Fall Travel–Without the Leaves

The unforgiving heat of summer leaches away more and more each day. Lemonade is swapped out for apple cider. Deciduous forests enjoy one last hurrah, briefly flashing the color of flames before browning out and succumbing to another life cycle. Fall is here!

Before you roll your eyes and walk away, let’s talk about the joys of fall travel that DON’T involve leaves. If you don’t care to make trips to forests to stare at trees all day, I hear you. While I am a self-proclaimed leaf peeper and can happily enjoy photographing fall leaves for weeks at a time, I acknowledge that there’s more to fall than the leaves. Let’s focus on the bigger picture: Fall is shoulder season and that means travel deals!

What’s Shoulder Season?

It’s the in between time: not quite peak season, but not quite low, either. In fall, you get warm days and cool evenings. No extremes to make you hate being outside. Fewer people are out and about, though, with schools back in session and few public holidays to celebrate. Some travel destinations have to work harder to entice visitors into stopping by. Seasonal towns may start reducing hours and closing amenities, but they’re still alive enough for visitors to enjoy a break without massive crowds.

Of course, fall is NOT shoulder season in places like New England; anywhere with aspen trees, like Colorado; or deciduous forests, like Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Those regions are in peak season, and travel will cost you a pretty penny. But think of all the beaches and cities that were slammed with crowds a few months ago. Or regions like the Southwest that are finally cooling off and becoming pleasant to visit again. This is where you’ll find the deals.

Beach Towns

Beach towns post-summer are a delight! Going to the beach in the middle of summer can be rough. It’s unbearably hot, unbearably crowded, and expensive. Save it for the fall instead! Prices fall back into a more reasonable range before ramping back up for snowbirds in the winter. You might be able to score an oceanfront room without selling your kidney first. The crowds are gone, and so is the heat and humidity that makes you sweat as soon as you step outside. Most importantly, you won’t have to fight as hard for parking at the beach or a table at the local restaurant.

If you prefer a quieter, milder beach experience, visit in the fall shoulder season.

Keep in mind that northeastern USA beach towns in particular tend to close down almost entirely after the summer season. It gets colder sooner up there, and many of the stores and restaurants that cater to the summer crowds either reduce hours considerably or close down entirely until next summer. That’s why I suggest you look at the southern beaches in the fall. It’s still plenty warm enough to get in the water in early fall. You don’t have to sacrifice the fun for a more affordable vacation!

City Breaks

Another excellent option for fall travel is a city break. You can explore a city over a weekend, so you won’t waste precious vacation days. Leave Friday after work and come home Sunday afternoon. This option is especially helpful when you have the itch to travel but have to save the rest of your time off for the holidays.

Since you’re only traveling for a few days at a time, you actually have no excuse to not fly carry-on only and save on luggage fees. Save on flights, too, and try one of the budget airlines that services your local airport. I’m a big fan of Breeze and their direct flights in the eastern half of the US between smaller, regional airports. Skip the big security headache that comes with flying in and out of a hub city like Atlanta or Dallas-Forth Worth. Fly between Charleston and Providence instead and breeze through security in 20 minutes on a bad day.

Cities in fall no longer have that obnoxious summer heat reflecting off all that glass, steel, and pavement. It’s actually comfortable to stroll around, exploring historic sights and beautiful parks. Hotels tend to be more affordable, and rewards nights aren’t hard to find at your favorite chains. Even popular restaurants can be easier to snag a reservation because there are fewer vacationers vying for those coveted spots.

Hiking & Camping

Last but certainly not least, fall is the perfect time of year for hiking and camping. Temperatures start and end cool but warm up enough to make it a pleasant adventure to be outside all day. You won’t sleep in a puddle of sweat in your tent at night, and you won’t risk heat exhaustion after hiking a couple of miles in the afternoon. Bugs have calmed down, and wildlife is getting ready for the winter. It’s a wonderful time to be out in nature.

Now, there are some areas that will obviously be more crowded than others. The aforementioned Great Smoky Mountains National Park is jammed-packed with visitors when the leaves change, but go a few weeks before or after peak color and you’ll be both surprised and thankful for how quickly the crowds diminish.

Visit a state park or national monument instead of a national park. They’re typically cheaper to camp at and usually have smaller crowds, but they can have equally as stunning landscapes and features. Check Recreation.gov for camping in National Park Service sites or the local state park website for their rates. You’ll have an easier time finding availability if you can get away during the week instead of a weekend.

3 TIPS FOR HOW TO FIND FALL TRAVEL DEALS

• Follow your favorite destinations on social media. They’ll brag about their local deals and sometimes run giveaways for a package deal.

• Sign up for a cheap flight finding service, like Going. They find the cheap flight deals and email them to you, and only on airlines that pass the grandma test. If they wouldn’t put their own grandma on that flight, it doesn’t get sent to you.

• Check aggregate sites like Expedia or Booking for package deals. They’re also a good check for flexible dates to get an idea of cost. It’s worth checking any deal you find against a quick search on Expedia or Booking to make sure you’re truly getting a deal.