Best Spring Break Vacation Ideas From Des Moines, Iowa

Spring Break will be here before you know it. If you're already thinking, We need to go somewhere warm, now is a good time to start planning.

For families in Des Moines, Ankeny and Central Iowa, there are a lot of ways to approach a Spring Break vacation. You could spend the week at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico, take a Caribbean cruise, head to a Florida beach, plan a theme park vacation or use the school break for a bigger family adventure.

The best Spring Break trip isn't the same for every family. Before I start recommending destinations, I want to know what you actually want from the week.

Do you want to sit on a beach? Keep the kids busy? Explore somewhere new? Have most of your meals included? Or finally take that bigger family trip you've been talking about?

Here are some of the best Spring Break vacation ideas from Des Moines to get you thinking.

1. Cancun or Riviera Maya All-Inclusive Vacation

If your Spring Break goal is warm weather, a beach and very little planning once you arrive, Mexico is a great place to start.

Cancun and Riviera Maya have a huge range of all-inclusive resorts, but that's also why choosing one can get overwhelming quickly.

Some are better for families with younger kids. Others are better for teenagers. Some have water parks and lots of activities, while others are quieter and more focused on the beach, pools and food.

This is where I don't want to send a client a list of 25 resorts and tell them to pick one.

Tell me what your family cares about. Is a great beach the priority? Do you need activities for teenagers? How important is the food? Would you rather have a smaller resort or somewhere with tons to do?

Then I can start narrowing it down.

Flight schedules from Des Moines can vary by season and destination, so that's another piece I'll look at when putting the whole vacation together.

2. Take a Caribbean Cruise for Spring Break

A Spring Break cruise can be a great choice when your family wants plenty to do without planning a different activity every day.

Kids and teenagers can have activities they enjoy, adults can have some downtime, and everyone can come back together for dinner, excursions and time in port.

But choosing a cruise isn't simply about finding the cheapest sailing during your dates.

The cruise line, ship, itinerary and cabin all matter.

A family traveling with teenagers may love a completely different ship than grandparents traveling with adult children. If several families are traveling together, we also need to think about cabin locations, room configurations and what everyone wants from the vacation.

And because you'll need to get from Iowa to the cruise port, I'll look at the entire trip, including flights, pre-cruise accommodations and transportation.

3. Florida Beach Vacation

You don't necessarily need to leave the country to escape Iowa in March.

Florida gives us plenty of options depending on what kind of vacation you want.

You could head toward Fort Lauderdale or Miami, choose the Gulf Coast around Sarasota, Tampa or St. Petersburg, or look at other Florida beach destinations based on your family's priorities.

Des Moines offers nonstop service to several Florida destinations, although routes and schedules can change seasonally.

That doesn't mean I'd automatically choose a destination because there's a nonstop flight. We'd still compare the schedule, airfare, accommodations and what you actually want to do once you get there.

Sometimes convenience is worth a lot when you're only working with one week of Spring Break.

4. Orlando Theme Park Vacation

For families with kids who have been asking for Disney or Universal, Spring Break can be an opportunity to finally do it.

A theme park trip requires more planning than simply booking flights and a hotel, especially during a popular school break.

Where you stay, how many park days you plan, which parks matter most to your family and how much downtime you build in can make a big difference.

And yes, I believe in downtime even at Disney.

5. An All-Inclusive Caribbean Getaway

Mexico isn't your only option if you want an all-inclusive Spring Break.

Depending on flights, budget and what you're looking for, we can also consider Punta Cana, Jamaica or other Caribbean destinations.

This is another area where I'd start with the experience rather than the country.

Do you want an incredible beach? A beautiful pool? Lots of activities? A quieter resort? Great food? A larger property with something happening all day?

A resort can look gorgeous in photos and still be completely wrong for your family.

My job is to help narrow down the options and find something that fits the people actually taking the trip.

6. Take the Older Kids Somewhere Bigger

If you have teenagers or college-age kids, Spring Break can also be an opportunity to think beyond the traditional beach vacation.

Maybe this is the year you go somewhere they've never been.

Depending on how many days you have available, you could consider a European vacation, explore a U.S. destination or build a trip around something your family really enjoys.

As a mom of teenagers myself, I'm especially aware that there are only so many school breaks when everyone is still available to travel together.

That doesn't mean every vacation needs to be huge. But if there's a trip your family keeps saying you'd like to take someday, it might be worth talking about whether this is the year to do it.

Should We Fly From Des Moines or Drive to Another Airport?

This is a question I hear from Iowa travelers, and my answer is: let's compare it.

Flying from Des Moines International Airport is convenient, and there are quite a few destinations you can reach nonstop.

But depending on the destination and dates, I may also look at flights from Omaha, Kansas City or Minneapolis.

I don't assume the cheapest airfare automatically makes another airport the better choice.

If you're driving several hours, potentially paying for a hotel, parking your car for a week and adding more travel time to both ends of your vacation, saving a little on airfare may not be worth it.

I like to look at the whole trip and decide what actually makes sense.

When Should You Book Spring Break From Des Moines?

Earlier than most people think.

Spring Break puts a lot of families into the same travel window. You're competing for flights, family-sized rooms, popular resorts, cruise cabins and other limited options.

That doesn't mean you can't plan a last-minute Spring Break trip. Sometimes we find something great.

But if you already know your family wants to travel, I'd rather start earlier when we have more choices instead of waiting until the options are limited.

What Is the Best Spring Break Vacation From Des Moines?

There isn't one answer.

For a family that wants to relax, I'd look at an all-inclusive resort or beach vacation.

For a family that wants lots of activities, I'd consider a cruise or Orlando.

For a family with older kids who loves exploring, we might look at something completely different.

And for the parent staring at Google thinking, I don't even know where to start, you don't have to figure that out before contacting me.

That's part of what I do.

Let's Plan Your Spring Break Vacation

You can come to me with something as simple as:

“We have these dates, we're a family of five, we'd like somewhere warm, and this is approximately what we'd like to spend.”

That's enough to start.

As a Good Trip Travel Co. travel advisor in Ankeny, Iowa, I can help you compare destinations, flights, resorts, cruises and accommodations and put the pieces together based on how your family actually likes to travel.

You don't need 47 tabs open trying to figure out which resort, cruise or destination is best.

Tell me what you're picturing for Spring Break, and let's start narrowing it down.

Ready to start planning your Spring Break vacation? Complete Rachael's Good Trip Travel Co. inquiry form here.