Free Digital Photography Workshops Offered In National Parks This Summer

To celebrate the two towns that tied for first place in Budget Travel's annual Coolest Small Towns contest, Will McGough (the editor of Wake and Wander) took the Coolest Road Trip from Beaufort, N.C., to Hammondsport, N.Y. Here are his highlights (including stops in runners–up Damascus, Va., and Cape May, N.J.). Coolest Accommodations: Damascus Cabins, where a riverside cabin and campfire provided just the right kind of nightlife after a long drive. Coolest Restaurant: Cape May’s Mad Batter, for its crab Benedict brunch with mimosas. Coolest Activity: Hot–air ballooning in Hammondsport, where McGough marveled at the simplicity of the balloon—not much more than a basket attached to a parachute, he notes, driven only by the power of the wind. Coolest Bar: Beaufort’s Rhum Bar at the Front Street Grill at Stillwater for happy hour. Here, an “island vibe” makes for a memorable afternoon. (The signature Rhum Bar Punch is a potent mix of rum, pineapple, orange juice, and grenadine.) Coolest History: The legend of Blackbeard. The infamous pirate lived in Beaufort before he was captured and hanged. Coolest Souvenir: A bottle of Hammondsport wine. While not every location on your own personal road trip will have quite the terroir of the Finger Lakes (Hammondsport wines have been served at the White House, after all), McGough humbly suggests that a good regional wine will always top a trinket in his book. Ready to take your next road trip? Visit the App Store to download the Budget Travel Ultimate Road Trips mobile app (Android version coming shortly)—it’s free and features 70 of the most inspiring drives in the country! —Robert Firpo–Cappiello MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL 7 Tricks for Getting Gas for Less 5 Classic American Drives 7 Most Common Gas-Guzzling Mistakes

Looking to save on your next getaway? A new report released by Cheapflights.com ranks the average price of flights to the 101 most popular airports in America from the most to the least expensive. The three airports where prices were the lowest were all in California, with Burbank's Bob Hope Airport coming in as the cheapest with flights averaging $221. Long Beach and Fresno were two and three, with flights averaging $250 and $290 respectively. Rounding out the top five were two Pennsylvania airports—Harrisburg International ($304) and Lehigh Valley ($307). Wondering what the most expensive airports were? New York's JFK came in fifth with flights averaging $678, followed by Kahului in Maui ($712), Charleston, South Carolina ($717), and Honolulu ($854). The top spot went to Anchorage's airport, where flights averaged a whopping $964! The study was based on prices in June 2012, and also compared this year's prices with the averages found in 2011. There were some major fluctuations, including Dallas Love Field, which was the 13th most expensive in 2011 and the 66th in 2012, with flights averaging $544 (flights out of Dallas/Fort Worth averaged $432, ranking the airport 32nd). On the other hand, Albany International got cheaper this year. In 2011, it ranked 82nd. In 2012, it came in at 41st thanks to flights that averaged $463. The moral of the story? Consider smaller, regional airports when booking trips, but remember to shop around. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL 11 Surprisingly Lovable Airlines 4 Most Common Reasons Airlines Lose Luggage 8 Common Air-Travel Snafus (And How to Beat Them)

Madonna recently caused a stir—surprise, surprise—when she paid Florence's Uffizi Gallery a private visit after hours with her boyfriend, her son, and a 15-person entourage. After closing hours, Madonna paid an undisclosed sum to be led around the best collections of Renaissance painting in the world, says London's Sunday Times. Uffizi museum chief Cristina Acidini told reporters that Madonna was keen on Botticelli's Birth of Venus, spending a few minutes in front of it. Italy has a long tradition of letting high-paying travelers have access to its cultural treasures in seclusion. Case in point: The Sistine Chapel, part of the Vatican Museums in Vatican City, gives after-hours private access via companies like Italy With Us for prices of about $350 a person. Madonna's visit contrasted sharply in style with actor Pierce Brosnan's afternoon tour last Wednesday around Paris's Musée D'Orsay. The former James Bond walked by himself among the crowd, taking a break from filming a new movie with Emma Thompson. No entourage, no fuss, and paying as an ordinary visitor. Should there be a limit to how museums can open up national cultural treasures for private tours to the highest bidder? Or are celebrity tours a smart way for museums to gain new revenue without having to rely on taxpayer funds? MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Is Florence's Museum Card Worth the Price? (12 comments) Google's Street View Maps Uffizi and Other Major Museums 10 Celebrity-Trashed Hotel Rooms

Looking for a fun way to cool off? These five new water rides at parks and piers across the country deliver exactly the type of thrills and chills these dog days call for. Pirate's Plunge Log Flume Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier, Galveston, Tex. It's been a long time since Galveston's 25th street pier saw this kind of action—51 years, in fact. The city's original Pleasure Pier, once the largest amusement park of its kind, was wiped out by a hurricane in 1961. This May, an all–new park opened with 16 rides spread out over an area the size of three football fields. The most refreshing one is the Pirate's Plunge Log Flume, which includes two drops—22 feet and 40 feet in height—and has plenty of bystander–soaking power. Pleasurepier.com, adult full–day pass $27, must be 42" tall to ride Pirate's Plunge. River Adventure and Wipeout! Morey's Piers, Wildwood, NJ This old-school (since the 1960s) waterfront amusement park introduced several new features for the 2012 season, including a souped–up lazy river called River Adventure, with waterfalls, geysers, and grottoes; and Wipeout!, a six–lane head–first race–style waterslide that harks back to the original 12–lane fiberglass slide the entrepreneurial Morey brothers bought in 1968. Moreyspiers.com, adult full–day water park access $38; River Adventure all–ages, must be 42" tall to ride Wipeout. The Wild Vortex Wilderness at the Smokies Resort, Sevierville, Tenn. The daredevil in your family will likely consider the just–opened Wild Vortex waterslide to be seven seconds in heaven. That's how long it takes to travel the crazy, translucent loop–the–loop tube that starts with a 39–foot free–fall (through a trap door, no less) and carries the rider through a full 360–degree vertical spiral at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. You have to be a guest at the resort to use the waterpark, but given that room rates are comparable to a single adult admission to some of the larger theme parks—and you get free access to the resort's indoor and outdoor water parks for the full day after you check out—we think it's still a deal. Wildernessatthesmokies.com, room rates from $99, must be 48" tall to ride the Wild Vortex. The Fishpipe Grand Wailea Waldorf Astoria, Maui, Hawaii You might have seen its predecessor, the Zorb, in a recent Toyota commercial—or in any number of would–be–viral videos on YouTube. Now, the makers of that human–sized hamster ball have made a stationary, water–slicked version called the Fishpipe that spins up to three riders at a time at speeds of up to 11 feet per second. It's being snapped up by hotels and resorts across Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S., and most recently arrived at Maui's Grand Wailea. Grandwailea.com, rides $15, ages 5 and up. Legoland Water Park Legoland, Winter Haven, Fla. The latest addition from the beloved toy company debuted May 26, 2012—an expansion of its less–than–a–year–old amusement park in Central Florida, about an hour southeast of Orlando. The water park has all the basics you'd expect—a wave pool, a lazy river, five slides, and a play area for the littlest kids—and adds just $11 to the cost of a day pass to the rest of the park. Florida.legoland.com, adult full–day passes to Legoland Florida and Water Park from $77. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL 5 U.S. Theme Parks Under $50 8 Ways to Save Big on Summer Travel 25 Summer Travel Deals You Don't Want To Miss