What's a Good Western US City to Visit? (I.e. Phoenix vs. LA, or other?)

for me, i always prefer international vacations. if things go wrong (let's say a minor illness or injury), we can get along fine. i'd be terrified if i had kids with me - the risk is far too great.

there's always time to go to US destinations when you're older...

 

Denver? Colorado Springs?

 

Palm Springs/Desert, Vegas, Lake Tahoe to name a few.

 

LA is beautiful, anyone who tells you otherwise either hasn't been there or bases everything they know off of what they see and hear in music and movies.

otherwise, they visited the wrong places in town. you could have a whole day near the beaches in and around Venice/Santa Monica, go hiking, hell you could go skiing or snowboarding about an hours drive away.

like someone else said, you could make a Santa Barbara or San Diego mission, Vegas or San Fran even. it's all centrally located from LA.

 

Haven't been, but I've heard Portland is beautiful.

 

Phoenix is great for golf, hiking, and mountain biking. Plus Sedona is a short drive and has a nice native American art and antique shop vibe. Plus beautiful nature including red rock mesas and cool rivers. Plus cactus league preseason baseball.

Los Angeles is more touristy. Also look at Santa Fe and Taos New Mexico.

 

Fly into Seattle and drive to Vancouver as someone else mentioned.

 

The dream of the 90's is alive in Portland.

 

Grunch

Portland is a great, walkable, friendly city.

 

I second Vancouver. Fly to Seattle and take the Amtrak north to Vancouver. BC is full of stuff to do. Awesome place.

 

I work in Santa Fe right near the plaza, definitely worth a few days if you like casinos, art, museums, great food, native american culture, beautiful churches/cathedrals etc. Also unique shopping for the missus anything from cartier pens, rolexes, and furs to million dollar paintings and local indian jewelry and pottery.

Not a great time right now IMO because it's just too cold. Santa Fe is something like 7000 ft above sea level and there is plenty of snow and ice on the ground. In the spring and summer it's great.

If you happen to ever make the trip make sure and see Albuquerque as well and take the Railrunner between the cities for mesa and pueblo views.

 

Portland is a really cool town. Great downtown, Powell's Books, lots of shopping, great zoo, The Rose Garden, OMNI Science Museum. Lots of good day trips as well... Columbia River Gorge/Multnomah Falls, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Astoria, Tillamook, the coast, etc.

Santa Fe is a good base to explore northern NM... Bandelier/Los Alamos, Taos, Chimayo, pueblos, Pecos NHP, Valles Caldera, Jemez Springs, Petroglyph, Ghost Ranch, etc.

My two favorite smaller towns in the West are Boise and Grand Junction, but they are not quite destination points unless you want to do nature the entire trip.

 

I loved Portland........and the wine country there (which I imagine Napa was like long ago before it turned into wine disneyland).

Next time I go to Portland, I think I'm only going to eat at food carts/trucks

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...68055&spn=0.084163,0.145912&z=12&source=embed

 

Wrong. You can do just about everything in beautiful Scottsdale. It's a great time of year to go there as well.

 

OP, I'd also recommend Sedona Arizona. Fly into Phoenix, spend a few days in a Scottsdale resort and then drive to Sedona for a few days.

 

Another vote for Seattle and driving to Vancouver

 

Sf and the bay area was nice. Cali. That's where Its at. Screw Florida.

 

I'm on board with flying to the Great Northwest and visiting Portland, Seattle, Vancouver and especially Vancouver Island/Victoria.


But...I'd also place a close second at flying to Reno (casino action if that's your thing), drive to Lake Tahoe and then drive over to Yosemite. Did this about ten years ago with my parents (dad was working in Reno at the time) and it is one of my favorite vacations. Northern California/Yosemite-area is absolutely stunning.

Third, I would spend an entire day on Venice beach...there will be so many levels of ridiculousness on display. Very educational and pretty fun. As much as everyone rags on LA, there's actually quite a bit of unique and fun stuff to do. The family and I picked up season passes to Knott's Berry Farm...which, IMO, is much more fun and way less crowded than Disneyland.

 

Seconded. Did this last March, it was awesome. Spring training in Phoenix/Tempe, stayed in Sedona a few days, and took a day trip up to the Grand Canyon.