We have spent years fitting in as many weekend trips as possible so we would like to think we are becoming experts on where to go Friday through Sunday with ease!
We are based in Colorado, so it does help being in the central part of the US. Something to think about when deciding where to go for a weekend getaway!
Excursions and Activities on Viator: https://www.viator.com/partner-shop/mcexploring/Worldwide-Experiences?medium=link&medium_version=shop
Another thing to consider is what type of getaway you would like to have. Relaxing, Adventure, Road Trip, Hiking, Culture…the list goes one! With only having a short-window, you will likely have to select a focus as there isn’t a way to see it all.
Next is budget and time! Not all weekend getaways are created equal. Traveling by car, to neighboring states and on non-stop flights are all ways to maximize time on your getaway. If you aren’t picky with where you want to go, go where the deals are! Sometimes being flexible with time of year can help with lower costs of traveling. Shoulder seasons are great ways to see a new area without the crowds and lower prices.
Here is our list of awesome weekend getaways. We have the Southwest Airlines companion pass so we have flown exclusively with that airline. These are all cities Southwest flies to directly from Denver, Colorado.
Acadia National Park – via Boston, MA
This park sits about 5 hours away from the Bosto Logan Airport. We rented a car and drove to Bar Harbor, ME. We stayed at the Acadia Oceanview Hotel (affordable, super clean, convenient, cozy to the park!)
The focus of this trip was to be in the national park and explore the surrounding states. We landed in the afternoon on Friday and spent the rest of the day driving up to the park. We stopped for dinner at the Thirsty Whale in downtown Bar Harbor (highly reccomend the seasoned fish and chips as well as the lobster roll and clam chowder!)
Saturday, we spend ALL DAY in Acadia National Park and spent the night in Bangor, ME (about an hour outside the park at the Fairfield Inn & Suites). On Sunday, we visited New Hampshire and Salem, Massachusettes on the way back to Boston to fly out Monday morning to get home before work. We stayed at the Springhill Suites in Revere, MA, just 10 minutes from the airport and on the beach!
Here is where what we did-
Beehive Trail, Acadia National Park
Canada Cliffs Trail, Acadia National Park
Thunder Hole, Acadia National Park
Popovers at Jordan Pond House, Acadia National Park
Carriage Roads, Acadia National Park
Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, Acadia National Park
Salem Witch Museum, MA
Self-Guided Tour of the Houses from Hocus Pocus, Salem, MA
USS Albacore Museum, Portsmouth, NH
Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Portsmouth, NH
Olympic National Park – outside of Seattle, WA
This park sits about 2 hours away from the Seattle Airport. We rented a car and drove to Port Angeles, WA. We stayed in an Airbnb that was convenient for our adventures.
The focus of this trip was to be in the national park and all of its diversity. We went to the beaches, the rainforest and the waterfalls! We went in January so things are a little wetter and colder this time of year, but less crowds! If you don’t like driving, this trip may not be for you; Olympic National park is very dispersed and requires going into different entrances to get to each attraction, there are no through-roads inside the park.
Here is where we went –
Hoh Rainforest
Ruby Beach
Rialto Beach
Lake Cresecent
Forks, WA – Where Twilight was filmed!
Cape Flattery – This is on reservation land, please stop in a get permit.
We also selected a few waterfalls from the Waterfall Trail.
We pretty much cooked at our Airbnb but if you need a restaurant suggestion the Thai food at Sabai Thai was wonderful!
Joshua Tree National Park – outside of Palm Springs, CA
This park sits about 1.5 hours away from the Palm Springs airport. We rented a car and stayed at the Joshua Tree entrance to the park (highly recommend staying on this side of the park for easier access to attractions and to see the Joshua Trees!)
Since there isn’t a lot in the town of Joshua Tree besides the park, we recommend stopping at a grocery store on the way out of town and cooking most of your meals. We packed sandwiches while we were inside the park and it worked great.
Tips – it is the desert so you want to start your day early and end it late with a break during the hottest part of the day; make sure you bring plenty of cover, sunscreen and water as there is very little shade on hikes and the wind makes everything dry. We went in April so the temps were in the 70s and there were flowers blooming on most of the trails!
Here is where we went –
Skull Rock
Fortynine Palms Oasis
Barker Dam
Heart & Arch Rock
Cholla Cactus Garden
Mastadon Peak – We did this on the way back to the airport since it is on the other side of the park from the Joshua Tree entrance.
Chicago, IL – The Windy City
Chris and I both had never been to Chicago so it was a no-brainer weekend getaway. We both wanted to see the green river so we timed the trip for St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
We stayed at the Blackstone Hotel and it was very convenient to most things in the city. Just be prepared to do a lot of walking as in most cities – we did about 30 miles this weekend. We utilized public transit and it was so easy to get around! We also took the train from the Midway airport straight into the city which was also really convenient.
We actually purchased the CityPass for Chicago and it was a great way to have a line-up of things to do and see for the weekend and save some money. This was an arts and culture and food weekend!
Here is what we did –
Shedd Aquarium
Skydeck Chicago (if you choose only one observation deck, this is the one we would recommend for the ability to go in the glass room above the city, so scary but neat!)
360 CHICAGO Observation Deck
Field Museum
Shoreline Sightseeing Architecture River Tour
Not included in the pass –
Starbucks Reserve Roastery – five stories of Coffee!
Green River – make sure to go during St. Patrick’s Day week – it will be green in the center hub of town only!
Food we recommend –
Doughnut Vault – get there early as they sell out quickly
Lou Malnati’s Pizza – they have a few locations
The Purple Pig – high end mediterranean food
MingHin Cuisine – asian and chinese
The Red Lion Pub – traditional pub food
Big Sur – outside of San Jose/San Francisco, CA
Big Sur is located about 2 hours outside the San Jose/San Francisco area so there are three airports to choose to fly into: San Fran, San Jose, or Oakland. We flew into San Fran and out of San Jose (something to look into to find the best timing/pricing for your weekend!). We rented a car and stayed at a convenient hotel near the airport that was low-cost – Aloft Mountain View.
At about 5 AM the next morning we headed out to the Ventana Wilderness area. The purpose of this weekend getaway was for hiking! We stopped at an awesome acai bowl place called Terra Superfoods and stopped at Whole Foods for breakfast burritos and water.
Tip: You are not allowed to bring hiking poles on carry-on luggage for the plane, nor camping stove fuel (you can’t even have the fuel in a checked bag). We weighed time vs. money and ended up feeling like stopping by Walmart to pick up cheap poles and fuel was the best way to go. It was $60 for two pairs of poles and the fuel canister vs. extra time at the airport to both check and get your luggage (if you aren’t flying Southwest you’ll likely be paying to check bags as well) as well as the fact that you would have to purchase fuel regardless.
This hike was 19.5 miles long to Sykes Hot Springs via Pine Ridge Trail. This isn’t for the beginner hiker. Most people backpack it to break up the mileage (you are welcome to do that!) but in the interest of a weekend getaway we opted to hike the whole thing in one day. We brought backpacks as carry-ons with all the necessary gear (including backpacking meals for some real food fuel for this long day). We started at about 10 AM and got back to the parking lot right before 7 PM. This included a scramble up the river to the hot springs and about an hour soaking before returning to the trail. The hike is about 5,000 feet of elevation gain so a lot of hills to conquer.
After the hike, we stopped at The Crown & Anchor for post-hike fuel of fish & chips, reuben sandwiches, wings and brisket mac n’ cheese (we earned it!). We opted for the longer drive back to the Hotel Nia for a relaxing Sunday but also to save money over staying in nearby Monterey or Santa Cruz (hotels were averaging $300-$600/night).
Sunday we spent the day RELAXING after hiking almost 24 miles in total. We slept in, utilized the pool, hot tub and outdoor area to read and catch up on work as well as enjoyed a tasty breakfast on property. We were about 20 minutes from the San Jose airport.
San Antonio, TX – Home of the Alamo
San Antonio is a destination really easy to get to from Colorado, a quick flight on Southwest got us there Friday evening. There is so much culture and history in San Antonio, a weekend is not nearly enough. For this particular trip, we wanted RELAXATION more than anything.
We stayed at the JW Marriott Hill Country San Antonio property (it’s $500/night!) for $0! Earlier in the year we both opened Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit cards and the sign-up bonus was free nights. So, we searched for resorts across the US and came to this one to use our three free nights on. We didn’t leave the property!
This resort had a full-blown waterpark complete with slides, kids area and lazy river along with an adults-only pool and hot tub. It also is on a TPC golf course, has an arcade, very nice gym, basketball/tennis courts, spa and walking trails! Since the point of this trip was relaxation, we thought it best to stay on the resort and take advantage of the amenities. They also have multiple restaurants on property to cater to breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks. We used our Marriott platinum status to get breakfast vouchers (it was a buffet) and then picked somewhere for dinner (cost $$ tip for travel – eat two large meals a day instead of 3!).
Sedona, AZ – Home of the Red Rocks
Sedona is a destination is a quick flight on Southwest to Phoenix and then a short 2-hour drive north to Sedona. We did this trip over NYE weekend so we had a bit more time. For this particular trip, we wanted to explore the RED ROCKS and hike as much as we could (there is so much more than hiking available in Sedona, but it keeps the cost LOW to hike).
We stayed at the Cedar’s Resort property because of an offer through Booking.Com with our Amex Platinum card (which is why we picked this as a destination at the time we did!) The resort is basic, but super close to dining downtown and our favorite restaurant was The Vault Uptown. It also has a great pool and hottub with VIEWS for days! If you want to save some money pick a non-premium room without the views and go out and HIKE for the views!
Like I said, we hiked most of this trip so when we got in Saturday morning and up by lunchtime, we hiked the rest of the day, all-day Sunday, and had a relaxing morning around town Monday before heading back to the airport (holiday weekend remember?). We got in about 25 miles of hikes in that day and half.
Hiking Trail Reccomendations:
**** You technically need to pay for parking at most of these, but if you have the America the Beautiful Pass, it is included (this pass is such a great deal if you hike or outside alot! It gets you access to all kinds of national lands)
Cathedral Rock: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/ar…
Boynton Canyon: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/ar…
Fay Canyon: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/ar…
Devil’s Bridge: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/ar…
If you want to see more, check out our Youtube video on this trip! www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRIOg-szh7Q&t=6s
El Paso, TX – Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, & Juarex, Mexico
El Paso is an amazing Southwest hub for exploration of three area national parks as well as a border crossing into Juarez, Mexico! It is a quick flight from Denver, CO and is also on Mountain time (so need to adjust!). Check out our Youtube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BViPVxcGYs4&t=931s
We went for a weekend for three things:
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park is about a 2.5 hour drive from El Paso in New Mexico. You will need reservations for this park but it is AMAZING to explore this cave of wonder. We reccomend taking a ranger tour as well! We spent about 6 hours exploring.
- White Sands National Park is about a 2 hour drive to Almagordo, New Mexico and we went for the afternoon and sunset in the park. The visitors center sells sand “sleds” that you can purchase for $20 and between sledding and hiking, it was a fantastic way to spend an afternoon among the dunes.
- Border Crossing at Juarex, Mexico. We WALKED across the border and spent the afternoon walking around and eating amazing food in Mexico! We stopped at the Kentucky Bar (claim to fame is the invention of the margarita!) and some other local eateries. It was a smooth process to walk, it costs $1 US per person to cross the bridge there and back and if you have Global Entry, the customs process to get back in the US is a breeze (you can skip the line!). Each crossing took about 10 minutes (compared to hours in a car). Once you are over the border, you can Uber for cheap to get around if you don’t want to walk. There is parking on the El Paso side for $4/day in a lot off of Santa Fe street. We felt very safe the entire time and everyone was welcoming and helpful.
Minneapolis, MN – Duluth & Apostle Islands, WI
Minneapolis was a short flight from Denver (like 1.5 hours or so) and once again is a Southwest hub to be able to see two states in one trip! Check out our Youtube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwX2SGc_vNc
The reason we went here in the first places was to visit states number #27 & #28 for Mikayla and this was an easy trip to be able to visit one state each day! Here is what we did:
- Jay Cooke State Park, MN – Check out the iconic swinging bridge and explore the many trails that lead you along the river and through the forest. We clocked about 7 miles in an afternoon!
- Cedar + Stone Nordic Sauna – Duluth, MN – This was a neat experience! Duluth is the Sauna Capital of the U.S. and we made a reservation for the evening on our first day to do cold + hot therapy by relaxing in a floating sauna in the canal along with a cold plunge in Lake Superior! We grabbed a 90 minute reservation and although pricey, it was a fun experience!
- Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, WI – We drove about 2.5 hours to the top of Wisconsin from Duluth to get to this National Park. Most often visited in the summer for their kayaking of the islands, it was actually pretty fun in the spring! We hiked along the Lakeshore Trail to explore the sea caves from up above and took most of the afternoon for this hike along with many pitstops!
- We stayed at the Sheraton Duluth on Saturday night and the Fairfield Inn & Suites MSP on Sunday night before a 5 AM flight home Monday morning to get us back before work.
- Two highlight restaurants include: Canal Park Brewing in Duluth and Revival Smoked Meats in Minneapolis!
MC Exploring 