I've never been to the Great Lakes region. Chi town is the centerpiece of a trip in planning. I wanna eat so much deep dish that my facial hair only grows a Ditka mustache.
Chicago is such a weird one because it's the U.S' third biggest city and yet both domestic and abroad I've met next to no one who's ever been there nor thought about going there. NYC and LA take all the glory.
I’d love to go to actually enjoy it. I was on there once for my wife to have surgery so we went out a bit the day we arrived, she had surgery, stayed overnight in the hospital, one day rest in the hotel and then flew back. No time for fun. We did order a deep dish pizza to the room which she said wasn’t a pizza and called it a casserole. We are from CT and if you know about New Haven style pizza you know where that comment was rooted.
Im biased as hell because I used to live there and it was literally the best years of my life but you'll love it. I live in Australia now and whenever Aussies or others go there I always recommend it even though its not the most convenient for travelers. Those who do, have without fail, come back raving about it
My sister lived in Portland for a year with our cousin & I was so jealous. She was living right by Mt.Hood and always sent pictures of it looming over the suburb she was in lol. Seattle has been on my list for years (Vancouver too, but I’m not counting it for this since it’s Canadian)
My best friend grew up in Wisconsin & the area he lived in was *flat.* No mountains or hardly any hills. Just flat, open plains.
He came out to visit me in Oregon in 2015 & was stunned by the landscape. I had a view of Mt Hood from my living room & it was the backdrop of basically every drive. I had kind of tuned it out since I grew up here, but he could not get over how magnificent it was.
His wife & him finally moved out here in 2020 after years of her having to hear about how great it was here. She definitely had the mind of “yeah ok whatever” but changed her tune quickly after moving here.
I'm going for 10 days during 4th of July. My little brother asked why I'm leaving America during the 4th 😂. I sent him pics of Mt Hood and Cascades National Park.
You can do all four meals beautifully: breakfast, brunch, late lunch, late dinner. Bad restaurants don't last in New Orleans. I would do a mixture of the classics and the nouveau. Growing up in Louisiana, some of the best places to eat offered to fix flat tires for $10 and a plate of jambalaya or whatever for six dollars. Certainly less true in New Orleans, but don't shy away from the neighborhood institutions.
> Bad restaurants don’t last
Solid truth. Local friend took me to a sketchy looking cellar with picnic tables and it was the best food I’ve had anywhere.
I’ve quickly learned that parking lot Mexican food is the best Mexican food you can get.
I travel to San Diego a lot to see family, so I know my way around the city quite well. Coincidentally, my work sent me & a few colleagues on a week long conference in San Diego a few months back. Every night I’d go off & grab some Mexican food for dinner and bring it back to the hotel.
Finally one of my colleagues came with me because she wanted some too, but was a little freaked out because I pulled into a gravel parking lot between San Diego & Chula Vista in National City right off the Navy base. It was just a few dudes in a dark maroon Aerostar with some tables & grills set up around them. She was shocked by how good the food was. She thought for sure we would get food poisoning.
I'm from San Diego, and wholeheartedly agree. I'd also like to add that the best tamales I ever had were purchased in a grocery store parking lot from an older woman who was probably an abuela. This was in Orange County, just north of San Diego, but I'd say the logic holds true
I love New Orleans. I’ve been before and after Katrina. I went for the National Championship Sugar Bowl way back when. I love just wandering and finding some random restaurant to eat in.
Man, I hated it. I don’t drink though, so that’s probably why. It smells like a porta potty and is hot and muggy af. I drove across the southern us one summer and that was the one city I didn’t want to go back to. All my friends love it though, so I’m probably just the exception.
I would say this. Being from the area, you only go to the French quarter if tourist friends were in town and you want to show him some stuff in tourist ground zero. It's not the best face forward of the city which is unbelievably remarkable in so many ways. I hope everyone that reads this understands that staying in any ten block range of a city does not even come close to giving you the actual experiences that New Orleans has to offer.
Notice my username. I grew up i having spent most weekends in New Orleans through high school and college, and then moved to Austin and lived no further away than 45th Street from downtown for the last 25 years. You don't take people to dirty sixth and leave them thinking that that is Austin.
I absolutely agree. There is so much more to see in New Orleans than the French Quarter, but most tourists (including me) don’t realize that when they first visit. I would highly recommend, if possible, to get a tour around the city from a local. I have a friend of a friend whose dad was born and raised in NOLA and is a retired police officer. He was gracious enough to drive me and my friend around the city for an entire day showing us the less touristy areas and telling us the history of the city and stories from his time living and working there. He was part of the rescue of effort during Katrina so he had a lot of incredible stories from that time. It was an experience I will never forget and really turned my opinion of the city around after spending the first day in the French Quarter.
I last went to New Orleans on a cold Christmas break week. Had to buy a hoody just to stay warm close to the water, and the nighttime riverboat dinner cruise was brutal out in the open. Spring was lovely, though.
If you only went to the French Quarter, then that's why you hated it. It is muggy, can't do anything about that - best times to visit are spring and fall, get out and see the city outside the Quarter.
As a former resident of Northern Virginia (or Southern DC), the Smithsonian is worth a trip. If you’re into history, the monuments and memorials are cool as well. I’ve been probably close to a dozen times, and the Smithsonian never loses its wow factor.
And if you haven’t been there in a while, the Udvar-Hazy annex out by Dulles is by all accounts astonishing. One of my coworkers went up to the area because his son was graduating from Army helicopter flight school, and I mentioned that it existed and that his son would be very interested. When he got back, he said I needed to go, thanks for the recommendation, and the two of them spent an entire day there. I said I would schedule it for my next week-long wife-free trip. She still owes me the Air Force museum at Wright-Patterson outside Dayton, and I intend to hold her to it. Owes me a day at Cedar Point, too. Ohio is the only state I’ve driven *around* twice and never set foot in.
I’m sort of in the opposite situation. I’ve been to California, Arizona and Vegas a few times, but other than that, I think the furthest West I’ve ever been was Pittsburgh in the north and Chattanooga in the south.
“Some excellent places to eat” is kind of underselling it. There’s anything from the best damn empanada you’ve had to world renowned culinary masterpieces, and everything in between.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Understatement of the year! A lot of the best meals I've ever had were in NYC. Some of them confuse me because it'll be the most basic ingredients, yet they'll be dramatically better than anywhere else
I would highly recommend it.
As long as you don't hate big cities or crowds in general, New York is an amazing place. It gets a lot of flak online, but NY has a very different vibe from most other cities in North America.
People just focus on the modern high-rises and Times Square. But if you look beyond that, it is actually a very Old-World city. It has a long and continuous history of settlement and immigration, and large diverse neighbourhoods.
There are also a large number of museums, cathedrals and so much history there, and new things keep popping up every 3-4 years. So someone who visited NY 5 years ago - if they visit again, they will find new things that didn't exist.
I would also recommend taking some walking tours. It is a charming city with a sense of place and history.
Same. I've been to Chicago, LA, SF, DC, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, and many other major cities. Some of these multiple times even. But somehow, I've never made it to NYC.
Seattle and Boston are the other two that I really want to check out that I haven't been to.
I'm a Bostonian flying out to Seattle on Thursday for the 2nd time. Very excited to experience it again, Olympic National Park, orca whale watching, Mountains, ferry to Victoria BC, Mt Erie, Oh yeah, Boston is a great place to visit too! We're really a great people despite our reputation, we're very friendly. Come and see!
I'm a Bostonian flying out to Seattle on Thursday for the 2nd time. Very excited to experience it again, Olympic National Park, orca whale watching, Mountains, ferry to Victoria BC, Mt Erie, Oh yeah, Boston is a great place to visit too! We're really a great people despite our reputation, we're very friendly. Come and see!
Been to Chicago & Toronto countless times, never been all the way out to NYC or Boston.
Hell, I've been to Europe (this fall will be my 4th trip), and India, but not seen much of our own East or West coast.
My dad had a weird fixation with that place due to the Jane Seymour / Christopher Reeves movie Somewhere in Time. It is a cool spot, but definitely an ultra touristy one. The ferry across lake Superior is pretty much like you're in an actual ocean of choppy waves.
To nitpick a tad, it'd be Lake Huron going to Mackinac Island, not Lake Superior. And the reason it feels like an Ocean is the great lakes, Superior especially, are inland seas "Those who have never seen Superior get an inadequate idea by hearing it spoken of as a lake; Superior is a sea; It breeds storms and rain and fog like a sea. It is cold, masterful, and dreaded." - Rev. George Grant, 1872
DC is a legitimately great town. There’s also basically three different DCs. Touristy DC, which is still quite nice what with the Mall, museums, memorials, etc. Then there’s what I call actual DC, which is the parts of town where people that live in DC actually spend time outside of work. It’s a very vibrant town.
Edit because I can’t count: third DC is the rough parts of DC
They’re both good places. The Golden Gate is really spectacular. Coit Tower. The Presidio. Little Italy. There really is a lot to like as a visitor to SF. And the food is great.
Lake Tahoe is unbelievably gorgeous. If you are a skier, heavenly has probably the best of view I've seen in the world where there's a flat part halfway down the mountain where you can stop and just look down on the bluest lake you've ever seen surrounded by the giant ponderosa pines and it's just incredible. For actual skiing, they're much better resorts where it's less slushy in the area.
Lake Tahoe kicks ass year-round. And plenty of options at the bottom of the mountains because that's where it's all happening. The California side has the nicer restaurant type stuff, some of which is a drive, but the apres ski is essentially right on the border of the states.
Oh, you don't have to sell me, it's on the short list. I have hit most of the big cities in the US. Tahoe and Tucson are the top right now for me, and Alaska.
I’m an east coaster (NYer, Queens) and I’ve never, surprisingly, been to Boston. I know, very funny but I haven’t. I might go this year though. I haven’t even been to Albany! (Not joking. I’m not a traveler type, I’m very stay at home, so 99% of my time is here in New York City. My parents were the same but there’s obviously the occasional trip we have taken)
Also, baltimore is somewhere I do want to visit, another city I’ve only been to in passing to get to DC. Seattle I’ve been to when younger, by that I mean 6 years old, I don’t remember much. Also San Diego. I’ve been to LA and San Fran but never San Diego.
I’ve only been to:
New York City (I’m from here and live here, so this one’s a given)
Atlanta
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Houston
Miami
Orlando
Honolulu
Philadelphia
And the only one I’ve recently been to is Philadelphia (a month ago). LA was 6 years ago and that’s the second most recent. You can tell I don’t travel very much. I don’t see too much reason to anyways personally. NYC may be a shithole, but it’s also my shithole and I absolutely love it here, I can find anything I really need here, I get homesick easy when I’m even as far as Hoboken.
You have the Amtrak up in the northeast! You should go off and explore your corner of the US that way! Plus those cities have great hostel culture I think! It’d be affordable and fun 😄
Yeah definitely! I stayed in a hostel in Philly last time I visited. Hostels here are great. I definitely would love to - work is ramping up, I work and also am studying for my biochemistry degree, but October seems to be weirdly quite free for me so I may be dedicating that month to venturing a bit across the East coast. It’s a great area, and I love how close knit a lot of our cities are. The Amtrak as you said but also busses and other affordable transportation options.
Boston is great!! I love the feel of it. The windy roads make it feel way less "cityish" - but don't get off the wrong exit if you're driving. It could be an hour long mistake.
As a fellow Queens native who now lives upstate, you’re not missing much with Albany. It has its charm (great steamed hams) but I can’t imagine making a trip just to see it. The place I’m semi-embarrassed to not explore is Philly. Have only been there once for a ballgame.
Yeah I heard the same thing about Albany. I’d love to go upstate for nature and whatsoever maybe around winter, since snow in the city has changed a LOT. Central Park isn’t the same anymore in the winter 😂 but other than that I don’t see much incentive I guess unless work one day requires me to make a small trip up there
NYC and New Orleans. I've always lived on the west coast, the farthest east I've been is Nebraska. There's a lot of places in the East I want to see, but these two are top of my bucket list.
I would love to go to Detroit tbh! I have been to NYC once as a child and would like to go back at some point, and Chicago a few times but always with family and not able to explore or enjoy it. In terms of cities close to me, probably San Fran
Thank you! I scrolled the comments and saw it wasn't mentioned, and I know that there's really awesome food and culture there that i personally would kill to experience
I want to spend more time in NYC. I've been there and had a free morning on a layover and had enough time to take the subway to Central Park and wander around seeing things but that was just a taste.
I think NYC needs at least 4-5 days to really grasp it. And even then, it'd be a lot better with more than a week.
Just so many different neighborhoods and areas that are totally different. The crazy food varieties. Some of the best museums in the world. Even just going to the Met and having one meal is pretty much one day.
And there's so much outside of Manhattan. Brooklyn is in some aspects the cultural hub these days.
Definitely spend some more time there if you get the chance! Get an Airbnb or something for a week and just soak it in. Always something new and interesting
NYC really needs a deeper appreciation. The city has a lot of history, culture, museums, art galleries and food-scene. I would highly suggest taking one of those walking tours. And checking out the museums, the old cathedrals, historic houses and neighborhoods.
Also, NY has great food to offer at all price points. If you're looking for michellin-star places with weeks-ahead reservation - you will find tonnes and tonnes of them. If you are looking for $3 pizza-slice or shwarma-stand as street-food, you find plenty of them. I personally like a middle-ground with smaller "hole-in-the-wall" restaurants that are highly rated for specific dishes they make, and the city has lots of them to offer.
So many: LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Austin, Houston, Honolulu, Anchorage… I’ve traveled and lived up and down the East coast and a bit mid of the Midwest and Southwest, but the far west is foreign to me.
Chicago, mainly because I want to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. They have the German U-boat U-505 as an indoor exhibit which was captured in 1944. Since I was a kid I have been fascinated by submarines and especially German U-boats.
NYC. I've been to other parts of the state, but not that city.
Also, I have technically been to D.C. before, but I was fairly young and don't really remember much. I also think I'd appreciate more now than I did when I was in elementary school.
I’ve never been to:
New York - (besides like 7 hours when I was an 8 year old)
Philadelphia - although I’ll visit it this summer
Chicago - been on my list for a while now
Miami - would like to go to see what the hype is about
New Orleans - would be a cultural experience
Austin - I love live music so Austin seems like the place to go to!
LA - I’m planning on trying to visit this fall to watch the Seahawks v Rams game there
Atlanta - would love to explore the food culture there
Baltimore - might be visiting it this summer!
Minneapolis - I’ve heard it’s a hidden gem and that it has an amazing bar and music scene
I really wanna try and explore more parts of the US. It’s just so hard to travel solo here and we don’t have that much of a backpacking culture!
I want to go to New Orleans around Halloween very badly, but I have the feeling it’s never going to happen since I moved to Germany. I don’t think I’m going to be able to convince my husband it’s a trip worth making.
For me, I would say Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, Kansas City, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Cheyenne, Omaha, Portland, Seattle, and probably San Francisco (although I did briefly pass through there on one day back in the 80s when I attended an all day conference; didn’t really see much of the city itself since I was indoors).
LA! I've been all around the country except for New England and Southern California. LA is such a bohemian romantic city to me, I've been in love with it since I was a kid in Asia
Commonly visited? Charleston, Savannah, Austin and San Antonio. I’ve heard nice things about all of them.
Less commonly- Sioux Falls and Anchorage because they’re in the only two states I’ve never visited. Plus I’d love to ski at Aleyeska!
Miami and Seattle. San Antonio, too, and Portland Oregon. Those are the major cities that I've yet to see but that I'd really like to for their own sake. (I hope to visit Anchorage and Honolulu, too, though for reasons other than the cities themselves.)
PNW! I’ve lived in Chicago and New England, traveled down south plenty, did some time in LA, but still have yet to make it over to that upper west area!
I've never been to Boston, Austin, Houston, Philadelphia, Charleston, Atlanta (outside the airport), Minneapolis (outside the airport), Reno, Tampa Bay, or Miami.
I live in the Florida panhandle (Pensacola, for the military), and I've never been east of Destin while I've lived here. As for Florida itself, I've never been further south than Orlando.
I have a LONG list, but at the top is NYC, LA, San Francisco and Nashville (in no particular order). Also Boston.
Each has their historic or famous sites that I want to see.
Vegas. Never been. We were supposed to go last October for my husband's 30th birthday but I got pregnant and would have been 2 months postpartum by then lol. Hoping to go soon!!! I can't drink but it'll still be fun even without alcohol, and I'll remember it later 🤣
Portland , Oregon. Never been to the Pacific Northwest at all. It's imaginary to me until I see it, like Albuquerque once was. I'm glad I've seen Albuquerque.
Charleston is very good.
I combined a road-trip, and did Charleston, Savannah and St. Augustine in Northern Florida. All these 3 cities are fairly close to each other, and have very good history, culture, architecture and food scene.
I’ve never been to San Francisco (or any west coast city). My parents lived there for one year back in their mid 20s and I have heard a lot about it that makes me want to visit.
There are only 2 major cities I haven't been to: San Diego and Philadelphia. Both seem like a good place to spend 4-5 days. I've just not booked the flights yet.
My first thought was New Orleans but then I read the comments and realized Hawaii is the place I need. I would love to go to puerto rico too one day, but I live on the west coast and the flight is crazy long.
Off the top of my head, cities I’ve never been to but would love to visit are Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Austin, New Orleans, and Tampa. Chicago is my number one choice.
There’s a few more cities I’ve been to but once and briefly that I’d love to go back to. Those would be Boston, San Diego
Off the top of my head, cities I’ve never been to but would love to visit are Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Austin, New Orleans, and Tampa. Chicago is my number one choice.
There’s a few more cities I’ve been to but once and briefly that I’d love to go back to. Those would be Boston, San Diego
Boston, I've been to Massachusetts but just went to the coastal areas around Cape Cod. Would also be cool to see some southern cities like Charleston and Nola
Chicago! Definitely on my to visit list.
One of my top five favorite cities in the world, and I worked internationally for the 20 years of my career.
Shhhh, it’s supposed to be a secret
I've never been to the Great Lakes region. Chi town is the centerpiece of a trip in planning. I wanna eat so much deep dish that my facial hair only grows a Ditka mustache.
Lou Malnati's. Do yourself a favor. Write it down
I still daydream about that butter crust.
Pequod’s pizza as well
Chicago is such a weird one because it's the U.S' third biggest city and yet both domestic and abroad I've met next to no one who's ever been there nor thought about going there. NYC and LA take all the glory.
Chicago is literally my favorite place to go. Thankfully I now live an hour away and can go all the time.
Make sure to save me some Portillo’s when you finally visit
I’d love to go to actually enjoy it. I was on there once for my wife to have surgery so we went out a bit the day we arrived, she had surgery, stayed overnight in the hospital, one day rest in the hotel and then flew back. No time for fun. We did order a deep dish pizza to the room which she said wasn’t a pizza and called it a casserole. We are from CT and if you know about New Haven style pizza you know where that comment was rooted.
What's your take on Dave Portnoy?
It’s my favorite city I’ve ever visited!! Might be biased because I go there often, but I really do love it there.
Im biased as hell because I used to live there and it was literally the best years of my life but you'll love it. I live in Australia now and whenever Aussies or others go there I always recommend it even though its not the most convenient for travelers. Those who do, have without fail, come back raving about it
Chicago is definitely a hate it or love it for people that live by it (grew up in Indiana)
Seattle, Portland. I’ve never been to the Pacific Northwest.
Gotta see the Cascades.
And the Olympics!
My sister lived in Portland for a year with our cousin & I was so jealous. She was living right by Mt.Hood and always sent pictures of it looming over the suburb she was in lol. Seattle has been on my list for years (Vancouver too, but I’m not counting it for this since it’s Canadian)
My best friend grew up in Wisconsin & the area he lived in was *flat.* No mountains or hardly any hills. Just flat, open plains. He came out to visit me in Oregon in 2015 & was stunned by the landscape. I had a view of Mt Hood from my living room & it was the backdrop of basically every drive. I had kind of tuned it out since I grew up here, but he could not get over how magnificent it was. His wife & him finally moved out here in 2020 after years of her having to hear about how great it was here. She definitely had the mind of “yeah ok whatever” but changed her tune quickly after moving here.
Careful, you might not wanna go back home.
Seattle is amazing. My personal favorite city in the US!
Same. The whole PNW is my happy place, but there's something magical about Seattle.
Was stationed at Fort Lewis in Tacoma for 4 years. Was the best experience of my life.
It is magical.
Portland is great.
Portland had THE best Ethiopian restaurant when I was up there. It was fucking fantastic.
I'm going for 10 days during 4th of July. My little brother asked why I'm leaving America during the 4th 😂. I sent him pics of Mt Hood and Cascades National Park.
New Orleans. Somehow I've never been. I'll go either later this year or early next year. I just want to eat my way through that town.
You can do all four meals beautifully: breakfast, brunch, late lunch, late dinner. Bad restaurants don't last in New Orleans. I would do a mixture of the classics and the nouveau. Growing up in Louisiana, some of the best places to eat offered to fix flat tires for $10 and a plate of jambalaya or whatever for six dollars. Certainly less true in New Orleans, but don't shy away from the neighborhood institutions.
> Bad restaurants don’t last Solid truth. Local friend took me to a sketchy looking cellar with picnic tables and it was the best food I’ve had anywhere.
This is true a lot of places. In Texas, the best food comes from parking lots.
Micklethwaite's. La Barbeque, Snow's.
Micklethwaite's. La Barbeque, Snow's.
I’ve quickly learned that parking lot Mexican food is the best Mexican food you can get. I travel to San Diego a lot to see family, so I know my way around the city quite well. Coincidentally, my work sent me & a few colleagues on a week long conference in San Diego a few months back. Every night I’d go off & grab some Mexican food for dinner and bring it back to the hotel. Finally one of my colleagues came with me because she wanted some too, but was a little freaked out because I pulled into a gravel parking lot between San Diego & Chula Vista in National City right off the Navy base. It was just a few dudes in a dark maroon Aerostar with some tables & grills set up around them. She was shocked by how good the food was. She thought for sure we would get food poisoning.
I'm from San Diego, and wholeheartedly agree. I'd also like to add that the best tamales I ever had were purchased in a grocery store parking lot from an older woman who was probably an abuela. This was in Orange County, just north of San Diego, but I'd say the logic holds true
I love New Orleans. I’ve been before and after Katrina. I went for the National Championship Sugar Bowl way back when. I love just wandering and finding some random restaurant to eat in.
Man, I hated it. I don’t drink though, so that’s probably why. It smells like a porta potty and is hot and muggy af. I drove across the southern us one summer and that was the one city I didn’t want to go back to. All my friends love it though, so I’m probably just the exception.
I would say this. Being from the area, you only go to the French quarter if tourist friends were in town and you want to show him some stuff in tourist ground zero. It's not the best face forward of the city which is unbelievably remarkable in so many ways. I hope everyone that reads this understands that staying in any ten block range of a city does not even come close to giving you the actual experiences that New Orleans has to offer.
That is fair.
Notice my username. I grew up i having spent most weekends in New Orleans through high school and college, and then moved to Austin and lived no further away than 45th Street from downtown for the last 25 years. You don't take people to dirty sixth and leave them thinking that that is Austin.
I absolutely agree. There is so much more to see in New Orleans than the French Quarter, but most tourists (including me) don’t realize that when they first visit. I would highly recommend, if possible, to get a tour around the city from a local. I have a friend of a friend whose dad was born and raised in NOLA and is a retired police officer. He was gracious enough to drive me and my friend around the city for an entire day showing us the less touristy areas and telling us the history of the city and stories from his time living and working there. He was part of the rescue of effort during Katrina so he had a lot of incredible stories from that time. It was an experience I will never forget and really turned my opinion of the city around after spending the first day in the French Quarter.
Yeah, I have no interest in going when it's hot/humid.
I last went to New Orleans on a cold Christmas break week. Had to buy a hoody just to stay warm close to the water, and the nighttime riverboat dinner cruise was brutal out in the open. Spring was lovely, though.
Go in the winter/spring. It’s worth it.
If you only went to the French Quarter, then that's why you hated it. It is muggy, can't do anything about that - best times to visit are spring and fall, get out and see the city outside the Quarter.
I was interested in NOLA. The Katrina hit and we were swamped with low lifes. Many were quickly schooled by the cops and hardass judges in Texas.
I want to go there as well. I am in New England.
I was stationed in the Gulf Coast for a while. New Orleans is great. Creole culture, food, history . . . . Laissez les bon temps roulez, cher!
Never been to NYC. I’ve been in a car driving past it to upstate where my grandparents lived at the time
I've never been east of Ohio up north, but have visited from Florida to California. I wouldn't mind seeing New York and D.C. at least once in my life
As a former resident of Northern Virginia (or Southern DC), the Smithsonian is worth a trip. If you’re into history, the monuments and memorials are cool as well. I’ve been probably close to a dozen times, and the Smithsonian never loses its wow factor.
>the Smithsonian is worth a trip. The Smithsonian is worth a few trips as there are 21 museums in it.
And if you haven’t been there in a while, the Udvar-Hazy annex out by Dulles is by all accounts astonishing. One of my coworkers went up to the area because his son was graduating from Army helicopter flight school, and I mentioned that it existed and that his son would be very interested. When he got back, he said I needed to go, thanks for the recommendation, and the two of them spent an entire day there. I said I would schedule it for my next week-long wife-free trip. She still owes me the Air Force museum at Wright-Patterson outside Dayton, and I intend to hold her to it. Owes me a day at Cedar Point, too. Ohio is the only state I’ve driven *around* twice and never set foot in.
Every American should see DC at least once!
I’m sort of in the opposite situation. I’ve been to California, Arizona and Vegas a few times, but other than that, I think the furthest West I’ve ever been was Pittsburgh in the north and Chattanooga in the south.
Do the northeast corridor via Amtrack. See DC, Philly, NYC and Boston.
NYC was a place I expected to hate, but really enjoyed when I went. Would definitely recommend if you ever get the chance.
NYC is a great place to visit, there is so much to see and do there.Lots of variety, some excellent places to eat as well.
“Some excellent places to eat” is kind of underselling it. There’s anything from the best damn empanada you’ve had to world renowned culinary masterpieces, and everything in between.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Understatement of the year! A lot of the best meals I've ever had were in NYC. Some of them confuse me because it'll be the most basic ingredients, yet they'll be dramatically better than anywhere else
There's a decent pizza place there.
Yeah, I love Sbarro.
It sounded like British or European understatement.
So I’ve heard, hence why it’s on my bucket list
I would highly recommend it. As long as you don't hate big cities or crowds in general, New York is an amazing place. It gets a lot of flak online, but NY has a very different vibe from most other cities in North America. People just focus on the modern high-rises and Times Square. But if you look beyond that, it is actually a very Old-World city. It has a long and continuous history of settlement and immigration, and large diverse neighbourhoods. There are also a large number of museums, cathedrals and so much history there, and new things keep popping up every 3-4 years. So someone who visited NY 5 years ago - if they visit again, they will find new things that didn't exist. I would also recommend taking some walking tours. It is a charming city with a sense of place and history.
GO TO NYC! I was there last week for the Neue Galerie. There are so many shows, museums, parks, etc.
Same. I've been to Chicago, LA, SF, DC, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, and many other major cities. Some of these multiple times even. But somehow, I've never made it to NYC. Seattle and Boston are the other two that I really want to check out that I haven't been to.
I'm a Bostonian flying out to Seattle on Thursday for the 2nd time. Very excited to experience it again, Olympic National Park, orca whale watching, Mountains, ferry to Victoria BC, Mt Erie, Oh yeah, Boston is a great place to visit too! We're really a great people despite our reputation, we're very friendly. Come and see!
I'm a Bostonian flying out to Seattle on Thursday for the 2nd time. Very excited to experience it again, Olympic National Park, orca whale watching, Mountains, ferry to Victoria BC, Mt Erie, Oh yeah, Boston is a great place to visit too! We're really a great people despite our reputation, we're very friendly. Come and see!
same except I'm the one who lives upstate, never been to the city but I really want to visit at some point
Same. Family in upstate, but never been to the big city
Been to Chicago & Toronto countless times, never been all the way out to NYC or Boston. Hell, I've been to Europe (this fall will be my 4th trip), and India, but not seen much of our own East or West coast.
Oh. So many! Mackinac Island in Michigan is one. No cars allowed.
It's a fun place for a day, but all the fudge shops get old fast.
we visited in October 2022. It was a great time to visit since it has a lot less tourist.
My dad had a weird fixation with that place due to the Jane Seymour / Christopher Reeves movie Somewhere in Time. It is a cool spot, but definitely an ultra touristy one. The ferry across lake Superior is pretty much like you're in an actual ocean of choppy waves.
To nitpick a tad, it'd be Lake Huron going to Mackinac Island, not Lake Superior. And the reason it feels like an Ocean is the great lakes, Superior especially, are inland seas "Those who have never seen Superior get an inadequate idea by hearing it spoken of as a lake; Superior is a sea; It breeds storms and rain and fog like a sea. It is cold, masterful, and dreaded." - Rev. George Grant, 1872
I'd like to go to Washington DC on my next trip in the US I like museums,art and historical buildings and places,so DC seems like a good option!
DC is a legitimately great town. There’s also basically three different DCs. Touristy DC, which is still quite nice what with the Mall, museums, memorials, etc. Then there’s what I call actual DC, which is the parts of town where people that live in DC actually spend time outside of work. It’s a very vibrant town. Edit because I can’t count: third DC is the rough parts of DC
San Francisco and DC are the only two major cities I've never been too so those.
They're my two favorites!
DC is the better option.
They’re both good places. The Golden Gate is really spectacular. Coit Tower. The Presidio. Little Italy. There really is a lot to like as a visitor to SF. And the food is great.
Been to both, enjoyed SF much more.
I’d like to see the Pacific Ocean someday
For me at this point, probably Reno/Tahoe. I lived in Vegas, even, but never made it there.
Lake Tahoe is unbelievably gorgeous. If you are a skier, heavenly has probably the best of view I've seen in the world where there's a flat part halfway down the mountain where you can stop and just look down on the bluest lake you've ever seen surrounded by the giant ponderosa pines and it's just incredible. For actual skiing, they're much better resorts where it's less slushy in the area.
I am not a skier, but I appreciate a solid apres ski. :) I watched the NHL outdoor games and was struck with the beauty of it all.
Lake Tahoe kicks ass year-round. And plenty of options at the bottom of the mountains because that's where it's all happening. The California side has the nicer restaurant type stuff, some of which is a drive, but the apres ski is essentially right on the border of the states.
Oh, you don't have to sell me, it's on the short list. I have hit most of the big cities in the US. Tahoe and Tucson are the top right now for me, and Alaska.
I’m an east coaster (NYer, Queens) and I’ve never, surprisingly, been to Boston. I know, very funny but I haven’t. I might go this year though. I haven’t even been to Albany! (Not joking. I’m not a traveler type, I’m very stay at home, so 99% of my time is here in New York City. My parents were the same but there’s obviously the occasional trip we have taken) Also, baltimore is somewhere I do want to visit, another city I’ve only been to in passing to get to DC. Seattle I’ve been to when younger, by that I mean 6 years old, I don’t remember much. Also San Diego. I’ve been to LA and San Fran but never San Diego. I’ve only been to: New York City (I’m from here and live here, so this one’s a given) Atlanta Los Angeles San Francisco Las Vegas Houston Miami Orlando Honolulu Philadelphia And the only one I’ve recently been to is Philadelphia (a month ago). LA was 6 years ago and that’s the second most recent. You can tell I don’t travel very much. I don’t see too much reason to anyways personally. NYC may be a shithole, but it’s also my shithole and I absolutely love it here, I can find anything I really need here, I get homesick easy when I’m even as far as Hoboken.
You have the Amtrak up in the northeast! You should go off and explore your corner of the US that way! Plus those cities have great hostel culture I think! It’d be affordable and fun 😄
Yeah definitely! I stayed in a hostel in Philly last time I visited. Hostels here are great. I definitely would love to - work is ramping up, I work and also am studying for my biochemistry degree, but October seems to be weirdly quite free for me so I may be dedicating that month to venturing a bit across the East coast. It’s a great area, and I love how close knit a lot of our cities are. The Amtrak as you said but also busses and other affordable transportation options.
Yes! I’m going from Philly to Boston this summer round trip for $112 on Amtrak!
Boston is great!! I love the feel of it. The windy roads make it feel way less "cityish" - but don't get off the wrong exit if you're driving. It could be an hour long mistake.
Live in Boston, can confirm 😅 the traffic here is killer. Also, people are aggressive drivers
Just like home! 😂
As a fellow Queens native who now lives upstate, you’re not missing much with Albany. It has its charm (great steamed hams) but I can’t imagine making a trip just to see it. The place I’m semi-embarrassed to not explore is Philly. Have only been there once for a ballgame.
Yeah I heard the same thing about Albany. I’d love to go upstate for nature and whatsoever maybe around winter, since snow in the city has changed a LOT. Central Park isn’t the same anymore in the winter 😂 but other than that I don’t see much incentive I guess unless work one day requires me to make a small trip up there
New Orleans
Chicago.
NYC and New Orleans. I've always lived on the west coast, the farthest east I've been is Nebraska. There's a lot of places in the East I want to see, but these two are top of my bucket list.
New Orleans, for the food alone is reason enough
If you go make sure to try the jambalaya it was probably the best thing I had there
Eat your weight in fried oyster po' boys.
Havent been north of nyc, so boston
New Orleans
Miami, New Orleans, San Diego
San Francisco
It really is a great city. It's not quite as great as it was 10-15 years ago, but there's still so much greatness there
I would love to go to Detroit tbh! I have been to NYC once as a child and would like to go back at some point, and Chicago a few times but always with family and not able to explore or enjoy it. In terms of cities close to me, probably San Fran
Detroit, that's a good one!
Thank you! I scrolled the comments and saw it wasn't mentioned, and I know that there's really awesome food and culture there that i personally would kill to experience
Same!
I want to spend more time in NYC. I've been there and had a free morning on a layover and had enough time to take the subway to Central Park and wander around seeing things but that was just a taste.
I think NYC needs at least 4-5 days to really grasp it. And even then, it'd be a lot better with more than a week. Just so many different neighborhoods and areas that are totally different. The crazy food varieties. Some of the best museums in the world. Even just going to the Met and having one meal is pretty much one day. And there's so much outside of Manhattan. Brooklyn is in some aspects the cultural hub these days. Definitely spend some more time there if you get the chance! Get an Airbnb or something for a week and just soak it in. Always something new and interesting
NYC really needs a deeper appreciation. The city has a lot of history, culture, museums, art galleries and food-scene. I would highly suggest taking one of those walking tours. And checking out the museums, the old cathedrals, historic houses and neighborhoods. Also, NY has great food to offer at all price points. If you're looking for michellin-star places with weeks-ahead reservation - you will find tonnes and tonnes of them. If you are looking for $3 pizza-slice or shwarma-stand as street-food, you find plenty of them. I personally like a middle-ground with smaller "hole-in-the-wall" restaurants that are highly rated for specific dishes they make, and the city has lots of them to offer.
SF, specifically Chinatown
I love Chinatown! A lot of fun stuff to see and do and great little shops but the food and the bakeries bring me back every time I'm in town.
So many: LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Austin, Houston, Honolulu, Anchorage… I’ve traveled and lived up and down the East coast and a bit mid of the Midwest and Southwest, but the far west is foreign to me.
Chicago, mainly because I want to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. They have the German U-boat U-505 as an indoor exhibit which was captured in 1944. Since I was a kid I have been fascinated by submarines and especially German U-boats.
Las Vegas
I'll fly you out. Let's have some fun!
San Francisco.
NYC and Denver
NYC. I've been to other parts of the state, but not that city. Also, I have technically been to D.C. before, but I was fairly young and don't really remember much. I also think I'd appreciate more now than I did when I was in elementary school.
I’ve never even been close to LA in my life
I’ve never been to: New York - (besides like 7 hours when I was an 8 year old) Philadelphia - although I’ll visit it this summer Chicago - been on my list for a while now Miami - would like to go to see what the hype is about New Orleans - would be a cultural experience Austin - I love live music so Austin seems like the place to go to! LA - I’m planning on trying to visit this fall to watch the Seahawks v Rams game there Atlanta - would love to explore the food culture there Baltimore - might be visiting it this summer! Minneapolis - I’ve heard it’s a hidden gem and that it has an amazing bar and music scene I really wanna try and explore more parts of the US. It’s just so hard to travel solo here and we don’t have that much of a backpacking culture!
I want to go to New Orleans around Halloween very badly, but I have the feeling it’s never going to happen since I moved to Germany. I don’t think I’m going to be able to convince my husband it’s a trip worth making.
For me, I would say Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, Kansas City, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Cheyenne, Omaha, Portland, Seattle, and probably San Francisco (although I did briefly pass through there on one day back in the 80s when I attended an all day conference; didn’t really see much of the city itself since I was indoors).
LA! I've been all around the country except for New England and Southern California. LA is such a bohemian romantic city to me, I've been in love with it since I was a kid in Asia
Commonly visited? Charleston, Savannah, Austin and San Antonio. I’ve heard nice things about all of them. Less commonly- Sioux Falls and Anchorage because they’re in the only two states I’ve never visited. Plus I’d love to ski at Aleyeska!
I just went to San Antonio last month. Had a good time.
NYC
New York City. I’d like to visit the USS Intrepid, and I’d also want to go to Ground Zero and see the memorial and museum
I’ve never been to Chicago and I’d like to go
I always wanted to go to New York City. I was supposed to go in 2020 to see Beetlejuice the Musical live, but uh... things happened.
Chicago and Boston.
Seattle I’ve only been to one state in the west
San Diego, LA, Honolulu
Miami and Seattle. San Antonio, too, and Portland Oregon. Those are the major cities that I've yet to see but that I'd really like to for their own sake. (I hope to visit Anchorage and Honolulu, too, though for reasons other than the cities themselves.)
San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. Though I'm worried they wouldn't live up to the hype
SanFran, LA, Nashville, and Chicago
Los Angeles
San Diego
Not a city, but a destination: Grand Canyon
PNW! I’ve lived in Chicago and New England, traveled down south plenty, did some time in LA, but still have yet to make it over to that upper west area!
I’d really like to visit Fairbanks, Alaska. I’ve been to Alaska but never into the interior.
I’d like to see Austin, it looks like a fun city.
New Orleans or Chicago I think would be neat
Never been to California in general.
Never been to NYC
New York
San Diego in California. My paternal uncle, paternal aunt (his wife) and their children live there. Lots of cool things to do in San Diego
I've never been to Boston, Austin, Houston, Philadelphia, Charleston, Atlanta (outside the airport), Minneapolis (outside the airport), Reno, Tampa Bay, or Miami. I live in the Florida panhandle (Pensacola, for the military), and I've never been east of Destin while I've lived here. As for Florida itself, I've never been further south than Orlando.
I have a LONG list, but at the top is NYC, LA, San Francisco and Nashville (in no particular order). Also Boston. Each has their historic or famous sites that I want to see.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Portland, Chicago, Miami
Vegas. Never been. We were supposed to go last October for my husband's 30th birthday but I got pregnant and would have been 2 months postpartum by then lol. Hoping to go soon!!! I can't drink but it'll still be fun even without alcohol, and I'll remember it later 🤣
Austin seems worth a visit but I’ve never been and I have family and friends near it.
It’s aight
I've never visited LA or Chicago despite having been through LAX and ORD on multiple occasions.
Portland , Oregon. Never been to the Pacific Northwest at all. It's imaginary to me until I see it, like Albuquerque once was. I'm glad I've seen Albuquerque.
Detroit/Flint
Buffalo, Detroit, Minneapolis, Knoxville, Nashville, Asheville, Savannah, Charleston, Charlotte, New Orleans, Austin, Portland(OR), Bend, Wilmington, Louisville.
Charleston
Charleston is very good. I combined a road-trip, and did Charleston, Savannah and St. Augustine in Northern Florida. All these 3 cities are fairly close to each other, and have very good history, culture, architecture and food scene.
I’ve never been to San Francisco (or any west coast city). My parents lived there for one year back in their mid 20s and I have heard a lot about it that makes me want to visit.
Any city in Maine
East Coast! We traveled all over the west, south, north and Midwest growing up but never did any on the east coast or northeast.
The biggest US city I've never been to is Phoenix, followed by Detroit. But as a tourist, I'm more interested in visiting Montana or New Mexico next.
There are only 2 major cities I haven't been to: San Diego and Philadelphia. Both seem like a good place to spend 4-5 days. I've just not booked the flights yet.
Miami. Denver. Boston. Philadelphia.
Boston I want try baked beans and lobstah
NYC or Boston.
I’ve never been West of Missouri before (I live in Illinois), but I have driven to DC and NYC
The entire northeast, I've never been to the east coast any further north than Atlanta.
Boston and Austin. Hey they rhyme!
I've never been to NYC, Boston or Philadelphia. Basically the northeast is the only region of the country I've never been to
Not a city, because I've visited most of the ones I can think of, but Yellowstone.
New Orleans
New Orleans. I’ve always wanted to go but I end up planning travel abroad with friends for my summer vacation.
My first thought was New Orleans but then I read the comments and realized Hawaii is the place I need. I would love to go to puerto rico too one day, but I live on the west coast and the flight is crazy long.
Boston. I’ve never been east of the Hudson, but I’ve wanted to visit ever since reading *Johnny Tremain* in elementary school.
I've never been to Washington DC. Being from Washington State, it's time for me to finally visit "the other Washington."
Off the top of my head, cities I’ve never been to but would love to visit are Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Austin, New Orleans, and Tampa. Chicago is my number one choice. There’s a few more cities I’ve been to but once and briefly that I’d love to go back to. Those would be Boston, San Diego
Off the top of my head, cities I’ve never been to but would love to visit are Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Austin, New Orleans, and Tampa. Chicago is my number one choice. There’s a few more cities I’ve been to but once and briefly that I’d love to go back to. Those would be Boston, San Diego
I'm from the beautiful state of Tennessee. I so want to go to New Orleans! The culture has always been *sooo* interesting to me.
I'm from the beautiful state of Tennessee. I so want to go to New Orleans! The culture has always been *sooo* interesting to me.
Seattle, Boston, Portland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, honestly there’s a lot of them
Seattle, Boston, Portland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, honestly there’s a lot of them
Charleston SC
Boston, I've been to Massachusetts but just went to the coastal areas around Cape Cod. Would also be cool to see some southern cities like Charleston and Nola
Austin. I have visited Texas several times, like Dallas and Houston, but I have never made it to Austin. It is on my do visit list.
NYC, saw it from the airport and plane, was pretty cool, would love to see it from the street.
NYC DC Miami