I am thinking of a 4-5 day trip this March. For the past decade most of my travel (at least twice a year) has been to Europe, which I love. But for this March I'm thinking of something closer and quicker. A few years ago I did a March trip to Charleston, Savannah and Saint Augustine and loved it. I'm looking for places like that. I like scenic town centers, regional architecture, places that I can spend time photographing. Santa Fe would be perfect except I'm going there next summer. I don't need beach weather, but warmer than Massachusetts would be nice. I was leaning towards San Francisco but my son is moving there (probably not by March though) so I will be visiting there in the near future. Doesn't mean I can't go this March as well, but maybe somewhere else would make more sense.

So given that criteria where would you go? Several people I know, and several recent thread here make San Antonio sound like there's not that much to see and do. The missions sound like the kind of thing I'm looking for, and the River walk sounds nice, but is there enough to keep me interested for four days?

Thanks for your opinions.

For 4 days of nice weather in March with activities you describe, I'd think of New Orleans, or areas in AZ like Tucson or the red rock area north of Phoenix. San Francisco is one of my favorite cities, having been there about a dozen times; I have visited San Antonio just once and had trouble keeping myself busy for more than a day.

Scottsdale AZ is really nice. Weather should be nice, pretty easy to get good airfares there [especially on Southwest].

http://www.scottsdalecvb.com/attract...nd-adventures/

Frank Lloyd Wrights' Taliesin West is really interesting [read "Loving Frank" by Nancy Moran first].

http://www.franklloydwright.org/fllw...104/Tours.html

You could drive to Tucson for a day trip if you wanted.

San Antonio its missions and historic neighborhood.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7623718580201/

and subsequent pictures.

www.visitsedona.com

for great photo ops beauty many nice places to stay.

www.betterbidding.com nice discount site

Close enough for a trip to the Grand Canyon

if you like also amazing...

For more of a city vibe that would be nice

photogenic and warm would do New Orleans

Have stayed at The Coloumns Hotel on St Charles

where the movie "Pretty Baby" was filmed an amazing place

San Antonio was just there riverwalk is ok touristic though

otherwise just another big city not as photogenic...

Happy Hunting,

www.thecolumns.com

Have never stayed in the Columns....but have had MANY a drink there! But I always WANTED to stay there! Great location. Great ambiance (fun, slightly decadent, and comfortably "worn")!

Thanks for your replies. I am definitely going to look into New Orleans. I'm looking for more of a city for this trip, as opposed to nature. Next summer we're doing a big trip that will include grand canyon, bryce, zion, etc (as well as Santa Fe) so for this trip I was planning to just stay in one place for a few days. But thanks for all your suggestions.

I like San Antonio but I like Santa Fe a lot more. You can visit Taos and SF in one day. The scenery is nice and I beleive the food in SF is as good as any part of the U. S.

My personal favorite though is New Orleans. You can fly in take a cab to the French Quarter and get around by cab or streetcar. It's a beautiful old fun city with outstanding food. There are great boutique hotels and fun things to do.

Not sure when, but the riverwalk in SA(the river anyway) is emptied for maint. sometime in March or April for a couple of weeks.

I don't care for NO for more than a couple of days. We did spend a couple of days exploring the plantation homes(about 30 miles outside the city) This might be just what your looking for if you only want to spend 5 or 6 days on your trip.

We enjoyed SF over spring break a couple of years ago. We did Point Reyes and Muir Woods and enjoyed them. Both of these are just north of SF. You could head south and do Monterey, etc. Lots of Missions along that stretch as well.

San Diego might be another consideration.

They drain the Riverwalk in January.

San Antonio or New Orleans would be great in March. Weather can't be beat. I would choose New Orleans if given the choice though.