​9 Affordable U.S. Destinations for 2022

Greenwood, Mississippi

This pretty little city in the state with the lowest cost of living has a rich history and plenty of reasons to visit. Once a cotton capital, Greenwood — a two-hour drive south of Memphis — played a role in the fight for civil rights. In 1966, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee activist Stokely Carmichael delivered his famous call for Black power in Greenwood. In later years, Greenwood was the filming location for The Help, which spotlighted racial injustice. You can take a self-guided driving tour of sites, including historic homes, used in the movie. Other attractions include the Viking Cooking School’s classes (using Viking appliances, of course), plus great bars featuring Delta blues music. Aficionados of the 1967 hit "Ode to Billie Joe," sung by onetime Greenwood resident Bobbie Gentry, can cross the Tallahatchie Bridge, which figures mysteriously in the song. Sink your teeth into a $13 half slab of ribs at Drake’s BBQ and stay in a renovated ’40s tin-roofed tenant cabin at Tallahatchie Flats, where rates start at $85 a night.

Bruce Leighty / Alamy Stock Photo

Holland, Michigan

Not comfortable traveling to Amsterdam in the COVID-19 era? Savor genuine Dutch flavor 150 miles northeast of Chicago in this small town established by Dutch immigrants in 1847. Think cobblestone sidewalks, Netherlands architecture and cuisine, plus millions of tulips blooming in spring. Visit the Holland Museum (seniors, $6; adults, $7), spotlighting the city’s heritage. Photograph the 250-year-old sole working Dutch windmill in the U.S., in 36-acre Windmill Island Gardens (adults, $10), closed from mid-fall through winter. May’s Tulip Time Festival and late November into December, when the Kerstmarkt holiday market sets up, are popular times to visit. Traverse a wheelchair-accessible boardwalk to view the “Big Red” lighthouse that guards the channel connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Macatawa. And it costs nothing to tour De Klomp Wooden Shoe and Delft Factory, where artisans turn out hand-carved clogs and Delft pottery. Order Dutch pancakes and pea soup at deBoer’s Bakkerij. Rates at Microtel Inn & Suites, including breakfast, start at less than $65 on slow nights.

Rob Crandall / Alamy Stock Photo

Burlington, Vermont

Vermont’s biggest city (population 45,000) retains a small-town feel. Stroll past family-owned Vermont Flannel Company and Frog Hollow Vermont Craft Gallery on pedestrian-only Church Street Marketplace downtown. Order a Change Is Brewing coffee/brownie/marshmallow cone from socially conscious Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, headquartered in South Burlington. Admire local and international works at the University of Vermont’s Fleming Museum of Art, where admission is free. Discover the up-and-coming dining scene, where you'll find farm-to-table restaurants and spots to sample variations of Canada’s decadent gravy-and-cheese-curd slathered fries called poutine (Montreal is a two-hour drive to the north). Citizen Cider serves its own hard ciders and locally sourced beef burgers with poutine for less than $20. Cruise Lake Champlain in the warmer months on the Spirit of Ethan Allen (from about $15). Budget lodgings include all the usual chains starting at around $100 to $150 a night. Spend $150 and up on bed and breakfast at Lang House on Main Street to get that New England inn vibe.

Mt. Mitchell State Park

Pat & Chuck Blackley / Alamy Stock Photo

Black Mountain, North Carolina

The word is out about the crafts, eateries and breweries in Asheville, but less familiar is Black Mountain, 16 miles to the east. Boutiques and eats are on par with Asheville's, but generally carry lower price tags. Try Chifferobe Home and Garden for affordable antiques, shabby chic home decor, folk art and jewelry, and Mountain Nest, a gallery selling arts and crafts from more than 100 regional artisans. Among the roster of farm-to-table restaurants is Louise’s Kitchen, housed in a 1904 farmhouse and known for delicious and ample breakfasts. Order a “big boy burrito” — two local free-range eggs, sausage, bacon, shredded cheese, potatoes and pico de gallo stuffed into a tortilla — for $10. Recover in one of the rocking chairs decorated by local craftspeople, placed around “The little town that rocks.” Like Asheville, Black Mountain is bait for beer lovers. You can choose from more than a dozen local brews at BAD Craft (beer, art, desserts) or Lookout Brewing Company. Bed and breakfast buffet for two starts at about $160 in the winter off-season at the Victorian Red Rocker Inn, and you can find rooms as low as $99 at the Monte Vista Boutique Hotel. Scenic Lake Tomahawk Park is a great place to walk, while the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway beckons road trippers.

Galena, Illinois

Billed as a tank of gas away from major Midwest cities including Chicago and Milwaukee, the former mining town and steamboat port in northwest Illinois is the perfect inexpensive getaway. Its old-fashioned Main Street is lined with brick buildings housing shops, bars and restaurants. You can taste wines from local vineyards, ditch the car and take a guided trolley tour (prices vary), or visit the white-pillared Ulysses S. Grant home for $5. In warm-weather months, kayaking on the Galena River is popular. Wet your whistle at quirky Root Beer Revelry, stocking dozens of varieties of the classic beverage (Key lime, anyone?) or at Frank O’Dowd’s Irish Pub & Grill, where Guinness is on tap and Kathleen Leonard’s beef shepherd’s pie with Irish soda bread ($19) is the star. Affordable B&Bs are plentiful, including the 19th-century Belle Aire Mansion Guest House, which advertises itself as “the friendliest bed and breakfast in Illinois.” Rates start at $100, including a hot breakfast and homemade chocolate chip cookies. Those 60 and older get $10 off by booking directly.

Sean Pavone / Alamy Stock Photo

Tulsa, Oklahoma 

Once overlooked as a vacation choice, Oklahoma’s second-largest city is making headlines with its innovative, free Gathering Place. The 66.5-acre park on the banks of the Arkansas River — due to expand to nearly 100 acres — melds outdoor activities with the work of local and international artists and appeals to both kids and grownups. Bird-watch, attend events such as Native American storytelling or go on a self-guided “scavenger hunt” to ID flowers and wildlife. Pathways are accessible, and wheelchairs can be rented at no cost. A free Gathering Place app is provided by AARP Oklahoma. Architecture buffs salivate over the city’s art deco buildings. Must-sees include the Philbrook Museum of Art, in an Italian Renaissance-style mansion once owned by an oil magnate (seniors 62 and older, $10; adults $12). The new Greenwood Rising history center tells the story of the Greenwood District, dubbed “Black Wall Street,” and the deadly 1921 racially charged attack on its businesses and residents. Admission is free. Chow down alongside locals at Tally’s Good Food Café, famed for its cinnamon rolls and Fat Boy cheeseburger. Hip Aloft Tulsa Downtown has rates starting under $100.

Kitty Bean Yancey, a former USA Today deputy managing editor, is a travel writer and the winner of multiple Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers.