Even if you start your next adventure in a big city—as you’re likely to do if flying in to a major airport, you may be able to extend your family’s vacation by staking a claim for short while in a small town off the beaten path. And it could be well worth it, for more reasons than one.

Think about it: For what you might pay for two nights in Paris or New York City, you might afford to stay a week in an apartment in a smaller city or a cottage in a lesser-known village.

Does that mean you’ll have a less interesting or worthwhile vacation? Not if you play your cards right. Especially with small kids along for the adventure, smaller towns often offer a more relaxed pace and better chances to acquaint yourselves with the culture and locals in residence.

Take Spain as an example, and the small town of Nerja on the Costa del Sol. This April, a 2-bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment where we stayed is 450 Euros for one week (yes, that’s two bedrooms, with more than one toilet, full kitchen, and a washing machine). Surrounded by Andalucían charm? Yes. Walking to any of three beautiful beaches on the Costa del Sol? Yes. Strolling to shops, cafes, and (inexpensive) groceries? You bet.

Which reminds me of another reason you  might prefer small cities to big for that next break: Walking to most locations vastly simplifies vacations with a baby or toddler. No loading and unloading and reloading the car, no navigating a crowded subway. Just push that stroller along the street to the next cafe or park.

So how can you find the perfect small city for your family’s next vacation? In addition to these few I’ve highlighted, check out these links:

• America’s Top 10 Coolest Small Towns, from Budget Travel Magazine
• America’s Top 25 Small Cities, from American Style Magazine
• Best Small City Vacation Destinations, from RatesToGo
• 100 Best Midwest Small-Town Getaways, from Midwest Living Magazine
• The Best Small Towns of Spain, TripAdvisor.com
• The Best Small Towns and Villages in Southeast Asia, Frommers.com

In addition, you can find out more about Nerja in these related posts, and discover one of America’s Coolest Small Towns in this post on Silverton, Oregon.

Do you have a big crush on a small town you’d love to visit again this year?

Know of a great little city you’d recommend for travelers with kids?

This is the fourth post in the “Fit more travel into your family’s new year” series this month. If you missed the earlier posts, you can start here.

The post Why and how to choose a small city for your family’s big vacation appeared first on Travels With Baby.

• American Airlines AAdvantage Eshopping mall
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping
• Delta’s SkyMilesShopping

To participate in any of these programs, you just need a frequent flyer (or mileage) number with the airline, and then you can simply register online with the mileage shopping portal. The next time you go online to shop, just start at the portal site and click through to the store you want to shop. Done!

The real advantage of this program is how frequently you can earn multiple miles per dollar spent on goods from stores such as Staples.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Overstock.com, and eBags.com. And if you do use a mileage credit card to make your purchase? You’ll just be earning that many more miles to your account for each transaction.

Skeptics: I recently earned 4 miles per dollar spent on my new washing machine and a whopping 16 miles per dollar spent for new laser printer toner. And I’ll come clean with you all right now: I did not hesitate to pad my mileage account with a bit of holiday shopping as well. Since these were things I had to buy anyway… it was great to earn the most miles possible for every dollar spent and get that much closer to my next award flight. 

Have you used a shopping portal to earn miles shopping online?

Do you have another easy way to add to your frequent flyer account?

The post How to earn frequent flyer miles without even flying (or leaving your desk) appeared first on Travels With Baby.

With the right card your family may board its next flight a little faster.

The post Get (at least) one round-trip ticket with a new mileage credit card appeared first on Travels With Baby.

If you’ll find yourself with a 3-day weekend from work and/or school in any of these cases, you may be able to catch a great deal at popular family destinations and resorts, enjoy lower gas prices or airfare to get you there, and avoid the crowds and congestion of much more popular long weekends like Memorial Day and 4^thof July.

The post The five low-travel long weekends to take advantage of this year appeared first on Travels With Baby.