Halloween is a great holiday for families: little kids have lots of fun, and grownups get to act like kids. Families can also take the opportunity to have a fall weekend getaway in the country; many inns and B and B's have Halloween-themed weekends during October. Below are suggestions, mainly in the Northeast US.
Halloween Packages
Omni Mount Washington Resort, NH
With a location on nearly 800,000 acres of White Mountain National Forest, Mount Washington Resort is another great place for fall foliage, plus outdoors activities such as biking and rock-climbing. In October, Mount Washington Resort invites guests to spend "Halloween in the Wicked Woods of the North." Halloween weekend has witches’ cauldrons, campfire with spooky tales, Kids’ Halloween Party, Adult Halloween Party, kids' club, and more.
Great Wolf Lodges: Howl-O-Ween
These family-friendly lodges with indoor water parks -- in the Poconos, Kansas City, Williamsburg, and more-- have a month-long Howl-O-Ween season with special events and packages.
Country Inns
Many inns and B&B's welcome families, and lay on special events for Halloween itself and perhaps also for preceding weekend(s): a great opportunity for a country getaway with seasonal fun and great breakfasts. BedandBreakfast.comlists hundreds of country inns and B&B's, and has a special section for Halloween Happenings. (Click "Search", then "Special Packages", then "Halloween Happenings".) For example, at Farm by the River B&B, North Conway, NH, a Halloween Ghost & Goblins package includes a wagon ride and a Ghost and Goblins tour of nine inns (with a treat at each). Location is in NH's scenic White Mountains. This property has stables, so horseback riding and hayrides are special features.
And at Lathrop House B&B, Springfield MA, on Halloween night, kids can help carve a pumpkin and then trick-or-treat in the historic neighborhood; or hand out candies to the the goblins and princesses who drop by. Also, this B&B is just 10 minutes from Six Flags New England, where Frightfest has trick-or-treating for little kids in daytime, and scary fun at night.
Green Mountain Inn, Stowe, VT
Ghoulish Getaway package has two nights lodging, country breakfast, welcome box of hand-dipped Halloween chocolates, "choose your own" pumpkin from a nearby farm, and a guided evening lantern tour of historic Stowe village.
Poconos, PA
The Poconos Mountains are a popular vacation zone, with spectacular foliage in fall. October also brings Halloween fun, such as The Great Pocono Pumpkin Festival. (October also brings a Harvest Festival, Arts & Crafts Festival at Jack Frost Mountain, and lots more.) Several hotels have packages: look for Halloween Party Weekend at The Resort at Split Rock Resort, and Halloween Weekends at thousand-acre Woodloch Pines.
