Best Cities for a Quick Getaway

Over the summer, travel-booking website Hotwire released a list of its picks for the top U.S. spots for quick getaway trips. To compile this list, Hotwire analyzed data from more than 10,000 data points to rank cities based on affordability, ease of access and the prevalence of things to do and see. Based on the high number of searches for time periods of fewer than 72 hours, the Hotwire list is meant to appeal to a wide audience of long weekenders who tend to book trips less than one week from their desired date of departure.

Hotwire separated its rankings into four groups of 10 based on city size. Among large cities of 600,000 people or more, the top 10 cities for quick trips were Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Austin, Texas.

Mid-sized cities with populations between 300,000 and 599,999 included Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, St. Louis, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Albuquerque. The ranking of small towns with a minimum population of 150,000 were as follows: Orlando; Richmond, Virginia; Boise; Salt Lake City; Reno; Chattanooga; Madison, Wisconsin; Birmingham, Alabama; Springfield, Missouri; and Spokane, Washinton.

Finally, the top five cities with fewer than 150,000 people were Newport Beach, California; Branson, Missouri; Charleston; Sarasota; and Savannah.