Flying High: Ten US Cities Worth a Visit And Easy to Get to – Part 1

Moving to the United States is a big deal, no doubt about that. In which case, maybe you better come over here and take a look around.

Personally, I like America off the beaten track. So I did a little research on some quirky places to come and visit. All of these cities and their respective hinterlands are easily accessible from Europe.

Some historians believe that America was ‘discovered’ by the Vikings long before Christopher Columbus set foot on the world we now know as the Americas. So maybe it’s not surprising that once more our friends in the Scandinavian countries are beating a direct – and inexpensive – trail to these shores.

This year, the low-cost airline Norwegian launched a four-times-a-week direct service between London Gatwick and Chicago. Norwegian does not lack ambition as just a few days later the airline announced a thrice-weekly non-stop connection between Gatwick and Austin, the state capital of Texas.

This is great news not least for its potential passengers who have increasing choice when wanting to fly to the USA from Britain. There must be something in the Scandinavian air just now though for both Wow Air and Icelandair – both Icelandic based by the way – have been adding even more American routes to their schedules year on year.

The fact that on some of these flights mean you have to go via Reykjavik, sometimes with a free stopover in Iceland thrown in for no extra charge, is hardly going to put you off – it didn’t me. Add in the other well-established airlines already heading Stateside, the likes of: British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, Delta, United, and crossing the Atlantic has never been easier.

So what are you waiting for?

Let’s be honest when talking of America, most Europeans travellers think only of cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington DC. Well, let me tell you, there are other cities just as interesting if in a more low-key way and now more than accessible from Europe by non-stop flight.

So let’s start way out west by the shimmering waters of the West Coast.

Here there are four destinations Stateside you may wish to think about, that is once you have got out the map and seen where they are!

The following four cities could probably be described as less celebrated dots on the American map – and yet all can now be reached from the UK and elsewhere in Europe without the hassle of having to change planes on American soil.

As to what you can expect when you arrive there, well, let me attempt to answer that for you…

1. Lets start out west in Portland, Oregon, which seems about as far away as you can get from Europe and still be in North America.

Okay you know Seattle and San Francisco, well Portland sometimes seems to have been left out of the glamor from these nearby larger and noisier cities. Not quite coastal, in fact 70 miles inland from the Pacific, Portland is still Oregon’s biggest metropolis, one with a famously laid-back ambience. There are any amount of coffee shops, bars and comedy clubs. The Pearl District, a neighborhood just north of the city’s Downtown, has been reborn as Portland’s very own Bohemia with its many former derelict warehouses now trendy restaurants and hip artists’ studios.

Flight: Delta (020 7660 0767; delta.com) from Heathrow.

Further information: travelportland.com; traveloregon.com

2. Still on the West Coast but six hundred miles further south is Oakland, California.

Just beyond San Francisco, over the Golden Gate Bridge, you come to another city and altogether different vibe. The Oakland thing can be summed up as food and drink – there is wine and restaurants galore, just take a look around Jack London Square. And, also, by the fact that the city is sports mad, with Oakland Raiders football team and the Oakland A’s the local Major League Baseball team leading to the madness, and very successfully sometimes.

Flights: British Airways (0344 493 0787; ba.com) from Gatwick; Norwegian (0330 828 0854; norwegian.com) from Gatwick.

Further information: visitoakland.com; visitcalifornia.co.uk

3. Still in California, 40 miles south of Oakland is San Jose.

Not many people realize that San Jose is California’s third biggest city in terms of population. Fewer still that that city comes with a vibrant nightlife. More people know that it has become a gateway for hi-tech companies and digital creativity. The reason for this is all too clear: Silicon Valley is just 10 miles to the west. Fittingly, San Jose’s Tech Museum of Innovation lies at the heart of the city. As if Silicon Valley is not enough, here the visitor is offered a vision of the future (thetech.org). If you want something more natural, however, and ‘low tech’ the beaches of Santa Cruz are not far to the southwest.

Flight: British Airways from Heathrow.

Further information: sanjose.org

4. Okay, now for something a bit different. Let’s head in land to Utah, where we arrive at Salt Lake City.

Utah has a wealth of natural attractions, not least Monument Valley (utah.com/monument-valley), Arches National Park (nps.gov.arch), or Zion National Park (nps.gov/zion). All of these destinations are worth a visit in their own right. Maybe this is the reason Salt Lake City isn’t as well-known as it should be. Still, to correct that and just for starters, try the city’s Sugar House district. This is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, now home to many fashionable shops and cafes. A great place to just chill! Or go and have a look at the ‘shock of the new’ at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (utahmoca.org).

Or maybe check out the Salt Lake City Temple, this is to Mormons what St. Peters in Rome is to Catholics.

Flights: Delta from Heathrow.

Further information: visitsaltlake.com; visitutah.com

America is a big place and the variety it offers for visitors is endless.

Next time we are heading East for another great five cities, again places all too often over looked but that are still worth a visit – and all are remarkably easy to get to by direct flights from Europe.

So for now:  Vertu blessaður! As Leif Eriksson, the first European visitor, would have said.