Spring Break: Where to Get the Biggest Bang for Your Buck

We get lectured in article after article about white privilege and income inequality. Then this talks about jetting off to South America and Europe, taking a Caribbean cruise and Rocky Mountain skiing. Which is it, dear editors?

I'd have thought, by now, there would be news columns about travel bargains, real bargains, due to COVID cancellations.

Pretty Subpar blog. No tips or tricks and mentioned pretty undesirable and pricey places. Feels like she summarized the first 5 minutes of her google research after typing in “spring break places”.

Punta del Este can be massively overpriced and at times overcrowded. The main area is essentially a playground for rich Brazilians and Argentines. There are better places to go in Uruguay in my opinion.

My wife and I have canceled a Baltic cruise because: 1. Most cruise lines reserve the right to alter or curtail the schedule/itinerary without refunds; and cancel-for-any reason insurance will be about half the cost of the cruise. 2. We are both over 70 and thus at higher risk of becoming seriously ill or even dying from COVID-19 if we catch it. 3. In the best of times cruise ships are floating Petri dishes that easily spread noroviruses; note the current COVID-19 transmissions on the Diamond Princess. 4. While our cruise ports are in countries that now have fewer than 25 cases, the coronavirus could become a pandemic affecting many countries, including those on our itinerary. Our nightmare scenario is that we or other passengers contract the disease prior to boarding the ship, aboard or in port. Do we want to be treated or quarantined on the ship or in Europe where Medicare is not accepted? No way. For us the medical/financial risks are just too great, so for 2020 we are planning to limit our travel to US destinations we can reach easily by car or short flights. Over time we will evaluate the coronavirus situation and see how cruise lines and foreign countries are coping. There’s always next year.

Traveling on spring break is almost as expensive as traveling on around holidays. The only really good idea here for those on the East Coast is a visit to the Smithsonian, possibly staying in Alexandria, though I've had reasonable rates right in DC.

How out of touch is Ms Koch that she suggest that staying in Uruguay for between $176 to $468 a night is cheap when you can rent an Apartment in Monteviedo for the week for that amount ($468). And when she's talking about spring break, spring break for whom exactly?

Cruises? Way to make this an advertorial. Cruises, home to all sorts of pesky critters (#corona), also pollute x3 as much as planets over the same distance per passenger, have the highest rates of sexual assault of any tourism related industry (both staff on staff and staff on customer), and regularly refuse boarding by local police authorities seeking to investigate wrong doings (the enormous majority of cruise ships in&out of the US, even those owned by US firms, opt to fly foreign flags, making it much harder to investigate the ships for US authorities). Did I mention the joy that cities around the world experience when they see a cruise ship approaching? Simply put, arrive by cruise, and you are not welcome “there”. Cruise passengers cause a lot of congestion and strain to local infrastructures, whilst making little economic impact where they visit as unlimited meals on the ship and restrictions to what, if anything, is allowed to be brought on board at each port of call, discourages passenger spending. Meanwhile, the real spenders (F.I.T.’s, “foreign independent travels”) are discouraged from visiting cruise heavy cities. The only people cheering cruises are the ports which cash in and some local officials who are willing to exchange quick cash on fees to the cruise lines for the long-term cost of those cruises impact on local economies and infrastructure.

How depressing that in the midst of a climate crisis and a viral pandemic, Ms. Koch recommends flying to Uruguay. Here in the Northeast, the missing winter lets us feel every day that we may be at the climate tipping point - if news stories from Mississippi or Australia haven't already hammered this point home - - but a writer in this newspaper suggests we fly across hemispheres for a week of amusement? And the facts about how coronavirus is leapfrogging continents while testing is absent in Africa and South America? How viruses spread in small confined spaces with recirculating air, like airplanes - these facts have not yet filtered through?

No mention of the corona virus impact on travel? And you are still recommending cruises? I would not take another cruise if my life depended on it.

I hear that there are many bargains to be had for flights and trips to Asia, soon to be followed by Italy and perhaps all of Europe. Don’t miss out on the chance of a lifetime to really strut your stuff on Instagram this spring break!

Tali’s photo should be a lesson on how people should not behave as they traipse around new places, especially if you are going to encourage their travel to national parks. Do not hoist your companions, children, or yourselves onto art or living objects to get a photo. Talk about appreciating life by experiencing it not damaging it.

Zipping all the way to Uruguay for a week to a "Five-star hotels like the Estancia Vik cost $468 a night"?? This is neither a "budget tip" (that would be 10% of that price) nor responsible travel. The CO2 footprint for a mere week is a horrendous idea to promote.

As a kid, spring break was filled with chores that needed tending. I have fond memories of opening all the bedroom windows on the second floor and letting the spring air refresh our home. I never thought of tropical places or a horse ride on a beach. It was a time our family spent transitioning our home from winter to warmer seasons. Perhaps if you just stayed home and did an intensive volunteer engagement with your local animal shelter you would find meaning by paying attention to another being on the planet who needs your help. And hey, it's cheap.

And absolutely no consideration (by the writer) for the carbon footprints of these youths seeking excitement. This "travel think" is one reason we have Global Warming. Then there's the "Virus". I bet that slows a few down.

Spring break ideas, for whom? These are all terrible ideas for college kids.

Echoing other comments. This is so irresponsible. Uruguay is lovely; so are the Catskills.

Uruguay isn't cheap! I think this is a bit misleading, esp. since it is in the subheadline. It

I think you mean Aer Lingus.

All these "bang for your buck" suggestions are really expensive.

Given the well known problems aboard cruise ships reagarding noroviruis, and now contravirus, why would anyone get on a cruise ship?

Love the NYTimes travel and real estate sections. The editors continue to live in a absolute bubble. The prices in these stories are completely out of most people’s range. (Even in NYC)

My family is Uruguayan and so I've been going to Punta del Este on and off my whole life. I am not sure how this writer thinks that Uruguay is cheaper than Miami. It is one of the most expensive places in Latin America to travel (not even including flights). Perhaps the low-season after New Years is a better time to go to Punta del Este cost-wise, but you will need to do thinks like rent a car, book hotels, etc. These things are not cheap in Uruguay. I agree with others that there are very nice places to explore north of Punta. I also think that Punta is a dynamic party town around holidays (mirroring the party vibe you can find in Miami), but outside of the high season it's probably more chill and not as good for going out. Miami has more of everything and is larger, so if that's what you are going for, then maybe it's not what you want in March.

Ok, dating myself here, but I/we used to use both Christmas and Spring break to go home (or to a friend) and work. Odd jobs, fill in shifts at our summer gigs, temp work, etc., so as to help pay for books, tuition, pocket money. Uruguay? Really? It all sounds quite surreal.

Spring break? Always spent this putative "free" time in the chem lab. Discovery and exploration doesn't always require a plane ride.

32 square feet of arctic ice melted for every passenger who sets foot into a jet for a flight. Enjoy your spring break, you may not make it to retirement on this world. The Atlantic had a point this month: over half the CO2 in the atmosphere has been deposited since 1988. The world population crossed 5 billion in 1987, it's now touching 8 billion. But, enjoy your "spring break".

32 square feet of arctic ice melted for every passenger who sets foot into a jet for a flight. Enjoy your spring break, you may not make it to retirement on this world. The Atlantic had a point this month: over half the CO2 in the atmosphere has been deposited since 1988. The world population crossed 5 billion in 1987, it's now touching 8 billion. But, enjoy your "spring break".

In view of the current corona-virus epidemic and stronger and stronger evidence that we are destroying our planet, why encourage flying many hours and consuming more disposable items? How about an article on how to enjoy spring in your own area or taking mass transit? I find this article completely out of place given the situation.

Punta del este is no alternative to Miami, Daytona or Ft Lauderdale.... Spring Break? Take Amtrak to Jacksonville, rideshare to the beach, rent a bike... and warm up by the Ocean. There are plenty of reasonable spots to get away from the snow and ice: VRBO and AirBnB make price checking easy. The roadtrip by car inst too big a carbon footprint if you get 4 or 5 of your closest friend along for the ride.... go and see America on the road less travelled... I-95 is too boring.

Forget the spring break! Hunker down at home or hole up in a remote mountain resort until the pandemic scare is resolved. Above all, avoid cruise ships and airplanes unless you fancy living two weeks quarantine in a locked virus incubator!

While this article is informative and useful overall, I take issue with having cruises listed here. They're wasteful, ecologically harmful, and an outsize contributor to global warming. Planes share some of the same flaws, but are more inescapable and less luxury-oriented than cruises, with planes being more utilitarian.

With the corona pandemic right upon our doorsteps I wonder how many of us parents think spring break is such a good idea. Like, go to spring break in wherever and return to two weeks stuck in a cell somewhere. All because the those Coronas your swilling on the beach are going to come back with a new meaning. airlines may begin grounding themselves or perhaps the government may do it out of necessity.

I found Punta del Este a bit ho-hum (nice enough, but nothing particularly interesting); for a chill experience, I recommend Punta del Diablo - about two hours by bus from del Este. It's an interesting little seaside town with a hippie-vibe (the pungent scent of marijuana hangs in the air), great stretches of uncrowded beaches (several kilometers in length); it is also a surfer's paradise. The town seems to have sprung up without any real planning, but there are great restaurants and cafes. Well worth the visit . . .

So we acknowledge climate change, but live our lives as if there were four planet earths?

Say what? Isn't this a little over the top? What about celebrating Spring where you live?

Stop talking up Uruguay! It's supposed to be our secret.

After paying your tuition, books, fees, room and board...now, let’s see...who could afford spring break in Uruguay or the pizza joint just across the street for that matter?

Better idea: STAY HOME! Explore your own backyard, give the planet a break.