Summer Travel: How to Plan a Successful Multigenerational Vacation

This summer travel post is sponsored by Vrbo

School is out, summer is here, and if you haven’t made summer travel plans yet, you’re not alone! According to a recent survey by BankRate, 22% of us still haven’t decided whether you’re taking a trip this summer.

Our family was in that 22% last year. Our kids’ camp schedules were set far in advance but with Emily starting high school and thinking about trying out for her high school’s soccer team, we held off on planning our family vacation until the last minute.

When we finally figured out when we were free for vacation, we chose one of our family’s favorite summer destinations- the Eastern Shore of Maryland. This popular spot is driving distance from Washington, DC but feels a world away.

Last summer we rented a house to share one of our favorite spots with my parents. They flew from California to experience a completely different ocean while enjoying time with grandchildren they hadn’t seen in almost a year and I realized how much fun it would be to do repeat trip, including my brother’s family and his younger kids (ages 5 and 3) on our next Eastern Shore vacation.

Summer Travel Tips for Planning a Multigenerational Vacation

Pick a Destination with Something for Everyone

With such a wide range of ages in our group (grandparents, teens, a kindergartner, and toddler/preschooler), it’s important to have activities for everyone. While our teens love high adrenaline active adventures on land or in water, they’re not exactly things that are little kid friendly.

Finding a place that has something for everyone is key. While we love our downtime in the Eastern Shore town that has become a favorite spot for our family, widening our search radius and being flexible is key to everyone having a great time. Since Ocean City is a popular summer vacation spot for families in our area, has lots to offer for all ages (including free family fun!), and features plentiful lodging options, it’s on our list! 

Consider Lodging Options

If the goal of your multigenerational trip is to have some flexibility while maximizing time together, a hotel might not be the best option. The lack of shared space means families tend to share some meals and enjoy daylight hours together but are sequestered to their individual rooms at the end of the day where everyone does their best to talk in hushed tones as to not disturb other guests.

A service like Vrbo offers homes of different sizes that feature shared and separate spaces for maximum flexibility. If you’ve never used Vrbo, it is a go-to for families and friends to book vacation homes, cabins, and condos for summer travel and throughout the year. Pronounced VER-boh (the company is embracing this new pronunciation after fans have been calling the brand this for years!), Vrbo not only makes it easy to great domestic and international vacation homes the average Vrbo in the U.S. sleeps six people, making it a perfect service to use when planning multigenerational summer travel.

I love how easy it was to search for potential rentals homes for an Ocean City vacation on the site. I entered our destination, preferred trip dates, and number of people we’d need accomodations for and Vrbo returned a list of available rentals with ratings, rates, and features. 

Vrbo’s also features an app to make it even easier to search and plan for your next family vacation while features like Trip Boards allow you to collaborate with family members as you search for your ideal place to stay.

Create a Trip Board

When planning past family vacations, we’ve always emailed back and forth sharing links for possible places to stay, activities, and restaurants. Vrbo’s Trip Boards make it easy to plan vacations with family or friends by allowing travelers to create custom Trip Boards with their favorite properties.

By clicking on the heart in the lower left corner of any listing, you can save the property to a custom Trip Board. Once a Trip Board is created, you can invite family members through email, text, direct link, or social media channels to accept an invitation to your board to decide on the property that’s a perfect match for your trip. Trip Boards can be shared instantly with fellow travelers who can vote, comment, and ultimately choose the ideal place to stay together.

App push-notifications also allow users to stay up to date on Trip Board activity in real-time so you can always be sure you’re up to date on the discussion about your upcoming vacation plans. 

Use Tech Tools to Help Be Mindful of Budgets

Getting away from it all doesn’t have to mean spending it all. Smart travelers stalk fare watch sites apps but did you know about Vrbo’s Bang for your Buck Index? The Bang for your Buck Index identifies travel destinations with the lowest average cost per night. It allows you to find vacation homes that cost less than $250 per night but offer prime features like proximity to beaches, a variety of dining options, access to outdoor recreation, and more.

If you’re looking to stay within the United States this summer, numerous cities in Florida rank among the top 10 most value-packed destinations. Take a look at the domestic destinations with the lowest average cost per night below. Note: Costs pictured are the average price/night.*

1. Lakeland and Winter Haven, Fla. ($181)
2. Tucson, Ariz. ($192)
3. Orlando, Fla. ($195)
4. Branson. Mo. ($201)
5. Daytona Beach, Fla. ($207)
6. Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral, Fla. ($217)
7. Kissimmee. Fla. ($226)
8. Moab, Utah ($235)
9. Prescott, Ariz. ($235)
10. Myrtle Beach, S.C. ($238)

If these U.S. cities aren’t on your list, take a look at Vrbo’s other best value beach destinations for 2019.

International destinations aren’t out of the question for last minute summer travel possibilities. Vrbo reports the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) revealed surprising value and locations where the average price/night in USD is less than or about equal to the U.S. cities listed in the Bang for your Buck Index. Here are top Bang for your Buck Index international destinations (average price/night/USD)*:

1. Porto, Portugal ($154)
2. Calgary, Canada ($171)
3. Tokyo, Japan ($181)
4. Carolina, Puerto Rico ($183)
5. Lisbon, Portugal ($185)
6. Seville, Spain ($187)
7. Madrid, Spain ($187)
8. Halifax, Canada ($194)
9. Prague, Czech Republic ($195)
10. Berlin, Germany ($200)

* Vrbo Value for Money Price Data 2018: What U.S. Vrbo travelers paid on average when they booked their accommodation at Vrbo.com per night and per person during January 1 – December 31, 2018. The prices shown are in USD, taking all currency fluctuations into account.

Wishing you a wonderful summer, safe travels, and amazing family adventures wherever you may go and don’t forget– the new way to refer to Vrbo is VER-boh!

This post is sponsored by Vrbo but all opinions are my own.