DownUnderDrifter

I am an Australian exchange student studying at the University of Utah. I am considering doing a long weekend trip. I enjoy the outdoors, seeing national parks and beautiful scenery, historic towns or museums and exploring cities. As a student, I am wanting to keep costs 'relatively' low whilst still being able to explore some of the country and am therefore flying to cities 'close' to SLC as I don't drive. Some of the possible options I am considering are:

1. Denver - with day trip out into the Rocky Mountains
2. Seattle - day trip to Olympic National Park
3. Portland - day trip to Crater Lake or the coastline

I will be travelling for three days, Friday to Sunday in November, (may fly out late Thursday evening depending on flights so I have two full days to sightsee).

Which destination do people think would be the most interesting and suit my interests? What are some organized day trips I can do (or can people recommend companies)?

Are there any other cities 'relatively' close by to Salt Lake City that people recommend? I have visited San Francisco and have no desire to go to LA or San Diego.

happytrailstoyou

It is a challenge to suggest a scenic destination with organized day trips in November. Crater Lake is out and the Oregon Coast isn't a possibility unless you are satisfied with a bus from Portland to Cannon Beach. Living in Seattle I can tell you that Mt. Ranier and the Olympic National Park are not prime destinations during our rainiest month--November.

Santa Fe is an interesting city, but it is colder than SLC in November.

Las Vegas and Los Angles are the obvious destinations for somebody without a car. From Las Vegas you may be able to get an organized tour to the Valley or Fire, Zion National Park, or Death Valley. I don't know. Check it out.

Las Vegas also often has rooms at reasonable rates.

Despite the negative opinion many people have of Los Angeles, it is a fascinating world-class city with a good transportation system, a great location on the Pacific Ocean (Santa Monica), and some amazing free destinations (such as the Getty Museum).

HTtY

NewbE

Your options all look great; I suggest you look into the desert southwest as well. Arizona and New Mexico offer scenery and culture unlike any other in the US. Getting around without a car won't be easy, and I'm sorry to say I can't advise you as to how to arrange it, but I hope others here will. (I and others can also give more details about AZ and NM, if you're interested.)

NorthwestMale

Hey, by any chance are YOU the daughter of PRLCH from this other thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ary-please.cfm


All three of the cities on your list have appeal, and upon eliminating the big California coastal-ish cities, you have now likely listed a trio of prime candidates.

Denver... seems so near to S.L.C. climate that maaaaaaaaybe you owe it to yourself to go farther...

and of course both Seattle and Portland should be expected to be rainy and gloomy on a November weekend.

Yet both Seattle and Portland are very handy to navigate from the airports to the centers of town, and both are said to be home to the outdoorsy, granola-eating, nature-loving stereotypes.

While I can appreciate your interest in going so far from either one, for your side trip while there, I think all of your mentioned prospective side trips are fairly ambitious relative to two full days in either spot.

Both Seattle and Portland have so much to offer right there in the city that a nature-lover need not invest so much time to get far off into the hinterlands.

Also, unlike Denver and other northern-ish inland cities, Portland and Seattle's worst-case weather scenarios are more hospitable during November, especially when not venturing too far out into the hinterlands.

I wish I knew more about potential tour bus possibilities in November from either Seattle or Portland but if you narrow your possible targets to those two, then you could begin to research in greater depth.

S.L.C. to Seattle is about 2 hours non-stop, and prices are fairly reasonable (perhaps excepting the Thanksgiving holiday weekend)... so it is convenient.

I think I would use Priceline.com for a hotel in/near the center of either Portland or Seattle, and it should be a buyer's market in November in either location.

Just bring an umbrella... (well, no, we have them everywhere here)

WhereAreWe

3 options to consider:

1) Fly to Las Vegas and search for some day trip options as happytrailstoyou suggested

2) Fly to Phoenix or Flagstaff and take a shuttle to the Grand Canyon

3) Check into organized trips or ride shares while at the university and catch a ride to Zion or Moab for the weekend. I suppose you could fly to Moab but transportation once you get there could be an issue

DownUnderDrifter

NorthwestMale, yes I am PRLCH's daughter and so have seen large parts of America already, including Vegas, Grand Canyon and Utah's National Parks.

Happytrailstoyou LA holds no appeal. I am not a big city person (travelled for 7 weeks in the US and Canada and only 2 weeks of that were in cities and none of the cities were major highlights of my trip). Also being from Australia, I am used to beaches and beautiful coastline scenery!

Will have to do some more research into the cities and feasibility of day trips, accommodation, etc!

Thanks for all the suggestions - keep them coming!

happytrailstoyou

Happytrailstoyou LA holds no appeal.

I regret I made the suggestion.
I didn't mean to offend you.
I feel properly chastised
Please accept my apology.

Drift on, HTtY

Bobmrg

Forget about a "day trip to Olympic National Park." Travel to and from the peninsula will take up most of your day, and the only attraction you will be able to reach in the time available is Hurricane Ridge. Come back when you can spend 3-4 days in the park.

NewbE

if you've seen the Grand Canyon, consider flying into Tucson and exploring the southern portion of Arizona.

In New Mexico, it's easy enough to fly into ABQ and take public transport to Santa Fe, and then explore Santa Fe on foot. Of course, the abundant beauty of the surrounding area would be missed, but there may be some sort of tour option, I don't know.

happytrailstoyou

if you've seen the Grand Canyon, consider flying into Tucson and exploring the southern portion of Arizona. This person doesn't have a car or drive.

suze

The trick (at least with option 2 & 3) is going to be doing those without a car. I'm not sure how you'd get around?

StantonHyde

I live in SLC and am often looking for close cities to visit!

Seattle is awesome--LOTS to do without a car. Easy bus system etc. We went to Portland last year and I was honestly overwhelmed by the amount of homeless people. And I have lived in LA, Philly and visited many major cities. I don't think you are going to be able to do a day trip unless you go through a tour company and that could be too expensive...

Some other ideas:
Tucson is awesome, but it would be hard to do without a car.
Phoenix might be an option.
We really loved Monterey--but we drove to see other sights as well.
What about Santa Barbara? There is a lot you can see without a car. The challenge is finding reasonable room rates.
Albuquerque is actually an interesting place but I don't know how easy it is to navigate without a car.
Vancouver is really nice. We went all over the place without a car--the bus system is great.

tomfuller

Would this work for you? Fly to Salt Lake City and spend the rest of the day there. The eastbound California Zephyr (#6) leaves the Amtrak station at 3:30AM (sometimes later). Take the train as far as Glenwood Springs. There are two big old hotels plus some newer ones as well. The world's largest hot spring fed swimming pool is near one of the big old hotels.
When I came through on the California Zephyr in December, I saw someone swimming in the pool.
There is a good bus service from Glenwood Springs south (41 miles) to Aspen.
I don't know if the gondola cars up to the Glenwood Caverns will be open or not. The train is scheduled in at 12:10 PM but is a little late sometimes. The eastbound and westbound trains usually meet a few miles east of the Glenwood Canyon.
The Glenwood Canyon is among the best scenery seen in daylight from an Amtrak train IMO.
Leaving Glenwood Springs, you could take the Sunday train eastbound (12:10 PM) to Denver arriving in the evening.
Going the other way (westbound back to SLC) you would arrive late night or very early morning in Salt Lake City. If there is not a taxi waiting outside the SLC station, they can call one or you can ride the Traxx if it is running that early.

NorthwestMale

Tom, that first part makes no sense.

Same is true of the last part.

DownUnderDrifter

Thanks for all the suggestions!Whilst New Mexico looked fantastic, flights were expensive (over $500!). Will have to plan to go to Seattle and Portland during the summer another trip. I have managed to pick up a good flight and accommodation deal to Denver and will be visiting during Thanksgiving.
Are there any festivals or events related to Thanksgiving?
I am planning on doing two day trips, one to the Rocky Mountains and one to Pikes Peak and Manitou Springs. Anyone had any experience with 'The Colorado Sightseer' or 'Gray Line' tour companies? They seem to have similar tours and similar prices....

Tabernash2

Would you be interested in taking Amtrak to the mountains? You could go to Fraser, CO (i.e. Winter Park) or to Glenwood Springs. Spend the night and come back?

happytrailstoyou

We visited Denver a couple months ago and didn't find it very pedestrian friendly. However, the art museum is excellent.

I note on TripAdvisor that The Colorado Sightseer has a higher rating that Gray Line. If you take only one tour, I suggest it be the one to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Idaho Springs, and Georgetown are historic towns with about 45 miles of Denver. There may be public transportation to them from Denver. We found the Hotel de Paris Museum in Georgetown to be very interesting, and it is open for tours on weekends until December 14.

HTtY

PS Interstate 70 through Colorado is extremely scenic. If you have time and there is bus service between Denver and Glenwood Springs, that would be a trip worth taking.