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I’ll take out Boston once San Francisco or New Orleans gets their crap together. I was in Los Angeles a few days ago and even spent a day of touristing at the Getty Center, which was fabulous. But the city still does absolutely nothing for me other than seem like a wasted opportunity.
I included Denver not for the city itself but surrounding nearby attractions within a 2 hour drive like Rocky Mountain National Park, Pikes Peak, Vail, and the various attractions around Colorado Springs.
Nashville is a good tourist destination but for a niche market. Its personally on my bucket list because country is by far my favorite kind of music and I definitley want to visit the Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Music Row and the Opryland Resort. However people who are not into country music will probably not be interested in visiting Nashville.
Las Vegas is not as special as it once was, as there are now casino resorts and legalized gambling in many states, but the scale and grandeur of Vegas is still there. There is still a difference between being at Golden Nugget in Biloxi, Mississippi or Harrah's Atlantic City, as nice as they are, vs being on the Las Vegas Strip.
Even though Las Vegas has long sold its soul, you can still find a lot of what makes Vegas special by visiting well off-strip (even Downtown is starting to lose the coolness it once provided), similar to visiting the outer boroughs in NYC or its suburbs. It is here that you'll find some of the more unusual table games such as Wild 5/Wild 7 Poker, lower table minimums/fairer odds, and of course the more down-to-earth folks who work in industries besides gaming and hospitality. But similar to Nashville, it caters to more of a specific niche of tourists, in this case gamblers and people who want to see a certain performer in concert. For example, if you've never been to either Vegas or Chicago (which Vegas is currently beating in this poll), I'd dare say to visit LV first just to see what the fuss is all about, but for repeat visits, I'd just visit Chicago since you'll find a much more traditional urban experience, and even if its winter, you'll still find lots of great indoor activities to do from conventions, concerts, shopping, dining, sporting events, and if the weather isn't too harsh, still some nice walking around a much more diverse collection of neighborhoods. That said, Vegas does hold the edge as a "base camp" for nearby outdoorsy destinations (Mt. Charleston, Lake Mead, Grand Canyon, Zion, Death Valley NP), whereas all Chicago has nearby is Lake Michigan, so I can see why both are good choices to visit one or the other.
Last edited by Borntoolate85; 08-20-2023 at 08:51 AM..
I guess it depends on if you're talking city proper or general area. Like Denver is a great place to visit if you're talking 2-3 hour drive radius and the surrounding 8 counties, but the metro proper - eh, not that appealing unless it's a sports game or Red Rocks. Same thing with Atlanta, all the good stuff is in the rest of Georgia nearby.
My .02:
You missed Pittsburgh and Cleveland, 2 or my favorite cities I've been to in the US. DC > NYC hands down - NYC was cool but also a bit repulsive with how much luxury there was in Manhattan and how much of a dump the surrounding working class people area is. LA sucks because the stuff is all too spread out and the gem that is downtown has this somewhat weird vibe from excessive homeless. Minneapolis really clean and a good urban experience, at least pre George Floyd. Not really into 4am cocaine so I'll pass on Miami. Nashville is a definite winner, but Memphis is just as good. Still want to visit Vegas as a half outdoor go find bristlecones, half event / concert type of vacation.
In terms of overall offerings that cater to domestic and international visitors, (history, food/variety of food, museums, cool sites, unique culture, architecture, nightlife/entertainment, ease of travel in the city, shopping, etc.)
My top 12...
New York without a doubt deserves the top spot (IMO).
Then some combo of DC, Boston, Philly, Chicago, Miami, LA, San Fran, New Orleans, Vegas, Seattle, San Diego (as the top tier of choices).
Cities like Nashville, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas are cool, but either niche or limited in offerings, at least compared to my top 12. And there are cities like Pittsburgh, which have nice offerings, just on a much lesser scale than my top 12 list.
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