Although I know we miss big vacations, a lot of us are staying close to home this summer. Luckily, it’s fun and easy to play a nearby day trip. If you are looking for day trip tips or how to create the best day trips, I’ve got you covered.
Where to go on your day trip
Obviously, if it’s a day trip, it needs to be fairly close to home. The easiest way to do this is to use my Circle Your Hometown solution and see what’s in that radius. For a day trip, I’d limit yourself to a drive that’s no more than two hours away. An hour is ideal as it will give you plenty of time to explore while you are away from home, and it will easily be a one tank trip!
If there isn’t a town or area of interest within your circle, how about creating a driving tour and checking out several small towns? This can be a lot of fun too as you never know what you’ll find. One town might have a beautiful courthouse, another a delicious spot for lunch, and if you are lucky you’ll stumble across a local ice cream shop. A multi-town trip like this can be an enjoyable day – especially if the weather is gorgeous. Pop on some great music, grab a drink and see what you can discover.
What to do on your day trip
Well, what do you like to do? Make a list of all the things you enjoy and do a little research to see if any of them available are within your chosen location. Need some ideas? Here are some of our favorite day trip activities:
- Hiking or exploring a new trail
- Walking through a small downtown and checking out the shops
- Finding a local brewery or winery
- Spending a few hours at a state park
- Poking around a museum
- Enjoying lunch at the local hot spot
- Discovering local history on a walking or driving tour
- Visiting a farmer’s market or roadside farm stand
We’ve been lucky enough to enjoy all of these activities on our local day trips! It’s surprisingly easy to find interesting things to do and places to see with just a little research and an open mind.
Looking for ideas for what a day trip could look like? Check out our recent trips to Rush County or Spencer, Indiana to see how we created the best day trips. If we could find so many interesting things in these tiny Indiana towns, I’m sure you can come up with an exciting day trip too!
Day trip tips
Now that you know where you are going and what you’d like to do, take advantage of these extra day trip tips to make the most of your day:
- Make sure you have a full gas tank. Even if you are planning a one-tank trip, you don’t want to start off on empty and find yourself unable to find a gas station. Definitely a stressful way to start the day.
- Pack a cooler. Not only is it nice to have cold drinks for the drive, it’s also terrific if you find yourself with leftovers from lunch or discover some mouth-watering chocolates or local cheese that you’d like to safely bring home to enjoy later.
- Check the weather. You can still have a great time if it’s raining (we enjoyed our day in Danville on a crazy rainy day), but it’s smart to know what’s coming so you can be prepared (umbrellas) AND not be disappointed.
- Go with the flow. Sometimes attractions are closed or small towns are not as cool as you imagined they would be. Instead of concentrating on what went wrong, try to find a way to turn the day around. Be willing to give up on your “perfectly planned” day and enjoy what’s around you. I bet a day exploring is still better than a day at work!
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We will be doing lots of this over the summer so thankyou for the tips!
I think we all are! Hope they help.
We love taking day trips too – and although we’re all craving a long vacation this summer, as we all know, it just may not happen. Thanks for the tips!
I think we are in the same boat. But day trips are better than no trips!
I love day trips and especially love the Circle Your Hometown! Great tip! Gonna link to that post in my series of day trips in Minnesota.
When I was younger we loved to take day trips with the kids. It got them out of the house but they could still come home to their beds. Great tips!
Yes, it is great for littles.
Great tips! We usually do a big trip, and then we do smaller trips during the summer. I’m not sure what we’ll do this summer. I have been looking around at some possibilities though!
I’m sure you’ll find something fun!
I love your idea of packing a cooler but be open to new things so you might find a new restaurant to try. Keep your options open – the perfect sentiment for any adventure!
Thanks! It’s come in handy for leftovers often!
I would like to do a few more day trips around Salt Lake. It would be fun!
That does sound fun!
Awesome tips. Day trips have been my go to for awhile now!
Yes – they are the best right now.
We have started mapping out all the day trips we want to do this summer. It will be fun to mark them off the list as we go! Keeping our options open as you suggested!
Good for you – I’ve been doing the same!
We enjoy stopping at local food places and getting a sense of what the locals like to do. We will be taking a lot of day trips this summer. It’s the perfect time to be exploring our own state.
I agree – easy to plan and quick to implement! Fun too!
This is exactly what my husband and I are doing this summer, day trips within 100 miles from home. So excited to plan the first one. And we definitely learned to start with a full tank of gas! We almost ran out in the middle of a prairie last year, with nothing in sight but grasses…and no cell phone coverage! Unbelievably, a UPS driver pulled up beside us and helped us out. Then he drove off and disappeared in minutes.
Yikes! You were super lucky!
Great ideas! We love day trips. We haven’t been able to do any recently, but we love to do day trips to San Diego, LA, Palm Springs, and to wineries and mountain towns.
I love all those areas – you are lucky to have them within a day trip distance!
Day trips are so nice! Such a good way to recharge and explore.
I agree!
I like your suggestion to stay within a 2hour drive for a day trip. That way you can spend more time on the visit.
Exactly! Whenever we try to push it further, it’s just too much driving.
Even if you have lived in the same place your whole life, I bet you will find hidden gems! I know we did and still have so much more to discover. I love the day trip idea. It’s something almost everyone can do.
Right? I am always amazed at the new things I find – even if it’s someplace I’ve been dozens of times.