FAMILY VILLA RENTALS

Chances are, if you've started reproducing, your friends have, too. Join forces to rent a villa, and what can initially seem like a splurge starts to sound cost-effective. Consider that you'll split the rental and grocery costs, cook some of your own meals, and—huge added bonus—share babysitting duties, too. To track down affordable vacation rentals, try sites like Zonder.com (U.S. only) and HomeAway.com (worldwide); for specific destinations, check out Condé Nast Traveler's villa tips and agency recommendations. Urbano Rentals offers a selection of very cool and affordable properties around Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, a region that checks all the boxes for a family vacation, with beaches, snorkeling, Mayan pyramids (culture for you, a giant jungle gym for kids), and those all-important affordable nonstop flights. Hacienda Sac Chich is a sprawling property with a pool on the edge of a Mayan village, a half hour from Mérida, in the center of the peninsula. From $500 a night in high season ($400 low season), it's spacious enough to accommodate a few families without people getting under each other's feet, with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a dining table that seats 12. In the early evenings, the kids can run free in the tropical garden while the grown-ups kick back with a margarita on the vine-covered portico and reminisce about late nights and sleeping past 7 a.m.

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