Best Cities For Your Summer Vaxcation
You’re vaccinated and ready to travel, but which cities offer the most bang for your buck while keeping you safe?
LawnStarter has you covered: Our ranking of the Best Cities for Your Summer Vaxcation compares the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on 30 indicators of a fun (and safe) excursion — from the cost of a cab ride to the average Airbnb rate to the number of attractions. And we looked, of course, at each city’s vaccination rate.
What exactly is a “vaxcation”? Just what it sounds like: a vacation for the COVID-vaccinated.
See the top 10 (and bottom 10) summer vaxcation hotspots below, followed by some highlights and lowlights from our report.
2021’s Best Cities for Your Summer Vaxcation
1 San Francisco, CA
2 Portland, OR
3 Providence, RI
4 Garden Grove, CA
5 Washington, DC
6 Honolulu, HI
7 Jersey City, NJ
8 Seattle, WA
9 Las Vegas, NV
10 New Orleans, LA
2021’s Worst Cities for Your Summer Vaxcation
191 Memphis, TN
192 Little Rock, AR
193 Pasadena, TX
194 Mesquite, TX
195 Jacksonville, FL
196 Kansas City, KS
197 Bakersfield, CA
198 Sunrise Manor, NV
199 Grand Prairie, TX
200 Enterprise, NV
Highlights and Lowlights:
- Let’s Go to San Funcisco: The Golden City tops our ranking of the Best Cities for Your Summer Vaxcation and for good reason: San Francisco is the No. 1 city for having fun, offering the second-highest number of attractions and the most vibrant nightlife.At the time we looked, San Francisco also boasted the highest vaccination rate of any big city. (Seattle officially leads that race — for now — but San Francisco is co-blazing the trail.)The best part? The Bay City is fully open as of June 15, with no holds barred but for “mega events.” So feel free to ditch the mask — except to get there and get around on public transit — but pack a sweatshirt or windbreaker. As Mark Twain may (or may not) have once said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”
- Fun in the Honolulu Sun: Looking for the best outdoor experience? Then say aloha to Honolulu. Hawaii’s capital ranks No. 6 overall but No. 2 for having fun and No. 1 for being outside.The only letdown: This Pacific paradise ranks No. 166 in the lodging category, due to below-average hotel ratings and relatively higher Airbnb prices. But no one really goes to Honolulu to stay out of the sun.Just make sure to have your vaccination card (or proof of a negative COVID-19 test) handy: While The Big Pineapple outperforms 180 other big cities in vaccinations, Hawaii requires all visitors to be inoculated/show no symptoms or otherwise quarantine for 10 days.
- Neva Say Neva in Nevada: The Sin City metro lands on opposite ends of our ranking: Las Vegas sits in ninth place and Paradise in 11th, while Sunrise Manor finishes at a very distant 198 and Enterprise dead last. So be careful: Depending on which direction you’re heading, you could find yourself making good memories or having a lousy summer break in a matter of minutes. Check out this travel guide from lasvegasjaunt.com so you can enjoy your summer stay to Vegas to the fullest. The good news is Nevada reopened at 100% capacity on June 1 (though private businesses can still require masks).If you want to avoid mixed signals from Greater Vegas, consider driving northwest to Reno in 27th place. The Biggest Little City in the World is slightly sunnier (No. 4) than Vegas (No. 5), and it’s perfect for outdoor pleasure: There’s no shortage of camping sites (No. 17) or drinking holes.
The full ranking and analysis can be found here: https://www.lawnstarter.
