If the week has left you drained or in need of a fitness fix, plan your weekend around some pampering time or rejuvenative sporting activities. Bedandbreakfast.com lists dozens of B&Bs with ski-and-stay specials, for example. Bed and breakfasts listed are international, and the site allows you to browse according to location or package type. ILoveInns.com offers golf packages, fly fishing adventures, bike tours, birding, wildlife and river rafting packages. If the object of your weekend trip is relaxation, spa and massage specials may be more your ticket.
Whether it's your anniversary or Valentine's Day or this is the weekend to elope, inns can cater to your romantic whims with specials that include jacuzzi suites, a bottle of champagne, breakfast for two in your room and valet parking. Packages can revolve around almost any theme: seasons, honeymoons, classes, courses, workshops, scrapbooking and murder mysteries. For example, a girlfriends' getaway can feature complimentary beverages, luxurious robes, vouchers for dinner at a fine restaurant, evening desserts, facials and souvenirs. The male-bonding counterpart, the "Man-cation," is designed to cater to guys-only camaraderie with, for example, pre-arranged boating, fishing and hunting trips, supplemented by tasting tours of local breweries. Lodgings can offer "man caves," where guys can play billiards, darts and shuffleboard.
Bed and breakfasts are not alone in offering intimate and adventurous packages for weekend travelers; large-name and boutique hotels offer ways to indulge or explore new interests. These might include food-filled packages featuring multi-course dinners with wine pairings. If you want a more hands-on culinary experience, some B&Bs offer cooking classes specializing in local cuisine, where, for example, you might cook up -- and eat -- a local seafood extravaganza. These packages may be available only on certain weekends. Other possibilities include tamale-making parties; a la carte offerings of chocolate-covered strawberries, fruit and cheese platters or picnic baskets; wine-and-dine packages, a wine train through Napa Valley, California and New England "Maple Madness" sugaring tours.
A weekend trip does not have to be far away to be fun, according to Localtrips.com. If you belong to one of the major metropolitan areas featured on its site, it can give you an overview of the highlights in your area and help you organize your trip based on theme, including last-minute, surfing and mission trips. It also lists top travel deals and allows you to compare different sites by entering your travel details once. Travel and Leisure also provides an interactive search in which you can input a city, choose a driving distance and see what suggestions for day trips emerge.
