On the road again: Plenty of good reasons, and places, to travel in the off-season

Want to avoid the crowds and save money when traveling? Then consider a trip during the fall and winter months of the year.

Shari Elfrink, owner of 1st Class Travel in Cape Girardeau, has two favorite destinations that she recommends to travelers in the cooler months.

"Europe is great to visit," she begins. "The flights are much less, it's not as crowded, and since kids are back in school, it's mostly adults that are traveling. I just took a local tour group, plus my family, to Austria, Germany and Switzerland, and it was wonderful!"

Her other favorite destination for fall and winter is Aruba.

"They've never been hit by a hurricane, and they have a desert climate with very little rain," she says.

Elfrink says she always recommends travel insurance to her customers, but especially during the fall season because of weather issues such as hurricanes.

"If a trip is cancelled or you decide not to go for whatever reason, you get everything back except what you paid for the travel insurance," she explains.

For off-season trips within the continental United States, Carolyn Sandgren (Kempf), owner of Elite Travel in Cape Girardeau, has several ideas for affordable travel.

"Try taking Amtrak during the off-season, as it's a very relaxing, affordable way to travel," she says. "I like to go up to St. Louis for a sporting event, then spend the night in the hotel that's located in the Amtrak station. Then, take the Amtrak to Jefferson City the next day. Jeff City is a great town to walk around in. You can tour the capitol, or they have a trolley that goes around the city."

Sandgren points out other destinations that are accessible via Amtrak.

"A lot of people take Amtrak from Carbondale, Illinois, to Chicago, and in the fall, it's cooler up there," she says. "People also like to take the Amtrak from St. Louis to the Kansas City Plaza and go shopping. Those can be pretty inexpensive weekend trips."

New Orleans is another popular destination that Sandgren recommends for fall and winter travelers.

"You can either drive down or take the train," she says. "There are four- and five-night cruises out of New Orleans, or you can [stay in the city and] tour one of the four major plantations, which are about 45 minutes to an hour away. New Orleans also has one of the best aquariums in the nation, as well as a beautiful garden district."

For great travel deals and no crowds, Sandgren also suggests a mountain vacation.

"You can get incredible bargains in the fall in places like Colorado, Utah, the Teton Range and Yellowstone," she says.

If you do want to venture out of the continental United States, Sandgren recommends Mexico and the Caribbean.

"Places like Cabo San Lucas who have recently been hit with a hurricane will have a quick recovery time," she says. "Plus, the whole area usually isn't wiped out. You can usually save from 50 to 75 percent off on areas where a [natural disaster] has recently hit."

If you're looking for bargain trips in warm climates during the winter, Susan Berghoff, a travel agent at 1st Class Travel, recommends planning your trip for the first half of December.

"December is where you'll find the best prices," she says. "But plan to travel before Dec. 18. After that, you run into the holiday travelers and prices will go up."

The later into winter you get, the higher prices will go for warm-weather locations.

"January would be the second-best winter month to travel [to a warmer climate], but it's still going to be quite a bit higher than the first part of December," says Berghoff. "February prices will go even higher."

Popular wintertime vacation retreats are Cancun and Riviera Maya, both in Mexico, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, an island in the Caribbean Sea.

"We book trips to Cancun and Riviera Maya year-round," says Berghoff. "We tend to book more trips to Punta Cana and Jamaica in January and February, as they are a little farther south, where it is warmer."