{"id":2519,"date":"2011-02-22T21:50:29","date_gmt":"2011-02-23T02:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"\/inspire\/5-essentials-perfect-city-break"},"modified":"2017-12-12T19:18:20","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T19:18:20","slug":"5-essentials-perfect-city-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelocity.com\/inspire\/5-essentials-perfect-city-break\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Essentials for a Perfect City Break"},"content":{"rendered":"

I live in a big city. Within two blocks of my apartment, there are over a dozen restaurants. At night, I hear sirens wailing, my neighbor\u2019s baby crying, and the occasional shouts of revelers as they make their way home from nearby bars. I squeeze onto crowded subway cars, know my sidewalk etiquette, and am rarely, if ever, able to experience total calm and quiet. And yet, when it comes to taking vacation breaks, I somehow find myself gravitating toward other <\/em>cities. Through my travels, here\u2019s what I\u2019ve determined to be the five most important components for a successful big city break:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Get a Room with a View<\/strong>
\nWhile you\u2019re not going to be spending a ton of time in your hotel room, you want the time while you\u2019re there to be well spent. So spring for the room with a view and take in a panorama that tells your eyes over and over again that you\u2019re truly somewhere else. This past weekend, for example, I stayed in one of the sexy \u201cRed Rooms\u201d at Paris Las Vegas<\/a> and had a view of the \u201cEiffel Tower\u201d and the Bellagio fountains, with snow-dusted Nevada desert mountains in the background. It was a view that screamed Vegas from every square inch, and I couldn\u2019t get enough of it.<\/p>\n

2. Do Something Only the Tourists Would Do<\/strong>
\nAs much as you might try to blend in, you are, after all, a tourist. So revel in it! Otherwise, what\u2019s the point of visiting? When in New York, go the top of the Statue of Liberty. When in San Francisco, ride a cable car. When in Miami, bask in your bathing suit on South Beach. And when in Vegas, do something crazy, like put on a coat and gloves in the middle of the desert to drink vodka out of ice cups in a bar made entirely of ice sculptures, which I did at Mandalay Bay\u2019s Minus 5 Ice Lounge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3. Stumble Upon Something Unexpected<\/strong>
\nThis isn\u2019t really one you can plan for, but it springs naturally from all the walking\/exploring you\u2019re going to do when in the big city. You\u2019re always in for a surprise. For me, it was ducking into the divey O\u2019Sheas Casino on the Strip since I\u2019d never been inside, and finding an entire back area with tables devoted to the fraternity-favorite game of beer pong<\/a>. And while this game isn\u2019t exactly my kind of thing, it certainly was unexpected and highly amusing to watch.<\/p>\n

4. Eat Something You Couldn\u2019t Get Back Home<\/strong>
\nYou\u2019d think with so many restaurants in easy reach of my apartment that there isn\u2019t too much that I can\u2019t get back home, and you\u2019d be right. But I still love the novelty of dining out in the big city to try new things. When I saw there was a Nobu<\/a> restaurant in Las Vegas (something we don\u2019t have in San Francisco), I knew I had to go and order the vegetarian tasting menu, which ended up being the most delicious and decadent dining experience of my life. Truly something exceptional that I\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n

5. Bring Comfortable Walking Shoes
\n<\/strong>We all want to look cute, but there\u2019s nothing cute about blisters. When in the city, prepare to walk and walk and walk some more. That\u2019s the best way to get on the ground and really people-watch as you pound pavement from one fun sight to the next. In Vegas, that means strolling the Strip, where everything looks closer than it actually is. Whether it\u2019s the Strip, the French Quarter, or the Mall of America, be prepared for lots of walking and make sure your feet are comfy so you can do all that walking with a smile on your face.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your formula for a great city escape?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I live in a big city. Within two blocks of my apartment there are over a dozen restaurants. At night, I hear sirens wailing, my neighbor\u2019s baby crying, and the occasional shouts of revelers as they make their way home from nearby bars. I squeeze onto crowded subway cars, know my sidewalk etiquette, and am rarely, if ever, able to experience total calm and quiet. And yet, when it comes to taking vacation breaks, I somehow find myself gravitating toward other <\/em>cities. Through my travels, here\u2019s what I\u2019ve determined to be the five most important components for a successful big city break:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":12839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Essentials for a Perfect City Break - Inspire | Travelocity.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.travelocity.com\/inspire\/5-essentials-perfect-city-break\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Essentials for a Perfect City Break - Inspire | Travelocity.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I live in a big city. Within two blocks of my apartment there are over a dozen restaurants. At night, I hear sirens wailing, my neighbor\u2019s baby crying, and the occasional shouts of revelers as they make their way home from nearby bars. I squeeze onto crowded subway cars, know my sidewalk etiquette, and am rarely, if ever, able to experience total calm and quiet. And yet, when it comes to taking vacation breaks, I somehow find myself gravitating toward other cities. 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