rozovs

I am planning to stay 2 weeks in one large city in the US or Canada.
My likes: Shopping, good food, culture and entertainment.
Besides for New York City, where would you go to?

GenXer

Chicago and don't forget their original pizza.

Retired_teacher

What time of year are you traveling and what kind of weather extremes would be acceptable to you? Being from the mid-western United States, I would recommend Chicago........ however, you might not be too thrilled with the "windy city" during the winter. I would be happy to recommend restaurants, hotels, museums, and shopping areas if you'd like more information.

schmerl

Philadelphia has the things you're looking for. The Historical District would also provide you with knowledge of the US. There are also some great museums--the Art Museum and the Franklin Institute are great. There are WONDERFUL restaurants and great shopping throughout the city and suburbs.

joesorce

A week in Los Angeles, a drive north, and a week in San Francisco.

rozovs

Thanks, both Chicago and San Francisco were on my list.
I am planning my visit for sometime during October and prefer mild weather conditions.
If it's going to be Chicago, I am counting on your recommendations..

How about Seattle, or Seattle and SF?

Travers

Definitely Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles. I think that being in San Francisco for 2 weeks would be too much, as it is a relatively small city, especially when compare to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia. October in SF is the beginning of the rainy season as well. Seattle is not bad either but again it does rain a lot there too.

If I had to rank order I would go with the following:

New York: October is the best month in terms of weather and there is so muc to do in The City.

Chicago: This city reminds me a lot of New York. If you go there, I highly recommend Giordano's pizza.

Los Angeles: The weather is great all the time in LA. In addition to spending time there, you aould also take a sidetrips to San Diego and up the coast on Highway 1.

Philadelphia: Very similar weather to New York, beautiful and walkable downtown, lots of excellent restaurants and museums.

mrwunrfl

California is the place you want to be.
Swimming pools, movie stars.

see_the_world

Besides New York, I vote for San Francisco. Actually October is a great time to visit SF since it is one of the warmest months in the city itself (warmer than NY or Chicago, etc.), and the summer fog has gone away by then. The first rains usually don't really get going until November (I just looked up a weather website to confirm my experience and it said the average number of days with precipitation in October in SF is 4, less than half those in NY or Philadelphia at that time of year for example.) Joesorce's idea of both SF and LA with a drive in between is hard to beat if you also want to catch some non-city scenery.

I'm assuming you're not from the States - have you been here before?

re: your question - Seattle is great too, but given the whole continuum of cities in the US, I think Seattle and San Francisco are somewhat alike actually, so for an overseas visitor I might recommend two cities that are more different from each other in order to maximize the breadth of your experience. Actually if time and money were abundant, I'd recommend both New York AND San Francisco, but that's probably unrealistic.

If you decide on New York and want to broaden your experience of the US, you could always go down to Washington, DC for a couple of days or up to Boston/New England.

Best of luck to you wherever you decide to go!

Stephanie

I think the best thing to do is stay away from big cities, most people aren't like the people in cities (especially N.E. ones). I'd agree though that if you insist on a big city, Chicago is the way to go, lots of friendly mid-west people in a city that is large in size.

If I had the chance to visit anyplace in the U.S. (and I am a citizen) I'd try a first time trip to Arizona. I'd love to see the Red Rocks of Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

patg

Chicago's October weather is totally unpredictable - you could experience anything from comfortable warmth to freezing rain. I liked the suggestion of the California Coast trip (LA to SF)- it will give you a splendid range of American experiences, and two weeks sounds just right.

bigdog50

In response to the comment about SF being rainy season in Oct. I lived in SF 40 yrs -- it is by far the best month of the year. Days in the 80's typical. In the summer SF can be cold and windy while it is over 90 10 to 20 miles inland. (see Mark Twains famous quote about the coldest winter I ever spent was summer in SF) We always got a kick out of the eastcoasters who would come to SF in June in shorts and freeze in the afternoon and evenings. Anyways Oct is great month in the whole Bay Area and SF is a great base for day trips to see everything from Mountains to Ocean to valleys (wine country).

See some National Parks. There is nothing in the world like what you can see in places like Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, etc.

I suggest you ask folks on the Boards from where you are from top see what they did and liked and recommend. The US is big and diversified and weather varies extremely -- ask anyone in the US and they think where they live is the best (though only California is -- for weather, variety, and great sites)
Interesting 2 people suggest Chicago for pizza - you can get chicago style pizza anywhere (especially in CA where all the smart people from Chicago move to once they realize they don't have to put up with that crap weather. (insert smiley face again for those with no sense of humour).

E

If you can only stay in one city for the entire 2 weeks, New York or SF would get my vote. You would never be bored in New York, never run out of new things to see and do. San Francisco is (I know, arguably) the prettiest city in the US, and you could take bus tours to Monterey/Carmel and/or the wine country (Napa/Sonoma) for a day here and there, seeing the gorgeous coastline.
I once spent a long weekend in Montreal in the winter (!) and thought it was fantastic, so that's an idea in Canada, but I don't know enough about the city to say if you could happily spend 2 weeks there.
What a fun trip! Keep us posted on your planning progress!

panhandle

My vote would go for Seattle. If you wanted to do two cities Vancouver Canada is just across the border and is a lovely City as well.

rozovs

I have to thank you all again for your great replies.
Indeed, I am not from the US, but I've been to the US many times, both for business and for pleasure. The difference this time is that I want to take it slow and live a city for a while. It is tempting to combine two cities in two weeks, but I have to remind myself that the original idea was to get to know a city just a little better than the average tourist.
Didn't make up my mind yet.

martytravels

Consider a combination of Toronto and Montreal. The exchange rate is great, and you get two cosmopolitan cities that are vibrant and bustling, but at the same time squeaky clean.
Toronto is one of the world's most multicultural cities, with great downtown neighborhoods, shopping, dining, public transit and all kinds of attractions. It's very North American with a touch of London tossed in.
Montreal is a little Paris in North America, with great food, fantastic jazz clubs, lots of good sightseeing and a friendly atmosphere. It also has great public transit.