Inexpensive day trips for Spring Break in SC and WNC

Spring break is coming and if you are panicking that you have not made big travel plans. Don’t worry there are tons of cool inexpensive day trips you can take with your kids.

We asked Kristina Hernandez from Kidding Around Greenville to give us her top 7 Spring Break day trips. You can find more day trip ideas at kiddingaroundgreenville.com

 

TRIP 1: Carl Sandburg home

Carl Sandburg home in Flat Rock (bonus points is that they have baby goats this time of year you can play with!)

Connemara is located in nearby Flat Rock, North Carolina.

It’s an easy drive across a beautiful mountain. You might spend half an hour in the car but you’ll feel as if you’ve crossed into another climate.

It’s usually a good ten degrees cooler and there’s just something charming about the town of Flat Rock. (With several fabulous restaurant choices you can pick up a to-go order of pizza or BBQ and bring a little mountain happiness home for dinner.)

I just love this place. I like the rooms that are teeming with books that Sandburg touched, read and studied.

I love the view from this house and smile just thinking about the poet sitting in his chair on the rocks being inspired by the same image.

I love that I can read Sandburg’s children’s book The Huckabuck Family one morning to my children and then get in the car that afternoon to see where the book’s author wrote and explored and ate and laughed and walked. (Or – pack the short book with you and read it on the front lawn with your little fellow adventurers.)

 

TRIP 2: WNC Nature Center

The Western North Carolina Nature Center connects people with the animals and plants of the Southern Appalachian Mountain region by inspiring appreciation, nurturing understanding, and advancing conservation of the regions rich biodiversity.

 

TRIP 3: Riverbanks Zoo

Thinking about taking a day trip to Columbia to visit Riverbanks Zoo?

We have all the information you need to enjoy your visit! We’ll tell you what to expect at Rivebanks Zoo and give you a few Kidding Around tips and tricks.

Did you know a Greenville Zoo Membership will give you 50% off admission at Riverbanks Zoo?

Load up the car and put one of these lazy summer days to good use!

 

TRIP 4: Biltmore Estate

Of all the family escapes that we’ve taken, a day trip to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina rates as one of the most enchanting, unique and definitely out of the ordinary (unless you’re a Vanderbilt yourself).

The Biltmore estate is only two hours from Greenville.

Known to be the largest private residence in all of America, it was built in the late 1880’s by George W. Vanderbilt, grandson of famed industrialist and philanthropist, Cornelius Vanderbilt.

It was George’s first visit to the Blue Ridge Mountains with his mother that inspired him to build his country house.

With his love for all things French and passion for nature, he built a chateau-style mansion featuring 250 rooms on 125,000 acres of land.

Later, the house would become a home with his marriage to Edith Stuyvesant Dresser and the birth of their daughter, Cornelia.

 

TRIP 5: SC Botantical Gardens

Forty-five minutes west of Greenville is Clemson, home not only to Clemson University, but also to the South Carolina Botanical Garden, a perfect day-trip destination this spring.

The colorful spring foliage and cool temperatures will ensure a memorable visit to one of the premiere Gardens of the Upstate!

KAG Contributor, Liene, shares all about this beautiful (and free!) destination.

 

TRIP 6: Pigeon Forge

Pigeon Forge (Wonderworks, dinner shows, Dollywood)

Planning a vacation? Just a few hours from Greenville is Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Nestled in the Smoky Mountains, this town is packed with amusements, shows, fabulous restaurants and unique activities and experiences.

With this in mind, its no surprise Pigeon Forge is a popular vacation destination.

For upstate South Carolina residents, it’s even better. We have the added bonus of not having to sit in the car more than a few hours to get there!

 

TRIP 7: Dupont State Forest

Looking for a day away from it all out in the woods?

On a fall day there is nothing like heading north to the streams, fresh air, dazzling waterfalls and fall colors of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

With its 900 miles of hiking trails, six major waterfalls and over 10,000 acres of forest, DuPont State Forest is a showcase of some of the most fabulous scenery in western NC, just an hour from Greenville!

KAG Contributor Liene is telling us all about the best places to visit in Dupont State Forest.

CHECK OUT EVEN MORE DAY TRIPS ON THEIR WEBSITE
https://kiddingaroundgreenville.com/26-fun-day-trips-for-spring