Instead, you’ll receive a healthy serving of red and green chile sauce drizzled over your steaming plate of enchiladas.

Like your lunch, New Mexico’s capital city is a spicy blend of diverse cultures and histories – only this city’s also stuffed with a robust appreciation of art and peppered with a love for outdoor adventure.

The oldest capital in the US, Santa Fe’s streets are lined with richly colored adobe buildings, historic sites (like the US’s oldest church), hundreds of art galleries (Santa Fe was even home to Georgia O’Keefe), and contemporary restaurants.

Visiting now, during slow season, is the perfect way to experience Santa Fe like a local (and without the crowds!). With Ski resorts only a few miles away and Indian Pueblos celebrating their Winter Feast Days and Dances, you’ll have no shortage of activities to immerse yourself in the New Mexican experience.

Hotel Santa Fe & Spa in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico

And after a hard day on the slopes or browsing the galleries, relax with a cup of hot chocolate at Hotel Santa Fe & Spa – a downtown location (only blocks from the historic Santa Fe Plaza and the Georgia O’Keefe Museum) currently offering a 4-night package (including round-trip fares to/from Dallas) for only $441 per person.

Santa Fe is that rare town that can offer it all – intriguing cultures, rich history, contemporary cuisine, ski resorts, spas, a stunning natural landscape. 5 days may not be enough to get it all in, but it sure would make for a delightfully delicious sampling.

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Read More {Santa Fe’s Official Travel Site}

Read More {A Rough Guide to Santa Fe}

You see, LA may be a city that attract hordes of tourists like moths to a glitzy, neon flame – but San Fran is a destination that has way more to offer than first meets the eye.

Yes, there are the icons you’d expect – the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the cable cars, and the stunning views of the bay – but there’s also the San Francisco you may not know: a foodie’s delight with the nation’s largest Chinatown (a fabulously priced dim sum dinner at Wing Lee Bakery is a must), it offers not just a great cultural scene but also access to California’s stunning wine country.

Stay close to Union Square at the three-star King George Hotel for only $69 a night (usually $150) or at the newly opened (and très chic) Crescent San Francisco, which for a limited time is only $99 a night. Then branch out – see a play (how ’bout Wicked for only 50 bucks?), check out the Zoo, go on a $56 Wine Tour of Napa Valley, or just walk around San Fran’s hilly, artsy neighborhoods.

The off-peak season makes it easier than ever to experience this incredible American city on a budget. And, thankfully, it’s easier than ever to get there: Jet Blue is offering $99 tickets (each way) from NYC to San Francisco as part of its Winter Sale.  Yup, now’s just about the perfect time to escape the deep freeze of the East and experience everything this city by the bay has to offer.

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Well, now’s your chance! Royal Caribbean International is offering an amazing deal, via Expedia, that will take you from Oslo, Norway, to Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Zeebrugge, Belgium, and back again. All for only $479 – thats $96 a night for a room with an oceanview.

And if you’re thinking that there’s no way you’re getting into that icy North Sea, only to freeze to death by cruise induced frostbite, think again. The cruise takes off in May – just in time for the Norwegian snow to have melted, and for you to sail right into the warmer climes of the Netherlands and Belgium.

And while you only have 5 days to experience three different European cultures – each town is small enough for you to get a great taste in one action-packed day.

Starting off and ending in Oslo should give you enough time to check out at least one of the city’s amazing museums (like the Viking Ship Museum, pictured above) and experience its vibrant night life. But if you really want to experience some genuine Norwegian past times, then get out of the city center – Oslo is the rare city that boasts “cycling, hiking, ice-skating, kayaking, sailing and skiing all within its city limits and a short train ride away.”

Then Amsterdam – well, that infamously relaxed and groovy city needs no introduction. But, you may not know that May is actually the best time to experience this unique city – the tulips are out, the sun is shining, spirits are high, and you can fully enjoy this city of canals at its finest.

View from hotel Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce in Bruges

As for Zeebrugge in Belgium, the port city is only 10 miles away from Bruges – a true Medieval gem (think Hogsmead transplanted to Belgium) that boasts incredible architecture, a rich history, and some pretty trendy and cool shops to boot. A day is all you’ll need to cover (and fall in love with) this picturesque University town.

And when you’re not on terra firma? You’re on a tricked-out cruise ship for goodness sake! Climb the rock wall, swim in the pools, hit a spa – or a bar for that matter! These are five days that will float away from you far too quickly.

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Read More {Royal Caribbean International}

Read More {Lonely Planet}

Teresita’s Bed &Breakfast, editor’s pick at Sherman’s Travel, one of Trip Advisor’s Top 5 B&Bs, and a foodie’s dream vacation spot, offers the privacy of home-style lodging and the unbeatable hospitality of Argentina  – for only $55 a night. Added bonus: as the weather cools down here, it’s heating up in the Southern hemisphere. Located 30 minutes from downtown Buenos Aires, Teresita’s is close enough to all the amenities of the city to be convenient, but far enough away to provide the peace and quiet of a typical Argentinean town.

And what can you do during your five-day stay with all your extra cash? Well, by staying at the B&B you get access to cooking classes ($45 per person), where you can witness Teresita herself whip up her very own secret recipe for the perfect empanadas or Chimichurri sauce. For the more ambitious, you can check out Teresita’s Culinary Tour($150 per person), where you’ll get the low-down of the best food and wine that Buenos Aires has to offer.

And when you’re in desperate need of a way to work off those hearty home-cooked meals? They’ll also help you book tango lessons ($25/hour).

You’ll still have to head to your favorite travel search engine for the best deals on flights to get there, but as far as an affordable place to stay, you’re covered. Delicious food, fun activities in the country responsible for dulce de leche (thanks for that, Argentina) – not to mention shopping and sight-seeing in downtown Buenos Aires to boot? This goes on our “to travel” list now.

CheapCaribbean.com is currently offering many 4-night vacation packages on this Caribbean island – and most are under $500.  For a trendier, romantic hotel, let us suggest San Juan Water & Beach Club Hotel.

Right on the beach and minutes away from restaurants, shopping, museums and nightlife, you couldn’t get a better home base to explore the natural beauty and upbeat lifestyle of Puerto Rico.

The cold weather’s been slow in coming this winter, but if you plot your escape to warmer destinations now, by the time it arrives you can look forward to trading snow for sand.
Read More {Cheap Caribbean}

Read More {Lonely Planet Guide to Puerto Rico}