5 Simple Ways To Plan A Family Vacation To West Virginia

Okay, full disclosure: we want you to come to southern West Virginia.  Guess the secret’s out!

But here are some tips you can use to plan a family vacation to

Family Visiting an Overlook in the New River Gorge anywhere.  Even somewhere that’s, say, not the most beautiful mountains on earth (ahem!).  These little shortcuts can save you money while you’re away from home.  And more importantly, they can make sure that everyone has a great time on vacation.

1.  Check On Events Specials

Here’s the secret about events: They’re everywhere.  And businesses will often offer special discounts on lodging, food, and activities surrounding the event.  This is a great way to save and plan at the same time.  Plus, searching for events is a good way to plan your vacation around something everyone in the family enjoys, like a music festival or river fest or a huge 4th of July event.

2. Plan On The Shoulder

If you can make your schedule more flexible than the next person, you’ll end up ahead.  Midweek is the time to book everything:  more availability, lower rates, and less crowded.  Plus one more benefit:  We cannot confirm this -it’s only a rumor- but supposedly, the weather is better during the week.  Going to have to check the almanac on that one.

3.  Double Check On Activities

A lot of outdoor adventures have age or weight guidelines for kids.  It’s always a good idea to call again after you’ve booked to double check that you’re reservationist got you in the right space.  There’s really nothing worse than showing up booked for the wrong trip or activity, especially when there are kids involved.  Checking up saves time and possibly tears in the long run.

4.  Crowdsource Your Vacation Ideas

The tools to review your experience exist for almost everything today, and vacations lead the way.  Check online to see how others have rated a particular experience, and ask the community what they think.  This idea of crowdsourcing is a powerful tool to make your vacation dollars -and more importantly, your vacation hours- count.

5.  Use A Convention And Visitors Bureau

You didn’t think we’d leave this out, did you?  In fact, we saved the best tip for last.  Use a CVB (hey, that’s us!) to help plan your trip, and you can’t go wrong.  Why?  Helping plan trips is our business.  And we’re free to use!  CVBs are a wealth of local information, and isn’t that really what you’re looking for?  The best restaurants, the right activities, the perfect lodging… these are the questions we at the Southern West Virginia CVB answer every day.

What about you?  Have a little go-to advice for planning a family vacation?  Something West Virginia specific, maybe?  We’d love to hear about it.

We’d love to help you even more.