the most popular sites for finding vacation homes, they have great features too in case you're looking for a more unique stay, like a tiny home, treehouse, house boat, ski-in, yurt, you name it! If you feel comfortable having others stay in your home, you could even consider house swapping casually or through an agency like Home Exchange where it doesn't have to be a simple 2 house swap (that can be hard to coordinate regarding time and destination), instead you earn points when you rent your home and use those points to rent another home, can be at the same time or another time. If you're up for roughing it, camping is always a very budget-friendly option, especially after the initial investment of tent and gear (or RV). We had a fabulous spring break staying in a cabin at Verde Ranch RV Resort last year (read about it and watch our video here)! KOA (Kampgrounds of America) is our favorite nationwide family-friendly chain of campgrounds, most have a pool, bounce pad, and even have cabins if you prefer being in a proper structure (with kitchen, tv, and mattresses!). Read about our experience at KOA Newburgh, just north of New York City, here!
Drive!
When I say drive, I mean two things... One is that driving to your destination, instead of flying or cruising, can really help you save a TON of money, especially for bigger families!! Bus and train are also options to consider. Back when we were a family of 3 living in Brooklyn without a car, we took the bus and train to a ton of places, as far as Montauk, Canada, and North Carolina! Now as a family of 5 with a car, driving is MUCH cheaper. By driving, I also mean: consider further away airports and cruise terminals. This week I was researching cruises out of New Jersey and New York and I found one out of Boston that would save our family about $2k as opposed to the same cruise out of NJ!! Yes, it ads a 4 hour drive for us but TOTALLY worth the savings!! When flying out of the NYC area, we generally look at Newark, La Guardia, and JFK. But did you know, there are a few other airports in the area we don't generally consider, but you can find some super cheap flights! For example:
Travel Writing, Content Creation & UGC:
My final "hack" is something anyone can do but not on a whim, per se. It's takes a lot of work to score free or even paid travel as a freelance travel writer, travel creator, or UGC (user generated content) creator. Outsiders sometimes belittle us "influencers" like we're just running around trying to get free stuff. But it's not like that at all. The value we offer (and hours we put in) is more than equal to the value of goods or services we receive (whether that's a comped week at an all-inclusive resort or a 2-hour glassbottom boat tour). It's always a very fair exchange of goods and service, or service and service. We spend hours filming, shooting, editing, and/or writing - spending much of our "vacation" behind the screen in order to deliver high quality content and "earn" our "freebies". As travel creators, we provide a personal point of view, helping potential travelers feel better about booking their trip, giving our communities and followers inspiration about activities, hotels, you name it! We also help the destination have a more varied and relatable marketing approach. Having a photoshoot and running an ad in a magazine, filming and running a commercial on Netflix, and hosting an influencer or content creator for a few days at your hotel all have vastly different budgets and goals in mind, but they all have value and ROI (return on investment). Whether you want to publish yourself or sell your content for someone else to publish, you have to spend a LOT of timing growing your skills, building a portfolio, building a following (if posting yourself), and be able to pitch yourself, your skills, and your content to people in the travel industry. When I'm planning a trip for my family, I sometimes end up pitching 20+ hotels, tourism boards, and activities. I've worked with Discover Puerto Rico, Hilton, LEGOLAND Resort, Crystal Springs Resort, Woodloch Resort, just to name a few. Back in October, tagged along my husband's business trip to Hawaii and was on my own. I pitched and was able to get comped tickets to 3 luaus, and aquarium, and 2 boat tours! When we went to Arizona for Spring Break last year, we were provided 5 nights accommodation, comped a week long rental car, and several amazing activities! But to get these amazing "free" activities, meals, or full on vacations, I spend HOURS and hours researching and pitching before the trip, spend a good portion of the trip behind the camera (and evenings editing and uploading daily coverage to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube), and DAYS after the trip organizing everything in a blog post and 10+ minute youtube video. Furthermore, the days spent editing and publishing content after the trip are days I cannot be working earning actual money, which is its own cost to consider. This is a reason that selling your UGC for actual money in hand comes into play. So... yeah... it's all WORK! But it's fun work, and work that can help my family (and yours, if interested) to travel for less, potentially get paid to travel, or even have some adventures that you might never have had the chance (or budget) to take otherwise.
OTHER TIPS:
Have any tips on saving money while traveling? Want to know more about how we save or anything mentioned in this blog post?? Leave a comment below!!!
The breathtaking four diamond Crystal Springs Resort in northwestern New Jersey is THE spot for the ultimate high end luxury vacation. From golfing and spa treatments to gourmet dining and tastings in a $10 million value wine cellar, you can really go all out for a destination wedding, girls getaway, or family reunion. You may be thinking Crystal Springs is out of reach for your family, but think again. I'm going to show you how Crystal Springs can be your perfect multigenerational family vacation, even on a budget!! Watch my highlights video from our summer 2023 hosted stay below, and read on for my tips and tricks for enjoying paradise, without even leaving NY/NJ!!
If your budget has no limit, go ahead and book 1-2 weeks in a huge suite (or house) and get excited to enjoy ALL the amenities without a second thought. Massages at Elements Spa, and tons of fee-based amazing activities like rock climbing, teddy bear stuffing, mixology class, 3 or 7-course Chef's Tasting menu at the adult-only Restaurant Latour, a private goat yoga class, tee time one of their 6 golf courses... sky's the limit!
If you're like the rest of us, you may need to justify vacation expenses and feel like you got as much as possible for your hard earned money. And I'm so excited to be the one to tell you, Crystal Springs has SOOOOooooo many free activities and amenities, if you plan your trip well, you will feel like you got an incredible deal, lived like the rich and famous, and come home with incredible memories (and photos)! Let's get to it!!
1. Book a Suite
I know I know, a suite doesn't exactly scream "budget friendly" but hear me out! For less than $100 extra per night you can upgrade from a standard room to a studio suite, and get yourself a full kitchen (no microwave but it has an oven, fridge, stovetop, coffee maker, and dishwasher), with dining table and sleeper sofa! If bringing kids, I highly recommend leveling up to a one or two bedroom suite - kids can watch TV or play quietly in their room while you sleep in. Now THAT'S how to vacation... so you don't get home and need a vacation after your vacation!!
2. Breakfast Credit
All rooms and suites come with $40 breakfast credit per night, and breakfast at Crystal Tavern is delicioussss!!! From french toast and fritata to acai bowls and cereal, you'll put that breakfast credit to good use!!
3. Indoor & Outdoor Pools
With 7 beautiful indoor and outdoor pools and hot tubs at Grand Cascades and Minerals, swimming is probably the favorite activity for both myself and my kids at Crystal Springs, year round, and it's included with your stay!!
The 10,000sqft Biosphere indoor pool complex at Grand Cascades is absolutely stunning. You feel like you're in the tropics, surrounded by palms. With a fun water slide, aquarium, waterfalls, and a little cafe with snacks, gelato, and more. Just outside you'll find a swim out heated pool, another pool, and a life size chess board. So fun!! Do note: the German Foiltec roofing material allows nearly 100% light transmission, so you'll still want to use sunblock** and/or UPF swimwear** (**as an Amazon Associate, I receive commission from purchases made after clicking those links). At the far end of Grand Cascades, past Crystal Tavern, you'll find the gorgeous (unheated!!) Vista 180 pool complex featuring an infinity pool looking over the gorgeous Appalachian mountains, a fun swirling whirl pool, waterslide, and 180* Cafe for snacks and cocktails! Just 3 miles from Grand Cascades you'll find Minerals Resort, and you are free to use their amazing indoor and outdoor pools as well, which includes a cliff jump outside, underwater aquarium inside, and an outdoor splash pad! Some important things to keep in mind regarding pools at Crystal Springs:
4. Free Activities
There are SO many free activities to do at Crystal Springs during your stay, just check their event calendar here for things like petting zoo, glow golf, movie nights, marshmallow roasting, self-guided hiking, wine cellar tours, scavenger hunt, koi fish feeding, outdoor game deck (foosball, pool, and ping pong), splash yard games, and more!! And don't forget, guests can also utilize the Minerals Sports Complex gym and attend classes for free - see the gym schedule here!! We're talking aerial yoga, bungee floating, spin, barre, Zumba, you name it! There are also endless fee-based activities if budget allows, like stuffed animal building, archery, clay shooting, golf, mixology class, paint and sip, VR games, IWall Exergaming, rock climbing, etc.
5. BYO Snacks, Booze, & Food
While delicious and worth a splurge IMO, food and alcohol bills can really add up when utilizing restaurant dining exclusively. If you're on a budget, I've got a great tip for you here! Wine Country, Walmart, and ShopRite of Franklin are just 4 miles away, so you can load up on snacks, booze, and groceries! There are also several fast food options as well as a pizzeria in that one complex, in case you're looking for quick and cheap :)
And don't forget, you do get $40 breakfast credit per night, so definitely use that! And you can find relatively affordable (and quick) grab and go options like $10-$16 sandwiches and salads, as well as fruit, pastries, popcorn and more in the coffee shop on both Grand Cascades and Minerals Resorts. If you have the budget, you should definitely have a meal at each of the restaurants at Minerals and Grand Cascades. Restaurant Latour is definitely my favorite, absolute decadence, for adults only, get a babysitter and have an unforgettable dining experience here!! I love Crystal Tavern, too, with a great variety of food and prices to choose from whether breakfast, lunch or dinner. Gorgeous views as well! Springs Bistro is also delicious, their pasta and pizza are *chef's kiss*!! Kite's Restaurant, over at Minerals, is more casual and never disappoints! We've been to Crystal Springs 4 times but still haven't had a chance to dine at Chef's Garden, an al-fresco garden to table experience, because it's not open daily (check the schedule and go if possible!!) 
6. Come Early, Stay Late
I'll be honest, their 4pm check-in is painfully late, but you can come as early as noon and start enjoying all the fun on the property! Because both indoor pools have locker rooms and free lockers, you can even utilize the pools before check-in and after checkout giving you 2 FULL DAYS of fun with a 1 night stay, or 3 full days with a 2 night stay, which is our favorite bang-for-your-buck length of stay... or "staycation" if you're fairly local like we are! Ah-may-zing!!
7. Drive and Save!!
When traveling to a far away city or exciting location, you probably won't be spending much time at the hotel, so you can scrimp on accommodation and save your budget for other things such as tours, flights, and food! But when you come to Crystal Springs, the hotel IS the destination. It has EVERYTHING, with plenty of included activities to fill your entire day!
If you're in the TriState area you won't even have to worry about the cost of flights, the anxiety over delays and cancellations and whether or not they'll charge you for a carry-on, and you won't be spending half the day traveling!! Crystal Springs Resort is just a beautiful 1 hour drive from NYC, making it the perfect 1 or 2 night "staycation" getaway if you're short on time or budget, of course a week would be magical!! And... this is a "Condo Hotel" meaning you can actually buy a unit and they'll rent it out for you! I've been considering this for a while... sounds amazing!!!
8. Buy a Day Pass
A day pass won't make sense financially for a big family, but if you're coming up solo or with a few friends just for the day, it may be worthwhile to consider! Shop for Day Passes and other activity gift cards here!
Have any questions about Crystal Springs?? We've been FOUR TIMES (2019 & 2023 in summer with kids, 2021 in winter with kids, and 2020 on a "momcation") so I'm happy to answer any questions!!!
Here are some other posts we think you'll enjoy: 
Ever feel like you need a vacation after returning from a family vacation? Have you thought traveling with kids is just parenting in another location? Join the club!!! The struggle is real, but there are some alternatives to just powering through. Today I've got 4 amazing tips for scoring FREE childcare on your next family vacation so you can feel like you actually ENJOYED the vacation with your family - both your kids, your partner, and maybe even some alone time!! Watch my video below for all the details including multigenerational travel, all-inclusive resorts with kids club, traveling and co-parenting with another family, and bringing along a babysitter on your vacation!
Have more tips for planning and carrying out the most amazing family vacations, momcations, or solo travels?? Leave a comment below!!
Each year we spend a good chunk of time and money going to my hometown to visit our family. My sister's family comes in from Montreal and mine from NYC. All of us are avid travelers and wanderlusters, so we sat down last year and unanimously agreed that we would start taking trips somewhere new rather than just going home, as much as budget allows. This year marked our first attempt and it was, in a word, A-MAY-ZING!!! As word spread of our exciting plans, extended family jumped in and we ended up with a group of 19 adults and children joining from USA, Canada, and Japan!! And the location? Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! Our requirements were:
Meeting all of our requirements was the Crown Paradise Club Puerto Vallarta. For my family of 5 (granted the 2 babies were free), one week including flights, hotel, all food and drinks, was $3,000. Awesomely budget-friendly!!
For us, 2 best things about the Crown Paradise were: 1) Their pirate-ship themed kids' pool, featuring a bunch of water slides (9?), which was SOOOOOO much fun for the kids and adults!  2) Their kids' programs. They have a "Baby Paradise" where you can drop off kids ages 18 months - 4 years, for free!! Unfortunately our son lasted all of 5 minutes in there before our pager went off and we had to run back to pick up our sobbing child. Ugh. Apparently another child wanted to share, and ours did not... But he did love the little ride-in car we got to borrow from them. He was riding in style around the resort!! They also have a "Kids Paradise" for kids ages 4-12, and this was great. During the day the leaders would walk around the pools collecting kids for games and contests, and in the evenings they had "parties" the kids could attend while parents went off to have romantic child-free dinners. Also amazing was the food. Their buffet was great, TONS to choose from and even a kids' buffet corner. They had 3 a la carte restaurants which were great (Italian, Asian, and French), but a bit annoying because you have to call a day ahead, from your room, to make a reservation.  The beach was beautiful, though I'm not much of an ocean girl. Some of our party did the free kayaking, and my hubby and his family paid extra for parasailing!! It was really exciting to watch, maybe I'll get the guts to actually do it next time!  The rooms were nothing special, but they were clean and ours had a nice balcony with views of 2 pools and the beach. I enjoyed nursing my babies out there while people watching!! We got 2 complimentary pack 'n plays for our girls, and there was plenty of room to fit them, but they were very dingy and disappointing. Our babies are only 5 months so clean sheets fitted over the mat was fine, but if they had been older and standing and chewing on the rail of the beds, yikes, I would have been really upset... So, if this sounds like your situation you may want to consider bringing along your own baby bed (like a blow up Dock a Tot perhaps).  The free nightly entertainment was also a bit disappointing. First off because it was not quite the level of professionalism and excitement as I was expecting, but also because it was so late. Most shows didn't start til 9, and after bringing all the kids to 2 shows I quickly realized it wasn't worth it. For the rest of the week we all went back to the room after dinner, nursed the babies, and were in bed by 9pm. The only other negative thing at all I have to say about the resort was that several underwater steps in the kids' multi-level water park were no longer marked. I tripped going up and down steps that I didn't see, and I witnessed several children unexpectedly going under water because they missed steps down. We had water wings on our toddler and he was never out of reach, but this seemed a bit dangerous. Also, there were no life guards. So, long story short, please keep a close eye (or hand) on your kids if they're not very good in the water.  If you start getting antsy to get out on some adventures, there are TONS of excursions you can book right from the hotel (and if you have the time to sit through time share spiels, you can free excursions or other goodies). We did a full-day city/tequileria/jungle tour which was pretty cool, but I would have been 100% fine with just staying on the resort property for the full week! With all of our family with us, they were so helpful with watching the babies while we swam or ate, it was so relaxing and one of the most amazing vacations of my life... so far!! I really hope we can visit the Cancun location of Crown Paradise sometime soon!!! Here's a video montage of our stay in Puerto Vallarta, enjoy! We sure did!!!  |
 
About ME:I'm a NYC metro area mom blogger living in NJ with my Japanese husband & our 3 kids (twins + 1), focusing on fun and honest product and travel reviews, helping busy parents find the best for their families! Find what you need in the menu bar or search section above! 
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