Car-Less Adventures
Save on Gas Costs: Trips and Tours Without a Car
By Valerie Conners
This summer as gas costs exceed $4 a gallon, budget-minded travelers are looking for vacation ideas and activities that involve as little driving as possible. We've gathered our favorite car-free travel ideas to help you save on gas -- and, as a bonus, offer an eco-friendly twist to your summer vacation.
Wildflower Hikes From Bloom to Bloom
Even if you don't consider yourself a hard-core hiker, hit hiking trails to witness some of nature's most colorful beauty: wildflowers. From fireweed, poppy, bluebells, even rhododendrons, across the U.S., a number of hikes have become renowned for their annual display of wildflowers.
Make a Splash: Tide-pooling With the Family
Tide pools, formed at low tide when the waters along craggy coasts retreat, teem with living creatures typically invisible to the naked eye. Scuttling hermit crabs, ochre sea stars and purple sea urchins are only some of the creatures and critters left exposed. To explore these pools is called "tide-pooling," and it can be a relaxing, family-oriented way to spend a day.
Leave No Traces on an Eco-Friendly U.S. Adventure
When it comes to getting out of the car and off the beaten path into serious wilderness here on the home front, there's a surprising amount of lonely U.S. territory waiting to be explored. From the glaciated peaks of Alaska to the wilds of the Everglades, America is crisscrossed with wide swaths of wild terrain that rank among the most pristine natural environments on the planet.
Tee Off on a Golf Getaway
Putt your heart out for a day or more on a golfing getaway at any one of America's greatest courses. In recent years, outstanding new courses have sprang up in the Pacific Northwest, providing breathtaking backdrops for the expertly designed links.
Run a Scenic Marathon
Whether you're a marathon newbie or veteran, why submit to the challenge in your own hometown when you can combine fitness and vacation for the adventure of a lifetime? Most U.S. states offer at least one marathon, giving runners a myriad of options should they choose to take the plunge -- we've chosen the most scenic.
Up, Up and Away: Urban Tram Rides
It's a bird! It's a plane! No -- it's an aerial tramway, a type of incline lift in which an enclosed cabin is suspended from one cable and pulled by another. Trams in North American cities provide families with the awesome opportunity to go sightseeing from above.
Hit the Boardwalk
Wandering couples, moms with strollers, grandparents and packs of teens all parade the narrow wooden boardwalks that line our U.S. beaches. Stalls crowd together offering food, drink, toys and T-shirts -- the frivolous purchases of a summer weekend. At night the boardwalk becomes a carnival with rides and games of chance and skill, and cool winds soothe the day's sunburns. Here, Travel Channel celebrates the boardwalk with our choices of the best America has to offer.
Get a Museum and Culture Fix
From the world's 20 Must-See Museums to off-the-beaten-path museums, peculiar art collections and amazing performing-arts venues, Travel Channel has all the info you'll need to become a culture vulture.
Family Water Parks
They were once just souped-up pools offering a fun way to cool off on a hot day, but over the years, America's water parks have morphed into the wet counterparts to the theme park -- mixing adrenaline-pumping thrills with family-style fun.
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