Hi everyone,
I am looking to take a family trip to VA the week before July 4.Our destinations are Charlottesville, Richmond, and Williamsburg.
I would like to find us the cheapest possible accommodations. It would be fine for us to stay near the destination communities as opposed to in them. The travelers include 2 young children so a safe environment and access to clean bathrooms is critical. We will be taking a dog so pet-friendly is also important. VA state parks charge about $25 for a tent site and $60 per night for a cabin. Are there cheaper options? Thanks!

Do you know about warmshowers?

www.warmshowers.org

I have heard of them. My kids are messy, loud, and can be bratty. I am wary of us being bad guests. Will being warmshowers guests be a good option for us? What are your thoughts?

Hey, if you're willing to admit that to us, you can admit it to any potential Warmshowers host before you get there! Most warmshowers hosts I've met were incredibly welcoming and generous; some (such as myself) are less so. If you're worried about being a bad guest, make it clear to your kids that you're only going to camp in the yard and use the bathroom a couple times.

My kids are not especially polite to me, but they've always made a very good impression on Warmshowers hosts; don't underestimate your kids' ability to adjust their behavior to the situation.

Google is your friend.

I've also had good luck finding relatively cheap hotels using HotelGuides.com - Hotel Guides, Maps & Reservations Made Easy

You also might try airbnb and vrbo

No offense but you would not be welcome at my house if you brought the kids.

I agree with rhm that you should be up front about it if you ask but that is still going to be a tough read. Most of the warmshowers members I have met are really nice and helpful. Hard to tell if they would be agreeing to be mice or really don't mind the kids.

Sorry but that is just being honest.

Hi Spinnaker,
I can totally understand why bratty kids would not be welcome. So what dirt cheap/safe/dry/bathroom included accommodation can you recommend?

Camping is about it but even that is not cheap at some places.

If you are avoiding large cities(which I highly recommend) there are bond to be lots of reasonable priced hotels along the way. Just all crowd into the same room.

Another option for larger cities would be hostels, though sadly not so prevalent in the US. A lot of hostels will have private rooms with multiple beds. I stayed at one in San Francisco. There were 3-4 kids staying with mom in the room next door. I would only recommend AYH hostels they seem to be a bit safer than the non affiliated hostels in the US.

Camping can be pretty convenient & typically the VA state etc parks have decent upkeep & clean bathrooms. Reservations accepted. Any sort of motel etc will cost much more. With crowd-sharing stuff like WarmShowers you're more at the mercy of people who can flake out eh?

Thanks again Spinnaker. Can you recommend a small town near Richmond that might have clean safe cheap motels?

I liked using IYHA & others (Irish independent Ass'n) Hostels before the Internet based Warm showers and Air B&B were ever created ..

Advantage is you share the place with other travelers, to talk to..

I really don't know the area. You would need to search. Another good source of local information is tripadvisor.

$25 for a state park tent site would be a bargain here in California, especially for a coastal park. What about a California hike and bike site? Well, they are often less desirable than a standard tent site, being next to the RV sewage dump or something, and the So Cal beach parks charge $10 a head, making a family of four pay $40 for a substandard site they will still have to maybe share with other people--possibly transients.

Are there any fairgrounds along the route? They often allow tent camping; such as the grounds in Quincy, CA along the Sierra Cascade route that have hot showers and tent sites @ $10. College dorms may also offer rooms during the summer: Cheap Summer Lodging at Universities | Frugal Travel Guy

I live in Richmond and do not think you will find anything cheaper than the $25 you mentioned for a state park. The nearest to town is Pocahontas SP and it is about 30 minutes from downtown so it depends on what you want to do in town as to how helpful this is.

As for Charlottesville, there is cheap/free dispersed (primitive) camping in the national forests west of there but, once again, it depends on how accessible you want your lodging to be.

Expect Williamsburg to be the same as the other two areas. Cheap lodging is no longer cheap.

State park camping can sometimes be more convenient than a motel; no need to lug bikes/gear up steps etc. I suppose one can sometimes bargain a bit on prices w/independent-owned motels though in summer I'd assume less latitude for bargaining.

Hi Steve,
These are great ideas. Thanks so much for posting!

Thanks DropBarFan. Bargaining is a great idea.

Hi thumpism,
Thanks for the local perspective. Your information will really help with planning.

Forgot to mention that there are commercial campgrounds in these vicinities as well, so you might consider that as an option.