Branson, The Perfect Family Vacation

I've been going to Branson since I was 12, and now I take my husband and children every chance I get. Branson is a wonderful place for families, especially families with young children. There are a wide variety of things for everyone at every age to do. Branson is also a great place to visit during all times of the year. We prefer to go either in the Summer during Silver Dollar City's Kid's Fest or in the Winter during An Olde Time Christmas. Since we only live about four hours away, Branson makes a great weekend (or longer) vacation for our family. I hope your family enjoys Branson as much as ours has and will in the future.

Quick Tips:

Coupon books and maps are available at most restaurants and some shops around town. They are very helpful, the maps especially, they include all the side streets to avoid all that heavy traffic. There are also a lot of booths for timeshare tours all around town advertising free show tickets or cash, be warned, they say there is no pressure but believe me there is and they say it only takes about 90 minutes. Ha! It will take more like three hours. On the upside though, if you don't mind having to get a little rude with someone, telling them "I'M NOT BUYING" and spending almost half a day there, then it's not a bad way to earn some free stuff.

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way to get around in Branson is either walking or driving your own car. There are tons of motels and hotels along "The 76 Strip" that are within walking distance to many attractions, shows, and shopping but to get to some of the bigger attractions -- Silver Dollar City, Branson Belle, Shepard of the Hills -- you need to drive.

This is a very nice and affordable place to stay. We had five adults and one child in our group and stayed in the family room. It was basically two standard-size rooms connected by a bathroom, and included a refrigerator and was very affordable. I believe it was $60 a night for this room. They also have a nice restaurant and a karaoke lounge at the hotel. The only bad thing I can say was that the room on the other side of the bathroom didn't really receive much air from the air conditioner because it was up by the door, but all in all, it was nice accommodations and I would stay there again.

I have stayed at this motel on two different occasions and have not been disappointed either time. The rooms are clean, the staff is friendly, they have an indoor pool and hot tub that was never too crowded, and they have a continental breakfast each morning (only donuts, sweet rolls, coffee, and juice, but hey, it beats paying for a family of four in a restaurant). I even found a coupon on the net for this motel the second time we stayed, it was $36.00 a night. What a deal!

Very nice place to stay. Very clean, spacious, nice indoor pool and hot tub. Standard continental breakfast (fruit cocktail, doughnuts, bagels, toast, juice, coffee), or you can pay extra for a hot buffet breakfast. The only thing I didn't like was that they have miniblinds on the windows, and I feel like someone can stand outside the room and be peeping in through the tiny holes where the strings go through. My husband told me I was being ridiculous!

I cannot say enough about this restaurant. We eat there at least twice every time we go to Branson. They have got a huge buffet with all different types of foods. Then another huge buffet with breads and desserts. If you’re a season pass holder for Silver Dollar City or have one of the many coupon cards from around town, you can get 10% - 15% off breakfast and lunch prices. It gets really crowded with tour buses around standard eating times, so go a little before or after.

We ate here because we had a coupon from the Sunny Day Guide for two 12-oz. steak dinners for $24.95. We were very pleased. The steaks were cooked just right. We sat in the bar area and had drinks with our meal and played Keno. The wait staff was very attentive, and the place wasn't too crowded. I would recommend and will definitely go back.

One word describes this place: WONDERFUL! If you're looking for a good place to eat without spending a lot of money and have room in your tummy to hold A LOT, then definitely go to Danna's. The barbeque nachos are to-die-for!

I don't really recommend this place. We went there for breakfast one morning because every other place was packed. They only had a few cars in the parking lot, and that should have been the first clue. They have a buffet but not a lot on it, and the sausage was so hard, I could hardly cut it, much less eat it. We won't be going back.

This is a very interesting place to visit, once. In my opinion, this is not a good choice for really young kids. There is more reading than hands-on exhibits to keep younger kids' attention.

This festival is during the fall months. It's a great time to visit the park if you like Country, Blue Grass, or Gospel music. There are many performances throughout the day in the park and then after everything else in the park closes, they have a show at the amphitheater. It's just as good as any of the shows you will pay big money for in town and best of all, it's included with admission!

This is a great attraction in Branson. What makes is really great is that it's FREE! Really interesting for someone like me who didn't have a clue about how wine was made or stored. During the tour, they show a short film and take you through the process of wine making and storage. Then they save the best for last. Everyone gathers in the wine tasting room to taste a lot of samples of their wine. They have wonderful grape juice for the kids to taste. I would recommend the tour for adults and maybe teens, but younger kids get kind of bored. They also have a great gift shop selling a lot more than wine. I'm not a big wine fan, but we go to the winery every trip to Branson just to buy the grape juice - it's ten times better than what's in stores.

There are a lot of go-cart tracks and mini-golf places in Branson, but The Tracks is my all-time favorite. They have about four different locations in Branson. You can go online before your trip and order The Go-Card, then when you visit Branson all tickets to anything at The Tracks Parks are half price. The Go-Card is $20.00, but believe me, if you have kids or a spouse that loves to ride go-carts and play mini-golf, it will save you money in the end – plus, it's good for a year, so it's a must-have if you visit Branson more than once a year. The Tracks also has one park with Kid Kountry that has rides like a train, swings, Ferris wheel, small bumper boats, and go-carts for really young kids and toddlers.

If you're only going to go to Branson one time, then make sure you go to Silver Dollar City. True, it may not appeal to some people, but hey, to each his own. Personally, my family loves it. It's like you have literally stepped back in time - everyone wears period clothing, there are craftsmen working just like they did 100 years ago, and the food is wonderful, some cooked over open flames or in big pots and kettles just like yesteryear.

There are not a whole lot of big rides, but the ones they do have are great. Most of the rides are tame enough that young children can enjoy them too. Young kids will also have a blast at Geyser Gulch. It's a huge playhouse with cannons that shoot foam balls everywhere. Big kids, like me and my husband, love the shows, great variety of music and comedy.

We like to go during the Kid's Fest in the summer and the Christmas Fest. At Kid's Fest, there are a ton of activities and shows going on all over the park for kids. They have also started having a parade during Kid’s Fest. We haven't seen it yet but can't wait. During Christmas Fest they also have a parade and it is great.

Christmas is a wonderful time to visit, the park is lit with millions of lights and Santa is there to take requests. If you go during Christmas, don't leave without making your own s’mores and getting a cup of hot chocolate, and don't miss the train ride either - it stops halfway through for 'grandpa' to tell the story of the birth of Jesus. All in all, it's a great place for family fun, and family is what it's all about, isn't it?

This place is not advertised much and I have never seen any reviews of it, but I just want to say this is a must visit in Branson. I just happened upon a website one day telling about it and I'm glad I did. It's great for family on a budget because the admission is not steep.

It's basically an indoor zoo, which is great for rainy days! It's located in Branson West across from Wal-Mart, a few miles past the Silver Dollar City turnoff. They have lots of exhibits and were expanding the last time we were there. They have all kinds of animals from snakes, lizards, spiders, and giant turtles to bears, tigers, lions, and wolves.

Sometimes the staff goes in the tiger and lion exhibits to play with them, pretty cool. The larger animals are behind glass and, most of the time, come right up to the glass so you get an up close and personal experience. At the end of the zoo they have these big tanks set up with sharks and stingrays and for a small, like $1 or $2 fee you can buy food to feed them by hand. Well, the shark food goes on the end of a stick but the stingray food is held in your hand and they suck it out, it was way cool.

My kids had a blast. We loved it so much we took my parents there the next day and did it all over again. Oh yeah, you can usually find a coupon in the coupon books all over town for $1 off adult and $.50 of child admission.

This is a great stop for that family on a budget. It's free, except for $.25 to buy fish food. Warning: the smell of the fish food will not come off your hands, even after washing --yuck. It's pretty educational too -- they show how trout are spawned and raised. They have an aquarium indoor and big tanks outdoors with all sizes from baby trout to big daddy trout! Kids love to throw the fish food to them.

OK, this attraction is not in Branson, but it is close enough (about 30 min. away) to visit during your trip. It's great and there is no admission just to visit and walk around. They have many wildlife scenes set up around the place (and the place is huge). There is even a huge waterfall at one end of the building pouring into a duck pond with live fish. I believe there is an aquarium on a lower level. And for the fisherman, hunter, or general outdoorsman or -woman in your family, there is anything and everything you would ever need to buy. The new Wonders of Wildlife museum next door is also a great place to visit. There are many live animal exhibits and plenty of hands-on activities. One level is made up to seem like you're walking through the treetops and it's live trees.

Decorated very Vegas-style, with rounded booths facing a stage. They had the finalists from a Branson area talent show there the night we went, and I think they have live music pretty regularly. A nice place for adults who don't have kids and who don't go to bed right after the shows to go for after-hours entertainment. They are open till 1am.

It was great. We went without our kids because we happended to have free tickets, but we will definitely be taking the kids to see it. It's a little pricey, but you get a huge meal with admission. There's a whole roasted chicken, a slice of smoked pork loin, half a roasted potato, creamy vegetable soup, corn on the cob, a biscuit, an apple turnover, tea, Pepsi, and coffee. And the food is wonderful. The show itself is great--non-stop action--and there is a pre-show about an hour before the main show that is included with admission also. We will definitely go back.

Let me start by saying that I'm a working mother of two boys ages 7 and 4, and my husband and I do not make a huge salary, but we think it's important to do things as a family, therefore we like to take a couple of small vacations a year. Branson is a destination that can be visited by a family with a tight budget. My friends and family call me the “coupon queen” and say I should open my own travel agency to give travel tips.

When we decide we are going somewhere in particular, I scour the internet for travel guides and coupons. Review sites such as this one, Tripadvisor, and Virtualtourist are great for getting tips on what activities and accommodations are not expensive and which ones not to waste your money on. There are several things in Branson that are either free or very inexpensive, such as The Stone Hill Winery Tour (free), the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery (free), The Dewey Short Visitor Center (free), Predator World, an indoor zoo ($6/adult - $5/child, coupons available), The Tracks Family Fun Parks with the Go-Card (half-price tickets), and if you buy a season pass to Silver Dollar City in Jan. or Feb. you get a Bring a Friend Free Certificate for each pass bought. The cost of one season pass is less than the cost of two 1-day admissions to the park. You can only use the BAF certificates certain times of the year, so plan your trip to accommodate. You also get 10% off meals over $3.50 in the park when you are a season pass holder, this really comes in handy when you have kids wanting everything from cotton candy to popcorn to hamburgers and fries.

As far as accommodations go, a lot of people say that they only will stay in a luxury hotel or a condo resort. Why? If you’re just on a weekend trip, you will only be there to sleep, so why spend all the extra money? A couple places we've stayed on short trips were the Caprice Motor Inn and the Hillbilly Inn. I would recommend either. They have clean rooms and the rates are not too high. The Caprice also has an indoor pool. When we are staying for an extended time, we do like to stay somewhere that has a kitchen so we can cook some meals to save money, but it doesn't have to be a luxury high-priced condo resort. Places like the Tribesman Resort have nice little cottages and apartments that fit the bill.

Speaking of meals, Branson offers a huge variety of restaurants, from fine dining to buffets galore. Buffets are the way to go for families with small children. They can pick what they want to eat and most places either don't charge for children 4 and under or charge very little. Our favorite buffet is the Golden Corral on the Shepherd of the Hills Expressway, but this place gets really packed with tour buses around standard eating times. I would recommend going during off hours, but definitely go at least once - it is wonderful.

Oh yeah, with the Go-Card for the Tracks, you can also get discounts around town, and Golden Corral is one place - I think it's 10% or 15% off breakfast and lunch. Usually for breakfast we just take cereal and donuts and eat in the room, then eat a pretty big lunch, then a small dinner. This saves money too, because dinner prices are usually higher than lunch.

You don’t have to have or spend a lot of money to have a nice vacation and make lasting memories for your family. When I was younger, our family always took vacations or even day trips, and those are some of the best memories I have.