A few years ago, my family was desperate for a spring break vacation. Since it was last-minute, we decided to take advantage of an off-season locale and headed for Bar Harbor, Maine, and Acadia National Park. The upside was that we stayed in a luxurious waterfront suite we never would have been able to afford in season. The downside was that much of the town was still hibernating, and we got pretty tired of eating in the same pizza joint night after night. As every parent of school-age kids knows, family trips attempted during a winter or spring break often involve such compromises. It's just basic math, after all: as soon as school lets out, prices rise and availability falls.
Fortunately, there are ways to beat the system. We asked travel experts for their solutions to four common school-break dilemmas, and they dreamed up some intriguing new twists on midwinter and spring trips, from classic road trips and off-the-beaten-path warm-weather destinations to bargain ski trips and kid-pleasing city adventures.
For a list of top Web sites for travel planning, plus details on the places mentioned here, check out our resource listings.
