Taking the Kids: Without kids

As long as you are flexible and have travel insurance, you can score deals in the Caribbean in fall. According to Visit Turks & Caicos Islands, the best time to try and score a deal is from late August through September, October, and early November. Visitors will also have primetime access to the city's fall events, including The Caribbean Food & Wine Festival (Oct. 13 to 16), featuring the island's best culinary talents, or The Conch Festival (last weekend in November), celebrating the Queen Conch and everything it represents in Turks & Caicos.

Bermuda, just a 90-minute flight from East Coast getaways is touting an Endless Summer promotion with up to half off. Book by Oct. 31 and travel until March 31, 2023. Cambridge Beaches, an iconic hotel dating back to 1923, has just undergone a huge renovation and has four private beaches. The deal starts at $289 a night and includes a $25 nightly resort credit.

We love Colorado in fall – the quaking Aspens, the spectacular foliage, the festivals (Breckenridge’s Oktoberfest is back Sept. 23 to 25 and Elk Fest in Estes Park the first weekend in October), hot springs, the chance to hike, bike, shop and savor delicious meals without booking weeks in advance. You’ll find good hotel deals across ski country.

Wine aficionados may want to explore the Willamette Valley in Oregon (600+ wineries) but it’s also known for its farms, boutiques, and historic downtowns with plenty of hiking and biking.

Go someplace where it’s shoulder season — Cape Cod, for example, where it’s still warm enough for the beach but they won’t be crowded with families or Arizona where you can play golf or tennis, indulge in some of the country’s best spas in Scottsdale.

Dude ranches have a lot more to offer than horseback rides, though there is plenty of that. There’s also fly fishing, whiskey tasting, line dancing, cooking classes, photography workshops and wine tasting, and specialty adult weeks, including at two of our favorite ranches, Vista Verde in Colorado and Flathead Lake Lodge in Montana, owned and operated by the same family for more than 75 years.

Aboard a Uniworld Venice and the Gems of Italy river cruise four years ago, we met sisters traveling together; brothers and their wives; a mom and son, dad and daughters, a group of cousins … the list went on.

Their ages ranged from 26 to 87. (The lone twenty-something was traveling with his mom from South Africa.) At least one in four of the 101 passengers were part of family groups that included a 78-year-old Minnesota widow who had gotten her first passport — and a new suitcase — for the trip with her daughter and son-in-law. She had always wanted to go to Italy, they explained.

“How was lunch?” our English-speaking bus driver asked when he drove us back to the port on the Greek Island of Patmos.

Just what we had hoped, we said.

========

(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia and The Kid’s Guide to Camping are the latest in a series of 14 books for kid travelers published by Eileen.)