Welcome back! It’s been too long. Now that you know everything about everything when it comes to planning, the fun can truly begin. Today, Gildshire’s vast Travel Magazine staff will help you decide where to go for a spring break vacation to remember. We have combed the best places, massaged the best prices, and set you up for success. Your spouse will say, “Oh…my.” The kids will say, “You’re the best,” and your friends will ask you for help the next time they take a trip. In short, you are about to become a local expert on travel and all you did was read Gildshire. Success is great, but easy success is the best! All right, what makes a spring break vacation a success? Warm weather? Fun activities? Unique lodging experiences? All those and more await you on this page.
Napa and Sonoma, California:
With an average April high temperature of 71 degrees, this might be the perfect place to thaw the winter chill from your bones. The area is short on crowds and long on wine tastings, (pictured above) which makes a trip to this part of California a “yes and yes” for Gildshire. However, this is a great place to visit whether you like wine or think of it as grapes breaking bad. Check out Hood Mountain and Annadel. Both parks feature some of the West’s best hiking trails. Or, hike the trail to Bald Mountain peak. You can see the Golden Gate Bridge from up there.
Inexpensive lodging in Napa proper is hard to find, but there is ample clean and less-than-pricey lodging in Calistoga or Santa Rosa. They are both nearby.
Panama City, Florida:
Did 71 degrees in Napa sound like so much “brrr” to you? Welcome to Florida. The average April high on the Florida panhandle is 81 degrees. Most travelers fail to notice that April is the best time of year to travel in Florida. The summer humidity hasn’t set in and the mornings are clear as a bell. Combine those advantages with beaches that are remarkably uncrowded in the morning and early afternoon, and you’ll have a wonderful spring break vacation. Away from the ocean beach, visit St. Andrews State Park. It’s a picture-perfect tidal pool and dune environment.
Inexpensive lodging near Panama’s beaches can be found, but we like the adjacent town of Lynn Haven for its rental cottages in tree-lined neighborhoods.
Nashville, Tennessee:
There are solid reasons to visit Nashville any time of the year (Did you know they have a Carvana car vending machine there?), but spring is a particular luscious time to vacation in Music City. The temperatures in the low-70s will warm your skin, and the nightlife will bring light back to your eyes.
Do you like live music? Oh, baby, this is the town for you. Of course, you know about Nashville’s connection with country music, but downtown you’ll find any kind of music imaginable. It’s the Old Country Buffet of music without the guilt of having three desserts.
(We’re kidding about that. We haven’t found the number of desserts that will make us feel guilty.)
Outside of the downtown area, you will find walking trails and city parks begging you to lie down on a blanket and take a three-hour nap. When you awaken, get out that seven-day unlimited-ride MTA bus pass you bought for $24 and get back into town for another concert…or a baseball game at the home of the Oakland A’s Triple-A farm club…or an NHL game at the home of the Nashville Predators. This is a great town to visit for whatever fills your heart with joy.
We recommend staying along the banks of the Cumberland River, where lodging is less expensive than downtown, but you can get there on foot!
The Cumberland River provides a lovely backdrop to your spring break vacation trip to Nashville.
That’s our All-Star list, but other choices nearly made the cut. These include:
The Outer Banks of North Carolina
Savannah, Georgia
San Diego, California.
Where ever you go for your spring break vacation, tell them Gildshire sent you, and come home refreshed and happy. We will have done our job.
