The best overnight city trips from New York

Philadelphia wins on the train. The fastest Acela reaches 30th Street Station from Moynihan Train Hall in 69 minutes, well inside the 150-minute mark that earns the full 10 for access, and its Snack Score of 7.3 ties New Orleans for the highest of the eight. Independence Hall is free without a ticket only from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., so take an early train or come the night before. A 3.5-star room near Rittenhouse Square was $117 (£88) on our January Friday. Eat at Reading Terminal Market at lunch and Pat's King of Steaks at night.

Washington is second because the train is the fastest way in and the sights are a walk apart. The quickest Acela takes 175 minutes to Union Station, one Red Line stop from the center, which scores 9.2 for access. Its Snack Score of 7.2 is lifted by sights (8) and held back by food (6.5). The price of a day here is planning more than money: the Smithsonian museums are free, but the Capitol tour, the Library of Congress, the African American history museum and the Washington Monument run on timed tickets. A Metro 1-Day Unlimited Pass is $13.50 (£10.10).

Montreal has the highest food score of the eight, 8.5, and a one-night cost of $77 (£58), half of Nashville's. You fly: Amtrak's Adirondack takes about 10 hours, so the door-to-door figure is a Newark nonstop plus the airport ride, 241 minutes, which scores 7.3. The STM 747 bus fare from the airport, $8 (£6; C$11.25), is also a 24-hour pass for the whole network. US citizens need no eTA, and Canada's border agency recommends a valid passport. You give up the Golden Square Mile museums and Jean-Talon Market.

Boston's Snack Score is only 6.6, but a short trip and a free airport ride carry it to fourth. Our model times the trip by air at 214 minutes door to door, a little under the fastest Acela's 233 minutes to South Station, and the Silver Line SL1 from Logan costs nothing. The Acela still skips airport security and lands you in the center. The plan walks the Freedom Trail to the Old North Church, then the Museum of Fine Arts and dinner at Neptune Oyster. June is the catch: a Faneuil Hall room was $326 (£244). The MFA is closed Tuesdays.

Quebec City has the most compact plan on this list, 2.2 miles (3.5 km) inside and below the walls, and the lowest one-night cost, $76 (£57). It drops to fifth on the way in. The RTC route 80 bus from the airport takes 60 minutes plus an uphill walk, so arrival scores 4.6, and the trip from Manhattan is 279 minutes by air. The flat daytime taxi, $29 (£22; C$41), saves most of that hour. In December, the German Christmas Market runs November 19 to December 23, 2026 on six sites in Old Quebec, Thursday to Sunday plus December 21 to 23.

Chicago has a stronger city score than Boston, 7.1 with an 8 for sights, food and after dark, but distance holds it at sixth. The trip by air is 300 minutes door to door, which scores 5.5 for access, and the Blue Line from O'Hare takes 45 minutes, though it runs all night and a $5 (£3.70) day pass covers it. It suits a Friday-evening flight and a full Saturday: Millennium Park, the Art Institute, the Riverwalk and deep-dish in River North. The Art Institute is closed Tuesdays, and the architecture river cruises stop after November 22, 2026.

Nashville is 295 minutes door to door, a little quicker than Chicago, but its Snack Score is 6.6 because rooms are expensive. Our June date fell during CMA Fest, when the cheapest qualifying central room was $428 (£321); January was $191 (£143). The payoff is a compact evening: the plan is 2.7 miles from the Country Music Hall of Fame to Robert's Western World on Lower Broadway, a honky-tonk open from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. and 21 and over after 6 p.m. The WeGo Route 18 bus from the airport costs $2 (£1.50).

New Orleans ties Philadelphia for the highest Snack Score of the eight, 7.3, and is last here only because of distance: 344 minutes door to door by air, which scores 4.2 for access. If the flight does not bother you, it is the best night out on this list, with a Preservation Hall set at 6:15 p.m. and Frenchmen Street after dinner, all walkable from a French Quarter room. JFK and Newark both fly nonstop. The RTA Airport Express is $1.25 (£0.90) but stops around 8 p.m.; after that, the flat taxi is $36 (£27) for two.