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Long Weekend Break Ideas For Summer: 5 Fun And Cheap Ways To Spend A Long Weekend Break

Summer is the perfect time to take a long weekend break. Taking a Friday or a Monday off work gives you three full days for a break, especially if you leave on Thursday or Friday evening. Taking a long weekend break in the summer can be really fun, but where are the best places to go? What are the fun things to do? If you're stuck for ideas for long weekend summer breaks, read on, because these five weekend break ideas are great for everyone.

Take a long weekend summer break at the beach - There are many fabulous beaches throughout the US that are fun to visit for a long weekend. Santa Monica or Venice, California, Wilmington, North Carolina, Miami, Florida and Seattle, Washington all have nice beaches. Sunbathing, water skiing, surfing, swimming, rollerblading and fishing, all are fun things to do on a long weekend break at the beach. Whale watching is also becoming popular in many coastal areas of the US. Beach towns also usually have excellent restaurants to eat at (Louise's Trattoria in Santa Monica, Indochine in Wilmington, Yambo in Miami and Matt's in the Market in Seattle). Beach towns also have great nightlife (The Chapel Bar in Seattle, Monsoon Caf in Santa Monica, a Latin club like Mango's Tropical Caf in Miami and one of the riverfront bars with live music in Wilmington.) Hotels and motels too in many beach towns are not that expensive. Holiday Inns in all five cities start at $55 a night on up or, if you want something a bit more exclusive, try the Loews Beach Hotel in Santa Monica ($300-plus a night) or The Biltmore Hotel in Miami ($250-plus a night).

Take a long weekend summer break in the city - For another long weekend summer break idea, why not hit the city? Some of the world's best cities are in the United States and a weekend break to any of them can be really fun. Chicago or Los Angeles - all have different atmospheres, but plenty to offer anyone on a long weekend break. Chicago, the Windy City, is known for life music, great food and the arts. Try Chicago's Chocolate Tour and learn all about chocolate, head up the Sears Tower for amazing views of the city, or eat at one of the city's ethnic restaurants with awesome Indian, Chinese, Mexican and Thai food. Chicago hotels start at only $69 a night (check out the Days Inn ) or for more upscale, try the Hard Rock Hotel.

Los Angeles is my favorite city in the US because it's so varied. With a typical California laidback attitude, LA has the beach, the mountains, shopping, great art, culture and music. For a fun day out, head up to the Getty Museum where you can scope out their cool art collection and eat lunch in their amazing cafeteria (less than $10 a person for awesome California food). Shop on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, where you'll find some of the city's best boutique shops, or walk on Third Street Promenade to see the street artists and then head down to the beach for an afternoon of rollerblading. At night, eat dinner in Venice at Rose Caf (less than $20 per person for some of the freshest, most delicious food in LA), or out to one of the city's nightclubs for dancing. Hotels in LA start at less than $100 a night, with luxury accommodation in the $1, 000s. There's something for every taste in LA and, for a long weekend break idea, you really can't beat it.

Take a long weekend break in the mountains - Having lived in Denver, Colorado for a while, I can tell you a long weekend break in the mountains is a fun way to spend a three-day weekend. Evergreen, Colorado, just 15 miles from Denver, is a very pretty place to take a long weekend. A small town, with a log cabin feel to it, it still has good restaurants, cafes, ice cream parlors and bars and, with some of the nation's prettiest hiking trails, you can have a great time there. Rent a cabin for three days (Bear Creek Cabins start at $150 per night in the summer), or stay at one of the area's motels (around $100 a night). Evergreen, or any mountain summer break location gives you a chance to get out of the city, breath some fresh mountain air and relax. Can't do better than that, right?

By Cassandra James - I'm a British-American writer currently living in Bangkok, Thailand. I've been writing for Associated Content since 2007 and was named one of AC's Top 100 Writers for 2008, 2009 and 2010. I primarily write t...