{"id":97173248,"date":"2015-11-11T20:34:41","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T20:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/?p=97173248"},"modified":"2025-05-15T15:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T15:11:09","slug":"5-of-the-coolest-places-to-visit-for-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/5-of-the-coolest-places-to-visit-for-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"5 of the Coolest Places to Visit for the Holidays\u2014That Aren’t Your Mom’s House!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The holiday travel season is right around the corner, folks! Do you know where you\u2019re headed?<\/p>\n

Lots of us head home for the holidays\u2014most Thanksgiving and December holiday travelers have already booked their trips back home. But not everyone is traveling back to their childhood nest! The holidays are also a great time for a real, legitimate vacation, since most offices will already be closed for at least a portion of the days you might be away. Use those vacation days efficiently, people!<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re looking for a last minute Thanksgiving getaway<\/a> or planning further head for the December holidays, we’ve got some awesome travel inspiration for you. Where should you go this holiday season? Here are a few of the most popular places to visit!<\/p>\n

1.) Las Vegas<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"somchaij<\/a>

somchaij \/ Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

This is kind of genius, don\u2019t you think? Instead of stressing about your drunk uncle on the other side of the dinner table, you can be living it up in Las Vegas! Hit the casinos, catch some shows, and spend a night with the Eiffel Tower. You may not find any turkey or eggnog, but you\u2019re in Vegas, so who cares, right?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for some more tame Vegas fun, check out this fun guide to the Las Vegas arcade scene.<\/a> You can hit all the best ones in just about 24 hours\u2014if you\u2019re seriously motivated\u2014so let your inner gamer out to play. No shame in your game, friend.<\/p>\n

2.) Orlando<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"Songquan<\/a>

Songquan Deng \/ Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

Want some fun in the sun? Orlando is the place to be! While the Northern half of the US shivers with cold over the holidays, Orlando will be warm, sunny, and happy. If that\u2019s not reason enough to fly south, we’re not sure what is!<\/p>\n

Once you land in the Sunshine State, take a trip over to Disneyworld, check out the Kennedy Space Station, or just lay outside in the sun for a while. Remember to slather on the sunscreen! If you\u2019re not keen on Mickey and Minnie, check out this helpful rundown of fun things to do in Orlando that aren\u2019t Disney-related<\/a>. We won\u2019t judge you for skipping out on the most magical place on Earth. (OK, maybe we\u2019re judging you a little bit.)<\/p>\n

3.) Denver<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"bikeriderlondon<\/a>

bikeriderlondon \/ Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

If Florida sunshine isn\u2019t your thing, hitting the slopes in Denver might be more your style! Skiing season has just begun, and there\u2019s no better time to test out the powder than a long holiday weekend. Some folks have even gotten a head start already!<\/a><\/p>\n

Denver\u2019s not all about skiing though<\/a>, so if you love the winter but not its seasonal sports, never fear. This town is filled with art galleries, fun shopping, and cultural corners to explore. Break out your best sweaters and dive headfirst into Denver!<\/p>\n

4.) Chicago<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"Rudy<\/a>

Rudy Balasko \/ Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

The Windy City is a popular place to go for the holidays, and it\u2019s no mystery as to why. This city is filled to the brim with cool things to do. Just make sure you pack a windbreaker!<\/p>\n

Check out the Willis Tower\u2014the second tallest building in the US, recently surpassed by New York\u2019s Freedom Tower\u2014take an architecture cruise down the Chicago River<\/a>, or take a self-guided Chicago movie tour<\/a> down the streets of your favorite films. Bueller,<\/em> anyone?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an art buff, make sure to swing by the Art Institute of Chicago, which houses the largest collection of Impressionist paintings in the world. Who knew the US could be so fancy?<\/p>\n

5.) New York City<\/a><\/h3>\n
\"dibrova<\/a>

dibrova \/ Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

We saved the best for last, folks. If you\u2019re traveling this holiday season, New York City is kind of the most exciting place<\/a> you could visit. Why? It\u2019s home to the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, and more gallons of general holiday cheer than you can imagine! NYC is the hub of all things festive, and there\u2019s no better place to kick off the holiday season.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re coming to the Big Apple, swing by Rockefeller Center and head to the top, where you\u2019ll get a gorgeous view of the city. Save your ice skating for Bryant Park, which doesn\u2019t charge a fee to enter the rink! (You do have to pay for skate rental, though.) After you\u2019ve maxed out on excitement between parades, shopping, and the tree, finish the evening with a Broadway show. You\u2019ll be in love with New York<\/a> before you know it!<\/p>\n

Will you be traveling this holiday season<\/a>? Let us know where you\u2019re headed in the comments below, then pop over to our #HomeAwaits contest page<\/a> to enter for a chance to win a roundtrip flight for two this season!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The holiday travel season is right around the corner, folks! Do you know where you\u2019re headed? Lots of us head home for the holidays\u2014most Thanksgiving and December holiday travelers have already booked their trips back home. But not everyone is traveling back to their childhood nest! The holidays are also a great time for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":97173254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,69,67,70,66,31],"tags":[181,28,251,464,484,43,483,280,381,448,390,38,37,338,279,391,1081,249,98,1114,960,156,845],"class_list":["post-97173248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure-travel","category-arts-and-history","category-beaches","category-family","category-interests","category-trending-stories","tag-chi","tag-chicago","tag-den","tag-denver","tag-ewr","tag-florida","tag-jfk","tag-las","tag-las-vegas","tag-lga","tag-mco","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-ord","tag-orl","tag-orlando","tag-ski","tag-skiing","tag-thanksgiving","tag-thanksgiving-deals","tag-thanksgiving-travel","tag-top-5","tag-vgt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97173248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97173248"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97173248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97228428,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97173248\/revisions\/97228428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97173254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97173248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97173248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97173248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}