Southwest location without the rental car
#31
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: LAX/SMF/PDX/HNL
Programs: Hilton-lifetime diamond, Southwest A+, companion pass
Posts: 1,731
If you're considering West Coast destinations:
- San Francisco is eminently walkable and has good transit options. BART gets you there from SFO and OAK.
- Portland is also very navigable with transit. Light rail connects from PDX to downtown, then downtown is very walkable.
- San Diego's light rail doesn't connect the airport, but if you're willing to take a short Lyft/Uber/taxi ride from the airport to downtown (it's just a few miles) you can then walk or use transit to many sites.
- Seattle's downtown is also a great place to see on foot/by transit, though it gets a minus for having a painfully slow transit connection from/to SEA airport.
If this planning were for a SUMMER vacation, I would delete a lot of the cities mentioned in other posts. Heat and/or humidity would make daytime walking unpleasant.
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Nashville -Past DL Plat, FO, WN-CP, various hotel programs
Programs: DL-MM, AA, SW w/companion,HiltonDiamond, Hyatt PLat, IHF Plat, Miles and Points Seeker
Posts: 11,063
We never rent a car in Vegas - or NYC, or DC. Great places to visit for sure.
Would add San Diego in the mix too.
Would add San Diego in the mix too.
#34
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: DFW,TX USA
Programs: Lifetime Platinum Marriott
Posts: 1,567
Which is sad because there used be the super cool jetrail system back when Braniff ruled the world.
#35
Join Date: May 2002
Programs: WN F9 HA UA AA IHG HH MR
Posts: 3,305
#36
#37
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Posts: 3,360
What you are describing here is Brightline. That's the newer rail system that stops in Downtown Miami, Downtown Fort Lauderdale, and Downtown West Palm Beach. Brightline closed when COVID happened and it has not reopened.
Although Brightline is expanding to Orlando, that's still years away. Currently, the only way to get from Miami to Orlando via rail is with Amtrak. The Amtrak stations in both Miami and Orlando are nowhere near any tourist areas.
#38
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1,855
For travel within Miami and the rest of SE Florida, the metromover and tri-rail are surprisingly convenient (for Florida, anyway) and I don't think I'd ever pay for Brightline down here with that inexpensive option available. I think I paid $3.75 for Fort Lauderdale to Miami last time I took it. It pales in comparison to well developed public transportation service in less sprawling areas, but it is functional and can get you within a reasonably priced Uber/Lyft of most anything down here. I would put the area on the 'technically doable, but not particularly convenient' list for travel without a rental car.
#41
Join Date: Oct 2001
Programs: LTP, PP
Posts: 8,690
And August is worse. I used to drive my rental car to the Super Dome (where the Saint's of Football play...) and run laps around it for the shade the overhang provided. And watched the time/temp clock climb 98, 99, 100...
#42
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ATL
Programs: DL - DM, Charter KM; Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 1,353
We rented bikes from the Portland Encyclepedia. We only did this one day when we wanted to tool around Peaks Island and ride down to the Portland Headlight.
#44
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DAY
Programs: Rapid Rewards, Skymiles, Hilton HHonors, SPG/Marriott Rewards
Posts: 4,897
I plan to try it for a long weekend in October. Fly into FLL, Lyft to and from hotel at the beach. Seems doable if we are spending our time at the pool/beach, correct?
#45
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: TOL
Posts: 709
FLL also has public transit service to the airport which you may find helpful depending on where you are going: https://www.broward.org/Airport/pass...portation.aspx