Day trips by city
Where to drive for a day out of eleven cities in the US and Europe. Each one is paced as a full day, with the driving counted honestly — and each says plainly which trips are better by train.
United States
Day trips from ChicagoSix day trips from Chicago you can actually drive in a day — dunes, river canyons, a lake resort and a brewery city — each paced with real drive times and stops.6 drivesDay trips from DenverSix day trips from Denver — Rocky Mountain National Park, a 4,300 m summit road, Garden of the Gods and two mining towns — paced with real drive times and altitude notes.6 drivesDay trips from SeattleSix day trips from Seattle — Mount Rainier, a Bavarian mountain town, island ferries and a waterfall an hour out — paced with real drive times and ferry advice.6 drivesDay trips from Las VegasSix day trips from Las Vegas by car — Valley of Fire, Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam, Death Valley, Zion and the Grand Canyon's west rim — with heat and timing warnings.6 drivesDay trips from BostonSix day trips from Boston by car — Salem, Cape Ann, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Providence and the Berkshires — paced with real drive times and honest traffic warnings.6 drivesDay trips from PhoenixSix day trips from Phoenix by car — Sedona's red rocks, a mile-high mining town, Saguaro country and a canyon lake — with the heat warnings that decide the season.6 drivesDay trips from New YorkSix day trips from NYC by car — the Hudson Valley, a Gilded-Age coast, Delaware Water Gap and beach towns — with honest advice on when the train beats driving.6 drives
Europe
Day trips from RomeSix day trips from Rome by car — Tivoli's fountains, Orvieto's cliff, a Roman port city, hill-town wine and a cliff village — with ZTL, toll and parking warnings.6 drivesDay trips from FlorenceSix day trips from Florence by car — Siena, Chianti's wine roads, San Gimignano, Lucca and Pisa, Arezzo and Cortona, and Bologna — with ZTL and parking warnings.6 drivesDay trips from DublinSix day trips from Dublin by car — Glendalough, the Boyne Valley tombs, Kilkenny, a coastal headland and two long hauls west and north — with honest driving times.6 drivesDay trips from EdinburghSix day trips from Edinburgh by car — Stirling, St Andrews, Loch Lomond, Glencoe, Perthshire and the Borders abbeys — paced with honest drive times for single-track roads.6 drivesDay trips from BarcelonaSix day trips from Barcelona by car — Montserrat's serrated massif, walled Girona, Roman Tarragona, Costa Brava coves and Priorat wine — with parking and toll notes.6 drivesDay trips from MadridSix day trips from Madrid by car — Toledo, Segovia's aqueduct, walled Ávila, El Escorial, Aranjuez and hanging-house Cuenca — with parking and driving notes for each.6 drivesDay trips from LisbonSix day trips from Lisbon by car — Sintra's palaces, the Arrábida coast, a walled town, surf beaches and Évora — with honest advice on when the train wins.6 drivesDay trips from MunichSix day trips from Munich by car — Neuschwanstein, an alpine lake, Salzburg, Berchtesgaden and a mountain railway — with vignette, season and booking notes.6 drives
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