The best US cities for a 24-hour trip

New York tops the list on the editors' factors alone: it is the only US city with a 10 for sights, food and after dark, and those three carry 55% of the score. The data drags it back. The cost factor is 3.1, because a Midtown room was $307 (£230) on our June Friday, and the 9.4-mile route is long. Our page also hedges (one night, if), which costs 0.3 points. It suits a trip from Boston, Philadelphia or DC, not one after a transatlantic flight. The Met is closed Wednesdays, and the TKTS booth in Duffy Square opens only at 3 p.m. on Fridays.

New Orleans ties Philadelphia on 7.3 and takes second on the alphabetical tiebreak, with the opposite strengths. The lift here is the evening, a 9 for after dark: a Preservation Hall set at 6:15 p.m., dinner on Decatur Street, then Frenchmen Street at 9:30 p.m., all on a 6.3-mile route. The RTA Airport Express costs $1.25 (£0.90) but runs only from about 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.; after that, the flat taxi is $36 (£27) for two. Rooms ran backward for a bargain hunter: $192 (£144) in January against $155 (£116) in June. Pick it for music and food, not a quiet night.

Philadelphia matches New Orleans on 7.3 with a daytime city instead of a nighttime one. The SEPTA Airport Line reaches Suburban Station in 24 minutes for $8.75 (£6.60), which scores 8.9 for arrival, and a 3.5-star room near Rittenhouse Square was $117 (£88) on our January Friday, the cheapest of the big Northeast cities. Independence Hall is free without a ticket from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., so the plan starts there and ends with a cheesesteak at Pat's. After dark is the weak spot at 6.5. The art museum behind the Rocky Steps is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Washington has the best airport ride on the list, a perfect 10: the Metro Yellow Line runs from Reagan National to Gallery Place-Chinatown in 14 minutes, at $2.25–$6.75 (£1.70–£5.10) by distance. The big sights are free, which helps you more than the score, since entry tickets are not part of the cost factor. Food at 6.5 holds it back. The real catch is planning: the Capitol tour, the Library of Congress, the African American history museum and the Washington Monument all run on timed tickets, and Capitol tours do not run on Sundays. Book before you buy the train.

Chicago scores 8 on all three editor factors, a balance only New York beats here, and its route is a tight 5.5 miles from Millennium Park to River North. Two things pull it to fifth. The Blue Line from O'Hare takes 45 minutes, so arrival scores 6.4, though it runs 24 hours and a $5 (£3.70) day pass covers boarding at the airport. And June is dear: the cheapest qualifying room on the Magnificent Mile was $330 (£247). Go in spring or fall. The architecture river cruises run March 15 to November 22 in 2026, and the Art Institute is closed Tuesdays.

San Francisco would sit higher without the hedge on its own page: one night works only if you book Alcatraz ahead, so the verdict costs 0.3 points. BART reaches Powell Street in 30 minutes for $11.80 (£8.80), and the plan keeps to the northeast corner, from the Ferry Building to Chinatown and North Beach, with dinner at Tadich Grill. You give up the Golden Gate Bridge. Check the calendar: Alcatraz closes for dock repairs from October 26, 2026, with reopening anticipated November 19. Without the island the day loses its headline, so pick Chicago or Boston for a trip in those weeks.

Boston has the only free airport ride on this list: the Silver Line SL1 runs from the Logan curb to South Station in 25 minutes. The day is the Freedom Trail, Quincy Market, the Old North Church and the Museum of Fine Arts, then dinner at Neptune Oyster in the North End. Cost and the evening sink it to seventh. A Faneuil Hall room was $326 (£244) on our June Friday, and after dark scores 6, because Boston's night is dinner and a cannoli. Boston, Nashville and San Diego all score 6.6; the order among them is a tie broken by name. The MFA is closed Tuesdays.

Nashville has the most compact plan in the US, 2.7 miles from the Country Music Hall of Fame to Robert's Western World, and a 9 for after dark. Cost holds it back at 2.2, the lowest factor on this list. Our June date fell during CMA Fest and the cheapest qualifying central room was $428 (£321); January was $191 (£143). That price is why our page says one night, if. The WeGo Route 18 bus from the airport costs $2 (£1.50) and takes 37 minutes, and the flat taxi is $30 (£22). Arnold's serves its meat-and-three lunch Monday to Friday only, and Robert's is 21 and over after 6 p.m.

San Diego shares Washington's perfect 10 for arrival: the MTS Route 992 bus reaches Santa Fe Depot downtown in 15 minutes for $3 (£2.20). It is the easiest US city here with children, with the USS Midway flight deck, Balboa Park and the Coronado ferry in one day. The route is the weak factor at 9.8 miles, because Old Town sits apart from the harbor, and sights score 6.5 with the zoo and La Jolla outside the plan. A downtown room was $161 (£121) in January. The San Diego Museum of Art is closed Wednesdays.

Las Vegas scores a 10 for after dark, with the Bellagio fountains at 6 p.m., "O" at 7 p.m. and the Fremont Street Experience at 9:30 p.m. The data costs it. The route runs 12.4 miles from the center Strip to downtown, and there is no direct bus from the airport to the Strip: the public option takes 46 minutes with a change, for $2 (£1.50). The flat taxi zone fare to the center Strip, $26 (£19.70) plus surcharges, is the better buy. Outdoor gondola rides close for the season from October 26, 2026, and the Deuce runs a modified route November 17 to 25 for the Formula 1 race.

Miami is last because the plan cannot be walked: South Beach, Wynwood and Little Havana are three rides apart, and the 18.1-mile route gets the minimum score of 1 for compactness. Our page hedges too. It does have the lowest one-night cost here, $90 (£67), because a South Beach room was $126 (£94) in June, and an 8.5 for after dark, with live Latin music at Ball & Chain until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Stone crabs at Joe's Take Away are in season only October 15 to May 1. Base yourself in South Beach and accept the bus rides.