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22 nights in Europe possibly canceled, now where?

I have 3 weeks off from mid May to early June. I have to plan a back up trip now. I’d have to stay domestically. I’d like to visit places where I won’t need to rent a car. I’d rather rely on public transport or walking.

I’ve been to a few major cities (think SF & NYC) already so I’m leaning towards new unexplored ones such as:

Denver, Las Vegas, Portland,Oregon, maybe Alaska or Hawaii? I wanted to go to Orlando or Miami but I heard those places are car dependent. I wanted to visit some national parks if there are any that can be enjoyed without renting a car.

Any thoughts? Thank you.

Posted by
7209 posts

Why cancel a mid-May trip? That’s a long time from now.

Posted by
13931 posts

In my experience National Parks are very difficult without a car. The ones that I know of that have shuttle systems are Grand Canyon (South Rim) and Zion BUT you'd need to get there and you'd need a car for that in my view. I believe Lola knows a good deal about Grand Canyon.

Your dates are very early in the season for any of the parks in the Northern Rockies. Yellowstone essentially opens Memorial Day weekend but you'd need a car as there is no public transport in the park nor to the park. Glacier's main scenic road thru opens at the earliest at the end of June. Grand Tetons is smaller than either of them but still no public transport or shuttle on the park roads.

IF you were willing to drive and do a road trip you could go in/out of Denver and make a loop up to the Black Hills (Mt Rushmore, Custer State Park, Badlands, Minuteman Missile silos), head across to Cody WY picking up Devils Tower and perhaps Little Bighorn Battlefield, then Cody for a night or 2 (excellent 5-museum Complex). By that time it might be close to Memorial Day so you could so a minimum of 4 nights in Yellowstone, 2 or 3 in Grand Tetons (more is better for both), then head back down to Denver. This would be a lot of driving but I like road trips so it would work for me. It might not appeal to you at all.

Driving you could also do the "Big 5" or Utah Grand Circle - Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce and Zion. This is a good time of year for these parks as some of them can get pretty hot in summer.

Posted by
14979 posts

I agree with Tim. Your trip is two months away. You can plan somewhere else but it may be fine to travel in two months.

Posted by
8138 posts

I love Texas and the great people living there. But it's just so far to anywhere.
Even taking a staycation in Texas requires a good pickup truck to drive. From Lake Charles to El Paso's pushing 1000 miles on its own.

Posted by
374 posts

Yeah I won’t cancel unless I absolutely have to. I’m supposed to fly out May 15, so at the latest I have until May 1 to decide. I will fly out domestically though.
I detest driving anymore than I have to. but thanks for those ideas. I drive 8 miles each way for work and that’s it. I’ve always been like this.

For all we know the virus will calm down in Europe and be raging here in America. And maybe the Europeans will have a travel ban on US!

Posted by
7347 posts

National parks in Colorado are certainly spectacular, although in late May/early June, Rocky Mountain National Park will still have lots of snow, and will still be just starting to come out of winter conditions. It will be open, though, and Greyhound Bus or maybe also other means can get you up there.

Mesa Verde National Park, in southwestern Colorado, is actually closer to Albuquerque, NM than to Denver.

Posted by
698 posts

If you have to cancel AND depending on what is still closed here in US,
My dad had a great trip based on seeing Major Leagues Ballparks.
Flight to Chicago -Cubs, White Sox, great Art and Science museums, wonderful parks, great architectural tours of general interest ( my favorite American City not my own)
Train to Milwaukee - lovely lake front, museum, beer gardens
Train to Saint Louis - Cardinals St Louis Arch and tour of their
Train to Kansas City - loved the Truman library.
He used public transport and taxis.
You could add on cities further down the Mississipi as well

If you want to do Disney or Universal; if open, you can stay on sight and use their transportation. Look for the hotels in your budget. We stayed on site at Diseny, then transferred via taxi to universal.
You can certainly go to Miami - get a lovely resort hotel and camp out there. Use a taxi to go explore or Uber.
I think so much is dependent on your interests and, more importantly, the sitauation at that time.

Posted by
1321 posts

I'm in another camp....I would cancel. No one really knows if May/June is a long enough time for this to pass and travel in the US might not be an option if everything is closed down. And certainly uses public transport is a BAD idea for all the CV reasons.

I'd rather look to next year and get excited about those plans then make plans for your May/June time frame (now) and be disappointed. Although, you could wait until early May to make your plans for this year if CV situation allows.

Posted by
595 posts

Have you been to Maine? Acadia is a great national park to visit without a car - there's a terrific bus system. Getting there would be the challenge - maybe fly into Bangor and take a bus, or Bar Harbor and take a taxi. In May the wildflowers are starting to bloom.

I've done Miami and Las Vegas by using taxis and buses and walking. Las Vegas might be brutally hot, though. Miami too. How about Chicago or Washington, DC?

Time spend researching and planning is never wasted - you can always take the trip at a later time.

Posted by
374 posts

Miami and Las Vegas I’ve never been to so those are 100%

I’ve already been to DC, Chicago, LA, SF, NYC, Boston, Seattle.