Best Winter Destinations For RVers
We love to chase good weather in our RV. Living full time on the road gives us that opportunity and we take full advantage! Our main two winter spots are Florida and Southern California. I’m going to dive into the reasons why and tell you a little more about each destination and why we love it.
RVing in Florida During The Winter
It’s no secret that Florida is a snowbird’s paradise. People have been flocking to Florida each winter forever. It’s easy to understand why, as the warm air temps AND water temps are a welcome contrast to the bone chilling temperatures much of the rest of the country experiences in the winter months. The further south you go into the state, the warmer the temperatures stay, year round.
Orlando is a huge hot spot for families in particular.
Many families enjoy visiting Disney and staying in the Orlando area. One of the busiest and most popular parks for families is Orlando RV Resort, known as TTO. (Thousand Trails Orlando). Another favorite is The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. This park is pretty pricy, but has a ton of amenities and offers transportation to the Disney parks.
We spent time in each of those parks, mostly in TTO. We just visited friends staying at Fort Wilderness for the day. TTO is a huge park, and there are no shortage of families there. Afternoon swims include tons of kids, which our kids loved. SO many families are here at any given time during the winter that it can be overwhelming at times! It’s definitely a hub for full time RV families, so if you’re looking to make connections, this is the place to be!
The ocean waters in south Florida stay warm enough to swim in during the winter months, so if you love ocean activities, destinations such as Sarasota, Naples, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and even the keys are the perfect places for you!
Peace River RV and Camping Resort is one of our favorite Florida parks.
especially if you can snag a river site! It’s about 45 minutes inland from Siesta Key, which is one of our favorite beaches.
We are Thousand Trails members, and booking Florida in winter can be tricky, so if you’re a TT member, check out my guide to booking Florida TT and Encore parks in winter .
Crystal River, Florida is a hub for manatees.
People come to snorkel here every winter and have the chance to swim side by side with these magnificent creatures! Manatees migrate inland to find warmth in Florida’s stunningly beautiful and warm springs each winter. Crystal Isles RV Resort is where we stayed there and really liked that park a lot!
RVing in Southern California in the Winter
Aaron was born and raised in SoCal, so that fact along with the mild winter weather makes it a pretty great spot for us to spend winter.
One of the warmest winter locations in Southern California is Palm Springs. Palm Springs is a desert resort city in the Coachella Valley with lots of activities and events. While a large part of the population is retirees, more and more families are choosing to winter in the area now. Palm Springs RV Resort is one of our favorite RV parks that we visit anytime we’re in the area. You can read more about that stay HERE.
We love San Diego, and many say it boasts the best weather in the US, year round! There are so many things to see in do in that area. You can read about all of our favorite spots in San Diego HERE.
The Los Angeles area is full of fun things to do, and it’s not just all city or beach fun… read about some epic hiking and climbing, and everything we did there HERE.
Joshua Tree National Park is one of our favorites, but because of the elevation, the temperature can drop drastically from one part of the park to another. We had quite the adventure with unexpected SNOW there! Read about that HERE.
The one downside to several of the Thousand Trails parks in SoCal is bad cell signal. We work on the road and reliable signal is imperative. We try and stay in TT parks whenever possible, as we’re members and we stay for free in their parks. Unfortunately, we’ll just have to find alternative parks to stay in next time we visit San Diego and Los Angeles.
Both Florida and Southern California are nice places to spend winter. You’ll find lots of RVers in each location, who are all trying to escape the cold!
Where do you like to spend winter?
Let us know in the comments!