explorer2212

What are some 3-5 day vacation ideas for senior parent's first time trip to US in the Summer? We are in Chicago


What would be good big city destinations with nearby nature/ beach destinations?Are there any national parks that are easy to fly into and don't need us to rent a car?
Ideal would be combining a big city destination with a nature destination via beautiful train ride

Madam397

You can easily go to NYC and spend a few days on the Jersey Shore which is reachable by train. You can also take a train to places in the Hamptons that are walkable but super expensive in the summer and hard to get reservations anyway.

MmePerdu

Where do you live? What's easy will depend on your starting point. And how far do you wish to go from there?

explorer2212

Updated the post!

Christina

I don't know of any great national park you can get to without a car as they are obviously more rural locations. Having said, that, I think there are some iconic parks that you can get to and then there are group day trips or something (I'm thinking maybe Grand Canyon). I think there are day trips from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon but LV sure isn't any scenic city or great place to stay, especially for seniors. NOw I'm sure there are some that love that low-life gambling, night club thing. I don't.

YOu can get to Yosemite by public transportation, see this
https://yarts.com/

So that's near a big city, San Francisco. I haven't been there in years, I heard it's gone downhill, don't know. Merced sure isn't a big city, or Fresno that you'd want to tour. I'm a little confused on why you don't want to rent a car but want some nearby beach/nature. What you are thinking of? Can you not drive? If not, it's important to know. Obviously you could do SF without a car but to go north to Muir Woods or the Redwoods or Napa or something, you'd need a car.

PrairieHikerI

United has a three-hour nonstop from Chicago to Jackson, WY. There are tour buses that will take you around Yellowstone NP, one of the premier national parks.United has a 2.5-hour nonstop to Charleston, SC, one of the most interesting cities in the South.

oldemalloy

My favorite National Parks are Yellowstone and Grand Canyon. As has been mentioned Grand Canyon could be reached easily from Las Vegas and there are bus tours or flights from there. You also could take the train from Chicago and connect to the train that goes to the park and spend a night in the park. Once in the park there are busses that go along the rim and you can hop on and off to get to other parts of the park.

For Yellowstone you could look at the route PrarieHiker suggested or look for flights to Bozeman Montana from Chicago, Southwest Airlines has many that go from both Midway and O,Hare. Look for tours from there, Yellowstone is only an hour and a half from Bozeman, but is very big so you would want to stay overnight in the park in any case.

Melnq8

Ideal would be combining a big city destination with a nature destination via beautiful train ride.

You could fly into Denver, then take the train to Glenwood Springs from Union Station in downtown Denver.

https://www.amtrakvacations.com/trips/glenwood-springs-getaway-roundtrip-from-denver

https://visitglenwood.com/

The California Zepher also travels from Chicago to Denver, but I'm not at all familiar with how it works, might be worth a look.

https://www.amtrak.com/california-zephyr-train

basingstoke2

From where will they be coming? They may need time to adjust from a long trip just to get to Chicago and not want to embark on another long trip across time zones.

Chicago itself is a major city with lots to see and do and Chicago has nice beaches along the lake. If you want to see another city, how about Washington, DC for a first trip to the US. Mount Vernon is a nice side trip from there.

julies

Where are they coming from, and what in other places in the world have they seen already? Seniors is a pretty broad category. Can they walk ten miles, or would a half mile stroll do them in? Do they want an active get-away or more just looking out car windows?

Do you have a car, and can you drive? If so, you could potentially take a road trip from Chicago. Visit Chicago as your big city. Drive up the western shore of Michigan. You could also take the ferry across to Wisconsin. There are national parks in Michigan--Pictured Rocks, Sleeping Bear Dunes etc. You could also visit Mackinac Island. Or, for your nature-oriented portion, drive from Chicago to Door County, Wisconsin--the Cape Cod of the midwest.

Or, take a quick, cheap flight to Minneapolis which is a lovely city destination in the summer. Get a rental car and drive up to Duluth and keep heading north along the North Shore of Lake Superior--lots of parks and nature.

Or, fly to DC, one of my favorite US cities. But, this can be beastly hot in the summer, so it depends on when you will be touring.

There is Amtrak from Chicago to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons etc. But, 4 to 5 days isn't enough time for this option.

ekscrunchy

Isn't there a good train from Chicago to New Orleans...?
After the city you can explore the nature in the Cajun country.

Fra_Diavolo

Yes, The City of New Orleans, famed in song, still runs.

tomfuller

The train called "The City of New Orleans" leaves Chicago Union station every night at 8:05PM. In the morning you are in Memphis TN. Late in the afternoon you arrive in New Orleans.