What is that one city in America most Americans go to for their "first trip"?

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machagogo@reddit

Definitely regional.

There is no one answer.

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Yeah. I can't believe how often we have to explain how big the US is. Boston Massachusetts is closer to Dublin Ireland than it is to over half of the landmass of the USA. I would bet that nearly half of Americans haven't been meaningfully outside of their region of the US.

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ryguymcsly@reddit

I read a stat that was probably wrong that said 60% of Americans live and die within 100 miles of where they were born and that somewhere between 10 and 20% don’t even travel outside that range. Granted that includes people who die as children but still pretty ridiculous although totally believable if you’ve lived in various parts of the country.

I have a native New Yorker friend who has only left the city for reasons other than being in the military once, for my wedding.

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Blue_Star_Child@reddit

I feel like that's true of Europeans too. It always seems an hour away seems like a long way away.

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Chromatic_Trek@reddit

I don't know about that high of a percentage, but I have genuinely run into people who have never even left the neighboring county, let alone another state or forbid an entire country lol. I could never sit in one place for long. Growing up in a military family, you get used to moving and I'd personally rather see new sights and people than the same thing every day, year after year until I die.

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ramblinjd@reddit

I know people who've never left Texas. That being said, Texas is quite big.

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suffaluffapussycat@reddit

Texans are taught from birth that Texas in the greatest place in the world. Traveling out of state is like admitting that there’s somewhere better.

Source: born and grew up in Texas.

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Independent-Photo500@reddit

that’s just not true, it’s 2990 miles from boston to dublin and like 2400-2600 miles from boston to the pacific coast

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elenchusis@reddit

Was just about to post this. 2600 miles to Los Angeles

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owlpinecone@reddit

People assume the US is about as big as their own country. I feel like only people from places like Russia or China (or obviously Canada and Mexico) are going to "get it". Four time zones, people. More if you include Alaska and Hawaii.

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OldDekeSport@reddit

I feel like the population is more spread out in the US than even other large countries. China is very concentrated in the East, Russia in Europe, etc

The US has major population centers about as far apart as you can get for the contiguous US. NYC - LA sp3cifically as largest two population centers, but even like Seattle - Miami are sooo far apart but major cultural and population centers

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stebe-bob@reddit

And more if you count the Virgins Islands and Wake, Guam, and all the Pacific Territories. The US actually has 9 time zones. From the Virgin Islands to Guam is 9,500 miles (15,200km). And the crazy part is we’ve actually shrunk since our high water mark with giving independence to The Philippines and Cuba.

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asarious@reddit

Hey… there’re parts of Oregon and parts of Florida that are just one time zone apart.

It’s absolutely possible for it to be 10:00 AM in Oregon and 11:00 PM in Florida, at the same time.

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blurrows@reddit

what

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Virtual_Ad_8487@reddit

I think they meant 10am and 11am

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asarious@reddit

Uggghhh… mistake corrected. Thanks!

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asarious@reddit

As it turns out, parts of eastern Oregon are in Mountain time while parts of western Florida are in Central time, with only a one hour difference between the two.

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20260415T160000&p1=3582&p2=944

It’s a bit of a weird geography quirk that the casual observer wouldn’t expect given the states touch either coast.

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IndependentTrust4594@reddit

Western panhandle of FL is central time zone and a very small part of Oregon (southern west) is mountain time.

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Virtual_Ad_8487@reddit

Even crazier, for one hour every fall Eastern Oregon and Western Florida are actually in the same time zone. When the central time zone falls back for daylight saving time and mountain time has yet to adjust

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Difficult_Ladder369@reddit

Florida to Alaska. Gotta cross Canada to get there

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PuzzleheadedAd5865@reddit

People from Australia tend to get it as well

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owlpinecone@reddit

Right -- that's why I said places "like" those two countries. I don't always spend 10 minutes thinking of every single example of something for a quick internet comment.

Though I should add that I don't know if you were chiming in to correct me or just add something in the spirit of friendly conversation. If it was the latter, please forgive my prickly reply.

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PuzzleheadedAd5865@reddit

I was just trying to add another one, you’re fine though, I tend to not come across the way I intend to through text

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MargieBigFoot@reddit

God, Australia is huge. I went on a week-long road trip there and was so disappointed when I looked at the map and saw how little of the country I had actually seen.

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Lothar_Ecklord@reddit

Most countries in Europe also have one main city and that’s about it. There might be other cities, but there’s one that has at least X% of the population, is the center for financial services, entertainment, media, general business, government, and even tourism. And such is the case for most countries in Europe.

Americans like decentralization. I believe Germany is the most similar, in that one tiny regard. Maybe Spain.

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Offal@reddit

You know how many timezones there are in the Soviet Union? 11! https://youtu.be/_G4SjjZse7w?si=0bEkUsLXorKe4dtR

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Tygria@reddit

It’s very much like asking, ‘hey Europeans, what city in Europe do you guys go to for your first vacation?’

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BassWingerC-137@reddit

Although flying inter-Euro is significantly cheaper than flying withing the continental US.

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throwawtphone@reddit

I had to look it up but apparently thehe two farthest points in the contiguous United States are Cape Flattery, Washington, and Key West, Florida.

The distance between these two points is approximately 5,400 kilometers or about 3,350 miles.

And the area of the contiguous United States is approximately 8 million square kilometers or about 3.1 million square miles.

And apparently Nigeria, Brazil and China are comparable in area. Didnt realize that about Nigeria and Brazil.

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ramblinjd@reddit

Nigeria surprises me. I knew Brazil, China, Russia, Canada, Australia, and the whole EU are all on a similar order of magnitude for landmass.

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Extension_Order_9693@reddit

And Nigeria isn't even the largest country in Africa.

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PuddleCrank@reddit

That's because it's an AI hallucination. Nigeria is 1/10th the size of Brazil

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PolarPower@reddit

Nigeria is about 1/10th as large as the US by area I'm not sure where he got his data. Maybe missed a zero

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la-anah@reddit

Because it isn't even close. Nigeria is a bit bigger than Texas.

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LsdAlicEx9@reddit

My longest drive was Tampa Fl. To Seattle Wa. Phoenix AZ. To New York, then the Florida too but that was a month long road trip with lots of stops.

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ryguymcsly@reddit

The distance between those two cities is the same as the distance between London and Dubai.

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la-anah@reddit

The continental US is about 8x as large as Nigeria

https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/country-size-comparison/united-states/nigeria

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throwawtphone@reddit

The internet lied to me. Wtf?

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ramblinjd@reddit

AI

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colliedad@reddit

Yeah, the flying distance between Seattle>Miami is slightly larger than London>Baghdad.

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Significant_Mud3340@reddit

And apparently Nigeria, Brazil and China are comparable in area. Didnt realize that about Nigeria and Brazil.

Nigeria covers 923,768 square kilometers, making it about 11 times smaller than the United States, which is 9.83 million square kilometers.

Brazil is significantly larger than Nigeria, with a total land area of roughly 8.5 million square kilometers while Nigeria covers about 923,768 square kilometers. Brazil is nearly 9 times larger than Nigeria.

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ocvagabond@reddit

That’s because the Mercator map is a lie

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Impressive-Newt5587@reddit

And we drove 1800+ miles to go to Boston about 8 years ago. Man, talk about a long 10 day trip.

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FunTXCPA@reddit

Why did it take 10 days to drive 1800 miles?

/s

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shaitanthegreat@reddit

Round trip too! 1800 both ways doesn’t leave a whole lot of Boston time.

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Impressive-Newt5587@reddit

It was 10 days total round-trip, haha. So 3600 miles total in 10 days.

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farmageddon1087@reddit

Because they averaged 180 miles per day.

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shadowmib@reddit

That's like 3 hours of driving. I knew twice that before lunch

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baycommuter@reddit

Found the math teacher.

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vintage2019@reddit

Did you just watch Very Bad Thing Is Going to Happen?

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Kingsolomanhere@reddit

We drove from Cincinnati to Yosemite National Park (around 2400 miles one way) and that was two 8 hour days (Cincinnati to Kansas City, then Kansas City to Denver), then 5 hours to Grand Junction Colorado, 5 hours from there to Las Vegas, then 5 hours to Yosemite. It's a very big country

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witx@reddit

That’s such an interesting stat. I’ve never thought of it that way.

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Prestigious-Name-323@reddit

I go to MN for weekend trips. That doesn’t make any sense for someone from the east or west coasts.

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redrosebeetle@reddit

I feel like 50% of my answers on this sub are, "idk, did you know that America is basically the size of Europe?"

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breaststroker42@reddit

It seems like a large number of people in the world don’t know that.

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shadowmib@reddit

Consider if we move the United States to the Moon it would pretty much go from one side to the other of the part we see anyway

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Awesomest_Possumest@reddit

This was part of why we decided to fly across the country (we live on the east coast) and then take the train leisurely back for our honeymoon, rather than travel internationally.

We flew from NC to Seattle Washington, stayed a few days. Got on the train, got off in whitefish Montana the next day and stayed a few days, catching both sides of glacier national Park (but not even close to the whole park). Got back on the train and took it to Chicago. That entire trip from Seattle to Chicago follows Lewis and Clarke's route. Stayed the night in Chicago. Did a little exploring and then got on the train to Virginia, through the blue ridge mountains eventually. Stayed a day in Virginia. Took the train home the next evening.

I've been to the furthest northern and southern states on the east coast, and ive been to California and Washington state, and I've been everywhere Maryland south regularly. Been to Indiana. But the whole Middle of the country I'd never seen.

Watching it by train was incredible. First the Seattle coast, then through the Rockies, then into the plains. And more of the plains. But then you follow the Mississippi. And then go through hills til eventually you cross the Appalachias and the new river gorge.

Incredible, truthfully. But definitely not something I could easily do frequently, and it was a $9k trip.

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cpwnage@reddit

You don't need to explain it, you just do it anyway. We have adequate geography education in Europe so we already know the US is big (and has an even bigger neighbor to the north). Questions in this sub ask for broad generalizations, but top answer is always someone pointing out that America is big = useless.

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Funicularly@reddit

We have adequate geography education in Europe so we already know the US is big (and has an even bigger neighbor to the north).

Well, it seems your geography education isn’t adequate because the United States is bigger than Canada in land area.

United States: 9,147,593 sq km

Canada: 9,093,507 sq km

Also, Canada’s population and cities is roughly clustered near its border with the United States, whereas the United States’ population and cities are much more spread out.

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Spirited_Ingenuity89@reddit

How is China’s larger than both the US and Canada, though?

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TituspulloXIII@reddit

Based on the source -- It's because the U.S. and Canada have more lakes. More water = less land.

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Spirited_Ingenuity89@reddit

Okay, that seems sketch then. I thought they were just leaving out seawater area claimed by the country. But lakes? That doesn’t make sense to me.

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TituspulloXIII@reddit

They have both listed. Including inland lakes Canada is larger than China. China is slightly larger than the U.S. They even show the percentages.

Water as a percentage of total Area

Canada: 8.9%

China: 2.8%

U.S.: 4%

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ramblinjd@reddit

The massiveness of the geography fully explains so many questions in here though. "Does it snow in America?" Yes. America exists above the Arctic circle in Alaska of course it snows. Do all Americans go to New York City? Of course not. It's nearly halfway around the planet from Hawaii. If you want to stop getting the same answer, stop asking questions like that.

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Spirited_Ingenuity89@reddit

There’s knowing it, and there’s getting it. Lots of Europeans might be aware of the facts, but they don’t seem to get how big the US is or how that affects our culture/regionality.

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letmesingyouawaltz_@reddit

Well it does feel a bit like when someone asks where Americans typically go for their first vacation, it does necessitate explaining that this varies widely due to a vast geographical size..

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dontforgettowriteme@reddit

I mean, I don't think you have to be ignorant to the size of the US to ask if people traverse the continent.

Plenty of us do say "to hell with the size" and travel far distances. Just not conveniently or quickly.

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Any-Worldliness-679@reddit

Oregon is triple the size of Scotland

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moonbunnychan@reddit

Texas is bigger then France.

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Helpful-Idea-4485@reddit

Delaware is bigger than Luxembourg.

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AnatidaephobiaAnon@reddit

We had an exchange student from Germany when I was a junior in high school who wanted to see places all over the US and we had to explain to him how hard that would be. Ohio, the state we were is the same size as Bulgaria and is the same size as Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland combined. While Ohio's population is shockingly large for its size, it's still not close to being considered a big state.

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ryguymcsly@reddit

Yup, just in case this slipped the mind of our EU homies: the US is larger than Europe and many states are as large as if not larger than EU countries.

As a result most middle class people take trips in their state or to a nearby state. If you live in the Northeast your trip might be to Boston or NYC. If you live in the west it might be SF or LA. It all depends.

We also have a lot of small tourist trap towns that are mainly for people in the US that international travelers might not know about. Like Lake of the Ozarks, Portland (Maine), Myrtle Beach, Astoria, etc.

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Ok-Flight-1504@reddit

Astoria? Wtf? I’ve never heard of any tourist going there.

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LangokiAgain@reddit

Including Portland Maine as a tourist trap is slander tbh

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ryguymcsly@reddit

Maybe not a trap but it’s definitely built for an increase in population during the summer

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ghjm@reddit

International travelers have heard of Myrtle Beach. I strongly suspect Branson, MO is the biggest US tourist trap that doesn't have an international reputation.

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I_Am_Mandark_Hahaha@reddit

Europe is slightly larger than the US.

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spaceman60@reddit

True, but only about a 1% difference in land mass.

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catsandcoconuts@reddit

agree. most middle/LM class ppl i know go to OCMD for their “main” vacation.

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PA_MallowPrincess_98@reddit

Agree! Many people from PA end up at either Ocean City, Outer Banks, North Myrtle Beach, or Rehoboth, DE

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vintage2019@reddit

The pipeline of Pittsburgh/Western PA - Ocean City MD is fascinating. I wonder how that got started. I mean, why OCMD and not some NJ beach town

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Junior-Reflection-43@reddit

A lot of people I knew went to Wildwood or Stone Harbor/Avalon.

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ParryLimeade@reddit

As someone from Myrtle beach, who now lives in Minnesota and has lived in Indiana, way too many people in the rest of the country visit and know of Myrtle beach lol

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ScarletDarkstar@reddit

Yes, and why that one? It is a mystery to me. Carolina has better places.

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beenoc@reddit

Myrtle Beach is cheap, closer to 95 than most other beaches in the Carolinas, is about as far north as you can get and still have nice warm beaches in March/early April (spring break time), and has a reputation as a party town while not being so debauched that families don't want to take their kids. Wilmington is too "city," the Outer Banks are too remote and "boring," Charleston is too far south for people in the Northeast.

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Grizlatron@reddit

I love the outer banks, why go to beach if you're just want to be drunk for a week straight? I want to see a large variety of birds!

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beenoc@reddit

Oh I'm with you - but you'd have to ask that question to all the freshly-21 college students who descend upon Dirty Myrtle like biblical locusts every March.

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ParryLimeade@reddit

Myrtle beach is in South Carolina so not sure what you mean haha

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ScarletDarkstar@reddit

So South Carolina isn't Carolina? When I lived there people called both "the Carolinas", and I'm not aware of it being exclusive to North Carolina. Also, Myrtle is as close to NC as anything in SC can be. Either state has better beach locations than Myrtle.

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ParryLimeade@reddit

Oh I thought you were saying Carolina has better places implying that another state is better. I’ve never heard anyone refer to either state as Carolina but yes “the Carolinas” is common. My bad!

I think MB had a lot of advertisements and that’s why it’s popular

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vintage2019@reddit

It's my impression that the other beach towns in the Carolinas cater to the upper middle class or are just beaches. MB has stuff for little kids to do — amusement parks, water parks, etc. Am I right?

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catsandcoconuts@reddit

NMB used to be a “spring break” destination in my day. not sure if still is.

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ScarletDarkstar@reddit

Mine too, but I would prefer almost anywhere else on that section of coast.

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AllSoulsNight@reddit

I think the whole state of Ohio, most of WVa, and parts of PA, all go to Myrtle for the summer based on the traffic that goes by my house!

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ParryLimeade@reddit

Yeah definitely seems like it

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Radiant-Pomelo-3229@reddit

I’ve never been to Myrtle but always wondered about the appeal. Was at folly beach this weekend and it’s absolute shit as beaches go

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elphaba00@reddit

It's where my mother-in-law always wanted to go. My husband got so sick of it.

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Stock-Swing-797@reddit

Yea, "a beach town in general" is my answer. Myrtle Beach, anywhere in Florida, Gulf Shores AL, couple of the Texas cities, etc.

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einTier@reddit

For Texas: Port A, Galveston, Corpus Christi, South Padre Island. All ways to give your family a beach vacation for cheap.

Alternatively, “the Big City” which means whichever of the big four (Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio) is closest.

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FlyByPC@reddit

Atlantic City, NJ is the canonical going-down-the-shore town if you live in Philly. I'm sure people go to Ocean City, too, but ACY is most common -- there's a direct highway and rail service.

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timdr18@reddit

Either Ocean City, the one in Jersey is very popular too

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catsandcoconuts@reddit

not sure i’ve ever been there. been to wildwood which sucked bc no alcohol. lol

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emnuff@reddit

Wildwood is wild. OC is for squares. Or young children, who may qualify as squares

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PA_MallowPrincess_98@reddit

I go to OCNJ and we just drink in the beach house😂😂

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kibblesandbeer@reddit

This is the way.

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emnuff@reddit

Square

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catsandcoconuts@reddit

ahh ok i was confusing the two then! my b.

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WhatABeautifulMess@reddit

Yeah have them swapped. Ocean City, NJ is dry, Wildwood is not.

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splynneuqu@reddit

Wildwood's tourist industry would wither and die if there was no alcohol.

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timdr18@reddit

I thought Wildwood allowed alcohol, Ocean City Jersey is a dry town.

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ghost_suburbia@reddit

Further south, it is Myrtle Beach

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cyvaquero@reddit

Same. We alternated DelMar coast (usually stayed at Indian River Inlet) with OBX.

Of course the other shorter vacation was Knoebels for dad’s union picnic.

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TelephoneDiligent671@reddit

Nothing wrong with a sponsored amusement park trip.

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PA_MallowPrincess_98@reddit

Also, Knoebels sponsored work trips get you a free book of tickets!

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violethorizon74@reddit

Or Wildwood, NJ

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catsandcoconuts@reddit

lol i’ve been to all multiple times. realizes i’m lower class

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leeloocal@reddit

I grew up in SoCal, and ours was San Diego or San Francisco. DEFINITELY regional.

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Lumpy-Artist-6996@reddit

Yep SF bay area, and first big city visited outside of SF was LA.

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Odd-Significance-17@reddit

i’m from northern california and although i’ve been to like 16 states i’ve never been to LA

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leeloocal@reddit

We were only about 30 minutes away from LA, and my dad worked in Santa Monica, so for us, going there wasn’t a super big deal. But also, Vegas.

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mangomarongo@reddit

Same. I grew up in a small town in SoCal but had some family in LA so going there wasn’t considered a big trip. I’d say the first big trip to a city for me was San Francisco. But it’s still drivable.

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Ok_Bar4002@reddit

Ocean city. The Jersey shore. Dirty Myrtle. Those were the mass spring breaks for American family’s on the east coast in our income range depending on where I was living. Ironically NYC and downstate did the shore while upstate NY passed Jersey and went to Myrtle. On the west coast it doesn’t seem like there is a main spot as there is no warm beach. It’s Hawaii if you can afford it or just anywhere warmer.

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Oliver_Dixon@reddit

That's a great one. How about Branson Missouri tho?

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Spirited_Ingenuity89@reddit

Well, that’s not really regional for Maryland.

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Oliver_Dixon@reddit

Well, yeah

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IrememberXenogears@reddit

Only for Ocean's Calling

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InevitableRhubarb232@reddit

Hol up. You know people who go for a “main vacation” as in … there are other vacations also?

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Fellatination@reddit

Or Deep Creek if they're looking for outdoorsy/skiing.

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CrushyOfTheSeas@reddit

If there is one answer though it’s Orlando.

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machagogo@reddit

People in California (really anywhere out west) are not visiting Orlando as their first city not their own. They have their own version of Disney.

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kileybeast@reddit

Love how no matter how many times we say it, non-Americans still cant grasp just how big the US is

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bass679@reddit

Yeah either to "the big city" or "regional city with major entertainment venue"

So from Northern Utah, going to SLC was a big deal for some folks. Maybe going to LA to visit Disney or something.

Here in Metro Detroit it seems like Chicago is a pretty common, maybe Sandusky OH to go to Cedar Point.

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Aspen9999@reddit

Yeah, we drove down to “ the cities” MSP ( Minneapolis/St Paul) in Minnesota.

Our “ big trip” was a Twins baseball game and Como Park Zoo

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NaughtyLittleDogs@reddit

Ours was Valleyfair and Burnsville Mall (I grew up before Mall of America was built).

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mercurialpolyglot@reddit

And in New Orleans we don’t have any destination cities in driving distance so our common trips are cruises, the beach, Disney World, and Dollywood. We are the destination city in our area lol.

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unknowingbiped@reddit

Mine was Detroit

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Daddysheremyluv@reddit

I'm sorry

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DesertWanderlust@reddit

I think I would've been discouraged there and stopped, but maybe that makes me a lesser person.

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cruzweb@reddit

I wouldn't count Cedar Point, that's the theme park destination more so than the city. Growing up in Macomb County, all of my friends' first big city road trip was always Chicago.

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fingers@reddit

I would have said "Orlando".

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machagogo@reddit

People in California are definitely not hitting Orlando as their first trip to a city other than their own.

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karajade19@reddit

This. I grew up in the Midwest. It was Chicago. Now that I’m in the PNW it would be Seattle or San Francisco

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AHorseNamedPhil@reddit

This.

Presuming someone isn't from a city, or is from a city but goes on a trip another, the first one is usually going to be someplace in convenient driving distance. So it really depends on where they originate.

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Head_Razzmatazz7174@reddit

I live in Texas, so there are several 'city' choices depending on what part of the state you live in. For us, it was DFW, one of my aunts lived close to Houston, so that was my cousin's first city, and and another set lived near Austin.

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texasrigger@reddit

San Antonio is my favorite town in TX to do the tourist thing in.

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astrosergeant@reddit

New Englanders usually do Boston

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TituspulloXIII@reddit

Generally True, although i'm sure there are plenty of people from CT (or even western MA) that visit NYC first.

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o_mh_c@reddit

For much of the southeast it is the Great Smokey Mountains and surrounding tourist traps.

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home-like-noplace@reddit

Yeah, I was gonna say that I’m from Louisiana and everyone goes to Gatlinburg

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jedooderotomy@reddit

This is probably the best answer. Remember, OP, the US is about the same size as all of Europe. So, just like how most French people's first trip might be to Paris, Americans who live on the eastern seaboard would probably be most likely to visit New York or Washington D.C. as their first trip, etc.

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gtne91@reddit

Correct. Destin, FL is called "Little Louisville" ( by people from Louisville) for a reason.

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maimou1@reddit

Ugh. I honeymooned there 44 years ago. Sorry to hear this, but most of old Florida is long gone anyway.

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SassyNachosNotYours@reddit

Exactly this- the US is so big it would be regionally dependent. If you live in the northeast, maybe NYC or Philly (depending on kids ages), could be Chicago in the Midwest, Disney in the southeast, etc.

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RickySlayer9@reddit

Definitely regional but honorable mentions for DC, NYC LA

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LexiD523@reddit

It's definitely regional, but it's also not uncommon for 8th grade classes to take a trip to Washington DC.

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droobles1337@reddit

At my school my class went but our parents had to fund it so me and some friends had to stay back and use that time for study hall. We considered it a class marker in hindsight.

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alicelestial@reddit

in california every school either had a trip to DC or disneyland.

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Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit

Maybe where you live but I don’t know of any 8th grade or other grades around here going to DC.

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ProudMtns@reddit

They legitimately said it's regional?

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Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit

He literally said It’s regional BUT not uncommon for 8th graders to go to DC… which implies that in general the answer is region but overall it is not uncommon for 8th graders to go to DC.

He did not say “It’s regional, but AROUND HERE it’s not uncommon for 8th graders to go to DC”.

The order of the words does not imply the DC in 8th graders is regional. It implies that the answer to OPs question is regional. Many families have “first trips” long before 8th grade.

There is nuance in the response but there is a big implied difference.

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ProudMtns@reddit

I hope your day gets better.

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Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit

Maybe English is your second language. To a native English speaker, the difference is obvious.

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XelaNiba@reddit

My public school in Kansas had an 8th grade trip to DC. My children's school here in NV does the same.

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bibliophile222@reddit

Where I am, it's more common to have 8th grade trips to Montreal than DC.

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itmightbehere@reddit

I had an 8th grade trip to Quebec, but I'm in Missouri, so that was unusual

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bibliophile222@reddit

Wow, that's quite the trip! Did you fly?

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itmightbehere@reddit

No, we had a big bus, like a tour bus? They had a couple drivers who would switch off. I think we just slept on the bus, I don't remember hotels while traveling, just stopping on the edges of NYC at sunrise on the way there.

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bourbonandcheese@reddit

Not sure if they did at the time but Air Canada runs a direct flight to Montreal from STL now. Did the trip a couple years ago and it was as easy of a flight as anything on the east coast.

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t-poke@reddit

I flew the AC STL-Toronto flight last summer and everyone acted like I was flying to Cambodia or something and were shocked when I said the flight was less than 2 hours.

STL-YYZ is literally over 200 miles shorter than STL-LGA but no one bats an eye at flying to New York.

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Stefferdiddle@reddit

Same. From Upstate NY. The French club always did a trip to Montreal or Quebec City. Boston, Toronto and NYC were also on the list for family trips. Less so NYC because the scale of managing a trip there can be intimidating.

Oh, and Niagara Falls of course.

Our HS music program however go on a trip to DC my freshman year for an Orchestra competition.

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LexiD523@reddit

I grew up in Massachusetts where we used to do a trip to Québec City, but I think they changed it to DC so that undocumented kids could go.

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MyTinyVenus@reddit

I also grew up in MA and I went to both. Quebec in 7th grade and DC in 8th. And DC a couple times in high school too

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AlienDelarge@reddit

It was 6th grade but we went to Victoria in school.

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LexiD523@reddit

I currently live in DC, where I run into these school trips all the time.

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NevaehKnows@reddit

I flew through BWI last spring and the whole terminal was filled with at least 5 different groups of 8th graders, all with matching t-shirts saying something like "Woodford Middle School 8th grade trip to DC". A neighboring gate had a flight to Cincinnati flying out with 47 8th graders and their very tired chaperones. I felt bad for the other Cincinnatians on the plane.

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IrritatedMouse@reddit

The matching hat kids

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mekoRascal@reddit

I went because I won an essay contest, but it definitely wasn't on offer for everyone.

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Breakfast_Pretzel@reddit

I’ve lived in CT, PA, SC, and VA where DC was a destination for high schoolers, 8th graders or those in student governments.

In CA and IL this was not a common practice.

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Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit

Which makes sense if you are close like that. Not common in Minnesota.

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Jabjab345@reddit

It's pretty common even in California, definitely depends on the school district however.

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Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit

I don’t know any schools in Minnesota that went to DC, but for High School Choir and Band trips NYC, Nee Orleans, and Chicago seem pretty common.

Before high school, all our field trips are local.

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micropedant@reddit

I grew up on the west coast and we did a DC trip in 8th grade. My husband is from a midwest state and his class also went to DC. Based on that I always assumed it was pretty common.

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IHaveBoxerDogs@reddit

DC is inundated with 8th graders on tour buses every spring. My MIL chaperoned kids from Michigan, and my other mid-Western nieces and nephews came. They’re a pain in the ass. But, also, it’s cool that kids come and learn. I imagine at a certain point it’s just too far for people to travel there.

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sleepygrumpydoc@reddit

I’m in California and going to DC in 8th grade is very common by me.

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GreeenCircles@reddit

I'm in Washington state, I remember a small group of 8th graders from my middle school going to DC in 2003. It wasn't the whole grade though, it was a select group of students. I remember being so jealous, I'd never even been on a plane before.

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Loud-Fox-8018@reddit

I grew up in a small town in Oregon. I think everyone was invited to go on the eighth grade trip to Washington DC, but most of my classmates couldn’t afford to go. I didn’t sign up because my uncle lived in the DC metro area and I’d already visited the main sights several times.

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WafflePeak@reddit

Im from California and did an 8th grade trip to DC, I figured its a pretty national thing.

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InevitableRhubarb232@reddit

My husbands class did by my schools didn’t take any class trips

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start3ch@reddit

Or your state capitol, if you’re far from DC

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Shoddy-Secretary-712@reddit

Still a regional thing with D.C. We went on field trips there most years.

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latelyimawake@reddit

The 8th grade curriculum in a ton of states has Civics/US History as the social studies class, so I think that’s why it’s so common to see 8th grade trips to DC.

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sleepygrumpydoc@reddit

8th grade went to DC, 6th grade went to Ashland, OR. But I’m guessing Ashland was because it was only a 6ish hour bus ride and I can’t imagine schools not on the west coast doing that.

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Effective_Ad9495@reddit

Ha! Our eighth grade trip was to Houston (from Austin, roughly 3 hours away).

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PA_MallowPrincess_98@reddit

This field trip depends on how rich your school district is. Every school in my area, except mine, went to DC for a field trip. My school was too poor even to do it. The majority of people in my school district are below the poverty line.

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axiom60@reddit

No middle school trip but our senior class trip to Six Flags was only for students in the physics class. And we had to either fundraiser or pay out of pocket for it

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hr11756245@reddit

Our schools never went to DC. We went to Disney World, Orlando Science Center, and Kennedy Space Center.

Field trips are very regional.

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3Duder@reddit

Leesburg, FL: we took an 8th grade trip to DC, that's where I unknowingly bought a six pack of hard cider as a tween because cider just meant unfiltered apple juice in the 90s 😂

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DapperCam@reddit

Where I’m from (Western New York) they will have DC field trips, but it is typically a club or group of students, not the whole grade. And the parents pay for it (kids in the club might fundraise to help pay for their trip).

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Mr_Strol@reddit

Ma’am your from PA. People from Montana, Arizona and Oregon aren’t taking 8th grade field trips to DC

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Stircrazylazy@reddit

I lived in Arizona when I was in 8th grade and we took our field trip that year to DC.

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Euphoric_Ease4554@reddit

Yes. In Ohio, went to DC.

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Blossom73@reddit

Fellow Ohioan here. My son went to Chicago with his class in 7th grade, then NYC in 8th. No D.C. trip interestingly.

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Chicken-WeakBird@reddit

My school had a poor kids option. We went to the Coca Cola museum and Underground Atlanta mall. Instead of going to DC with the well-off kids to "learn about our country".

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Pitiful_Fox5681@reddit

This came to mind for me too. I have lived in and have friends in Georgia, Connecticut, Texas, and Arizona. All report that their schools did 8th grade DC trips.

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SirNoahSon@reddit

I didn’t get a 7th/8th grade :( Covid

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nope-its@reddit

5th grade where I lived, but yeah

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feryoooday@reddit

I did that, from SoCal. it was amazing.

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allan11011@reddit

Mine was 5th grade

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ProfessionalCat7640@reddit

I grew up in a place where there was no 8th grade trip option.

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thegamerdoggo@reddit

I think you have to be within a certain range of DC to take a class trip there

Our 8th grade trip was to universal

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proteins911@reddit

If you’re near DC. I’m sure people out west aren’t flying to DC for 8th grade trips.

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ChzGoddess@reddit

Idk, my school did this trip between 7th and 8th grades and we flew out from Arkansas.

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ButtholeSurfur@reddit

FLEW? For a 7th grade trip?

Man we had to share books lol. No one was flying anywhere.

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ChzGoddess@reddit

I mean, students' families had to put up like $750 for the trip (in 1993 dollars), but yes, we flew.

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Tankieforever@reddit

Man, I could barely get my folks to buy me sneakers. I’d have been laughed right out of the house if I had asked them for plane tickets.

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ButtholeSurfur@reddit

That's what I'm sayin!

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ButtholeSurfur@reddit

Right. I'm not saying the trip was free lol.

I'm saying my school wouldn't even ask in the first place. We had a lot of kids who could even afford the highly subsidized 5 hour drive to DC.

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mcnarnia@reddit

We flew from Seattle to DC for our 8th grade trip.

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Stircrazylazy@reddit

We went to DC from Arizona for our 8th grade trip. One of our state reps happened to be on the same flight headed back to DC.

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uni6jon2@reddit

SFBay Area public school districts commonly organize trips to DC and NYC for eighth graders. They aren't official school trips but most kids go and there are funds made available for families who otherwise couldn't afford the trip.

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catalina12007@reddit

not true, my school district from the Southern California area had an 8th grade field trip to DC and other east coast cities. The itinerary would change from year to year but always include DC

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Prestigious_Power_67@reddit

My entire 8th grade class flew to DC for the field trip (from New England), so flying isn't out of the question for a field trip (spring of 2001)

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poisonbeverage69@reddit

Flew from California to dc for a school trip the summer between 7th and 8th grade

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DukeofBraintree918@reddit

9/11 prevented that for us in Massachusetts

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Murderhornet212@reddit

Mine got canceled because of the first gulf war. We also had a trip to NYC canceled because of the LA Riots.

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ButtholeSurfur@reddit

We had to delay our DC middle school trip by one year because of 9/11. Still went to NYC in 2003 though. Got to meet Al Roker.

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DukeofBraintree918@reddit

My 8th grade class went to a camp on the Mass/New York border called Eastover

I just stayed home for 3 days and enjoyed the quiet

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ButtholeSurfur@reddit

I was also in Marine JROTC in high school so we got sent a lot of places but that was because the feds were trying to recruit us lol.

Seeing the Silent Drill Team at 8th and I with John Glenn as the guest of honor was pretty cool! Got to see them like 5 times.

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Murderhornet212@reddit

Mine got canceled because of the first gulf war so we went to Gettysburg agd Hershey instead. (I have since been to DC a few times as an adult)

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RobertNeyland@reddit

Safety Patrol in 5th grade was another popular D.C. trip

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JudgeWhoOverrules@reddit

This is something that's really limited to the east coast where traveled there is easy and cheap. You're not going to see people out west traveling across a continent on a field trip.

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IAmBaconsaur@reddit

DC was 5th grade for me. 6th grade was whale watching in Massachusetts, 7th was NYC.

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DOMSdeluise@reddit

for people with less money, the first trip is probably going to be to the closest big city, if they do not live in the big city already. Even then you would still want to go to another close by big city, like people in Houston where I live visit Austin or Dallas.

Other options include: the lake, the beach, if those are close.

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voltairesalias@reddit

Galveston just gets no love in Houston eh? Why is that? I really liked Galveston when I visited, but it seemed to have this weirdly bad rep in Houston.

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Safe-Tennis-6121@reddit

Yep so Boston or Manhattan in the north east.

Charlotte or Atlanta in the south, or maybe Savannah or Charleston.

I'm sure on the west coast people want to visit LA, SF, SD.

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ComprehensiveEar6001@reddit

A lot of Texans in the eastern half of the state view San Antonio, Galveston, and Padre as the places to go on vacation.

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JamboreeJunket@reddit

Or New Braunfels, the river and Schlitterbaun are calling

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FeelingPlayfulNow@reddit

Dallas if it's the north half of east Texas, unless they like to gamble, then it's Shreveport. Galveston for a beach trip because Padre is 8+ hours away.

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soupdawg@reddit

Or New Orleans

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ComprehensiveEar6001@reddit

Interestingly enough, the lower income people from my part of the 35 corridor don't go to New Orleans all that much. I love the city, but you'll hear a lot more about people driving to Bossier to gamble than going to NOLA.

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JamboreeJunket@reddit

Galveston… and the subpar Schlitterbaun.

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pupper71@reddit

Sometimes it'll be a city where you have family, so there's a free place to stay while you see the sights and spend time with cousins you don't see often. I had many childhood trips to Chicago, even though it wasn't close, because my uncle and also my mom's favorite cousin lived there.

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Next-Bit883@reddit

West Alabama here. Trips : Beach (Gulf Shores) Smoky Mountains (NC side is less tourist trap), sports related ( Alabama Crimson Tide or other destinations for college sports , Birmingham Stallions, Atlanta Braves, NO Saints, Nashville or Memphis) same for concerts.

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lotusmack@reddit

This tracks. Grew up in Jackson, MS. The trips were "The Coast", New Orleans, or Memphis. Went to college at UA - everyone was headed to Atlanta or the aforementioned beach.

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DeliciousMoments@reddit

Yeah this is it. I grew up in Minneapolis so we went to Chicago.

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PerformerMindless100@reddit

From northern Wisconsin. We went to Minneapolis

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passisgullible@reddit

New York, we go to NYC

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Aspen9999@reddit

Northern Mn ( Iron Range) we went to the “ cities” also

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alldressed_chip@reddit

from iowa—chicago, green lake, or lake minnetonka. lol

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MiddlePop4953@reddit

From rural Minnesota. We went to Bemidji and were grateful 🤣

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penguinwasteland1414@reddit

Yep. I grew up in st louis, we also went to Chicago

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InevitableRhubarb232@reddit

From Chicago - went to Wisconsin 😂

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notarealperson319@reddit

Yep, and lumped the rest of us FIB's 100s of miles from Chicago in with ya.

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ProfessionalCat7640@reddit

I grew up in Minneapolis also. There were a few places everyone went that I recall. Chicago, Duluth, Wisconsin Dells, Eau Claire, Milwaukee. It really is regional on where you'll go and what interests you have to go there. For example, a family with kids will go to the Dells where as college kids would go to Eau Claire.

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Jake0024@reddit

That's a long drive to go to a worse city lol

(Looking forward to the comments)

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YourGuyK@reddit

They might have taken the train.

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Jake0024@reddit

That would make it a little better

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bluelily216@reddit

To be fair, getting anywhere in Texas is the same as traveling across multiple states in some area. I grew up in Texas and a trip to Galveston was 6+ hours. Now, if I travel in any direction for that amount of time I will have gone through at least three states.

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gofindyour@reddit

Yup!! We're in Houston now and our favorite vacation spot is Terlingua. That's 9 freaking hours away and you're still in TX

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bluelily216@reddit

The joke I've heard is that Texas is twelve hours wide and twelve hours long. I'm pretty sure it's actually even bigger!

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Aspen9999@reddit

Only if you speed lol

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Guernica616@reddit

Viva Terlingua! I wish Jerry Jeff Walker was still alive.

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Reasonable-Record494@reddit

Also Houston! And this answer tracks. Houston or San Antonio for vacation, not as much Dallas although whether that’s because of the Houston – Dallas rivalry or just that Dallas is not as much fun, I’m not sure. If you live in a city, going to another city for vacation is less appealing, I think. Our family vacations as a kid were usually to South Padre Island around Memorial Day. That was how you knew summer had started.

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comfortably_bananas@reddit

Yup! From Austin we would visit South Padre Island or Enchanted Rock!

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clekas@reddit

I live in Ohio. It's very common for families to go to North Carolina or South Carolina for a week during the summer (or even for spring break). For a shorter trip, a lot of people go to the Lake Erie Islands, one of the amusement parks (Cedar Point is the closest one to me and the most popular), or one of the indoor waterparks. For city vacations, NYC and Chicago are both popular.

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KatFreedom@reddit

Also in Ohio, and I think most families I know vacationed at Put-in-Bay, Gatlinburg, or Myrtle Beach.

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Batetrick_Patman@reddit

Florida too. At least in Cincy it ends up being Florida.

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WhySoSleepyy@reddit

Yup, this seems accurate. Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, Outer Banks are all common beach vacation destinations for people around here.

I will note that I've never been to Disney-anything. It's not terribly uncommon to have visited, but I think for those of us who aren't particularly close to them, they aren't the most common destination. Especially for lower income families.

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dropyopanties@reddit

I live on a Barrier Island in NC. They put digital DOT highway signs out each yr warning ppl about rips. I suggested they add welcome Ohio and Pennsylvania to the sign. After the rip tide warnings, of course .

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Junior-Reflection-43@reddit

When you say “city”… some of the places mentioned may be more like towns. I grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh, so I don’t count Pittsburgh. When I was little, I remember going to New York City for the Worlds Fair. I also remember driving to Florida to visit a family friend who lived in Orlando, but that was before Disney World was even started! We also went to Washington DC.

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Killrose5611@reddit

Orlando.

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Away-Cicada@reddit

Varies by region. And also even then you'd be surprised how many people don't go into the nearby cities at all! I know someone who lives around Trenton (which I guess counts as a city) and I was talking with her about how often i use the transit system to go from Trenton into Philadelphia (nearest major city) and she just..... she's significantly older than me and has never been there. Never been to NYC either. She doesn't like traveling 😅

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DukeofBraintree918@reddit

If I had to pick anywhere I would guess Orlando Florida, as a lot of families go to Disney world especially with younger kids

But it's definitely regional

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macoafi@reddit

I thought about Orlando for Disney, but then I saw "lower income," and Disney is so expensive… And then I was like "heck, for lower income, anything that requires flying is probably out."

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ExasperatedManatee@reddit

If OP is European, it may need to be pointed out that lower-middle-class Americans do not take vacations.

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DukeofBraintree918@reddit

I feel like a lot of parents put themselves in massive debt to do that Disney trip, remember we are trillions in credit card debt as a nation

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gumby_twain@reddit

Actual lower income people aren’t even capable of getting a credit card with a limit high enough to take a Disney trip.

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SnooChipmunks2079@reddit

We're not lower income, but we've driven Chicago to Orlando multiple times - at least once without any stops except fuel and snacks.

WDW used to be much more affordable. Their prices have dramatically exceeded general inflation.

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Coctyle@reddit

For lower income, traveling anywhere is generally out of reach. Maybe camping somewhere within a couple hour drive.

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macoafi@reddit

Yeah, camping is what I think of as a regular vacation on a budget.

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ShadowStarrX@reddit

The common spot to vacation is Florida if you’re from Wisconsin and probably a lot of the Midwest, and yep we drove lol

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pupper71@reddit

I'm 55 and have never been to Florida, even though I lived in Atlanta for a year. Never been to the west coast either (I've never lived west of the Mississippi river).

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MyFellowMerkins@reddit

I would hold that this is the most correct answer for the country as a whole. Each region may have more common locations, but Orlando would likely be the most common answer when polled nationally.

And while it has always been expensive, it never used to be as expensive as it is today. Even lower middle class families could reasonable save and take a family trip there - and many did. Between KOA campgrounds, roadside motels, or hitting up 2nd cousins that live nearish-by, and packing picnic lunches to eat in the parking lot, families could make it work.

These days it is insanely expensive, but they know that families will feel the pressure and guilt to give their kids this iconic experience, so they'll go into debt to do it. GenX/millennials are trying to recreate their childhood nostalgia with their kids and genZ is getting those great Instagram shots.

It's really disgusting and the antithesis of what Walt Disney wanted. This sort of thing is also the reason why most people can't afford to take their kids to a college or professional sporting event. Even county fairs are totally off the rails with their pricing.

/end rant

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Stock-Swing-797@reddit

I'm not necessarily defending Disney here, but Disney is so outrageously busy even with the insanely high prices, it would be a madhouse if it were priced like it "used to be."

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la_tajada@reddit

I blame the Disney adults.

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la_tajada@reddit

Disney has become something that families think they HAVE to do because everyone else does it. I know too many "Disney adults" and I don't want to take my kids there and risk them becoming that kind of adult. Why would I go to Disney every year when I can go to a different national park every year instead?

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smwisdom@reddit

Assuming you are at least middle-class, if I really had to guess the most common city to visit across the country, it would be either Orlando, FL or Los Angeles, CA (depending on which is closer, east coast or west coast).

And that is because of the theme parks (Disney mostly) in those cities.

Outside of that, it really varies by region and socio-economic class. The poor kids might drive with their family to a city or town nearby their hometown for their first big outing.

There really isnt an answer to "what city do most Americans visit," whether on their first trip or something else. America is too large and varied for that. The only one I can really say is I am pretty sure most schools make a field trip to their state's capital at some point.

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DukeofBraintree918@reddit

Yeah my family vacation is a kid was Cape cod which is about 40 minutes away from me, or Old orchard Beach Maine which is about a 2-hour drive North of me

I didn't travel until I was in my twenties on my own

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FrankDrebinOnReddit@reddit

In Boston we'd go to New York because you can get there cheaply and it's freaking New York.

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lil_ninja78@reddit

I'm from Massachusetts originally and would always say, "I'd walk across the street to kick a Yankees fan."

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Unusual_Artichoke_73@reddit

I thinks its NH or the Cape.

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FrankDrebinOnReddit@reddit

Yeah, for a general summer vacation, the Cape wins hands down (maybe NH, too, but when I was growing up it was Cape Cod every summer), but since the question specifically said city I went with NYC.

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1maco@reddit

I mean technically Laconia NH is a city

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Absurdtittyz@reddit

I would say a lot of people’s first big trip is Orlando Florida or Anaheim California for the Disney parks. Other than that it’s a regional guess.

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Saltwater_Heart@reddit

Idk but I live in Florida so we always go to Orlando with the tourists because there is so much to do without paying an arm and a leg for Disney or Universal

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AtrumAequitas@reddit

It’s absolutely a regional thing, especially for lower wage Americans. They will go somewhere within driving distance.

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MuchDevelopment7084@reddit

This is way too general of a question. First you'd have to break it down by region, state, etc. And they would all be different.

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ExasperatedManatee@reddit

Question sounds like it was posted by a European thinking in European. We don't really have interesting cities. We have interesting national parks. Grand Canyon, anyone?

We may occasionally have to go to a city for work or to visit family. That's not expected to be fun in a sightseeing way. Some people pretend Las Vegas is fun. But Oatman is next door and much cooler.

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stranqe1@reddit

This is like asking what is the city that most Europeans visited for their first trip?

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BigReception7685@reddit

Absolutely regional. But gth, I can't think of a specific one for Texas. For vacation, my family usually goes to Galveston, but maybe San Antonio? That seems kind of like the must-visit Texas city, with all the history and culture.

And this could even be regional within Texas. For someone out east, maybe the "It" city could be New Orleans, idk. Or your nearest coastal city if you live along the bend (Galveston, Corpus Christi, or South Padre). If you live out west, maybe it's somewhere in New Mexico (like Santa Fe or Taos), or Marfa if you're closer to El Paso. This is just me spitballing.

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Dear_Locksmith3379@reddit

My first trips as a toddler were to visit relatives, such as my grandparents.

As a small child in Texas, the most common other travel destinations were beaches.

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someolive2@reddit

florida

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ThingFuture9079@reddit

Whichever city is closest to them which for me was Cleveland since it's an hour away from me.

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badtux99@reddit

I would say that for most lower-middle to middle class families, it's Orlando, Florida, or Anaheim, California. A trip to Disneyworld/Disneyland is a once in a lifetime thing that they scrimp and save for years to afford, hoping that they can get the money together before the kids are too old to enjoy it.

Lower class families... they don't go on vacation trips, except possibly to visit relatives who live in another city. Going anywhere at all if you can't afford to fly requires driving, because the US has essentially no train network and the bus network has become rather frayed since Greyhound was bought by vulture capital and its extensive bus station network dismantled and sold off for profit. I don't think people realize just how cheap Greyhound used to be. Back in the 1980s a friend got stranded in Washington D.C. and rode the 'hound back to Lafayette, Louisiana, on just the cash that was in his wallet -- and he was a poor college student, not some wealthy person of means. Anyhow, the limit on driving is basically 1 day because a hotel overnight isn't realistic if you're poor. When you get to your relative's house you bunk up on their sofa and in cheap Walmart sleeping bags on the floors, visit them for a day or two, then drive back home. That's vacation for lower class families in America. And that's the more affluent ones. The poorest of the poor... they simply don't leave their city, because they're reliant on the city bus for transportation and it don't go anywhere.

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unsmashedpotatoes@reddit

For that criteria, I think literally just going to a tourist location one state over counts. I live near the biggest city in my state so my perspective may be skewed.

Though I guess I'd also count a trip to the 3rd-4th biggest city. (I'd count the 2nd, but I live in Minnesota and the 1st and 2nd biggest get lumped together due to proximity)

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professor-ks@reddit

This map shows how diverse and complicated the answer is. Even then I don't know if it is accurate/complex enough.

https://www.vividseats.com/blog/most-popular-nfl-teams-by-state-county

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macoafi@reddit

Definitely regional, because it'll be something within about a 4 hour drive.

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BirdAndWords@reddit

Unless it’s the Midwest because those folks will drive for 10 hours and say how easy it was lol

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iowanaquarist@reddit

10 hours is not a day trip, but as a Midwesterner, yeah, that's an easy drive for a vacation. I've done worse.

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psychologicallyblue@reddit

Ok, so at this point, I feel like it would be easier and more worth it to fly somewhere for vacation. It's about 10 hours to fly from SFO to London. From the Midwest, that's even faster. You can get to Mexico in less than 4 hours. Why not do that instead?

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iowanaquarist@reddit

Price, and lack of a vehicle at the other end. Also, I don't have friends or family there, etc

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psychologicallyblue@reddit

I see, if you're mainly visiting family that makes sense. A lot of the time, it is actually cheaper to fly out of the country for vacations and you don't need a car in many places.

Last year, I compared going to New Orleans with going to Fiji and Fiji was about the same cost so we went to Fiji. I recently spent $1000+ for a roundtrip flight from SF to Detroit to see family, SF to Tokyo is currently $600.

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iowanaquarist@reddit

Well, we are visiting family and friends, and going to see specific sights, or going camping or hiking, etc. We also have to take our immediate family with on vacation, so we are talking more than one plane ticket. Right now, here to Detroit is ~8-9 hours each way, and would cost a couple hundred in gas total. It would be $400 to fly. Each. And would be 4 hours on a plane (each way), plus an extra hour or two for the 'recommended time' before your flight -- so we are only saving a couple hours.... and the trip is costing literally 10x as much just to travel. To be fair, there is a layover in New Orleans, so we would have 50 minutes to enjoy there...

I'll also be honest, most of the time, I have little interest in going someplace so crowded I don't need a vehicle. Sure, we might visit someplace like that, but that's not usually the whole trip. For instance, if I were going to Detroit, Chicago is about half way. We could drive 4 hours, hit the Museum of Science and Industry and the Shedd Aquarium, drive another couple hours, get a hotel (or a camp ground), and then be in Detroit early the next day. Or we could leave after after work, and save a day of vacation (and the kids would sleep partway there). On the way home from Detroit, we could add a half hour of driving time, and go through Toledo and see something there. Another half hour added, and we go through Fort Wayne.

When we drove to Niagara Falls, (12 hours or so), we were able to also visit Toronto, some wineries in both countries near Niagara, as well as sight see in Chicago, as well as some wineries along the Mississippi river, and a couple of caves.

If we didn't have a car with us.... we would have been able to do.... 1 city.

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Call_Me_Papa_Bill@reddit

Yup. Michigan here, driving to Florida for a weekend is not unheard of.

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psychologicallyblue@reddit

Holy hell. We sometimes do SF to Tahoe (3-4 hours) but only if it's a long weekend.

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psychologicallyblue@reddit

Lol. Just two days ago, I saw someone from the Midwest arguing that they have very easy access to dining and entertainment... apparently it's "just a one hour drive" to the nearest city. I cannot imagine having to make a two hour round trip just to go watch a show or have dinner but apparently people think that's nothing.

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cruzweb@reddit

I mean, I live in an Inner Ring suburb of Boston and it can take me an hour to get into the city

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psychologicallyblue@reddit

I would imagine though that if you wanted to go to a restaurant, you probably don't need to drive into the city.

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Kinross19@reddit

I live in a rural hub city in Kansas. We get folks driving almost two hours to come to our Target "just for fun". But really an easy one or two hour drive a couple times a week with no traffic is SO much better than a daily 45-minute commute in stop and go traffic in a metro area.

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bourbonandcheese@reddit

That has less to do with the Midwest and more to do with them living in a generally rural area. I live in a major midwestern city and complain about going more than 4 miles from my house.

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Ready-Ant-4649@reddit

I mean, I think it depends on what you’re doing too and the frequency. Driving to the grocery store every week? I’m not going to go to one that takes 15 minutes to drive to, even if it’s supposedly better. Way too far away! But going an hour to the city once a month on a Saturday to go to the zoo, a museum, a fancy dinner, a show, etc? Sure why not sign me up! And a 13 hour road trip once per year? Say less, we’ll do that drive in one day!

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macoafi@reddit

Driving is the only part of that that's weird, not the length of time. For me to walk to the metro station, ride down to Metro Center or Dupont Circle, and then walk to whatever restaurant or theatre I want to go to also takes an hour. I'm in DC's inner suburbs.

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cavalier78@reddit

When I lived in Silver Spring, it took me about an hour to get into DC.

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Southern-Usual4211@reddit

I used to commute an hour each way in the early 00s

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ticktack@reddit

I’ve lived in two major metros and had the same experience. My work commute is easily 1-1.5 hours one-way to drive 11 miles.

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p333p33p00p00boo@reddit

I'm so guilty of that hahah

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valer1a_@reddit

Same with Texas. We drive eights hours and... we're still in Texas.

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killingourbraincells@reddit

I learned this living in CO. My best friend and I would regularly drive from Denver to KC every single weekend. It was to see her son, so it was worth it. But, damn it was just so casual to her lmao.

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BuildNuyTheUrbanGuy@reddit

I lived in Colorado for years, that's insane lol.

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BirdAndWords@reddit

Those crazy long drives aren’t really a typical Colorado thing. 2-3 hours for a day trip seems to be the max here.

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killingourbraincells@reddit

I'm sure it's because she was from Kansas.

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Zernhelt@reddit

That seems crazy to drive versus fly. A quick search makes it look like flying would save 2 to 4 hours (depending on how far from the airports the origin and destination are, and how conservative one is with TSA wait times). And the cost of a flight plus airport parking plus a rental car appears to be about the same or less then the cost of gas plus wear on the car.

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Tankieforever@reddit

Good god. Not only is that a long drive… but through KANSAS of all states…

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killingourbraincells@reddit

Yeeeah. We took it as an opportunity to explore new music and podcasts lmao.

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slopgus@reddit

It’s a long drive but it’s not exactly technically challenging

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killingourbraincells@reddit

Yeah exactly, basically a straight shot lol.

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BoulderNerd@reddit

You lose almost a full day on the two way trip, was it really worthwhile or was this a three day weekend?

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killingourbraincells@reddit

We'd leave and drive back on Friday night. So yeah, it's really just a full day on Saturday. Go for breakfast on Sunday.

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TempAcct724@reddit

Or in the mountains. The closest metro area over 1M to Salt Lake where I grew up is Las Vegas, 6 hours away or Denver, 8 hours away. Phoenix and LA are a 10 hour drive, SF and Portland are 11, and Seattle is 12.

A 4 hour drive from Salt Lake puts me in the middle of nowhere. I think the largest city I could get to outside of Utah within 4 hours is Boise, ID if I drive 90mph.

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Aclearly_obscure1@reddit

I feel like the answer for most of the Midwest is Branson or the Ozarks in general.

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Mndelta25@reddit

The dells

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bourbonandcheese@reddit

Even for Midwesterners there's a pretty stark divide in "Branson folks" vs "not Branson folks," especially since they've basically embraced full MAGA. I live a few hours away, travel in that part of the country reasonably often, but have never been. Silver Dollar City always looked fun, but Six Flags was much closer, and growing up we were more likely to see the traveling Broadway shows like Wicked or Stomp than travel for Yakov Smirnov or whatever his name was (I do remember the commercials!)

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InevitableRhubarb232@reddit

I’m from the Midwest and my 7 hour drive to university wasn’t a big deal.

I’m planning to drive 2 hours in a couple weeks to pick up a pet mouse 😂

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cruzweb@reddit

Can confirm. Once drove from St. Louis to DC because it was easier

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Stephmarlowe11@reddit

I mean, I grew up driving from Chicago to Disney World, so this tracks.

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2AMBeautiful@reddit

That’s just a quick drive down the road.

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Southern-Usual4211@reddit

In the Southwest 8 hours is the starting point. Im from NM and there is NOTHING 4 hours away all the cities are 8 hours away at minimum

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Positive-Draft3801@reddit

This is spot on. In northern California in the summer when the inland region gets too hot, everyone goes to either Fort Bragg if they're old or Santa Cruz if they're young. Both are almost exactly 4 hours from where I grew up.

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shoresy99@reddit

This kid the same question as “What American city gets the most tourists?” NYC gets the most tourism so that would be the answer.

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CountChoculasGhost@reddit

Yeah, there is not definitive “first trip”.

A lot of people visit NYC, but that is expensive both to get to (depending where you live) and to stay in.

My first “trip” was probably to Chicago as the closest big city to where I lived in Michigan at the time.

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wooltab@reddit

I do think that there are a few cities that are "it would be really cool to go there" and they're not necessarily all the big ones.

NYC, Chicago fit because they're kind of the ideal of "skyscraper city" in the US.

I'd guess San Francisco is more popular than Los Angeles, in spite of being smaller. On the West Coast, SF is the one.

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LippyLulu2@reddit

Out west it wouldn't be a city. It would be either Disneyland or the Grand Canyon.

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Key_Set_7249@reddit

Destin, Gulf Shores, Panama City Beach area for people in Kentucky usually.

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PA_MallowPrincess_98@reddit

Down the Shore🏖️

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macoafi@reddit

Is that how Philly people say it? I'd say down the ocean. (But "down the" is pronounced like "dahny".)

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MamaPajamaMama@reddit

"Down the shore" means the Jersey shore. I've never heard down the ocean, is that said in Maryland?

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catsandcoconuts@reddit

yes. it’s like “down da ocean” but it’s 3 syllables not 4. lol

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macoafi@reddit

Maybe? I'm from Pittsburgh, hence my pronunciation of "down" with an "a".

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PA_MallowPrincess_98@reddit

Pretty much. It might sound different because I am from what Philly people call “Pennsyltucky.” I live near Knoebels Amusement Resort, and people from my area work there in the summer. The main vacation spot for people in my area is The Shore. We do have some people who go to Disney World, but it's not really a summer vacation destination.

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macoafi@reddit

Wait, does The Shore mean something other than the Atlantic Ocean?

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MamaPajamaMama@reddit

Or really, something other than the Jersey Shore.

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Synchro78@reddit

Its not really a Philly thing. I'm originally from North Jersey and we would always say going down the shore. I live in the Lehigh Valley and most people here say the same thing.

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catsandcoconuts@reddit

that’s how my ex’s family says it lol. down d’ocean.

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MamaPajamaMama@reddit

Cause down the shore everything's all right, you and your baby on a Saturday night.

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eyetracker@reddit

You gonna play some video games, buy some Def Leppard T-shirts?

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royalpeenpeen@reddit

Very regional based question. Probably the closest big city, beach, lake or something else near them.

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Tall_0rder@reddit

Yeah this is a hella regional thing because the US is just too big otherwise. If you grew up in New England or the coastal midatlantic states, good bet your family went to to Williamsburg (VA), Philadelphia (PA), NYC (NY), or maybe Boston (MA) just as an example.

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pikkdogs@reddit

Regional. But there are a couple ones that might work. Usually If your town has an airport, they may have occasional flights to Orlando or to Las Vegas. If you are flying then those are two options that are pretty universal.

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OrneryQueen@reddit

It's regional. Lots of people's first trips are to the beach, the nearest large affordable city, or long weekends where if it's more expensive they can afford a 3-4 day trip. Families will save for years to go to Disney World. Local lakes/rivers/parks draw the mindful budget camping crowds.

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cautiously-curious65@reddit

Having lived in NYC most of my life with a job where my whole job was predicting trends in global beauty markets and managing stock levels based on the “season of tourism” .. for much for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, nyc is a big one.

I’d imagine LA has the same clout. Probably different markets, but..asia and the eastern side of Eurasia and Africa would have that same drive. Theoretically.

Those hubs shift really quickly. And reporting on them is weak. I was part of the company that wrote policy for the number 1 in prestige beauty in the USA…

So.. that’s my take. I saw mostly European, middle eastern and west African tourists. Probably 1,000 every day. I can’t imagine la wouldn’t have similar numbers.

Charter busses would dump tourists on our doorstep. of all walks and countries of origin. No complaints, but it was a lot.

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blueponies1@reddit

No, america is too large for any one city to be affordable for most poorer families. In my region, many poorer families will visit Branson or the Lake of the Ozarks to get the lite version of visiting Disney or going the beach on the coast.

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weedgoblin69@reddit

yup if you're in missouri, you go to branson

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catsandcoconuts@reddit

seen several comments about branson, what is there to do there?

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Oliver_Dixon@reddit

As a kc baby, Branson is the first thing I thought of too

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Temporary-Moments@reddit

Myrtle Beach is pretty popular for lower/lower-middle income families in the region I’m from. Also Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge.

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brookish@reddit

Depends where they live and how far they can travel. Big possibilities are Chicago, New York, LA, SF, New Orleans.

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queenchubkins@reddit

I don’t think you can even say most Americans necessarily want to visit a city for their first trip. For example, my parents liked camping and I had seen more National and State Parks by the time I started school than many Americans see in a lifetime.

My first city was probably Detroit because I grew up in Michigan but I don’t remember it. (I lived in Flint as a small child but that’s not a big city) The first city I remember is Orlando to go to Disney (back when it was affordable) and later New York to visit my older sister. Even though Chicago was relatively close, I never visited with my parents. They just aren’t really into cities as destinations.

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LsdAlicEx9@reddit

From Detroit, at 16 took a bus to Phoenix. Since then have cross country travelled over 25 times, cars, plane, bus. And Im poor.

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ShotImprovement5695@reddit

With lots of gains of salt: West coast often goes to Hawaii or Mexico. East coast often goes to Europe or Caribbean

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Profopol@reddit

It is pretty regional when it comes to vacations. Theres really no such thing as a “first trip” for most Americans. Las Vegas and Orlando are probably the closest thing.

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SympleTin_Ox@reddit

I’ve been everywhere, Man!

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KJHagen@reddit

It varies by region. People are often more attracted to amusement parks and national parks than cities. Disneyland and Yellowstone Park are popular destinations.

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SheketBevakaSTFU@reddit

This isn’t a thing.

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malledtodeath@reddit

This is so not a thing that it’s upsetting me how nonsensical it is. In what sense would it be a first trip? First trip as an adult without your parents? First trip as a family vacation? First big school/class trip? Camping trip? Trip on an airplane? Most babies take their first trip to see a family member- but then we’re talking babies so what, first trip to the doctor? Grandma’s house? Road trip? Boat trip?
The US is enormous! And there’s no traditional trips or rites of passage culturally besides maybe Disney or college spring break. In my state every sixth grader does outdoor school at a camp with the whole sixth grade class.

Most families don’t fly they go camping somewhere in driving distance.

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SheketBevakaSTFU@reddit

I want to know where it IS a thing.

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Swimming-Book-1296@reddit

european countries.

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idisestablish@reddit

No, it's not a thing. OP doesn't even specify what they mean by "first trip." How far must you travel and for what reasons for something to count as your "first trip?" If you live in Marietta, does going to Atlanta count as your first trip? If you If you're from Modesto and go to San Francisco to see a specialist physician, does that count? If you drive 4 hours from Bowman, ND to Minot, ND, does that count?

Regardless, it's going to vary widely, depending on the specific locale within any country, with the possible exception of some microstates and depending on exactly what qualifies as a "first trip."

Take Italy. If you're born in Capua, then Naples is most likely the first major city you'll visit, but it could be Rome. If you are from Alessandria, then it could easily be Turin, Milan, or Genoa. There's no one destination in Italy that is overwhelmingly everyone's "first trip," regardless of where they live in the country.

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valer1a_@reddit

Lived in Germany, this was NOT a thing lol. Maybe in others, but I've never heard of this even through friends who live in other countries.

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SnooChipmunks2079@reddit

I don't know where you're from, but I absolutely do not believe that most American families ever go camping. We're too soft. My dad and I went camping ONCE with the Webelos and both decided that we were not interested in ever camping again.

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unix_name@reddit

Im just going out on a limb to say...the beach somewhere :D.

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flora_poste_@reddit

If you live on the SF Peninsula, your first trip will likely be to the City (SF). That said, my first school trip was to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose.

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UbeKatsu_711@reddit

For people in SoCal it’s probably the Bay Area or Vegas

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evantually421@reddit

For South Carolina, it’s typically Charleston, Atlanta, or Charlotte.

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NoGuarantee3961@reddit

It varies by region.

There are a few destinations that are 'destinations' for all Americans at some time, but not for their 'first' trip....around here it is probably Washington DC, Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, etc.

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wickedpixel1221@reddit

if I had to pick something, Orlando is probably the first big trip for a decent percentage of Americans.

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Jolee5@reddit

Whatever cities are proximal to their domicile. But, most folks aren't going to a city on their first trip. They're going to the: beach, lake, river, mountain, dunes, park, wherever outdoors to: swim, surf, fish, hunt, camp, hike, ski, bike, offroad, boat, BBQ, hang, fly a kite...

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yyythoo@reddit

In no particular order

Florida / Disney

Washington D.C.

New Orleans

Las Vegas

New York City

Bigger city in their regional area

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Weary-Passion5346@reddit

Varies by region and ethnicity, Examples, NYC, Atlantic City, Las Vegas, New Orleans, LA, Miami, or Tupelo.

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KillBologna@reddit

When I was a young man, I would just ask 2 of my buddies if the want to go to a road trip with no direction. Usually, we end up in some small we always past going to other places. It’s always cool to visit places you’ll never hear of. Start there.

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monsoonsiren@reddit

From Cincinnati, Ohio to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

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rawbface@reddit

Wow you really can't comprehend how big this country is huh

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Dapper-Presence4975@reddit

This is a weird question… the U.S. is far too large and varied to give an answer to this.

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Barfotron4000@reddit

Definitely regional except maybe one of the Disneys. I grew up in Fargo, so Minneapolis or Duluth MN were the close first trip things because they’re driving distance

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Budgiejen@reddit

Chicago

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Tacokolache@reddit

Depends on where you live. If you grow up in the Northwest you aren’t going to Myrtle Beach

And if you live in Florida you probably aren’t headed to Jackson Hole

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TheDarKnightly@reddit

New York. No doubt. But for low or middle income individuals, it depends on your location. I worked in Kansas for a few years, and I went to Kansas City. A shockingly fun place with lots to do. But I live in Denver, so I don’t have to travel, now :)

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Low_Roller_Vintage@reddit

My first big city trip was Chicago when I was 10. It's a 42 minute flight from Columbus.

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ChemistRemote7182@reddit

I would bet Boston disproportionately despite it being a smaller city in a corner of the nation- it's filled with colleges and universities. Quite a few young Americans probably take a trip to Boston senior year of highschool or during their college years.

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Sorry_Seesaw_3851@reddit

Clearfield PA. Avoid the lasagna.

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RanjuMaric@reddit

Depends on where you live. Someone in Richland Washington isn't likely goin nito NYC as their "First trip", and someone in Martinsville, VA, isn't likely going to go to LA as their "first Trip"

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BooksNReading@reddit

For lower income Americans, it’s usually to the biggest city in their state or a neighboring state. A family in rural Oregon might drive to Portland or Seattle, for example. Beyond that, they might save up to fly to someplace like Disneyland or Disney World, or possibly to New York City or a national park. They might also fly someplace sunny like California, Hawaii, or Florida.

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QuarterNote44@reddit

For me city-wise it was LA. Grew up in Utah.

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loveshercoffee@reddit

I feel like Vegas or Orlando might be somewhat universal vacation spots.

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Prestigious-Name-323@reddit

There is no one city. The US is huge.

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zixy37@reddit

I’d say either Orlando (Disney) or NYC. But even then, the entire west is forgotten. But if you went by numbers, it’s probably one of those. Considering people from all over the world come to visit those two cities, it’s a good guess. The US is huge!!!!

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SenatorBeers@reddit

Orlando Florida or NYC would be my first guesses.

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throwraW2@reddit

The US is way too big for there to be an accurate answer to this question.

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adumant@reddit

Regionally, how about The Dells?

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throwraW2@reddit

Never been, but heard good things

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adultdaycare81@reddit

NYC, Orlando/Disney, LA, Chicago, Vegas. All depends on their location

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coffeegrindz@reddit

In the southeast it’s definitely Myrtle beach SC or Orlando FL

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Accomplished_Mix7827@reddit

Most people go to the closest big city. If there's any one city that's the default destination though, it's probably either New York or Los Angeles. Both cities have massive cultural influence and are romanticized almost as much as Paris.

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Strange_Explorer_780@reddit

Orlando?

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Holiday_Actuator2215@reddit

Keep in mind due to the size of the county this is like asking a European what city most europeans go to for their first trip, or asking what city in all of Southeast Asia encompassing dozens of counties most people go to.

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steester@reddit

If you had to come up with an answer, it would maybe be Disneyland/Disneyworld.

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bowlofweetabix@reddit

Not for middle or lower middle class. That costed about 3 months salary back in the 90s for my family

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Euphoric_Ease4554@reddit

When we were in Minnesota, first family trip was Disneyworld.

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ProfessionalCat7640@reddit

Mind if I ask what year? I can't imagine a young Minnesotan family affording that trip now unless they had rich grandparents paying for at least half of it.

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Tankieforever@reddit

Kinda pricey

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Cant-Take-Jokes@reddit

A lot go to Disney. So Orlando.

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Glittering_Pie8461@reddit

It's Orlando, FL

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Acrobatic-Hat6819@reddit

In my experience people on a budget near me (North East) tend to spend their vacation time away from the cities. People might take a day trip into Boston, or a weekend in NYC. Mostly people go to the beach, or a lake or to the mountains for an affordable trip. Often stay at a campground or rent some type of cabin.

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give_me_goats@reddit

It really depends on where you live in America, but there are a few major cities that most Americans want to see at least once. It seems like NYC is popular, along with Disney World / Disneyland (obviously those aren’t cities but that’s the main attraction in those 2 areas of the USA). People talk about going to Honolulu or Maui in Hawaii for beach vacations. There are many more beaches in the US though. In my area of Texas people tend to go to Padre or Port Aransas.

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Rum_Running_Sailor@reddit

Definitely changes by State, and if you live in a large state it changes by the region of the state that you're in. I live in California. It's approximately 1000 miles long (1600 km) and approximately 300 miles wide (480 km).

We tend think of our State as divided into three major regions nicknamed NorCal, CenCal and SoCal. There's also the San Francisco Bay Area which is kind of its own thing. There are no actual borders or boundaries for these regions so California's constantly argue over where they begin and end!

NorCal generally extends from the Oregon border to San Francisco and Sacramento. This includes Humboldt, Mount Shasta and Redding. The San Francisco Bay Area is its own region within a region. The SF Bay Area generally extends West from the Coastal Range to the Pacific Ocean, North along the coast to include the wine country, and South to include everything down to the South Bay, like San Jose and Santa Clara. I know people from the Bay Area are going to blow up the comments, but like I said, Californian's argue over these boundaries.

CenCal goes from roughly the SF Bay Area and Sacramento, south to Bakersfield or the Grapevine, which includes Stockton and Fresno as major cities in that region. There's a lot of agriculture in this region, especially in the Central Valley.

SoCal goes from the Grapevine to the Mexican border. The obvious choices here are LA, Long Beach , and San Diego, but there's also Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, and other amazing cities down there.

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Healthy_Blueberry_59@reddit

Orlando with Disney is a big one.

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MonteCristo85@reddit

In my region its Branson.

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goldnowhere@reddit

In New England, I'd say it's usually Boston. Elsewhere, I'm not sure.

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No_Sorbet1634@reddit

Which ever one is the closest major metro that you don’t visit regularly enough that you could realistically make a long weekend out of without seeing a thousand things you’ve seen before. That said I know a ton of people that didn’t go to a city for their first trip there is quite literally a dusting amount of tourist trap towns that are popular for weekend to week long trips. Branson is the one that comes to mind.

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rhb4n8@reddit

I would guess the biggest number is DC or Orlando because schools do DC trips and kids in marching band often go to Disney

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Comfortable-Grand166@reddit

NYC,Disney,or Hollywood

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Late-Cranberry8697@reddit

Poor people go to bed. So they can nap before their second job.

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Dia-Burrito@reddit

This seems like a "bot" question

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animepuppyluvr@reddit

If you live in California, maybe something like LA or Santa Monica or San Francisco. If you live in Tennessee, maybe Nashville. If you live in Pennsylvania, maybe New York. If you live in Maine, maybe Canada. If you live in Arizona, maybe Mexico or Southern California.

The farther you go the more expensive it is (generally).

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personwhoisok@reddit

Disneyland

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start3ch@reddit

I think a majority of Americans choose to go on vacations to places that are NOT in cities. Families, especially with young kids, will go to the ocean, to parks, more outdoorsy families will go to the national parks.

I can’t imagine visiting a city like New York as a kid and enjoying it.

A large chunk of families in the US (from Massachusetts to Texas) make the pilgrimage to Disney world in Orlando as their one big vacation every year or every few years, but that may be changing given how expensive it’s gotten.

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brainsewage@reddit

Most likely, it will be the closest large city to which the person has not yet traveled. I grew up lower-middle class in Wisconsin, so we'd been to Milwaukee and Chicago often enough already by the time I moved out on my own. First place I drove to, alone as an adult, was St. Louis.

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RamBh0di@reddit

Just Here to Say SAN FRANCISCO

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ron_spanky@reddit

I agree it’s regional but there are some cities that if you ask a newly 21 year old kid where do they want go first will have on their list. NY, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago

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Royal_Annek@reddit

Most poor Americans aren't going far, so yes it's very regional.

In my area we have a place called Leavenworth that's a German themed tourist town. Lots of people go there as it's driving distance, caters to travelers and is a big change from daily life despite being a short distance away.

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forogtten_taco@reddit

Disney world/land. So what ever city that is in flordia and California. Thats usually a big vacation for family and early children.

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Existing-Teaching-34@reddit

For the folks in the economic range you’ve listed it is whatever big city is within driving distance to them. So it’s definitely regional.

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_Worm@reddit

Myrtle beach? place is terrible, don't go.

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thrwwy2267899@reddit

I’m from Indiana and for beach trip it’s definitely anywhere in the Florida pan handle or Daytona lol or if Lower income maybe Myrtle Beach, SC…and we drive, not fly 😂

Maybe Chicago for a proper “big city” trip

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AdamOnFirst@reddit

Lower income is definitely whatever nearby regional city they can afford. Maybe even just their local big city if they’re rural. Maybe a road trip somewhere warm if where they’re from is cold.

Middle income is probably the “somewhere warm”

Upper middle income is probably “your regional large city, with a national average of New York City”

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HorseFeathersFur@reddit

There is no “one city.”

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Ambitious-Break4234@reddit

Lower income people may not travel at all.

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Flimsy_Equal8841@reddit

Yes, it is definitely regional. I live 160 miles from Chicago. Usually the schools go there to visit the Museum of Science and Industry.

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redrosebeetle@reddit

What is that one city in Europe most Europeans go to for their "first trip?" Idk, it varies by region because that's one huge ass area. Kinda like how America is the size of Europe.

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Swimming-Book-1296@reddit

This isn't really a thing in the US.

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CroweBird5@reddit

Definitely regional for that demographic.

I'm low-income but privileged to have a car. But I'm lucky in that I have actually quite a bit within a couple of hours of driving from me.

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Certain-Monitor5304@reddit

Orlando

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Awkward_Orange2100@reddit

I don’t think that’s a thing. When I was a kid, our “big trips” were to the closest beach or driving 20 hours to visit family for a week or two

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SmartFX2001@reddit

I’m from northern Florida and we would go to New Orleans.

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CamiJay@reddit

Well if it’s up to what the individual “wants” every answer is going to be different depending on location but more importantly their interests. Me, personally? I want to be in Honolulu lol. Love it there.

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ParfaitMajestic5339@reddit

How does/did Las Vegas fit into this discussion? It has/had easy and cheap air routes... so it's a national possibility. I've never gone since gambling and gluttony don't really appeal. But as a national destination Vegas or Disney seem to be the contenders. And Disney isn't a city.

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moot-moot@reddit

It’s likely to be a costal city. After that I’d agree it’s regional.

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tincan-veteran@reddit

I think Anaheim Ca. would be a pretty common answer... 🤷🏻

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Living_Fig_6386@reddit

I'd be surprised if people select a city as a vacation destination. Places like resorts, beaches, national or state parks, etc. would all likely rank higher. To wit, Orlando, Florida is probably the top for all the people visiting the Disney parks and Universal.

In my area, the choice destinations (particularly if you don't have a lot of money) are the seashore and the mountains - both easy car trips, plenty of reasonably priced lodging (particularly in the mountains), lots os scenery and hiking, and fun little towns.

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veritable-truth@reddit

I would be surprised if there is a consensus. Candidates are NYC, DC, Grand Canyon, New Orleans, San Francisco, LA, Las Vegas. Obviously Grand Canyon isn't a city, but it's better than most cities on Earth, not just the US.

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Illustrious_Code_347@reddit

Definitely regional. In Massachusetts, I would say New Hampshire definitely fits this description (New Hampshire isn't a city, it's a state, but it's still where everyone goes, including poor and low-income. If I had to choose a city, it would probably be Hampton Beach, which is in New Hampshire). Because we're a small state to begin with, New Hampshire isn't that far of a drive, it's only like 45 min from Boston. And things are way cheaper in New Hampshire because there's no sales tax.

New Hampshire has even capitalized on this and have branded stuff like "Vacationland" and they even put these huge liquor stores right at the NH/MA border because they know Mass residents drive over to buy stuff.

NH has some very slimy areas that are not great. Yankee rednecks. But it also has a lot to offer. It has mountains for hiking or skiing, lakes and ocean, it can be very pretty. And fireworks are legal. And gun laws are very lax (for New England). So all around it's kind of a cheap, fun, place of freedom where you can just go up there and have some fun, even if you're poor.

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affectionateanarchy8@reddit

It's regional. When I lived in Alabama it was either Atlanta or New Orleans depending which end of the state youre from. Or maybe even Tennessee idk i wasnt up that far

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THEREALISLAND631@reddit

The US is huge so totally region/state dependent.

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lolCLEMPSON@reddit

Most Americans are unlikely to visit cities for trips. More likely to be a vacation area like a beach of mountain or Disney type stuff

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No-Refrigerator-4951@reddit

This is regional, but many schools on the eastern seaboard do a class trip in middle school to Washington, DC.

My family didn't have money for vacations, but this was an affordable class trip. We took busses down and stayed in a hotel overnight. I would consider this my first trip to a city (for vacation purposes), and I wouldn't be surprised if this is the same for other lower income students.

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Dazzling_Floor_4262@reddit

All the cowards are defaulting to answer “regional”, I’ll say it’s either Vegas or DC

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AnatidaephobiaAnon@reddit

My first trip that wasn't to visit family or go to a funeral was when I was three years old and it was to Gatlinburg. Which is a popular spot for a lot of people where I live (Southwest Ohio). My little sister's first trip was also Gatlinburg when she was three.

We did the bigger trips, like Disney World, the beach in Florida and South Carolina, we went to Toronto and Niagara Falls one year, but my parents for some reason always made our first vacation spot Gatlinburg.

The thing is, you could ask this question and get a hundred answers because it's entirely regional. I've got friends from Wisconsin whose first trip was to Door County or The Dells. One of my best friends in high school was from Seattle and his first trip was to Rainier and some cabins there. I've had a friend from NYC whose first trip was to the Borscht Belt.

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SnooChipmunks2079@reddit

I would guess that the city that more Americans have visited than any other would be one of these - probably in this order, but it's just a guess.

Orlando
New York City
Los Angeles (greater metro area.)
Washington, DC

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Djinn_42@reddit

Washington DC - school trip.

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Difficult_Ladder369@reddit

I’m in Los Angeles, vacation is driving up to NorCal camping and hanging out with family

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AuggieNorth@reddit

In my neck of the woods in Western New England, it was going to New York City, which was and still is like night and day with the quiet, leafy, small towns in my region. I remember my first trip to Times Square in 1979, with the city being so overwhelming, too big to get a mental picture of how it all fits together.

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Unlikely-Strike-8753@reddit

Grew up in Detroit. First big “trip” was to Sandusky to visit Cedar Point.

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as1126@reddit

Orlando is a very popular city to visit because of DisneyWorld. Otherwise, people drive to nearest city, which varies by state.

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Sharkhottub@reddit

For Middle-Middle, and some lower middles, the answer for Easterners would overwhelmingly be Orlando, Florida. Its a status thing to take your toddler to Disney World.

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Forward_Tank8310@reddit

Totally regional.

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clap_yo_hands@reddit

Orlando because of Disney and universal studios. People like to take their kids. Washington DC is often a school trip in 5th or 8th grade. Most people just go to a big city close by. If you’re on the west coast you might go to Las Vegas, if you’re on the east coast you might go to NYC, if you’re in the Midwest you might go to Chicago, in the south you might go to New Orleans.

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gwenbeth@reddit

If you live in Texas, you probably go somewhere else in Texas. When I lived in Austin, it would have been at least a 4 hour drive to get out of the state. And Dallas, Ft Worth, San Antonio, and Houston were all closer than the state border.

For a good idea of how big Texas is, go to google map and look up the distance from Texline, Tx to South Padre Island, Tx

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Fun_Inspector_8633@reddit

It can vary depending on region but NYC is a huge first “real” trip destination for a lot of people.

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The_Motherlord@reddit

Lower income America rent going anywhere.

Most lower-middle income Americans aren't going anywhere. The very, very few that can travel would not be able to afford going far so if they have access to a car they would go somewhere nearby they could drive to. I've known many people that have never been on a train or plane before, even more that have never been on vacation other than a weekend road trip.

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MrsZebra11@reddit

Definitely regional. I live in Michigan, so for my circle of ppl it was Chicago, Detroit, or other nearby cities where we could see a concert or something. We would visit our friends at their colleges too.

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Elaine330@reddit

Theres a lot of travel between cold weather northern states and warm southern states but its usually split by region. Meaning, an Ohioan is likely to head to Florida, Georgia etc and its all east while an Idahoan is more likely to head to Arizona etc on the west side. Theres always exceptions but just in general for the "regular" folks.

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wonderlustVA@reddit

We would do day trips to DC because so much is free.

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Podmoscovium@reddit

It's ALWAYS FUCKING NYC

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sneezhousing@reddit

For sure regional there is no k e answer

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Cool-Coffee-8949@reddit

NYC or DC, at least in the eastern half of the country. Often on a school-organized adventure.

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Responsible-Fun4303@reddit

Ehhh I feel there isn’t “one city” honestly. It really depends on the region one lives in. For us (I grew up in the northern Midwest, middle class) our first BIG trip was to Disney world in Florida. But my husband (grew up extremely poor, poverty, no electricity poor) never went further than the neighboring suburb to a county park. For my cousins who grew up similar region and economic status, their first big trips were national parks in the western United States. So it’s really dependent on how much money, where you live, and what parents are willing to spend money on lol. I have relatives who refuse to go to Disney even though they can afford it (something about religion, I’m not sure).

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bdrwr@reddit

Absolutely regional. It has to be. I live in southern California, and if I wanted to bring my family to a major east coast city like New York, these are my two options:

Spend hundreds of dollars per person on plane tickets; IF I'm lucky enough to get a direct flight (which ain't gonna happen), that's about 5.5 hours in the air
Drive cross country for forty-one hours, not counting stops for gas, food, and sleep, and once again spend hundreds of dollars, this time on gas.

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dbdiver@reddit

East Coast it’s DC.

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Weary-Knowledge-7180@reddit

I feel like a lot of people in my area go to Florida and the Carolinas

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Lucky_Ad2801@reddit

It's usually whatever city hub is closest... So there isn't one place because it's a huge countries so it really depends on location. People who are not well off usually stay closer to home.

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Duque_de_Osuna@reddit

For people with limited means, it would’ve be regional.

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NYerInTex@reddit

For the east coast, from mid Atlantic north, I’d say DC is the most common that would be out of their region (ie someone in New Hampshire will go to Boston first and perhaps often so I’m not counting that). School trips in the 8th or 9th grade, any array of camps or other groups.

And while not really a city trip, Disney World and Disney Land are huge first airplane ride destinations for millions of kids all over the country.

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pinekneedle@reddit

Varies by region. Here in the Midwest it might be Chicago or St Louis.

Lots can get deals to go to Las Vegas though

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bananabuckette@reddit

For my family New Orleans for myself first trip after moving out and solo it’s going to be Seattle

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0n10nr4t@reddit

most go to their nearest body of water, be it lake, river, or ocean. if there's no body of water within reasonable driving distance (usually for a day trip or one weekend), then (at least where i live) the nearest theme park, but that in and of itself would be a massive splurge

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MuppetManiac@reddit

The US is too big for there to be one city. For a lot of Texans it’s San Antonio. The riverwalk is a popular tourist attraction.

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DrowsyMaggie@reddit

Orlando was my first plane trip.

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Few-Might2630@reddit

Chicago middle class summer vacation always included a trip to Wisconsin Dells.

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Tommy_Wisseau_burner@reddit

If you’re low income go somewhere that’s cheap that’s close to you. There’s no use of being poor in California and shelling out a shitload of money in travel just to go cheap ass Myrtle beach

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Pudenda726@reddit

It’s definitely gonna vary by region & plenty of Americans probably never visit a city in their entire lives. I purposely avoid big cities when vacationing, give me a quiet beach or a remote mountainside lake any day.

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Rockglen@reddit

The closest thing I can think of for this is that schoolchildren (usually elementary school or middle school) will go to the state capitol as a class trip.

Depending on budget feasibility of the parents they may have a middle school class trip to Washington DC.

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cavalier78@reddit

The closest big city within a 3 or 4 hour drive. Here in Oklahoma, that’s Dallas.

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HotTopicMallRat@reddit

West coast? Probably Anaheim California.

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The12th_secret_spice@reddit

There’s no one answer, but if I had to give one, probably Disneyland or Disney World depending on where you live.

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martlet1@reddit

We have 50 states. Independent states which each have their own cities and regions and weather.

But if I picked one for a few areas….

New York for the east coast.

Orlando for the south.

LA for the west coast

Seattle for the northeast

Chicago for the Midwest.

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Noah__Webster@reddit

I would say Orlando for the Southeast specifically, and really mostly for families with kids that will enjoy theme parks.

There were just a handful of Gulf Coast beaches that were even more popular than Orlando, at least in my experience growing up in Alabama. About every kid I grew up with in school had an airbrushed shirt from their trip to like Panama City, Gulf Shores, or Pensacola lol

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martlet1@reddit

Destin

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iowanaquarist@reddit

Minneapolis and Chicago are a toss up for the Midwest. The twin cities have far more resources and activities than most of the Midwest, and is substantially cheaper (and nicer), as well potentially closer. If you are going for vacation, it's usually more cost effective, and if you are going for work or medical reasons, a lot of the same resources are available in both places.

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Euphoric_Ease4554@reddit

Middle and lower Midwest, definitely Padre Island.

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PA_MallowPrincess_98@reddit

New York City is more for a day trip. Many people take a chartered bus trip to explore NYC for a day and “do whatever you want,” or to attend a Broadway show with the people on the bus.

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AlarmingAttention151@reddit

Definitely not seattle for the Northeast

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rando1459@reddit

Maybe Seattle, New Jersey is tourist hotspot? /s

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Acrobatic_End6355@reddit

Right 🤣

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martlet1@reddit

Sorry. Autocorrect got me

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MiddlePop4953@reddit

That really depends on where you are and what class level you are, and what your idea of a "big city" is. I'm from rural Minnesota so when I was growing up, even taking the trip to one of the closest towns that had a population of over 10k felt like going to a big city even though now I know it's definitely not even close. Where I'm from, taking the trip to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area is something people don't really get to do until closer to adulthood in most cases, so going to the Mall of America, the state fair, or Valley Fair is considered a big deal. For the families who are upper middle class, the twin cities aren't really thought of as a big deal or "first trip" worthy so usually flying to New York is the one everyone argues is a "must."

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Oliver_Dixon@reddit

Anyone ever been to myrtle beach?

My poor mother once called it a playground for the rich, I told her it's at best a playground for the lower middle class lol

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Frigoris13@reddit

As a kid, it was Los Angeles. Riding a train there was special. As a teen, it was Seattle and going into the Space Needle and EMP. After graduation, it was a road trip to New York City and every city between there and Seattle.

Now I live in Iowa and people either go to Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Saint Louis, Kansas City, or Omaha. They're all roughly similar distance from Iowa. That's if you don't count Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Waterloo, or the Quad Cities as cities.

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spencer_hood@reddit

Well I'm white trash. So naturally we go to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge and Panama City Beach.

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IsabellaGalavant@reddit

There is no one answer because the US is so big.

However, Las Vegas or New York are good generic "big" trips for us (though I have lived fairly close to Vegas all my life so I don't really consider it a "big" trip anymore).

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funktion666@reddit

Regional AND class.

Florida is a common popular first trip for both Disneyworld and to see your grandparents and also the beaches. But Disneyworld is too expensive for many people and Florida might be too far for families who need to drive. But locals in Florida will likely figure out ways to attend Disneyworld more affordably (local discounts, sharing passes, employee discounts, off-season discounts, local coupons).

But people in California or closer to California would probably rather go to Disneyland because it’s closer and makes more logistical sense.

But as I said before, most Americans cannot afford Disney at all. So that’s why it’s also a class or financial thing too.

It was more common for people with less money to do road trips to the state parks, like Yellowstone. You drive and stay at affordable motels or campsites. This was super popular 50+ years ago.

Now the truth is - most Americans do not go on vacations or trips. They are too expensive and people can’t get enough time off from work. And every nearby city will have plenty of fun activities. So most Americans can spend a day or a weekend at a nearby city, but even that can be too expensive.

So most people with lower income stay home. Spring break just means a week off school, not a vacation or a trip.

As a young adult, my boyfriend and I can’t even afford to go to a cheap hotel in the mountains for a weekend. Instead, we’ll just drive a few hours, hike and sight see and get dinner and then just drive back. But that’s not very appealing because we spend most of the time driving. I miss staying at hotels! Camping destroys my back and I get burnt out.

So depends on region and income/finances/work. And many people don’t travel at all or go on trips.

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D-ouble-D-utch@reddit

Middle school trip to Washington DC?

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Worried_Sandwich_338@reddit

I grew up in California’s Central Valley and recall our first family trip when I was 4 in 1967 being the SoCal/Tijuana haul which included Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm and a day in Tijuana (where my much older brothers threatened to sell me to the locals)

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Infinite-Surprise-53@reddit

The closest mid sized to big city near you

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bingbong6977@reddit

The United States is gigantic

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Ik774amos@reddit

That city for me was Ottawa. Yes, I know it’s a Canadian city, and yes, I am American. It was just closer than any city in my own state.

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Coyoteatemybowtie@reddit

To give you some context I can drive 9 hours on the freeway going roughly 120km/h in one direction and still not even have left my state. The US is huge and this question is going to be entirely regional not even state specific. Someone in southern CA may go to Los Angeles, someone in central CA may go to San frandcisco and someone in Norther Ca may to go Sacramento or Reno NV. The other options aside from major cities are going out on a trip camping, that could be just 30 minutes from their home or hours or days away. Going to the lake, river or beach, again could be minutes, hours or days of driving away.

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Least-Quail216@reddit

Orlando or Anaheim

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Curmudgy@reddit

You might want to scan r/usatravel, though for the purposes of “first trip”, it’s mostly foreigners. Americans do ask questions there, but often either for national parks or the less well known cities.

Technically for me, I’d say Philadelphia, because I had a school trip to the Franklin Institute.

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TheBimpo@reddit

Lower income Americans do not tend to go to the big city for a big trip. Big cities are expensive to visit. They much more typically go to less expensive places like Northern Michigan or Myrtle Beach or Gulf Shores, Alabama.

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worldslamestgrad@reddit

Speaking as someone who grew up middle/working class with a single mother, it varies wildly by region. I grew up in Kansas City Missouri, my first few trips that I remember were to Omaha, Oklahoma City, and St. Louis.

The first trip out of my region, or to a state that didn’t border the one I grew up in, was to Orlando/Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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wantonseedstitch@reddit

I'm from an originally lower middle class family in Rhode Island. Considering Boston was only an hour's drive away, it wasn't a "trip" to go there, just a day excursion. My first big trip was to Washington, DC when I was nine. We went to New York City once (staying with a great-aunt on Long Island) when I was 10. Those were the only cities we ever visited when I was a kid. Our other trips were camping trips.

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BamaSef@reddit

In the Southeast, Panama City beach for sure. Gatlinburg is a close second

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Plastic_Cream3833@reddit

Branson, Missouri was my lower class family’s favorite place to travel

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1AML3G10N@reddit

NYC. Chi. LA. Vegas. Miami.

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Zillajami-Fnaffan2@reddit

Wdym by "first trip"?

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Affectionate_Bad3908@reddit

Yea, I’m in Kentucky and it could be Pigeon Forge TN, could be St Louis, MO or Cincinnati, OH.

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DiscontentDonut@reddit

I think a lot of us have a hard time answering this because it depends on where in the country you live.

I live on the border of Virginia Beach. Major tourist city. We're right on the ocean, and a lot of people in the middle of the country haven't seen a beach before. I've seen it my whole life. Couldn't give 2 shits about going to the oceanfront.

My partner grew up a few blocks away from Niagara Falls in NY. Again, major tourist trap. To him, it's just a waterfall and a bunch of overpriced vendors trying to sell cheap stuff during the summer. He couldn't care any less about it than he already does.

Even the White House isn't all that interesting to me or most people I know. We grew up in this area. We've been on school day trips to DC, we've seen concerts in the Baltimore/DC area. It's just a building with a fence around a really big yard. People still throw trash around the sidewalk just outside the fence. It's still just crappy traffic in a smoggy, highly condensed city everywhere you look.

But to people not from these areas, these are incredible sights. It's romantic to them.

I'm sure it's just like going to another country. If I went to Paris, the eiffel tower is something to behold. To people living there, it's probably just a big piece of metal interrupting the sky and bringing in a bunch of tourist imbeciles who clog up their day just trying to get to work or home.

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Poi-s-en@reddit

Where I am it’s pretty split between Orlando and Miami

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Legitimate-March9792@reddit

I think most people want a trip to Disney World in Florida and New York City. The rest will vary wildly depending on where they live.

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Knox_the_Boxer@reddit

Many lower income folks can’t afford to go on vacation. They may go camping for a weekend or go to a lake or beach on a Saturday.

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junegloom18@reddit

I’m from Mississippi and family vacations tended to be to the FL gulf coast or Disney, and school trips (especially as we got older) would be to New Orleans

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ChessieChesapeake@reddit

Washington D.C.

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MarionberryPlus8474@reddit

It is very regional, but I would say if there’s any one place it’s probably Florida.

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Suitable-Birthday-90@reddit

Working class Ohioans go to myrtle beach. The rich ones go to hilton head.

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thatotterone@reddit

because of the size of the US, it is usually a city or location in the person's home state
You should ask this again but have people call it out by state. It's a great question and I'd be curious to see how each state answers

I grew up poor in California. Our 'trips' were often just day trips. We'd go see the wildflowers blooming or the orchards in bloom. We'd go to state or national parks. But as cities go, we went to San Diego's old town, San Jaun Capistrano, or Solvang. All of these had markets (mom loved them) and history while being a bit touristy, too.

When I was old enough to drive for myself, I'd do day trips to Dana Point. I loved the tide pools and rocky beach, the marina, and the ports markets. So I guess that was my first solo trip but again, just a day trip. gas was pricey enough

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TempAcct724@reddit

Depends on what you define as “City”

Plenty of smaller regional cities that locals and surrounding states will go to.

Like if I’m in North Dakota would Minneapolis count? Or if I live in Boise does Seattle count?

Pretty much depends on where you live and whatever big city is near you. Growing up in Utah I always wanted to go to California, but I wasn’t dreaming of going to like Milwaukee or Kansas City.

But as for big touristy destinations it’s definitely somewhere on the coast. West coast would be Los Angeles and San Francisco.

East coast is definitely New York and DC, maybe Miami.

In the middle of the country I guess it’s Chicago.

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ExitingBear@reddit

PNW - I don't think they're going to a city.

It's going to be mountains, islands/coast, desert, or forest depending on their preferences. Maybe out of state national parks.

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infotechderp@reddit

Washington, DC

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5x2x5@reddit

There are plenty of people who never leave their hometown, especially folks with low income.

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Breakfast_Pretzel@reddit

My SC family chose San Francisco and Denver since we had friends in those cities and we wanted to visit. We live so far we decided to do both cities in one trip to save on flight costs and time.

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hail_to_the_beef@reddit

It's regional. I grew up in Phoenix, so Flagstaff or Sedona were pretty common.

I lived in San Diego, so it was probably Palm Springs, Temecula, Big Bear...

Now I live in Maryland and it's usually Ocean City or OBX.

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edge_metoo@reddit

Orlando Florida

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MakeStupidHurtAgain@reddit

In SoCal it’s Lake Havasu. In NorCal it used to be Lakeport or Clear Lake.

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FIRElifeRVA@reddit

Definitely regional.

I live on the Easy Coast. Many people’s first trip away from home is to “The beach.” Which beach depends on where home is.

Second most common is Disneyworld, although that is out of reach for many lower-income Americans now.

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Mossishellagay@reddit

Depends on the region. I grew up in Albany, NY (the state capital), so trips were either south to NYC or north to Lake George

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Radiant-Pomelo-3229@reddit

A city would never be my first choice for a trip. I think for most people, they want to go to the beach. I would like to one day see Boston, New York City, and possibly Philadelphia. But none of those are high on my list

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AshDenver@reddit

Varies by region. Detroiters will drive up to 14 hours, many usually just go “up north” somewhere for like a 4-6 hour drive.

Denver folks drive to the mountains or fly to Vegas or north or south California usually.

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Bastyra2016@reddit

There isn’t one answer but growing up my friends and I didn’t visit cities to visit. We visited people in whatever city they lived in

The few times we didn’t visit family we “went to the beach”- several different east coast cities from Florida to North Carolina. We also visited “sites” like Williamsburg or Monticello. The closest we came to visiting a city to experience multiple places in the city was Washington DC

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madcowbcs@reddit

Lower middle class families go to visit relatives, we can't afford hotel stays. A lot of us like to camp in tents when possible, eating out is unaffordable.

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Extreme-Flan3935@reddit

Definitely regional. For example. I grew up in St Paul MN and my first trip was to Chicago.

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PatternIllustrious54@reddit

It's regional. East coast will go to the Carolina's, Florida, OCMD. I live in north Texas now and we've driven to Colorado and NM. Wouldn't have driven there while still living on the east coast

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Derwin0@reddit

There is no one city that MOST Americans go to as the country is huge with thousands of cities and destinations.

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ChangeHealthy2666@reddit

Regional. I live in eastern TN, and lots of people in surrounding states will vacation in Gatlinburg. If you have a little more money or time, maybe Myrtle beach.

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ionmoon@reddit

There are definitely regional differences, but Orlando, NYC, and DC are common destinations everywhere.

I’m in PA now. There are some places that are more common, but there are also always a handful of kinds in every grade at every school going to Disney that year. And I have found that to be typical.

So while more local people went to Erie or Jersey or OBX than Orlando, when you average that out across the country, that seems true in every school. Most people go to whatever the local hotspots are… and a handful go to Disney/universal.

So overall more people end up at those three hot spots. NYC Orlando and dc.

But for their first ever trip, like you asked, I’d say most people probably go to the closest city to them OR (more typically) the closest attraction to them- either beach, mountains/forest, national park, or amusement park.

So in that case completely regional.

Also it is not uncommon to have people who have never left their own county (and even more who’ve never left their own state).

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NetFu@reddit

Disneyland. Or Disney World.

I know lots of people who literally never go beyond their neighboring states, but they made and talk about that one trip to Disneyland forever.

The irony is, the vast majority of any destinations mentioned here, locals do not go to them.

I remember, 10 years after moving to California and planning my one (and only) trip to Disneyland with my kids, talking to coworkers who worked at our office nearby. Most of them were "locals".

I asked a few of them if they ever go to Disneyland. Most of them had never been to Disneyland, even though they grew up not far away. Apparently, the place to go is Knott's Berry Farms.

LPT: Whenever you go to a destination far away from home, talk to the locals first.

I found out through my own experience that Knott's Berry Farms is actually better than Disneyland. Or, I'm sure, World. In many ways. I should have just listened to the locals.

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perseid88@reddit

Very regional. Except Vegas. Folks go to Vegas from everywhere.

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biggcb@reddit

Varies by region.

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doublebogey182@reddit

One of the two Disney parks is very common. Disney Land if you're out west, Disney World if you're more east. That is the first big trip I remember as a child.

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Weightmonster@reddit

Whatever big city is closest…

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Nouseriously@reddit

Tourists in Nashville act like they've never been allowed in public before

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sandsonik@reddit

This thread is weird. Everyone answering that it's regional, as if people only drive and never fly. Yet I bet for a lot of you, your first trip was Disney world or Disneyland.

I'm saying that as someone who didn't go to DisneyWorld but once, when I was 25. Yet I see friends posting pictures of their child's visit to DisneyWorld all the time, often before they're 5.

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Responsible_Side8131@reddit

A lot of kids go to Washington DC with a school group around 8th grade

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Bluemonogi@reddit

Varies by region.

I grew up in Western Iowa and it was a big deal as a kid to go to the capital city Des Moines. There was an amusement park near there that I got to go to on a school trip as well.

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Sudden_Nose9007@reddit

Regional. I’m from Wisconsin, so it’s usually MSP or Chicago for a big trip to the city.

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One-Pangolin-3167@reddit

Nearest campground.

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Tricky_Jellyfish9116@reddit

I want to note, that depending on your area, going to a city at all may not be the top choice for a vacation. It's common to go to some kind of nature park, beach area, or other place that's known for natural beauty and tourist stays.

For example Minnesota: "up North to the lake" -- stay at a small lake resort or cabin owned by a friend/relative South Dakota: Black Hills region Arizona: Grand Canyon Missouri: Ozark region

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Affectionate-Ant8@reddit

The answer is “the beach” not a big city

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Master_Spinach_2294@reddit

West of the Mississippi: Vegas.

East of the Mississippi: Orlando.

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According-Couple2744@reddit

You do realize that the US is larger than Europe and stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with two states that aren’t even attached to the other 48 contiguous states, right?

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TheMuffler42069@reddit

Washington D.C.

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roastedandflipped@reddit

I would think biloxi or pensacola for southerners and myrtle beach and lancaster

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yellowdaisybutter@reddit

Depends on budget and where you are in the US.

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savro@reddit

It depends on the region in which you live and also by what counts as "big". Is over 100,000 people big? 500,000? One million? Probably the first "big city" that many people in the USA will travel to will be a major tourist destination such as Orlando or Las Vegas.

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HoyAIAG@reddit

Orlando

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allan11011@reddit

For me in Virginia it was Jamestown(first British colony in America). Tons of cool historical stuff in Virginia for school field trips. Monticello(3rd president’s house), Montpellier (4th presidents house), mount Vernon(1st presidents house, which I actually never had a trip to), colonial Williamsburg (town/section of town setup to look like colonial times with people in costume etc), Washington DC pretty close by

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link2edition@reddit

100% regional.

When I take my family on a trip we try to keep the drive time around 4 hours, which limits us to the states immediately surrounding us.

Sometimes for large trips we will drive 10 hours and go a few hundred miles away, thus crossing over 2-4 states.

To go further, flying makes more sense, and that is expensive.

I hope this helps.

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Metal_Muse@reddit

Disneyland or Disneyworld. So Anaheim or Orlando.

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Glow_Ebb_@reddit

Destin, Pigeon Forge if you are in the south.

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Automatic_Syrup_2935@reddit

In Northern California, we go to Los Angeles, maybe Tahoe, Monterey or Santa Cruz, San Diego, Portland. For a bigger trip - a lot of Americans go to Hawaii.

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WhichWitch9402@reddit

The answer will vary. Where does the person live? What’s the bigger/cooler city near them? How much money do they have to spend?

Someone west of Mississippi isn’t going to choose DC, Philly, or NYC as that a long drive or expensive plane ticket. And reverse is true - on East coast you’re not going to pick LA, SF, Seattle.

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confusedrabbit247@reddit

Depends where you live

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pubesinourteeth@reddit

The largest one is going to be Washington DC. It's not the majority but it's the the one that the most number of people have a reason to go to. School trips, family trips, competitions.

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kit0000033@reddit

As a kid in high school most schools have a Washington, DC trip they take people on ... Your parents have to afford to pay for it, but most schools have one.

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dirtyblackboots@reddit

Southern landlocked states are probably going to Gulf Shores, AL or Orange Beach, FL lol

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BoSKnight87@reddit

Country is too big for that lol I live in NJ so it was always Atlantic City to party and drink, and Philly and NY for casual clubs etc

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PhilosophyBitter7875@reddit

Haven at the Golden Nugget and Harrah's Pool After Dark were the spots in early 2010's.

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BoSKnight87@reddit

Yea I spent many weekends especially at the Pool after dark, me and my friends would split a room and get drunk so we didn’t have to keep buying $30 mixed drinks and $18 beers lol

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PhilosophyBitter7875@reddit

You would always see the Staten Island kids who took too much drugs splash around in the shallow end of the pool lol

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thanatos0320@reddit

Somewhere on the panhandle in Florida if you're in the South - Destin, Panama, Pensacola...

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holymacaroley@reddit

Depends. Places with Disney are often that for a family but many are too far away and cost- prohibitive.

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DishsUp@reddit

That's a very regional question. The US is huge . My first trip was San Francisco, which was about 2 hours from where I grew up, other early trips included LA ( 6ish hours ) Portland, Or (10ish hours) and Seattle (14 ish hour drive)

New York, Miami, Chicago are all a 6 hour flight from my home town.

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1maco@reddit

The answer is like Myrtle Beach or something

Not New York/Chicago/LA/SF etc

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Character-Tennis-241@reddit

Lower income people don't have the money for a trip. They are barely getting by.

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Ok-Chemistry9933@reddit

Maine

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Congregator@reddit

If it’s east coast, NYC, Washington DC, or Orlando to get to Disney.

I would consider these to be probably the top 3 for “most” on the east coast.

Other people are saying things like OC Maryland and such, but I’d imagine the “most” people on the east coast are visiting one of the previous three I’ve mentioned, and particularly because schools even take trips to these places across state lines

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imthe5thking@reddit

It varies by region. I’m from eastern Montana. Besides the small cities/big towns in western Montana, it’s normally Minneapolis, MN, Fargo, ND, Regina, SK, some people go to South Dakota or Colorado as well.

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GreenBeanTM@reddit

It’s regional and not everyone goes to a city for their first trip.

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DuelJ@reddit

It's regional. In my case that'd be Chicago

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SabresBills69@reddit

Their one vacation locations

Orlando- Disney world, Universal, beach LA ' Disneyland, Hollywood, universal, beaches, dan Diego has Legoland and a top zoo

Las Vegas-- base for national pafk trip DC ' nations capitol

New york city-- big city,museums, brosdway

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InevitableRhubarb232@reddit

Lol you think lower income Americans are going on vacation? 😂

Whatever city is close enough for a day trip.

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Dave_A480@reddit

Usually it's to wherever your grandparents live....

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kingkalanishane@reddit

Idk maybe like Hawaii, Disneyland/world, the Grand Canyon

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alicat777777@reddit

Myrtle Beach is probably the most popular beach town in my area. When I lived in rural Kentucky, Cincinnati was the big city to visit. When I moved to Cincinnati, going to Chicago was a big deal.

So I’d say regional. Something drivable might be the bigger city people visit.

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mylocker15@reddit

Where I live it’s LA and Orange County because of Disneyland. I’m sure my first big trip was there because my grandparents lived there.

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gunterrae@reddit

Yeah, I'm not even sure how to answer this.

Like, first trip as kids? That's usually somewhere local.

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Vandal_A@reddit

Probably the nearest summer vacation spot

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EpiZirco@reddit

For many, a trip to Disneyland or DisneyWorld is a big aspirational vacation.

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ReddyGreggy@reddit

ALL REGIONAL

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Secure-Ad8196@reddit

Florida

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Ok-Ambassador8271@reddit

Nashville, TN around here, but first beach trip is almost always Gulf Shores or Panama City Beach

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malibuklw@reddit

The closest one.

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jginvest71@reddit

I live in Oklahoma, and the big vacation spot for okies tends to be Colorado. Not necessarily Denver, so probably doesn’t count as a city.

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Reaganson@reddit

Since Washington D.C. is right across the river, that would be my first. But I don’t like big cities, I’d rather go to the beach or camp in the mountains.

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Wise_Tale1867@reddit

New York City, LA, and Panama City Beach are statistically the most traveled to cities in the US both domestically and internationally with New York City being number 1.

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TheMissLady@reddit

Southerners usually either go to Atlanta or New Orleans, from my experience

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scarletwitchmoon@reddit

Or Orland, FL.

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vteezy99@reddit

Looks like you got your answer lol. It will mostly be the nearest city. For me growing up in LA county that meant Santa Barbara and San Diego

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scarletwitchmoon@reddit

On the east coast, I want to guess Miami/Orlando because of Disney World and you can drive there from most east coast cities.

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Shinesandglitters@reddit

Palm Springs, LA, San Diego, Oxnard, Newport Beach

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moody_weirdo@reddit

Regionally dependent but for families around where I grew up, it was a trip to "Minneapolis" (technically Bloomington). It was always for the Mall of America and attractions around that area.

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Weird_Squirrel_8382@reddit

I was gonna guess "the state capital" but that's probably not even accurate. The very first trip I remember taking as a family was from Cincinnati Ohio to Lake Erie. We went to Cedar Point amusement Park, but it was called something else back then. We also went to Sea World and took pictures on the back of a big fake orca.

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Crayshack@reddit

Regionally dependant. Keep in mind that the distance between NY and LA (our two biggest cities) is nearly 3000 miles. That's a 6 hour flight and roughly the same distance as Moscow to Madrid.

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Individual_Check_442@reddit

Absolutely varies by region, especially lower-middle lower income people who can’t afford to fly. Also if it’s a short trip, going across multiple tine zones kind of screws up your internal clock and by the time you get adjusted it’s time to go home

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PaintingNouns@reddit

The closest big city to where they live.

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MassConsumer1984@reddit

Definitely varies depending in where you live. US is too big to generalize an answer.

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Britton120@reddit

In NE ohio a lot of the people went to marblehead for summer vacations. Which is nearby and very nice.

Occasionally if the family was messing it a bit trip itd be down to SC to myrtle beach or hilton head.

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Stock-Swing-797@reddit

Outside of Orlando, a trip to the beach is usually people's go to.

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Batetrick_Patman@reddit

From Cincinnati. Usually Gatlinburg, Chicago or anywhere in Florida.

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browsing_around@reddit

Vegas, NYC, LA.

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PriorSecurity9784@reddit

It’s often a beach or lake you can drive to within a few hours, but what that is varies widely.

For the south, there are lots of non-fancy coastal towns along the Gulf of Mexico

People in NE US often go to the “shore”

Midwesteners might go to a Great Lake or some other thing.

For flying, I would guess the most common for lower income folks would be Orlando (Disney world) or Las Vegas, where you can get cheap flights on a budget airline, and spend a long weekend.

Less common, but still popular, is if you can drive to Galveston or South Florida and take an all you can drink Carnival Cruise for a few days

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Rays-R-Us@reddit

Upstate New Yorkers go to NYC

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RicketyCricketsDrum@reddit

Lower income people sadly don’t go on trips. They might do something locally like go to the beach or a lake for the day.

The US is huge so this really varies by region.

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Lokisworkshop@reddit

Orlando FL or NYC

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browneyedredhead1968@reddit

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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Ok_Buy_9703@reddit

Hawaii, is the goal for everyone around me. Hana on Maui...

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ThwartedNormal@reddit

In my area, (northern/western Louisiana) it’s either going to be Dallas, Tx or New Orleans, La. But it definitely depends on your area. My sibling lives in mid-Pennsylvania, and likes to go to Philadelphia, but occasionally goes to New York City.

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Moist-Golf-8339@reddit

I grew up in SW Wisconsin in the 80s and 90s. Madison was our closest "big city," though it's not that big. My family went to Minneapolis a lot to visit extended family. We went to Milwaukee for Brewers games. We almost never went to Chicago.

With my kids, my wife and I try to go places we think the kids will think are fun. We like camping and scenic areas, and we've taken them to Chicago, Santa Monica, Portland, Seattle, Denver, Puerto Rico and surrounding national parks or beaches when available. We're not rich, we try to travel cheaply by camping when we can, making food in camp or in hotel rooms/airbnbs.

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1911Earthling@reddit

NYC

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binstinsfins@reddit

As others said, it depends on region. However, a few more common ones include: Disneyworld or Disneyland NYC Vegas (actually becoming very popular with families) One of the more popular national parks

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Lwadrian06@reddit

Im in Maryland, most people go up to New York, or down to North carolina-Florida

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ZonaWildcats23@reddit

Once again I would like to remind you how large USA is. Someone from Utah will likely visit LA before they ever go to NYC. Someone from Iowa will probably spend time in Chicago before they go to Miami. Maybe, maybe not. It’s a huge country.

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superhex12345@reddit

It depends on where you live. I was raised an hour and a half drive from Boston. Boston was the first city I visited.

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mattcmoore@reddit

Very regional, however New York and D.C. are common.

Also, a lot of people's first trip when they are little kids is to Disneyland, whether it be the one in Orlando, FL (Disneyworld) or the one in California.

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Noah__Webster@reddit

Seconding everyone else mentioning that it is regional.

As someone who grew up in Alabama, I definitely think going to the beach was sort of the default vacation for most people I grew up around. Gulf Coast beaches, not East Coast beaches were by far the most common. I think Gulf Shores and Orange beach in Alabama, or Pensacola and Panama City in Florida were probably the most popular. My family usually went to Orange Beach or Destin, FL.

The most common trip besides like day trips to Nashville/ATL or something were probably going up into the mountains. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, both in Tennessee were pretty popular. I've never stayed at either of them, but I think they could be done pretty affordably.

Anything much farther than that sort of just tends to follow the default large destinations that pretty much anyone, including international tourists, would probably go to. All the larger cities like NYC, Boston, LA, maybe DC, etc.

You've gotta keep in mind that the USA is so massive that anything more than a few states over for basically anywhere except parts of New England would be comparable to international travel in other parts of the world.

For example, look at Alabama and Texas. Both of their capitals are fairly centrally located. Many people broadly consider both states somewhat similar and generally in the same region of the country (don't tell a Texan or a Southerner that though lol). Their capitals, Montgomery and Austin, are about 20% farther apart than Berlin and Paris. It would take nearly 12 hours of continuous driving to travel between them. You would only pass through 4 states, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

I'm nearly 30. I will admit that I'm not very well traveled, but I would guess that I have traveled about as much as the average lower income American from the Deep South, maybe slightly more? I've been north of the Mason-Dixon line (considered the divide between the Northern and Southern USA, at least in the East) twice in my entire life. I've never been farther West than Oklahoma. I've actually set foot in like maybe 10 states, and driven through 10 more.

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kanna172014@reddit

I'm pretty sure it's regional. I would say it even depends on the state if you don't already live in a certain city. In Georgia, it would be Atlanta or Savannah. In Florida, it would be Miami or Orlando. In New York state, NYC. Most people visit a city in their own state first.

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gavmcd@reddit

It’s very regional but I want to say DC, given the large amount of school field trips

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mburucuja@reddit

It varies a ton by region.

Florida/Disney is probably one of the most common vacation spots for people from all over the north/midwest, at least anywhere east of the Rockies, but it costs a lot of money to fly there and do anything at the theme parks, so it’s not actually super accessible to genuinely low income families. It’s more of a “once in a lifetime” splurge or bucket list item for a lot of families.

Vegas is also common for adults, but not so much for families. There are sometimes relatively affordable long weekend flight/hotel packages to Vegas from cities in the Midwest. Again though, people who are barely making rent aren’t flying across the country.

It’s way more common to stay regional. I live in Wisconsin, and it’s common for families to go to Wisconsin Dells on vacation. It’s only a few hours drive away from most people in the state, there are a lot of shitty hotels and a bunch of water parks, and there are tons of other touristy things like boat tours, gift shops, mini golf, shows, etc. and it’s in a naturally beautiful area so some people also camp, hike, visit state parks, etc. People from other nearby states like Illinois and Minnesota also go there frequently. Other tourist towns like that exist in other regions like Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and Branson, Missouri too.

Another step down from that would be a day trip to the Six Flags theme park in Illinois. There are often ways to get discounted or free tickets, at least for kids, which makes it easier for families to go.

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smwisdom@reddit

Assuming you are at least middle-class, if I really had to guess the most common city to visit across the country, it would be either Orlando, FL or Los Angeles, CA (depending on which is closer, east coast or west coast).

And that is because of the theme parks (Disney mostly) in those cities.

Outside of that, it really varies by region and socio-economic class. The poor kids might travel with their family to a city or town nearby their hometown for their first big outing.

There really isnt an answer to "what city do most Americans visit," whether on their first trip or something else. America is too large and varied for that.

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Zeawea@reddit

Probably Anaheim, CA or Orlando, FL to go to Disney parks.

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Wild_Owl_511@reddit

I grew up in northwest Alabama and it was a 2.5 hour drive to any “big city”. And by big city I mean Nashville or Birmingham. Atlanta was about a 5 hour drive. Nothing was convenient. Even the beaches of Alabama were 7 hours away!

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Quix66@reddit

My area, people drive over to Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, Alabama or near the Florida panhandle.

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zoppaTheDim@reddit

Size makes this a stupid question.

Because everyone’s first trip is likely to one of three hundred cities which are near to them.

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AffectionateWay5783@reddit

I grew up in New England. First big trips are usually NYC or Boston as local big cities or Florida, usually to go to the theme parks. My family was big on outdoors stuff so we usually just went to other New England states.

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pumpkin_pasties@reddit

Vegas, NYC, LA

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RangerMatt76@reddit

There are three national parks within three hours driving distance from Fresno.

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Frosty_Employment171@reddit

I'm certainly the outlier here. My guess: Washington DC

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CandyCoatedDinosaurs@reddit

I'm in the Detroit area, but Orlando is pretty common as a first trip in childhood. (Not counting the generic "up north"--not really a "trip".)

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dweaver987@reddit

A lot of families go to Disneyland or Disneyworld for family vacations. But the farther away you are from one of those resorts, the more likely the expense deters your visit.

We live about a 6 or 7 hour drive from Disneyland. Once our youngest were 6 or 7, we would drive down with three other families we were close with. We stayed at a reasonably priced motel walking distance from the park. Anaheim is closer to the Mexican border than our home near San Francisco. The motel parking lot would always have a few SUVs with Mexican license plates, so they would also drive to the park. Most visitors spring for the Disney owned hotel at three times the cost. We did this for five or six years before even the kids got bored with it and we switched to other activities for vacations.

Not everyone drove. People more than a day’s drive would typically fly. Lots of international tourists as well. We would always hear a smattering of European or Asian accents and languages.

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SilverStory6503@reddit

Usually the state or national capital when in grade school or high school. Other than that, I would say there isn't any one particular city people flock to. Only Orlando for disney, and Las Vegas (not anymore, though).

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AilanthusHydra@reddit

Absolutely varies. I'm in Michigan, so if we're excluding Detroit and smaller cities in Michigan, the default answer is probably Chicago. Sometimes Toronto, if you have a passport.

For the longest time, the default "real trip" location for my part of Michigan, other than different parts of Michigan, seemed to be the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. When it became more difficult to cross the border (passport required), I think this began to fade. There's still a culture of crossing the border to legally drink a few years earlier, too, but it's not what it once was because not everyone has a passport at 19.

The big school trip stil seems to be Washington, DC or sometimes New York. Or people will want to go to LA.

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mikerichh@reddit

If they are within hours of the coast, the beach

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grumpyhost@reddit

I would guess that the most common trip most people would take out of their region is either Washington DC (school) or one of the vacation destinations in Florida (Orlando with family, one of the beach cities for spring break if young adult). But most common definitely wouldn't equal very common.

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SilverRaincoat@reddit

Typically the biggest city in their state. I'm from MN so my first big trip was to the Twin Cities

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hippoluvr24@reddit

I live in Eastern/Central Massachusetts and the options seem to be:

a beach (usually on the Cape)
a lake (often in New Hampshire)
a big city (New York or maaaaybe Montreal if you’re cultured)

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Educational-Sort340@reddit

I’m from California. My first trip alone was to San Francisco. It definitely varies tbh.

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TheMilkSpeaks@reddit

We don’t really go to cities. We went to national and state parks

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tee142002@reddit

Definitely regional. Disney World (Orlando) would probably be the most common out of driving distance trip.

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tacobellgittcard@reddit

Yeah it’s pretty regional. And it depends what you mean by “trip”, if it’s a day trip or a full vacation. My first vacation as an adult wasn’t even to a city, I went out west to see national parks.

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ricobandito@reddit

Not American but I lived in Toronto for a year and it seemed like every person in Ontario went to Myrtle Beach. Some called it the Canadian Riviera

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Casus125@reddit

Biggest city in a 4 hour drive most likely.

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jgnp@reddit

Statistically, I would imagine the answer is Las Vegas.

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Fire_Mission@reddit

US too big. Cities all over for the "first trip".

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HelpfulHelpmeet@reddit

Myrtle Beach

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2pnt0@reddit

1st) Nearest 'big' city.

2nd) Largest city in the region.

3rd) Washington DC -- this is the closest you're going to get as a country-wide answer. It's common for classes to go there for its civic importance. Visiting the capitol, monuments, etc. There are often nation-wide competitions that have finals or award ceremonies there.

DC also commonly makes the travel list due to just the density of educational things there are to do and see there. So many world-class museums all in one place. The museums and other destinations all being free also makes it a financially more accessible destination vs going to similar activities in other cities.

4th) Orlando -- Disney, Universal, etc. theme parks. Not everyone can afford to go, and west coast may skew more to LA, but a lot of families save up for a trip there with the idea that every kid should have a chance to go as a kid. Because of the kid focused nature, if you're going to go, it's more likely to be your first big trip.

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Jcamp9000@reddit

From Chicago we went to the Wisconsin Dells

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AMMJ@reddit

Orlando, FL to see a big mouse

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OftTopic@reddit

For newly weds, it was Niagara Falls.

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Lzinger@reddit

Outer Banks is a popular one where I am. But I definitely doubt that's the cast in California

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Infamous-Yellow-8357@reddit

Regional. If you're low income, you aren't going very far from where you live.

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Free-Sherbet2206@reddit

Growing up in Southern California, I would say Disneyland. Not cheap at all, but most families I knew went at least once.

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tcrhs@reddit

It completely depends on the region. Each one is very different.

I’m a lifelong Southerner. My first big trip was to Disney World, before I was two.

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ToastMate2000@reddit

In southern Idaho, Salt Lake City is the most accessible city where people will go for shopping, museums, sports, maybe specialized healthcare, or just a more urban experience. I'd guess that's the first city trip for most people who grow up there.

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iowanaquarist@reddit

The largest, nearby city.

In terms of scale, this is like asking 'what is the one city in Europe most Europeans go to for their "first trip"?' Europe might have slightly more area than the USA (it's ~4% larger by landmass), the USA is spread out farther (once you account for Alaska and Hawaii). Any given city in the USA is a major trip away, meaning there are always much more obtainable cities closer by. For comparison, Lisbon, Portugal, and Moscow, Russia are only 80% of the distance from a city in Florida to a city in Alaska, and is about the same distance as driving from a city in Florida to one in Washington.

In a place as sprawling as the USA the answer has to be regional. I'm from Iowa. Des Moines seemed like a 'big city' when I went there as a young child -- and I went there many times before I went to Minneapolis, and I have been to Minneapolis many times before I went to Chicago, and Chicago many times before I went to NYC, San Francisco, Vegas, Los Angles, Tampa, Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, or San Diego.

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olcrazypete@reddit

I feel like for most folks its gonna be the closest large body of water. Either somewhere on the coast or large lake with scenery.
People like water.
Maybe folks that are already on the water go to the mountains?

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red_vette@reddit

I would venture to say some place like Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/ since the Smoky's is close enough for a large number of people to drive to and it's one of the most visited parks in the US.

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Enough-Moose-5816@reddit

There isn’t ‘one’.

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deadplant5@reddit

In the 90s it was Orlando, but then it got expensive

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LadySilvie@reddit

I grew up in northern Missouri, and for us it was Branson....... a jesus-coded/elderly Las Vegas, basically. High schoolers would take weekend trips there.

As an adult, the first real trips we took were to Arkansas. Hot Springs, Eureka Springs. Cute little towns a bit less expensive than Branson with interesting history, nearby hiking, and shops.

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boycaughtintherye@reddit

as a kid living in new england, going down to florida and escaping the new england winter was a major treat

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xSparkShark@reddit

Nearly everyone I know would probably say going “down the shore” was the first vacation they can remember. For the Philly region this means driving to the beaches on the South Jersey coastline.

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dangleicious13@reddit

For lower-middle/lower income it will have to be regional because of travel. In my area (central Alabama), that is likely going to be the beach. So they will drive 2-3 hours south to some place like Gulf Shores/Orange Beach (in Alabama), Dauphin Island (Alabama), Panama City Beach (Florida), or Destin (Florida).

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bobrob2004@reddit

This is going to be regional. I'm from Michigan and Mackinac is a popular vacation site.

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Bobcat2013@reddit

Yall get mad at us for not being geography experts yet ask questions like this...

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SciAlexander@reddit

It varies extremely by region. The US is about the same size as Europe. Not to mention the states themselves are huge. I live in Pennsylvania most of my life and I haven't been to our second largest city Pittsburgh. It's six hours away and Philadelphia and New York City are 2 hours.

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DaughterofTarot@reddit

In the US south, New Orleans Louisiana (NOLA) would be a big one.

I'm in a big city in Texas, so probably plenty of people come here actually, but for my money NOLA's the most unique city in the USA.

Plus the Katrina refugees from there have left a lasting impact on Houston and I'm grateful for them.

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Leiostomus@reddit

When I grew up in Alabama, a lot of people went to Panama City Beach, Florida, once they were old enough to drive places. Now, I live in Florida with a teenager of my own and it seems a lot of the them like to go to the area around Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for their "first trip".

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V-DaySniper@reddit

Branson Missouri.

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JakJak6969@reddit

Myrtle Beach

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ChilindriPizza@reddit

Many people from Latin America travel to Orlando first. Mainly for the theme parks, but also for the shopping.

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Pumasense-2025@reddit

Anaheim- Disneyland.

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CriticalSuit1336@reddit

It varies by region. I grew up in North Dakota, and going to "the big city" meant Minneapolis/St. Paul. If we got really ambitious, we'd go to Chicago. If you live in Oklahoma, I'm sure it's Dallas. If you live in Kentucky, probably Nashville - and so on.

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bluelily216@reddit

I think for the East coast it's either NYC or Disneyworld. For the West, it's probably Seattle or Disneyland. As for the middle, it's probably the nearest big city or beach. When I lived in Texas, it was a visit to Austin or Padre Island. The US is MASSIVE. It would take days of straight driving to get from one side to the other.

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ButItSaysOnline@reddit

Washington DC if you are on the east coast. A lot of things to do there are free.

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seifd@reddit

It's regional. For me, it was Chicago.

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DrBlankslate@reddit

What’s that one city in the EU that all Europeans go to for their “first trip”?

That’s what your question sounds like. And I’m sure you’re aware that not all Europeans go to the exact same city for their first trip.

This is one of the things that Europeans will apparently never understand. The US is bigger than the EU. Many of your assumptions about how things work here are incorrect because of that.

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rileyoneill@reddit

Growing up in the 1990s we never went more than a few hour drive from Southern California. My parents had absolutely zero interest in Los Angeles (my mom has probably only been a handful of times over the last 40 years, we have are only an hour away). We would go to Las Vegas and occasionally Phoenix to visit family but usually trips were never to cities maybe through them, but never to them. We would go camping at local beaches or the occasional ski trip at local mountains.

A lot of people completely avoid cities. I know people who have never been to the major city in their state despite being well into their 40s and having lived in that state their entire lives. Any sort of vacation or trip would be to a different rural or exurban area.

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DarkSquirrel20@reddit

Myrtle Beach, SC

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Itchy_Pangolin_394@reddit

The largest city in your region of the United States

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Weary_Capital_1379@reddit

I would bet on Orlando for Disney World. Especially with kids.

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Sheila_Monarch@reddit

Generally, if you look at their hometown on a map and draw the shortest line possible from there to the ocean…that city, or thereabouts.

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lithomangcc@reddit

That’s like asking that question to Europeans and expect the same answer from Greece as Norway.

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whatsupgrizzlyadams@reddit

It depends where you live.

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Call_Me_Papa_Bill@reddit

In my experience, most lower income Americans don’t go to cities for vacations. They go somewhere like the Wisconsin Dells, Gatlinburg/Dollywood or a regional roller coaster park. Maybe a lake or beach within a day’s drive. Not Times Square or downtown Chicago 🙂

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bangbangracer@reddit

It's super regional It's usually the major city in their region or the regional tourist destination.

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pinniped90@reddit

Very regional.

I grew up in the Midwest in 1980s. We were just beginning to get cheap short-haul flights but trips to the coasts were still comparatively pricey. So if we flew...in was Chicago. Otherwise we roadied.

Chicago was our "big city". Branson was our lakes district. Redneck Riviera (Gulf Coast, AL/FL area) was our beach destination. Minnesota was our outdoorsy place, also a lakes region but very different vibe from Branson.

You could do all of these on a budget just by avoiding peak dates. Chicago could actually be insanely cheap if you planned it right - we learned to use the buses and trains, when museums had free/cheap days, etc. The Cubs were NOT a hipster thing at all - so a bleacher ticket was 5 bucks and readily available as a walk-up.

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gutclutterminor@reddit

If there is one my guess would be LA.

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maestra612@reddit

Like a day trip? Because the lower socioeconomic class cannot afford vacations. Well , I guess a lot go to WDW on credit cards.

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Impressive-Weird-908@reddit

Las Vegas, Orlando, New York

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txlady100@reddit

Too big a country to have a single answer.

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Murderhornet212@reddit

Regional

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backlikeclap@reddit

Very regional. Also if you're poor enough, the city you go to for vacation is determined by where you have family you can crash with.

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NIN10DOXD@reddit

Regional. In North Carolina, school trips North Carolina Zoo (a publicly funded behemoth we are proud of) in Asheville, the State Capitol Building in Raleigh, Roanoke Island (site of the Lost Colony, the first attempt at an English Colony in the Americas), and Jamestown, Virginia (the first successful English Colony in the Americas) are often the first big trips that children take, but they usually aren’t overnight unless you live in the western part of the state.

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AnchBusFairy@reddit

In Alaska, the city is Anchorage. The city outside the state is Seattle.

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bibliophile222@reddit

If you're on the east coast, it's pretty common for the first big trip to be to Disney World. I work in a school, and a lot of my students' travel histories pretty much consist of the other New England states, New York, and Florida.

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Complete_Aerie_6908@reddit

Midwest folks maybe Chicago or St Louis. Southwesterners, Nashville or Memphis or Atlanta. Southwesterners maybe Dallas. Northeasterners… hmm, don’t know, maybe Boston or NYC. Westerners, maybe Phoenix. West coasters, LA.

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LongOrganization7838@reddit

You go to where you can afford and the biome that you like, remember the U.S. is slightly smaller than Australia so its really unlikely that people from New England will cross the country to California and vice versa for their first trip

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Icy_Consideration409@reddit

U.S. is about 25% larger than Australia.

Even the contiguous U.S. (so no Alaska or Hawaii) is larger than Australia.

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SockSock81219@reddit

You could ask 100 people and get 100 different answers :)

And it also depends on what do you mean by "first trip." If you mean like, your first vacation as a child, that's often something lowkey and inexpensive like going camping at a nearby park or maybe borrowing a relative's cabin by a lake.

First big city you visit independently or with friends as a teenager or young adult is usually the nearest big city, preferably one you can easily visit by train so you don't have to worry about city traffic and parking. So, if your town is on or near a metro commuter train line to Chicago, that's probably your first no-parents trip.

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formablecoast@reddit

In the north, it’s common for families to go to Florida for a winter vacation to escape the snow. But I’ve never actually been to Florida myself.

My first roadtrip as an adult was to Virginia Beach. There are literally endless destinations here.

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cjdstreet@reddit

Would guess Orlando for Disney land

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Harris505@reddit

Depends which beach you live the closest to.

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Severe-Rise5591@reddit

Las Vegas or Washington, DC ??

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Epic-Lake-Bat@reddit

Growing up in a big city, many people seemed to choose a nature place to visit, within driving distance. But I think SoCal city people would were inclined to visit San Francisco as a first big city trip…

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allaboutaphie@reddit

I think most find an amusement park. Would not say Disney anymore because WOW how spendy that is these days. When we were a kid we went to Cedar Point in Ohio and Florida to the beach. I took my son to the Dells in Wi for the waterparks. Also took my son to Tenn, West Viginia, Houston, and various other places where family lives lol. But also took him to Brazil to see the Olympics (he had a choice Alaskan cruise or Olympics..he chose the one that would cost me more but not much more). I dont see anyone goes to one city but goes to an event.

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Wunktacular@reddit

Whichever one is close to you. We're a big country

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Much-Earth7760@reddit

Pretty much impossible to answer. I’m fairly well-traveled for an American (I’ve been to Europe several times, India, Central America, etc) and there are A LOT of big American cities I’ve never been to. I lived in Dallas as a child but I’ve never been to Houston or Austin. I’ve never been to California. I’ve never been to Boston or Pittsburgh. My parents have never been to any of those places but have also never been to New York or Chicago or Seattle or Portland. Our country is huge and it’s hard to travel outside of your region unless you can afford plane tickets, which are not nearly as cheap as intracountry flights in other countries (from what I’ve seen). I currently live ~550 miles from my parents and it often costs $500+ to fly to see them (a one-hour flight) unless it’s a really off time

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OneNerdyLesbian@reddit

As well as region or money, I think where you have family can influence it as well. Most of my childhood trips were to places where we had family.

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Jsaun906@reddit

if we're talking about lower income Americans then it's definitely just going to be the most notable city in their state or tristate area. Somewhere you can drive to and make a say trip out of. No hotels or airfare required.

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Lumpy_Branch_552@reddit

First one that came to mind is Orlando, FL because of Disney. Maybe for first big trip for a kid in the Midwest.

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CH11DW@reddit

Especially if you are going to confine this to lower-middle/lower income, then this is regional answer. That economic class likely can’t afford plane tickets limiting where they could go.

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OdderShift@reddit

100% regional. i grew up in southern wisconsin and chicago was typically that city for us

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LimeTunic@reddit

Most often whichever is the largest city closest to where you grew up. For me it would be Chicago, for many others it would’ve LA, NYC, Newark, Miami, etc..

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Head_Banger88@reddit

I grew up in Phoenix and I went to Las Vegas 5 or 6 times before turning 18. That was the winter vacation and in summer we would drive out to San Diego for a three day weekend

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Distinct-Swimming-62@reddit

Definitely regional. I live in Kentucky. I think it is very common for people to go to either Gatlinburg or Myrtle Beach for their big vacation. If they are really fancy, they might spring for Daytona, Panama City or Destin. I avoid all of those like the plague, but in my area, that is where a lot of people go for vacations.

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PinchedTazerZ0@reddit

Whatever major city in the state. LA and NYC are pretty common "dream" visits

Orlando is popular for family first big trips

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LegendOfHurleysGold@reddit

From the Atlanta area. My first vacations as a kid were Chattanooga, TN and Panama Beach, FL

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HermioneMarch@reddit

Disney ( world or land depending on where you live) Any beach town

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electricgotswitched@reddit

Texas would probably be New Orleans

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LifeConsideration981@reddit

I would hazard that most (or at least, many) American vacations are not to cities! The ocean, lake, mountains, or just camping are all very popular, especially on a budget. Other options would be a waterpark-hotel or a theme park like Six Flags.

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77sleeper@reddit

VEGAS BABY

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minneyar@reddit

The continental USA is nearly 3000 miles wide, and it takes about 10 days to drive across it, if you're stopping for food and rest. It's not even possible for there to be one city that people go to for their "first trip".

It's highly regional, since wherever you are in the US, there's probably a reasonably large city that is within a few hours' drive away from you.

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Easy-Maybe5606@reddit

Orlando

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Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit

You do t realize how big the U.S. is.

There is no one City the is a “first trip”.

People like different things. Some want beach life like Miami or Key West. Other like big city life like New York, or Chicago in the Midwest or LA in the West.

Las Vegas for gambling and the bright lights… or just a location closer to where people live.

I could go on and on for a while.

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CaliforniaSun77@reddit

Central Valley of California and our "Big City" trip was Anaheim for Disneyland. LOL. Other popular trips was the trip to the coast (you always call it the coast) and it was usually to Pismo Beach. Then there was a mountain trip, Sequoia NP, or Shaver Lake.

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Temporary-Profit-643@reddit

My dad never left Southern California until he was 19, when he went to Canada for a few years, and he was dirt poor. There is no one correct answer to this, but generally it's gonna be a regional area. People from LA might go to Vegas or Santa Barbara/San Diego area. Or they might book a flight straight across the country. Who knows

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Dry-Astronaut-8640@reddit

I grew up about 5 hours north of New York City. When I was a kid, we all did spring break in/around Florida. At least for people my age and where I was living, most our first “real” vacations were to Orlando and that area.

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common_grounder@reddit

It varies. It they are low weatlth, they're most likely to go to a city in their region of the country because the US is so vast in size and the cost of airfare would be prohibitive for most. It would likely be a road trip in a car. If they live in the South, they would probably go to someplace like Atlanta, Miami, or Washington DC. If they live in the northeastern quadrant of the country, it would likely be New York City or Chicago. If they live in the Southwest, it would be probably be Los Angeles or Las Vegas. In the northwest, likely Seattle. Of course, there are plenty of other cities in all those regions that might be a bigger draw depending on the person's interests.

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Fuel_junkie@reddit

Branson is a big one. Tho, I didn’t see the appeal.

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Turbulent_Group_6616@reddit

Panama City Beach, Florida.

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AmphibianOld4815@reddit

That's very very reigonal. You have to remember some states are bigger than most of Europe.

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Positive-Avocado-881@reddit

Since you specified lower income Americans, there won’t be one answer. For Americans in general, I would say Orlando for a Disney/Universal trip, but even people too far west won’t go there as often

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bellesearching_901@reddit

Varies greatly by region.

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Both_Painter_9186@reddit

Depends where they live. Id say most students- if its within a days drive- will do a DC school trip.

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dc912@reddit

The United States is huge. The answer to this question probably varies state by state.

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Kellzy1212@reddit

Regional, as people are saying. I feel like a NYC, LA, Chicago, DC and Miami are the most common. Most younger people want to see NYC just because how frequently it’s featured in media.

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whatisakafka@reddit

Generally the nearest major city. For school trips, DC is quite common, at least on the East Coast. For family vacations, Disney is definitely a big one

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killingourbraincells@reddit

It's going to depend where you live. Here in FL, it's very common for people to visit NC or North GA during the fall and winter.

That was probably my "first" trip growing up. We did an annual camping trip to Cherokee, NC. I know many other people that do the same thing, but in different parts of NC.

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AfterAllBeesYears@reddit

It's usually the largest city in their state. Otherwise, wherever the largest regional Waterpark is, or Orlando/LA for Disney World/Disneyland. (Yes, in know Disney World is not actually in Orlando)

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manicpixidreamgirl04@reddit

For a lot of people, the first trip they go on is when they're a baby/toddler with their parents. Cities aren't super convenient or popular destinations for families with young kids.

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Henry_Fleischer@reddit

It varies by region.

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Otherwisefantastic@reddit

There is no one answer. Whatever big city is only a few hours away from you, most likely, but that's going to be different for everyone.

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taylorgrande@reddit

nyc

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TimAA2017@reddit

It varies by person and region but I say New York.

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gofindyour@reddit

Very regional!! I grew up on the border of Illinois and Wisconsin, we went to Milwaukee and Chicago a lot growing up. Or Madison

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NemeanMiniLion@reddit

Impossible question here but I like the answer that the nearest major city is a probable answer.

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thatsad_guy@reddit

There is no real way to answer that

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Responsible-Care-388@reddit

First trip as in vacation? It's usually NYC or LA.

First trip in general, like for business or some sort of errand/opportunity? Usually the closest to them. If I live in suburban or on the outskirts of somewhere in TX like Austin, Dallas, etc. The closest city to me will be the one I will most likely visit out of necessity.

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OceanPoet87@reddit

Region dependent. Someone in Oregon is not going to drive to Maine or Florida for their first road trip. Someone from South Carolina is probably not driving to South Dakota on a whim.