Looking for Some Fun Summer Senior Trip Ideas?
Hitting your golden years doesn’t have to mean losing your sense of adventure. In fact, the older you get, the more your sense of adventure grows! Some may think that senior activities are relegated to bingo, chess and checkers, or sitting around and watching TV. These activities lose their luster quickly at any time of the year. It’s much more exciting to get out and enjoy what your area has to offer, especially in the summer!
Fun senior trips and senior tours provide safe and easy ways for you to take part in activities you’ve always enjoyed. In fact, many tourism and travel companies offer trips that are accessible to all seniors, especially those who use mobility aids to get around.
At Nursing Home Reviews, we strive to be a resource that helps you get the most out of your golden years. That’s why, today, we’re going to be looking at five of the best senior trip ideas for the summer.
1. A Daytime Stroll or Ride Through Your Local City
The first of our summer trip ideas for seniors won’t require you to go very far at all. In fact, it may even be a short walk down the street for most! If you’re more the type to keep your trips short and local, a daytime stroll or ride through your local city may do the trick.
Many senior centers and retirement communities host walking clubs to help keep the senior community active and engaged in their area. While you may not think this counts as a senior trip in the conventional sense, it’s still tops on the list of fun senior trips that can be enjoyably short while helping you reconnect with your community.
If you’re not up for a walk, a nice weekend (or weekday) drive can help you explore areas of your home city or town that you’ve either never seen or hadn’t seen in years. Right in your own backyard, you’ll sure to find any number of:
- Museums
- Walking trails and parks
- Street fairs and festivals
- Historic areas
So, remember, when you’re looking for a fun senior trip that doubles as a simple day getaway, exploring your nearby town or city can do the trick.
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2. Head to the Beach for a Few Days
No list of summer trip ideas is ever complete without mentioning a drive to the beach. Depending on where you live, a trip to the beach can be a single-day excursion or a multiple-day adventure, but the coast always makes for a relaxing – and sometimes thrilling – vacation.
There’s no shortage of things to do at the beach for explorers of any age. Mornings may be filled with watching the sun rise over the water while you comb the sand for shells and trinkets. After a day of play, whether on land or in the waves, you’ll always find a great local eatery that offers plenty of local seafood and tasty drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
If you live in a retirement community or senior care facility, your activity director may plan a yearly trip to the beach for any interested residents. Many independent companies also offer coach trips to the coast. If there are currently no plans for such a trip, and you’re yearning for some sea and sun, make a suggestion for an oceanside outing!
3. Check Out Nearby Roadside Attractions
No matter where you go, any city or town boasts its share of roadside attractions. These always-interesting-but-never-boring destinations can be found wherever tourists and vacationers tend to flock. The wave of nostalgia that many roadside attractions inspire can’t be beat, making them an excellent destination for a fun senior trip.
This is probably the most adventurous of our senior trip ideas because you can literally make a multi-state excursion out of it. From America’s most famous mystery house to a museum dedicated to the nation’s favorite mystery meat, there’s something to be found out there for the young and young at heart alike.
4. Escape to the Country for a Little While
If you live in the city, you know that it’s rarely boring. However, it can be a little too stimulating at times. Sometimes, you just have to get away to find a little bit of peace and solitude.
Seniors who want to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city for a few days can benefit from some much-needed peace and quiet in the country. Every state has its share of calm, cool countryside that offers plenty of respite from the sights and sounds of a busy metropolis.
Getaways to the mountains or forests can often be some of the most fun senior trips you’ll embark on. These trips offer plenty of opportunities for:
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Canoeing and kayaking
- Biking
- Swimming
It goes without saying that if you like to keep active, you’ll find no shortage of fun things to do on a summer trip to the country.
5. Enjoy an International Getaway
Those of you who still have the ability and desire to travel outside of the United States may be able to embark on some of the most enjoyable senior tours of all. If you are able to do so, taking some time to enjoy the world’s more exotic locales, or European countries you’ve always wished to visit, is a great option for summer senior trips.
Many retirees have a great desire to see the world, but few actually take the chance to do so. Whether cost holds them back, or they simply are not physically able to do so, most seniors miss out on what could be the trip of a lifetime. These days, there are better opportunities available to you that can allow you to make this dream come true.
Some of the same companies that offer stateside coach trips also offer inexpensive cruises or international coach trips for seniors to see the world. As these trips are geared toward the senior population, they offer assistance and aid to those who may not be as mobile as they used to. This way, if mobility is what’s keeping you from exploring, it becomes less of a hurdle than ever.
Keep Your Travels Happy and Safe
As you embark on your own summer senior trips this year, be sure to have a great time, but also make sure you travel safe! We’re heading into some of the hottest months of the year, and seniors are more susceptible to heat-related illnesses than most of the population.
While you’re enjoying yourself on vacation, always make sure to:
- Wear sunscreen to avoid painful and harmful sunburn
- Drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated
- Take regular breaks to avoid heat exhaustion or heat stroke while sightseeing
We hope our summer senior trip ideas helped you come up with some vacation plans on your own! No matter where you go or what you do, be sure to enjoy yourself. After all, that’s what vacation is for, right?
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