Many factors go into deciding where to go on vacation — while some seek out major metropolises where you will never run out of things to do, others want to get as far away from civilization as possible and just be left alone for the time that they're away. Still others are hung up on discovering new, off-the-beaten-path destinations to prove that they are "not like those other tourists."
And for even more people, price considerations come out above all. Earlier this year, Bankrate's annual travel report found that 77% of those who planned to take a trip between Thanksgiving to New Year's Day have or will be modifying their plans in some way due to rising prices.
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But when looking at "fun" factors such as presence of recreational establishments and nightlife relative to cost, personal finance platform WalletHub identified Las Vegas as the most fun city in America. Despite the high cost of hotels on the Strip, the large number of casinos and nightclubs per square inch put the city at the top of the country's 180 largest cities — hardly a surprise given that generations have sought out Las Vegas as a place to cut back and let loose.
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"Sin City is known for partying, and it’s one of the only cities in our study where public drinking is allowed in most or all places – whether that’s a plus or not will depend on your personality, though," write the study's authors.
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As many associate fun with theme parks or the beach, two Florida cities landed just below Vegas in the top three — Orlando came out on top due to being the epicenter for Disney (DIS) -) and Universal parks while Miami came out third for its nightlife despite falling just below New York City and Washington, D.C. for the high cost to visitors (for the purposes of the ranking, the number of interesting things to do ranked higher than the cost of hotels.)
Other cities to score high include big metropolises such as Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Smaller cities such as Austin, Texas and New Orleans also landed in the top ten due to their unique cultural heritage and status as music and food hubs while Honolulu earned the last spot in the top 10 due to its popularity as a sunny destination while still having the entertainment infrastructure of a larger city.
'The amusement-park markup doesn't necessarily extend to the rest of the city...'
"While you might expect to pay high prices for a stay in Orlando, the amusement-park markup doesn’t necessarily extend to the rest of the city," reads the report. "For example, Orlando actually has one of the lowest nightly rates for a 3-star hotel room, and relatively low average prices for staple foods like pizza and burgers."
Honolulu also took first place as the city with the highest number of festivals in the country. Perhaps surprisingly or paradoxically to some people's expectations, Miami has the highest number of restaurants while San Francisco wins out when it comes to nightclubs.
For those in search of national and other parks, Alaska's Anchorage has the most parkland out of anywhere else in the country.
