Looking for a cheap Christmas vacation

[greaper007]

Things with my family have gotten rather tense over the last few months and my (immediate) family and I really want to get out of town for Christmas just to get away from the stress.    The problem is that it's too cold to camp in Colorado for Christmas and everything hotel and airbnb wise seems to be twice as expensive as any other time of year.    We can't seem to make a vacation budget come in at under $2000 for the four of us (it's even more if we decide to drive 2 hours up to the mountains instead of somewhere like California).

Does anyone have any cheap ideas near the Denver area that don't include an econolodge somewhere in Kansas?

[Trudie]

Know anyone you can house swap with for the holidays?  Given your location, you might get takers.

[Rebecca Stapler]

Have you looked at renting a house or condo from a private party? We've used www.VRBO.com at least a dozen times and are always happy with our rentals. You have to pay attention to what you want / need and look at photos for dozens of listings before you settle on something, but all the effort has been worth it for us in the past.

IDK how old your kids are, but I've spent 3 New Years' Eves at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and it's warm enough to camp down there! You have to apply for a permit months ahead of time, but I remember applying in October or November and getting approved one year. You could stay at Phantom Ranch, but those reservations are harder to come by. The hiking at the bottom of the canyon in December is great because the weather is so nice. You might get some snow on the rim, but it gets warmer as you drop in elevation.

Canyonlands is another option for winter camping -- the Island in the sky (?) area looks similar to Grand Canyon conditions.

We also spent some time at Zion after one of our New Years' Canyon trips, and it was great. You can't go way in to the slot canyons, but there's still a lot of hikes open. It's cool to see the waterfalls frozen over. We stayed just outside the park, in Hurricane, very inexepensively (but I can't remember how much we paid). We were poor grad students at the time, so these were all low budget trips :) 

[gimp]

How many people? How many kids? For how long?

Rebecca's idea is excellent and is almost identical to what I was going to say. Drive down to Arizona / New Mexico. Bum around the massive, beautiful, natural wonders of the world. Grand canyon is there - both sides! Monument Valley is there. Bryce Canyon. If you and your kids can rough it, the total cost pretty much comes out to gas and food.

Also, when you go to these places... really go. Really look. Don't chill for a half hour and take some snapshots. Spend half a day, an entire day, just walking around a bit, biking around a bit, relaxing a bit, and looking at the magnificence of it all. "But dad, I'm bored." "I don't care. Learn how to not be bored."

[Rebecca Stapler]

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon will be closed in the winter, but you can hike to that side from the bottom ;)

[greaper007]

Thanks for the reply's, we just did the Grand Canyon last month.   It was great, but with a 3 and a 5 year old they were more interested in squirrels than actually looking at the canyon.    I was more interested in them NOT DYING than looking at the canyon....I'd love to go back in about 5 years though.

My wife and I used to camp all the time, but it's not totally feasible in Colorado unless we invest another $700 or so in better bags (I'm the only one with a 15 degree bag).    Even in the summer the night time temps are in the 30s and everyone but me is on the verge of hypothermia in the morning.   I've given up for now.

I like the house swapping idea.   I'll have to look at that one.

[lakemom]

Have you looked around for a close indoor water park hotel?  Those seem to be quite popular with young families I know.  They may fall into the 2X more expensive category though as school vacations are probably their busiest times.

One thing we've done for years (especially when more kids were home and the income was lower) is to say...ok we're willing to drive X# of hours for this trip.  Grab the map and draw a circle around your town and see what appeals to you within that circle.

[Rebecca Stapler]

Thanks for the reply's, we just did the Grand Canyon last month.   It was great, but with a 3 and a 5 year old they were more interested in squirrels than actually looking at the canyon.    I was more interested in them NOT DYING than looking at the canyon....I'd love to go back in about 5 years though.

My wife and I used to camp all the time, but it's not totally feasible in Colorado unless we invest another $700 or so in better bags (I'm the only one with a 15 degree bag).    Even in the summer the night time temps are in the 30s and everyone but me is on the verge of hypothermia in the morning.   I've given up for now.

I like the house swapping idea.   I'll have to look at that one.

My experience with zero degree bags is that they keep you alive, but not necessarily warm! I'm not winter camping in cold temperatures anytime soon. But that's what was nice about the GC -- at the bottom, it's much warmer.

Check out winter hiking in Zion and the prices for staying outside the park in Hurricane. There will be fewer squirrels, but many more icicles to keep the kids' attention. Some walks were accessible, too, so you could take a stroller if that would suit the kids better.

If you look at indoor waterparks, I imagine Christmas Day is going to be one of their least busiest days -- you might be able to snag a deal! Or see if there are any deals for them on Groupon or Living Social.

[Joggernot]

If you could come to TX for vacation, I have two condos that I rent out directly for $50/night.  They have one bedroom and a sleeper bed, to accommodate four people.  Bring your sailboat, motorboat, kayak, tube, fishing poles and anything for the water/ocean because these are on the water with direct access to the bay and a boat slip or two so you don't have to take the boat out of the water during your vacation.

http://www.kontikibeach.com/

PM me if interested.  Non-direct price is $110/night.

Edit: Forgot to mention that there is a $28 cleaning fee, so stay longer.