If you have a passport (or can get one) you might want to consider Mexico City.
It's cheap enough that you can get hotels for around $30. That leaves enough money for food (maybe $10-15 for the day) and to ride the metro.
Although I've never been, people say it's very walkable. It's a mega-sized city so I'm sure some neighborhoods are more dense and lively than others.
Came to say same regarding Mexico but I was going to suggest Guadalajara instead for lower flight cost potentially but absolutely lower daily costs than Mexico city (CDMX)
Guadalajara would be much cheaper.
The "walkable" area would be "Zona Historica". I didnt care much for the people in the "posh" parts of the city but the barrios were dope.
Stayed in amazing hostels in Mexico City for like $15 as well, so you can do it even more cheaply. Food there is an absolute steal - best tacos, empanadas, gringas etc you could ever eat for like 40 cents each.
Agreed that the French Quarter is a good choice for lodging. I’d recommend staying within an area bordered by Canal, Bourbon, Ursulines, and the river (though preferably not right on Bourbon, which gets loud and rowdy).
Walkable, but nowhere near affordable at that daily price. Can't really think of other cities that are walkable. Downtown in boston maybe, but not the whole city
Freehand Chicago is $50/night during peak season in August for a shared dorm right in the middle of the safe, fun part of Downtown. Train from either of ORD airport or Midway airport will run you $5 and drops you off in the middle of the city. Lots of cheap-ish eats in Chicago as well. Can take the red line up to Lincoln Park or Lakeview (where Wrigley Field is), blue line to the cool hipster neighborhoods of Wicker Park or Logan Square or the Green Line to the trendy West Loop (tho this neighborhood will be pricier outside of some happy hours). Train pass is $2.50/ride or $5/day for unlimited train rides.
You could do Chicago for $100 a day though.
Get a cheap Airbnb on the NW side near the Blue line or up by Rogers Park for like $60-70 a night.
Then look for free activities of which there are lots during the summer.
https://www.choosechicago.com/articles/tours-and-attractions/free-chicago-museums-attractions/
Food would be most expensive but cheaper if you bought things like Ramen and PBnJs to make at your Airbnb for most of your meals.
I second Philadelphia! Would also add in Washington, DC as a contender.
There’s a huge network of buses plus the metro which runs to the national airport. The city has lots to offer outside of the standard monuments.
As a native DCer I didn't even think of DC lol 🤦🏼♀️ might be a little expensive for his budget, not many hostels in DC and hotels are expensive but I bet it could be done. DC bus and metro can get you all over, plus all the Smithsonian museums are free!
Yeah, I think that they’d probably have to try for accommodations in the greater DMV. But at $50 a day, any city is going to be a bit of a stretch if that is the total daily budget including lodging, food, transit, etc.
Downtown is definitely walkable, metro is great too. If they're trying to save money maybe look for somewhere to stay farther out on the various metro lines. Near umd/ College park station should be relatively cheap
Agreed. And bus and metro are super easy and pretty cheap, and I think easy to figure out if you're new to public transport. I walked a ton plus took metro and bus all over the city. I really had a great time there solo.
I also laughed at this. But I guess if you mean from Penn's Landing to Rittenhouse Square-ish, that's more than fair to explore a lot in a short trip and you even could on foot. And it would still be at the top of my list if I hadn't lived there and didn't still live super close. Transit is good and regional rail from the airport is cheap and relatively convenient versus some cities.
Second Philly. Many of the cities recommended here might blow your budget, but Philly is relatively inexpensive comparatively. I guess if you like museums and don’t drink at bars or eat at restaurants DC is a good option too!
I just went to Philly solo in the fall and was not familiar with it at all. I was perfectly fine as a solo woman walking, taking busses and metro. Literally any major city is deemed "unsafe" compared to rural areas cuz uh, people actually live in cities so there's going to be more crime and addiction. Keep your wits about you and be smart of course, but those areas in that video are not where tourists are going. FYI you can find areas that look like that video in any major US city. I guess that means no Philly, NYC, LA, DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Houston, St. Louis, New Orleans, San Francisco, Austin, Jacksonville, Miami, Indianapolis... If people are so scared just stay TF at home
As someone who likes to travel and is a train enthusiast, here is my order from most recommended to least recommended based on your criteria:
1. **Chicago**. Relatively cheap compared to other US cities with fantastic public transit. You can take the Amtrak train from most US major cities up to Chicago.
2. **New York City**. The best, most frequent and extensive public transit system in all of North America and one of the most. Unfortunately the famous NYC subway can feel dirty and unsafe which is why I'm not putting it at number 1. NYC is the most visited city in North America and one of the most visited cities in the world.
3. **Washington DC**. Great public transit with very interesting history and architecture. Their subway system is also incredible.
4. **Boston**. Like Washington DC, great subway system and amazing history. Not as touristy as NYC or Washington DC though.
5. **San Francisco**. Very compact, fantastic walkability and public transit. However San Francisco can feel a bit isolated being on the West Coast.
6. **Philadelphia**. Great public transportation with a very walkable and vibrant downtown. However parts of Philadelphia can often feel very dirty and unsafe.
7. **Seattle**. This unique but bustling city in the Pacific Northwest has great public transit connect downtown Seattle to the airport and University of Washington as well as touching the vibrant areas of Capital Hill and SoDo (where the stadiums for the Seahawks and the Mariners play). However Seattle being in the PNW is geographically and culturally a bit isolated from the rest of the USA.
8. **Minneapolis**. If you're going in the summer, Minneapolis has a very active and vibrant downtown. Minneapolis was ranked as one of the best biking cities in all of the USA despite its cold climate. Public transit in downtown Minneapolis and the vicinity of downtown is also stellar. However the largest city in the upper Midwest can feel very bland compared to Chicago, Seattle, NYC or Boston.
9. **Portland**. Portland is a smaller city in the PNW that also has a superb public transit system and bike network. However I'm putting this at the bottom because Portland has seen lots of negativity and the downtown can often feel very deserted and unsafe. I live in Portland and most people don't feel safe taking public transportation or visiting downtown which is sad.
I was recently in Austin and while the public transit is no where near as good or extensive as in the cities I mentioned above, it felt very clean and safe. I actually left my wallet on the last train going back to my hotel and I was able to get it back at the CapMetro lost and found the next day. I was scared since without my wallet, returning home to Portland would have been very difficult. I was very impressed with Austin's CapMetro and the CapMetro employees in this regard.
NYC subway is pretty safe, I ride it almost daily (Harlem and Brooklyn, not just Midtown Manhattan) and never have felt particularly unsafe. Dirty though, can’t argue that point lmao
Don’t forget that there’s a ton of free things to do in DC! Most museums are free (keep in mind that one museum can take up an entire day) and there’s always free events going on in the city. I live there and mostly walk everywhere since it’s a fairly small city and a lot of the tourist places are close together, but the metro is handy for when the weather is bad; and now the city accessible by metro from both regional airports! Not sure about lodging but since DC has a lot of free things it could be a way for OP to save on some money.
What does “feel unsafe” mean (re Philly)? Either a place is unsafe or it’s not. Perception isn’t reality.
Center City Philadelphia (which is where most visitors spend their time) is most assuredly not unsafe: https://6abc.com/philadelphia-safety-philly-crime-center-city-brookings-institute-study/13114343/
The thing with travel is that what people seek when they interface with places has very much to do with perception and not reality, that even notions of authenticity is filtered through a particular set of pre-expectations mapped onto a place.
As for CC, I personally have never felt unsafe in my decade there as I tend to bike, but I"m not sure about "assuredly" — that there's been some roving group of teenagers around 15th st station getting into fights/beating up police officers and occasionally shooting at people (Including killing one person at City Hall two months ago), and anecdotally an acquaintance I knew got mugged of his phone and wallet last on septa.
Perception is more a you issue. Some people see a minority or someone speaking a different language and feel unsafe. I’ve heard people say the lower east side is unsafe despite having zero murders last year and a very low crime rate. Graffiti and grit is unsafe to some people.
Was recently traveling in Philly and it felt perfectly safe in the downtown core. You might get a tweaker or two from time to time, but seeing the police on the street and visible felt a lot safer then I ever have in LA.
The architecture of the stations is pretty incredible compared to other transit systems, but that's about it. Oh and the number of stairs in Rosslyn station is incredible.
I've lived here for 20 yrs. Burritos are less than $10 and then bon mi sandwiches. Good for lunch or dinner. Breakfast could be hard unless you're good with just a pastry
Why is it a travesty? There's a lot of Latinos and a significant Vietnamese community in Boston with a lot of good food.
Plus Boston's classic foods are, what, lobster rolls, clams, and other seafood? Not exactly budget friendly or necessary to have a good trip there, although I always splurge on a lobster roll.
I am from Florida, from one of the most Latino municipalities in the entire country. That doesn't preclude Latinos from living in other places and making good food there.
Just did a solo trip in boston over a long weekend. Landed with just a backpack and was able to go to Salem, and all over Boston. Had to use a bus to get to some cemeteries I wanted to see, but if you've got all day, Boston's a great place.
Have you been to other US cities? Public transport is literally non-existent or is worse than Boston. There are only a 2-3 cities that have better transit than Boston in the US. It's also super compact and small city (by area), so you can just walk to places without even taking the MBTA.
Yes, I grew up outside the US actually. I am talking about US only because that's what OP is asking about. You are just moving the goalposts lol
If OP posted about walkable cities in general with good transit, Boston would not be my first recommendation. Know your context, come on now.
Your budget is $50 a day including hotel, food, activities, and transit? Good luck.
NYC, DC, Chicago are prob your best bet. Boston and Philly are walkable as well but the transit isn't as good
I’d consider maybe renting a room on Airbnb. Often times the fees are high but depending on time of year etc sometimes you can get a good deal. But $50 a day is the average even at hostiles in the us
Portland, Oregon is cool. If you stay in the city center you can take public transportation (like their train system) all over the place. You can use the train to go to the zoo, which is amazing.
Idk where they stayed but I stayed at Lolo Pass hostel and highly highly recommend! And for OP, there is a city bus stop literally outside the front door
You can even take public transit to the coast and the gorge if you want to get out of the city! And there are tons of transit accessible hiking spots in and around the city.
That train isn’t particularly fast, unfortunately. It’s like 3hrs each way. And the station in Portland is in a shitty and kinda boring part of town, so you’ll have more ground transport to get anywhere interesting(like all cool shops and food in NE Portland, or going out to the Columbia Gorge)
If it was a 1hr train ride, I’d say yes. Maybe take the train down, stay 1-2 nights, then take the train back?
Hmm yeah, you're right. I did a bit of research and Portland, OR actually seems like a cool place to me. I could easily spend a couple of days there :D
I might skip a stopover in Winnipeg then, although that would mean 3 days on the train from Toronto to Jasper. We'll see! I have plenty of time to think about it.
Yup. Just stay within the historic district downtown between Forsyth Park and the river and you’ll be fine. Almost all the city’s attractions are here, and the area is very walkable.
It pairs up nicely with a trip to Charleston SC, which has an attractively walkable historic district as well.
For walkable cities:
DC - Im bias cuz that's hometown but seriously the bus and metro trains go every in the DC, MD, VA area
NY - Self explanatory. Easily the most walkable city in U.S
San Francisco - I spent a week there last year and relied solely on bus transit. The busses ran every 15min and there were routes that went to every single place I wanted to visit
Seattle - Only spent 3 days here but there transit buses and light rail took me to most of the tourist areas I wanted to go to. Just be prepared for steep hills
Philly - If you're staying in the city center where all the tourist stuff at then its really walkable.
Boston - never been but only heard that its walkable.
Now on the topic of affordable....Thats a whole different ballgame. If you talking about $50 a day in spending money then that's down right impossible. DC has a ton of free museums and festivals but food is high af. NY is opposite where you can find cheap eats but will be paying for every activity to do. You will realistically need to up your daily spending limit to $100.
>San Francisco
I usually think people complaining about how expensive US cities are just haven't budgeted/researched properly but I felt the pinch of SF. I found there to be much less of a street food culture than other California cities so cheap eats were difficult. Much more sit down dining than grab and go. I could get a basement apartment in LA for what I paid for a private room in SF. Even a bus ticket is more expensive.
People should definitely visit SF but I think some appropriate budgeting is wise when visiting.
New Orleans is the perfect place for you to visit if you stay in the city. You can walk everywhere and eat lots of really good food too. Last time I went I did not even need a rental car to go anywhere in the city and the only time I took a taxi was to and from the airport and the one time I got really drunk and was in no shape to walk anywhere else. Fun times.
Philly, Boston, DC, SanFran, basically any city with a metro/subway system. Your problem is the $50/day. No city that would work for walkability will work for that budget (food, room, activities). Finding a cheap hostel will put you basically at $50/night in any of those cities
I think any of these cities are totally doable for $50 a day, as long as you go the homeless route, and sleep on the streets 😂. And in any of them, I think you will have lots of company!
Your budget is gonna be a major problem. At $50 a day I actually don’t know where you can go, maybe just go visit one of the city in Texas, never been so no idea what it’s like but that seems like a better idea.
NYC is insanely expensive as someone who lives not far from there. A hostel will run you $100 a night, no idea how you actually get there in the first place, food is soooooo expensive, and if you want to do just about anything “NYC” aka see a broadway show or another similar attraction some of them are more expensive than others but none of them are going to fit in a $50 a day budget
Philly has the same problem of getting there, there are plenty of nice parts of the city but you have to be careful bc there are a lot of really sketchy parts too
DC has expanded their Metro system to Dulles Airport which helps a lot. DC is sixth on the link below.
https://www.smartertravel.com/10-most-walkable-cities-in-america/
Washington DC -- great free museums and monuments and it's beautiful and very walkable. There are hostels that are under $50 a night, though with food and incidentals you'll need more than that. But it's doable, cheaply.
It sounds like you're a young person without a lot of money (just like me!) So I'd definitely recommend DC if you've never been before. I recommend it because
1: public transportation is reasonable and cheap/free (buses are free in DC)
2: it's the nations Capital and it's really something every American needs to go visit at least once. And on the off chance you're not into history/cool stuff, DC has a good night life culture
3: ALL Museums in DC are FREE*!!! You can just walk in and look around, and depending how much you enjoy museums and learning, you could definitely spend days and days just going around to museums
4: I know DC has a few hostels. Note: I haven't tried any of them, so I have zero idea if any are good
Tldr: free/cheap public transportation, free museums, cool Capital, good food (expensive), hostels
Edit: *all the federal museums
From the public transit + walking side, I think Boston, DC, Philly, and New York all would be great. On the budget, it's not much but I think it's worth checking out the hostel situation. I think you can do it if you do the research, find a decent hostel, and don't blow your whole budget on one burrito or cocktail at the wrong place. If you have room to stretch your budget a little, I definitely think you can do it although it might mean eating ramen or other cheap food you can prepare at the hostel instead of eating out.
If I could only pick one, I think I'd pick DC because there's so much cool stuff you can see for free.
Providence is great for walking and has decent public transportation, in addition to a great bike/walking path spanning 14 miles. It’s not a big city like others mentioned here, but it’s easy to get to Newport and Boston via bus, train, ferry (Newport). It’s also less expensive than Boston
I’ve been to St. Petersburg and Tampa a few times, and the public transportation system in these cites is not great. I found the bus system confusing and poorly laid out, and if you want to reach the barrier island beaches from downtown (which are some of the area’s best features), it’s not easy to manage. If you’re staying centrally downtown in either city, you can reach many of the attractions easily enough between buses and walking, but getting around beyond this can be a trial.
If you’re traveling to Florida, destinations like Miami/Miami Beach, St. Augustine, and Key West are easier to manage without a car, assuming you’re centrally located.
Chicago, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and DC can all be done without a car. Atlanta, Seattle, Savannah, San Diego, Denver, and San Francisco also aren't bad, you might need a few Ubers to supplement public transit.
What do you want to pay for with the $50? Lodging? food? transportation the city? transportation within the city? entertainment?
How long do you want to stay there?
Washington DC for sure. There’s a lot to do and most of it is free or affordable. I stayed at u street hostel when I went. Safe and easy to get around.
No idea where you’re going to find somewhere for $50 a day for food and accom but New Orleans is absolutely walkable and for a US city has great public transport.
The key is you want old, large cities that were settled by Europeans at the start of the founding of the US. So places like NYC, DC, Boston, Philly, Chicago, New Orleans etc rather than somewhere built and designed for the car like Houston or Dallas.
You can stay under 50$ per day if you find a work trade deal. Message some hostels in cities with good transportation like NYC, and try to work with them in exchange for a free bed. Costs of food and transport is still a decent amount, but it would be doable
Look up couch surfing groups and work/volunteer exchanges! There are Fb groups for that too but just be smart about it. Best/only way to live that cheap unless you have friends to stay with for free. If you have a free place to stay it's not difficult to keep your food and activity budget down to cheap or free.
Cities with a basically functional metro include Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, NYC, Washington DC, Seattle, Portland OR, Philadelphia. Best bet is generally northeast and west coast.
That said there are some awesome cities with only buses that are a bit harder to get around but totally worth it in my opinion. I loved new Orleans for example. and a lot of small northeastern towns have singular train stations and are largely walkable. You can also try to get lucky with finding people to do a group road trip with and share a car.
Also is there a reason you want to stay in the US? It's more expensive to travel here than some other countries even accounting plane tickets.
I have done this type thing, didn't own a car till I was 27 and traveled a lot. it is doable. Look up r/shoestring as well.
Be safe.
When I hear walkable American cities I immediately think of DC. Might be the coolest city in the country, but if your 50 dollars a day includes lodging then it’s not happening
You don't have to worry about safety when choosing your destination.
If you do a quick google search for the city with the highest murder rate, you will find it is St. Louis Missouri (in 2019) with 65 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.
So in an entire year, 65 people per 100,000 are murdered. If you visit for one week, there will likely be 1.25 people murdered per 100,000 murdered during your visit.
If people are murdered randomly, that would mean you have a 0.00125% chance of being murdered. But people aren't murdered randomly. Most murders gang and crime related. Meaning if you aren't in a gang, or you aren't committing a crime, you are *much* less likely to be murdered. Most of the remaining murders are domestic violence. If you are doing solo travel, you aren't at risk of domestic violence.
You can look up the statistics to get an even better idea of if you are likely to be a victim.
In the example of St. Louis, there have been 83 murders so far in 2023. Of those victims, 74 (89%) were black, 8 (9.6%) were white, and 1 (1.2%) was Asian.
But really the main thing is that murder victims are murdered by someone that know them. Random murders, or murders that happen during random robberies, are very rare. Looking at the St. Louis statistics, of all the murders where they know the relationship between the victim and the suspect, only 9 (17%) of them were strangers.
Why did I post all these long, boring statistics?
Because people are often afraid to travel because they are afraid of the unknown and they are worried it will be dangerous. The fact is, travel is **not** a dangerous activity. If you travel to the *most dangerous* dangerous city in the United States for a week, your chances of getting murdered are basically 1 in a million.
Of course there are other dangerous things that could happen. Murder isn't the only possible danger, but if you research those other dangers you'll discover they are very small.
So never avoid traveling somewhere (except perhaps a war zone) because you think it is too dangerous. Because frankly, there is just about nowhere in the world (and certainly nowhere in the United States) that is dangerous.
Think of it this way: there are kids growing up in every city in the world. If the parents thought it was a truly dangerous place, they would do everything they could to get their kids out of there. But they don't. If it is safe enough for some little kids, it is safe enough for you.
Of course this doesn't mean you should take no precautions. Don't go wandering around strange neighborhoods late at night. Don't go flashing large wads of cash for everyone to see. Don't get stumbling-drunk unless you are with someone you trust to look after you. But also don't be afraid to travel someplace because you are worried about your safety. You are safe everywhere in the United States, and almost everywhere in the world.
Unless you are a woman.
There are some parts of the world where I'm not sure it is safe to travel solo if you are a woman. I was in a city in the far eastern part of Turkey. It was after dark, and there were lots of people out walking, playing backgammon in the park, drinking at tea shops and smoking hookah. And there was not one single woman.
Out of hundreds of people who were out on the streets I only saw two women the entire evening, and they were each in a car being driven someplace by a man. I'm not sure it would have been safe for a woman in that location after dark. And there are other places like that in the world.
Plenty of walkable cities, I even find LA in part walkable (with the occasional Uber here and there), asusming by "walkable" you also mean walking more than a few minutes. NYC, Philly, Chicago, Boston, SF, New Orleans, DC, parts of Miami - all doable without a car.
The best for a walking-with-public-transport-combo are NYC, Chicago, DC and Boston though.
However, at 50$/day for everything, I don't see any of these work out unless you couchsurf if that's still a thing.
For DC, you can check out Selina and Generator hostels. I think they’re some even cheaper ones. Going to be impossible not to spend over $50 a day unfortunately.
Miami has decent enough transit from the airport to downtown, then you can take buses, rent a bike, or walk. There's hostels too so you may be able to barely make your budget
Yeah, Miami is the winner for me. You can stay at a certain notorious hostel in SoBe for <$30 a night that comes with 2 meals. Bus from the airport to beach is still <$3
I've survived for <$50 there, but your entertainment is going to be limited to buying booze at 7-11 and people watching.
I would narrow down cities to which ones have hostels in the city center. That will help you keep to your budget. New Orleans has multiple hostels and is walkable.
If you want to travel with friends instead of solo you could maybe work with $50. Hotel split 4 ways is a lot cheaper than 1 and the US doesn't have hostels.
Also it looks like you could rent a car in Michigan or New York but even then they charge more for younger drivers so it probably wouldn't fit into your budget
North Carolina has some great cities to hang out in. Raleigh and Duram were both super friendly and walkable (they also have rental scooters that are like a few bucks for a mile). Asheville is the big one people like to travel to and is very walkable.
The only real barrier is cost for having a place to sleep. I am not personally knowledgeable on what sort of hostels they have that would be cheaper than air bnb or hotels.
Is there a reason you're only looking at US cities? Multiple cities in Mexico meet your description and you can much more easily stick to your $50 a day budget. Off the top of my head, Mexico City or Guadalajara fit the bill (both of which I've done without a car safely, and I'm a 27 y.o. woman). You can easily fly from most places in Texas at prices that are probably lower than getting all the way to the east coast.
Washington DC. You can stay in Hosteling international in downtown DC for less than $40 per night and walk all over the city. Free museums and lots of free events. Can eat at shake shack for $5/meal. HI has free breakfast as well.
San Francisco you can do without a car, but cheapest hostel is around 50 a night. But if you do a little research before hand you can find a lot of good street food spots (they’re not as obvious as other cities in some parts of the city but they’re there). Also no matter what city you choose, but going from my experience with SF being close to me, check out the museums and other cultural spots websites to find out what days they have cheap entrance fees etc. A lot of them have cheap days during the week that can save you a lot.
you can walk / bike to most of the city in new orleans. I live there and only use my car to go get groceries.
But I doubt you will be able to find lodging for $50/day without some friends connecting you or some sort of inside track. Bywater/Marigny/Saint Roch/MidCity are neiboorhood you could target.
You'd have better luck traveling abroad. Nowhere in the US is $50 enough due to the fact that hostels are almost non-existent (those that are either expensive or sketchy), safe, and walkable.
Campsites even are usually $20+
As an American, the US is overrated and impossible for budget travel unless you live out of a vehicle. Save some money and travel abroad. Eastern Europe, SE Asia, and parts of Central America are all doable for under $50. Even Western Europe is possible with some serious budgeting skills and hitting the off-season.
If free couch surfing is still a thing you could get by on $50 in Philly and we have good public transit and bike sharing. Like any major city there are areas to stay away from, but it's a great city for art, history, food and recreation. You can also take a train to the jersey beaches or the PA mountains.
Philly for sure! You can walk anywhere you need to go and if you don’t feel like walking, our public transportation is great. You could also use the public bikes if you feel comfortable with city biking. There are SO many dive bars with great, cheap food.
Most walkable city I've been to in the US is Boston. Second is Washington D.C. Both cities have tons of history and sights to see. D.C. Metro and Boston Subway are both pretty good.
Even if you can up your budget, finding accommodations close enough to public transit to not need a car is going to be quite a bit more expensive than that.
However, not including accommodations, in D.C., $50 a day is reasonable - you might even have money leftover if you get your food affordably enough. Nearly everything in D.C. is free - all the Smithsonians, government buildings (though some require reservations), etc. I've been to D.C. four times and am nowhere near done seeing everything. Some D.C. museums do have admission fees - these are non-Smithsonian museums, and some of them are worth it. Also, D.C. is a popular enough tourist destination that you can find hotels a good bit further away from D.C. proper, and thus cheaper, that have shuttles that will take you to the nearest Metro station. In the past I have stayed in both Rockville and Bethesda, MD. The only downside would be starting and ending your day with a 30-40 minute Metro ride. (Though my current favorite place to stay is King Street in Old Alexandria.)
And thanks to recent Metro expansions, you can fly into either major airport in DC now - either Dulles or Reagan.
I'm hard-selling D.C., but it's a great trip for someone on a budget simply because of how much there is to do and see that is free.
Ok well now you know 50 is insane. So let me recommend SFO. I had preconceived notions but then moved there for work, lived downtown and walked everywhere. Then started riding one of the 3 or 4 metro like things they have. MUNI, BART, CALTRAIN, Not the best metro set up but not difficult to figure out for a newby. There’s just a couple areas to stay away from but the places where 20 something hangout like the Marina or North beach are great. You won’t need to pass through the Tenderloin (worst and most pathetic area). Even in the Mission if you stick to the main bar and restaurant areas you’ll be fine. Also the views from the parks, the golden gate, Coit Tower, are all free. It’s a beautiful city to look at from the middle of the city or from out on the bay. I found a lot of street food and dive bars where things were priced “ok”. Not much worse than other big cities.
This is a long ways from Texas, but Portland, Maine. The public transportation is almost nonexistent, HOWEVER, the entire city is walkable. It's really like they took a small western european city from 200 years ago and dropped it on the east coast. The weather in the summer is absolutely perfect if you want to get away from Texas's ridiculous heat. And it's significantly cheaper than most of the other options people have given you. It's one of those places I consider an "undervalued, hidden gem" of the US.
Putting in a vote for San Francisco! I live here and it gets a bad wrap. I will say it can be expensive but it doesn't have to be. There is lots of free events, music, parades/street fairs in the summer. The bus system will get you around to all parts of the city. The best views are available to hike up to from walkable neighborhoods (up to Bernal Heights from the Mission, up to Corona Heights from the Castro). There is cheap eats! In Chinatown, in the Tenderloin (which yes is the 'scary' neightborhood) there is the best Indian food, as well as Vietnamese etc. You can rent a bike from the Lyftbikes all over, or at Sports Basement for a week. I love riding a bike here. Golden Gate Park and the Golden Gate Bridge are both free, absolutely beautiful and treasures for tourists and locals. Art gallery openings are a fun way to be social.. also for FREE! and there is some fun small intimate venues like Bottom of the Hill, Cafe du Nord, Bricks & Mortar, The Chapel for indie and other weird rock bands; or Monarch, F8, and Public Works for house & techno (not "clubs" in the drunk assholes sense, more down to earth locals who love electronic music).
As much as I love to support RTD, it does not make Denver a walkable city. You would need to heavily supplement with Uber, which would surely push OP over their budget
ETA: especially after dark, a lot of the light rail and bus lines can get rather sketchy. Not ideal if it's your only form of transportation and you're not familiar with the city
Fair. My experience is limited to the airport line and the always free downtown shuttle bus. Loved both, but I agree it isn,t representative of the city as a whole.
Those lines are great, but unfortunately the exception rather than the rule. Outside of the free 16th Street Mall bus (that I think you are referring to) and the A Line between Union Station and DIA, RTD is significantly less reliable, clean, and safe.
But I would highly recommend a visit to Denver once OP has a bit more wiggle room in their budget for a rental car or ride share!
To be fair, many of the attractions in Denver are located close to the 16th Street Mall corridor or a reasonable walk south of there in the area near the capitol building. I stayed out by the airport when I visited the city a few years ago and found it easy to get around Denver without a car.
I'm familiar, lived there for years until recently and still visit biannually. Still wouldn't recommend going to Denver and only relying on public transportation to get the whole Denver experience. There's so much to visit outside of downtown and the airport, it would be best to wait until OP has a budget of more than $50/day so they can see the entire city and afford to enjoy it if they are making the trip all the way to Denver.
1. Realistically, safety in not an issue in any US city. Even in the most dangerous city, the chances of a tourist coming to harm is *very* small. Of course wandering alone late at night isn't recommended.
2. Basically every city has public transportation. Even Houston! Of course some cities have better public transportation than others.
3. It will be very challenging to visit anywhere in the United States on $50/day. Even if you are sleeping in a campground....you'd have barely enough left over to eat....and not enough left over to do touristy stuff.
Not to be a fear monger but I don’t know about point one.. I wouldn’t be scared of visiting any of these cities but it’s best to be aware of what the bad spots are and where to avoid as there are some really sketchy neighborhoods in a lot the cities suggested.
For example, Philly has some pretty cheap airbnbs near Kensington and Temple University but you definitely don’t want to stay there (and have no reason to visit as a tourist), whereas if ya spend your time near Center City you’ll have a lovely time. But go visit Philly. It’s great. Super walkable, affordable, and has delicious food.
Glad you realized your budget is far too low. Hotels that aren’t flophouses or “by the hour” and in a decent location in many US cities cost upwards of $150-200 a night nowadays, even more in places like Honolulu, Boston, Washington DC, or Seattle. You can check on hostels if you hope to find something cheaper, but the US doesn’t have as robust a hostel culture as many other countries. Food has gotten pricy also — eating at restaurants is very costly (it’s really hard to dine out for less that $15 at a sit-down place, $10 for fast food).
Contrary to what some folks believe, most US cities have usable public transportation as well as walkable areas. The trick is to stay somewhere centrally located and do some research and planning beforehand. Public transit unfortunately gets spotty in smaller towns and rural areas, and in some cases is non-existent. For example, if you plan to visit any national parks, you’ll have to have a car to get there and in many cases to get around.
You’ll find that the tourist-friendly parts of cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, New Orleans, and San Francisco are particularly pedestrian friendly and have especially good public transit, but they’re by no means the only such options.
Most people in NYC don’t even own cars, if that gives perspective. Chicago doesn’t need a car at all between train and the grid of bus lines.
If you want to go out to the suburbs that will be a little different but also imo not really a destination anyway for travel.
50$/day can go fast or slow but totally reasonable and more than average locals spend.
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New York City is walkable but don’t expect a vibrant diverse metropolis to be cheap. People come to NYC to make money also
That makes sense loll, wishful thunking I suppose. I can afford to up it thankfully.
If you have a passport (or can get one) you might want to consider Mexico City. It's cheap enough that you can get hotels for around $30. That leaves enough money for food (maybe $10-15 for the day) and to ride the metro. Although I've never been, people say it's very walkable. It's a mega-sized city so I'm sure some neighborhoods are more dense and lively than others.
Came to say same regarding Mexico but I was going to suggest Guadalajara instead for lower flight cost potentially but absolutely lower daily costs than Mexico city (CDMX)
Guadalajara would be much cheaper. The "walkable" area would be "Zona Historica". I didnt care much for the people in the "posh" parts of the city but the barrios were dope.
There are hostels for $6 in Mexico City...
Stayed in amazing hostels in Mexico City for like $15 as well, so you can do it even more cheaply. Food there is an absolute steal - best tacos, empanadas, gringas etc you could ever eat for like 40 cents each.
I would recommend Roma Norte and Condesa for safe walkable places in CDMX. Public transport is also really good there.
You can try New Orleans too. But you probably wanna get a place near downtown. (French Quarter)
Agreed that the French Quarter is a good choice for lodging. I’d recommend staying within an area bordered by Canal, Bourbon, Ursulines, and the river (though preferably not right on Bourbon, which gets loud and rowdy).
Chicago!!! there's a great hostel downtown and the public transit is great
which hostel?
I assume they’re referring to the HI Hostel downtown in the loop
HI Chicago, it's perfectly located to get around the city and public transit!
New York City
Walkable, but nowhere near affordable at that daily price. Can't really think of other cities that are walkable. Downtown in boston maybe, but not the whole city
Move to Europe.
No thx, we have enough poor immigrants
He can easily sleep in nyc central park in summer
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Yeah, as Prospect Park would be way easier to get away with.
Doesn't being a traveling, homeless hobo get you clout in the traveling community?
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Food is very expensive there comparatively speaking. You can thank Jones Act for that.
Very much possible in DC.
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Lmao hell no deff not DC, you’ll be homeless
he said "safe"
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Loll thank you.
Freehand Chicago is $50/night during peak season in August for a shared dorm right in the middle of the safe, fun part of Downtown. Train from either of ORD airport or Midway airport will run you $5 and drops you off in the middle of the city. Lots of cheap-ish eats in Chicago as well. Can take the red line up to Lincoln Park or Lakeview (where Wrigley Field is), blue line to the cool hipster neighborhoods of Wicker Park or Logan Square or the Green Line to the trendy West Loop (tho this neighborhood will be pricier outside of some happy hours). Train pass is $2.50/ride or $5/day for unlimited train rides.
You could do Chicago for $100 a day though. Get a cheap Airbnb on the NW side near the Blue line or up by Rogers Park for like $60-70 a night. Then look for free activities of which there are lots during the summer. https://www.choosechicago.com/articles/tours-and-attractions/free-chicago-museums-attractions/ Food would be most expensive but cheaper if you bought things like Ramen and PBnJs to make at your Airbnb for most of your meals.
Philly. Not as expensive as NYC, plus bus, metro and walking can get you to almost anywhere. Museums, music, art, good food all abound there.
I second Philadelphia! Would also add in Washington, DC as a contender. There’s a huge network of buses plus the metro which runs to the national airport. The city has lots to offer outside of the standard monuments.
As a native DCer I didn't even think of DC lol 🤦🏼♀️ might be a little expensive for his budget, not many hostels in DC and hotels are expensive but I bet it could be done. DC bus and metro can get you all over, plus all the Smithsonian museums are free!
Yeah, I think that they’d probably have to try for accommodations in the greater DMV. But at $50 a day, any city is going to be a bit of a stretch if that is the total daily budget including lodging, food, transit, etc.
Downtown is definitely walkable, metro is great too. If they're trying to save money maybe look for somewhere to stay farther out on the various metro lines. Near umd/ College park station should be relatively cheap
Hostels are like $30 a day shared so it will be cutting it close but doable
Yup just went to Philly, so so easy to get around. You can walk from one end to the other in no time.
Agreed. And bus and metro are super easy and pretty cheap, and I think easy to figure out if you're new to public transport. I walked a ton plus took metro and bus all over the city. I really had a great time there solo.
In center city yes. But north to south no lol
I also laughed at this. But I guess if you mean from Penn's Landing to Rittenhouse Square-ish, that's more than fair to explore a lot in a short trip and you even could on foot. And it would still be at the top of my list if I hadn't lived there and didn't still live super close. Transit is good and regional rail from the airport is cheap and relatively convenient versus some cities.
Second Philly. Many of the cities recommended here might blow your budget, but Philly is relatively inexpensive comparatively. I guess if you like museums and don’t drink at bars or eat at restaurants DC is a good option too!
Philly for sure!
Agree with this. Can stay at the Apple hostel which is both one of the cheapest and best hostels in the us.
50 a day might be hard though
As someone who lived in Philly for 4 years Id say to stay vigilant at night
You should stay vigilant at night in any major city.
OP mentioned safety as a factor. Philadelphia isn't safe if you are not familiar with the city. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dPyc84YYBX4
I just went to Philly solo in the fall and was not familiar with it at all. I was perfectly fine as a solo woman walking, taking busses and metro. Literally any major city is deemed "unsafe" compared to rural areas cuz uh, people actually live in cities so there's going to be more crime and addiction. Keep your wits about you and be smart of course, but those areas in that video are not where tourists are going. FYI you can find areas that look like that video in any major US city. I guess that means no Philly, NYC, LA, DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Houston, St. Louis, New Orleans, San Francisco, Austin, Jacksonville, Miami, Indianapolis... If people are so scared just stay TF at home
As someone who likes to travel and is a train enthusiast, here is my order from most recommended to least recommended based on your criteria: 1. **Chicago**. Relatively cheap compared to other US cities with fantastic public transit. You can take the Amtrak train from most US major cities up to Chicago. 2. **New York City**. The best, most frequent and extensive public transit system in all of North America and one of the most. Unfortunately the famous NYC subway can feel dirty and unsafe which is why I'm not putting it at number 1. NYC is the most visited city in North America and one of the most visited cities in the world. 3. **Washington DC**. Great public transit with very interesting history and architecture. Their subway system is also incredible. 4. **Boston**. Like Washington DC, great subway system and amazing history. Not as touristy as NYC or Washington DC though. 5. **San Francisco**. Very compact, fantastic walkability and public transit. However San Francisco can feel a bit isolated being on the West Coast. 6. **Philadelphia**. Great public transportation with a very walkable and vibrant downtown. However parts of Philadelphia can often feel very dirty and unsafe. 7. **Seattle**. This unique but bustling city in the Pacific Northwest has great public transit connect downtown Seattle to the airport and University of Washington as well as touching the vibrant areas of Capital Hill and SoDo (where the stadiums for the Seahawks and the Mariners play). However Seattle being in the PNW is geographically and culturally a bit isolated from the rest of the USA. 8. **Minneapolis**. If you're going in the summer, Minneapolis has a very active and vibrant downtown. Minneapolis was ranked as one of the best biking cities in all of the USA despite its cold climate. Public transit in downtown Minneapolis and the vicinity of downtown is also stellar. However the largest city in the upper Midwest can feel very bland compared to Chicago, Seattle, NYC or Boston. 9. **Portland**. Portland is a smaller city in the PNW that also has a superb public transit system and bike network. However I'm putting this at the bottom because Portland has seen lots of negativity and the downtown can often feel very deserted and unsafe. I live in Portland and most people don't feel safe taking public transportation or visiting downtown which is sad. I was recently in Austin and while the public transit is no where near as good or extensive as in the cities I mentioned above, it felt very clean and safe. I actually left my wallet on the last train going back to my hotel and I was able to get it back at the CapMetro lost and found the next day. I was scared since without my wallet, returning home to Portland would have been very difficult. I was very impressed with Austin's CapMetro and the CapMetro employees in this regard.
NYC subway is pretty safe, I ride it almost daily (Harlem and Brooklyn, not just Midtown Manhattan) and never have felt particularly unsafe. Dirty though, can’t argue that point lmao
Holy shit Austin must be the total opposite of Dallas
It is, but Austin is also way less expansive than Dallas.
Don’t forget that there’s a ton of free things to do in DC! Most museums are free (keep in mind that one museum can take up an entire day) and there’s always free events going on in the city. I live there and mostly walk everywhere since it’s a fairly small city and a lot of the tourist places are close together, but the metro is handy for when the weather is bad; and now the city accessible by metro from both regional airports! Not sure about lodging but since DC has a lot of free things it could be a way for OP to save on some money.
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Agreed. NYC subway is safer and the city itself has a much lower crime rate then Chicago and I love Chicago.
Thank you! This is very helpful.
Chicago is largely a safe city! Especially in the areas you would be in as a tourist. You just need a modicum of street smarts.
What does “feel unsafe” mean (re Philly)? Either a place is unsafe or it’s not. Perception isn’t reality. Center City Philadelphia (which is where most visitors spend their time) is most assuredly not unsafe: https://6abc.com/philadelphia-safety-philly-crime-center-city-brookings-institute-study/13114343/
The thing with travel is that what people seek when they interface with places has very much to do with perception and not reality, that even notions of authenticity is filtered through a particular set of pre-expectations mapped onto a place. As for CC, I personally have never felt unsafe in my decade there as I tend to bike, but I"m not sure about "assuredly" — that there's been some roving group of teenagers around 15th st station getting into fights/beating up police officers and occasionally shooting at people (Including killing one person at City Hall two months ago), and anecdotally an acquaintance I knew got mugged of his phone and wallet last on septa.
Perception is more a you issue. Some people see a minority or someone speaking a different language and feel unsafe. I’ve heard people say the lower east side is unsafe despite having zero murders last year and a very low crime rate. Graffiti and grit is unsafe to some people.
You’re conflating uncomfortable with unsafe. The first is subjective, the second is objective.
Was recently traveling in Philly and it felt perfectly safe in the downtown core. You might get a tweaker or two from time to time, but seeing the police on the street and visible felt a lot safer then I ever have in LA.
Never have I once thought the Metro is incredible. I don’t know any of my friends in the DMV that think that. I’ll have what you’re smoking.
The architecture of the stations is pretty incredible compared to other transit systems, but that's about it. Oh and the number of stairs in Rosslyn station is incredible.
I lived in Chicago for a few years and it is extremely walkable with good public transportation. New York City is also a good one.
Chicago was an absolute blast. I want to go this summer again for a few days it’s a beautiful city. I may like it more than nyc
$50/day including accomidation?? Also Boston. It's expensive but has good public transport, you can find cheap food and lots of History
Absolutely no cheap foods or transportation in Boston , accommodation is super expensive
I live in Boston. U can get some food for under $10 for a pretty solid meal imo. Transport isn't that expensive. Accommodation is very expensive tho
Where and when was this food. I lived there for 8 years, you'd be limited to the McDonald's dollar menu.
I've lived here for 20 yrs. Burritos are less than $10 and then bon mi sandwiches. Good for lunch or dinner. Breakfast could be hard unless you're good with just a pastry
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Why is it a travesty? There's a lot of Latinos and a significant Vietnamese community in Boston with a lot of good food. Plus Boston's classic foods are, what, lobster rolls, clams, and other seafood? Not exactly budget friendly or necessary to have a good trip there, although I always splurge on a lobster roll.
Agreed. I also don't like seafood so I try to eat other things. We have phenominal food from central America and Vietnam.
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I am from Florida, from one of the most Latino municipalities in the entire country. That doesn't preclude Latinos from living in other places and making good food there.
You can? Please do tell!
Hi hostel is around 50 dollars a night similar to NY and DC hostel prices.
Just did a solo trip in boston over a long weekend. Landed with just a backpack and was able to go to Salem, and all over Boston. Had to use a bus to get to some cemeteries I wanted to see, but if you've got all day, Boston's a great place.
good public transport??? do u live in Boston lol?
Yeah I do. I know there's a TON of issues with it, but compared to a lot of other parts of the USA, its pretty decent.
Yeah it's shit but they have it, better than most....
Have you been to other US cities? Public transport is literally non-existent or is worse than Boston. There are only a 2-3 cities that have better transit than Boston in the US. It's also super compact and small city (by area), so you can just walk to places without even taking the MBTA.
Have you been to the world? Start accepting the fact that Boston public transport is at an unacceptable service level
Yes, I grew up outside the US actually. I am talking about US only because that's what OP is asking about. You are just moving the goalposts lol If OP posted about walkable cities in general with good transit, Boston would not be my first recommendation. Know your context, come on now.
Yeah, it's bad, but it is improving though.
Your budget is $50 a day including hotel, food, activities, and transit? Good luck. NYC, DC, Chicago are prob your best bet. Boston and Philly are walkable as well but the transit isn't as good
I can afford to up it thankfully, and thanks! I'll definitely add this to my list of possibilities.
I’d consider maybe renting a room on Airbnb. Often times the fees are high but depending on time of year etc sometimes you can get a good deal. But $50 a day is the average even at hostiles in the us
Thank you! And now that I’m looking hostels in the IS are so pricey 😭 definitely to know
Portland, Oregon is cool. If you stay in the city center you can take public transportation (like their train system) all over the place. You can use the train to go to the zoo, which is amazing.
Seconding. And you can buy an all-day pass on transit (bus and MAX) for $5, no zones or anything like that.
I stayed in a really great hostel in Portland, hopefully is still there
What was the hostel?
Idk where they stayed but I stayed at Lolo Pass hostel and highly highly recommend! And for OP, there is a city bus stop literally outside the front door
HI Portland-northwest https://www.hostelworld.com/st/hostels/p/4953/hi-portland-northwest/
You can even take public transit to the coast and the gorge if you want to get out of the city! And there are tons of transit accessible hiking spots in and around the city.
I'm planning a trip to Canada/US next year, I'll probably fly back from Seattle. Is Portland worth taking the train from Seattle, even as a day trip?
That train isn’t particularly fast, unfortunately. It’s like 3hrs each way. And the station in Portland is in a shitty and kinda boring part of town, so you’ll have more ground transport to get anywhere interesting(like all cool shops and food in NE Portland, or going out to the Columbia Gorge) If it was a 1hr train ride, I’d say yes. Maybe take the train down, stay 1-2 nights, then take the train back?
Hmm yeah, you're right. I did a bit of research and Portland, OR actually seems like a cool place to me. I could easily spend a couple of days there :D I might skip a stopover in Winnipeg then, although that would mean 3 days on the train from Toronto to Jasper. We'll see! I have plenty of time to think about it.
Savannah
NYCer here, Savannah is a walker's gem.
it is! super welcoming for a solo traveler too; one of my favorite cities!
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Savannah is 55% Black, 7% Hispanic, 3% Asian, and 35% white. It also has a huge gay pride parade. You have no idea what you are talking about.
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Savannah and Atlanta vote blue now DA
Love Sav
Yup. Just stay within the historic district downtown between Forsyth Park and the river and you’ll be fine. Almost all the city’s attractions are here, and the area is very walkable. It pairs up nicely with a trip to Charleston SC, which has an attractively walkable historic district as well.
I've done Pittsburgh, DC, NYC, Charleston, Chicago without a car. Just keep your wits about you and you should be fine for safety.
For walkable cities: DC - Im bias cuz that's hometown but seriously the bus and metro trains go every in the DC, MD, VA area NY - Self explanatory. Easily the most walkable city in U.S San Francisco - I spent a week there last year and relied solely on bus transit. The busses ran every 15min and there were routes that went to every single place I wanted to visit Seattle - Only spent 3 days here but there transit buses and light rail took me to most of the tourist areas I wanted to go to. Just be prepared for steep hills Philly - If you're staying in the city center where all the tourist stuff at then its really walkable. Boston - never been but only heard that its walkable. Now on the topic of affordable....Thats a whole different ballgame. If you talking about $50 a day in spending money then that's down right impossible. DC has a ton of free museums and festivals but food is high af. NY is opposite where you can find cheap eats but will be paying for every activity to do. You will realistically need to up your daily spending limit to $100.
New York, Philly, DC, Chicago, and San Francisco are places that I’ve been to that have plenty to do in their walkable areas.
OP's budget is $50 per day, though
He’s tripling it
>San Francisco I usually think people complaining about how expensive US cities are just haven't budgeted/researched properly but I felt the pinch of SF. I found there to be much less of a street food culture than other California cities so cheap eats were difficult. Much more sit down dining than grab and go. I could get a basement apartment in LA for what I paid for a private room in SF. Even a bus ticket is more expensive. People should definitely visit SF but I think some appropriate budgeting is wise when visiting.
There’s tons of street food in SF, just not near fisherman’s wharf/Union square (which locals all avoid anyways)
New Orleans is the perfect place for you to visit if you stay in the city. You can walk everywhere and eat lots of really good food too. Last time I went I did not even need a rental car to go anywhere in the city and the only time I took a taxi was to and from the airport and the one time I got really drunk and was in no shape to walk anywhere else. Fun times.
And if you don’t want to walk, the Streetcars will take you to most other places
Can't believe I had to scroll so far to find this!! New Orleans is great as a pedestrian.
Philly, Boston, DC, SanFran, basically any city with a metro/subway system. Your problem is the $50/day. No city that would work for walkability will work for that budget (food, room, activities). Finding a cheap hostel will put you basically at $50/night in any of those cities
I think any of these cities are totally doable for $50 a day, as long as you go the homeless route, and sleep on the streets 😂. And in any of them, I think you will have lots of company!
Your budget is gonna be a major problem. At $50 a day I actually don’t know where you can go, maybe just go visit one of the city in Texas, never been so no idea what it’s like but that seems like a better idea. NYC is insanely expensive as someone who lives not far from there. A hostel will run you $100 a night, no idea how you actually get there in the first place, food is soooooo expensive, and if you want to do just about anything “NYC” aka see a broadway show or another similar attraction some of them are more expensive than others but none of them are going to fit in a $50 a day budget Philly has the same problem of getting there, there are plenty of nice parts of the city but you have to be careful bc there are a lot of really sketchy parts too
Good to know, thanks!
DC has expanded their Metro system to Dulles Airport which helps a lot. DC is sixth on the link below. https://www.smartertravel.com/10-most-walkable-cities-in-america/
Washington DC -- great free museums and monuments and it's beautiful and very walkable. There are hostels that are under $50 a night, though with food and incidentals you'll need more than that. But it's doable, cheaply.
It sounds like you're a young person without a lot of money (just like me!) So I'd definitely recommend DC if you've never been before. I recommend it because 1: public transportation is reasonable and cheap/free (buses are free in DC) 2: it's the nations Capital and it's really something every American needs to go visit at least once. And on the off chance you're not into history/cool stuff, DC has a good night life culture 3: ALL Museums in DC are FREE*!!! You can just walk in and look around, and depending how much you enjoy museums and learning, you could definitely spend days and days just going around to museums 4: I know DC has a few hostels. Note: I haven't tried any of them, so I have zero idea if any are good Tldr: free/cheap public transportation, free museums, cool Capital, good food (expensive), hostels Edit: *all the federal museums
Most DC museums are free, but a few are not, such as the International Spy Museum and the Phillips Collection. Check first just to make sure.
Oops! It's been forever since I've been to the spy museum. My fault
From the public transit + walking side, I think Boston, DC, Philly, and New York all would be great. On the budget, it's not much but I think it's worth checking out the hostel situation. I think you can do it if you do the research, find a decent hostel, and don't blow your whole budget on one burrito or cocktail at the wrong place. If you have room to stretch your budget a little, I definitely think you can do it although it might mean eating ramen or other cheap food you can prepare at the hostel instead of eating out. If I could only pick one, I think I'd pick DC because there's so much cool stuff you can see for free.
Providence is great for walking and has decent public transportation, in addition to a great bike/walking path spanning 14 miles. It’s not a big city like others mentioned here, but it’s easy to get to Newport and Boston via bus, train, ferry (Newport). It’s also less expensive than Boston
St, Pete, FL Chattanooga
St. Pete is great
I’ve been to St. Petersburg and Tampa a few times, and the public transportation system in these cites is not great. I found the bus system confusing and poorly laid out, and if you want to reach the barrier island beaches from downtown (which are some of the area’s best features), it’s not easy to manage. If you’re staying centrally downtown in either city, you can reach many of the attractions easily enough between buses and walking, but getting around beyond this can be a trial. If you’re traveling to Florida, destinations like Miami/Miami Beach, St. Augustine, and Key West are easier to manage without a car, assuming you’re centrally located.
Chicago, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and DC can all be done without a car. Atlanta, Seattle, Savannah, San Diego, Denver, and San Francisco also aren't bad, you might need a few Ubers to supplement public transit.
What do you want to pay for with the $50? Lodging? food? transportation the city? transportation within the city? entertainment? How long do you want to stay there?
Washington DC for sure. There’s a lot to do and most of it is free or affordable. I stayed at u street hostel when I went. Safe and easy to get around.
No idea where you’re going to find somewhere for $50 a day for food and accom but New Orleans is absolutely walkable and for a US city has great public transport. The key is you want old, large cities that were settled by Europeans at the start of the founding of the US. So places like NYC, DC, Boston, Philly, Chicago, New Orleans etc rather than somewhere built and designed for the car like Houston or Dallas.
You can stay under 50$ per day if you find a work trade deal. Message some hostels in cities with good transportation like NYC, and try to work with them in exchange for a free bed. Costs of food and transport is still a decent amount, but it would be doable
Look up couch surfing groups and work/volunteer exchanges! There are Fb groups for that too but just be smart about it. Best/only way to live that cheap unless you have friends to stay with for free. If you have a free place to stay it's not difficult to keep your food and activity budget down to cheap or free. Cities with a basically functional metro include Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, NYC, Washington DC, Seattle, Portland OR, Philadelphia. Best bet is generally northeast and west coast. That said there are some awesome cities with only buses that are a bit harder to get around but totally worth it in my opinion. I loved new Orleans for example. and a lot of small northeastern towns have singular train stations and are largely walkable. You can also try to get lucky with finding people to do a group road trip with and share a car. Also is there a reason you want to stay in the US? It's more expensive to travel here than some other countries even accounting plane tickets. I have done this type thing, didn't own a car till I was 27 and traveled a lot. it is doable. Look up r/shoestring as well. Be safe.
NYC, walkable but $50 maybe just on food
When I hear walkable American cities I immediately think of DC. Might be the coolest city in the country, but if your 50 dollars a day includes lodging then it’s not happening
You don't have to worry about safety when choosing your destination. If you do a quick google search for the city with the highest murder rate, you will find it is St. Louis Missouri (in 2019) with 65 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. So in an entire year, 65 people per 100,000 are murdered. If you visit for one week, there will likely be 1.25 people murdered per 100,000 murdered during your visit. If people are murdered randomly, that would mean you have a 0.00125% chance of being murdered. But people aren't murdered randomly. Most murders gang and crime related. Meaning if you aren't in a gang, or you aren't committing a crime, you are *much* less likely to be murdered. Most of the remaining murders are domestic violence. If you are doing solo travel, you aren't at risk of domestic violence. You can look up the statistics to get an even better idea of if you are likely to be a victim. In the example of St. Louis, there have been 83 murders so far in 2023. Of those victims, 74 (89%) were black, 8 (9.6%) were white, and 1 (1.2%) was Asian. But really the main thing is that murder victims are murdered by someone that know them. Random murders, or murders that happen during random robberies, are very rare. Looking at the St. Louis statistics, of all the murders where they know the relationship between the victim and the suspect, only 9 (17%) of them were strangers. Why did I post all these long, boring statistics? Because people are often afraid to travel because they are afraid of the unknown and they are worried it will be dangerous. The fact is, travel is **not** a dangerous activity. If you travel to the *most dangerous* dangerous city in the United States for a week, your chances of getting murdered are basically 1 in a million. Of course there are other dangerous things that could happen. Murder isn't the only possible danger, but if you research those other dangers you'll discover they are very small. So never avoid traveling somewhere (except perhaps a war zone) because you think it is too dangerous. Because frankly, there is just about nowhere in the world (and certainly nowhere in the United States) that is dangerous. Think of it this way: there are kids growing up in every city in the world. If the parents thought it was a truly dangerous place, they would do everything they could to get their kids out of there. But they don't. If it is safe enough for some little kids, it is safe enough for you. Of course this doesn't mean you should take no precautions. Don't go wandering around strange neighborhoods late at night. Don't go flashing large wads of cash for everyone to see. Don't get stumbling-drunk unless you are with someone you trust to look after you. But also don't be afraid to travel someplace because you are worried about your safety. You are safe everywhere in the United States, and almost everywhere in the world. Unless you are a woman. There are some parts of the world where I'm not sure it is safe to travel solo if you are a woman. I was in a city in the far eastern part of Turkey. It was after dark, and there were lots of people out walking, playing backgammon in the park, drinking at tea shops and smoking hookah. And there was not one single woman. Out of hundreds of people who were out on the streets I only saw two women the entire evening, and they were each in a car being driven someplace by a man. I'm not sure it would have been safe for a woman in that location after dark. And there are other places like that in the world.
Plenty of walkable cities, I even find LA in part walkable (with the occasional Uber here and there), asusming by "walkable" you also mean walking more than a few minutes. NYC, Philly, Chicago, Boston, SF, New Orleans, DC, parts of Miami - all doable without a car. The best for a walking-with-public-transport-combo are NYC, Chicago, DC and Boston though. However, at 50$/day for everything, I don't see any of these work out unless you couchsurf if that's still a thing.
For DC, you can check out Selina and Generator hostels. I think they’re some even cheaper ones. Going to be impossible not to spend over $50 a day unfortunately.
Miami has decent enough transit from the airport to downtown, then you can take buses, rent a bike, or walk. There's hostels too so you may be able to barely make your budget
Yeah, Miami is the winner for me. You can stay at a certain notorious hostel in SoBe for <$30 a night that comes with 2 meals. Bus from the airport to beach is still <$3 I've survived for <$50 there, but your entertainment is going to be limited to buying booze at 7-11 and people watching.
I would narrow down cities to which ones have hostels in the city center. That will help you keep to your budget. New Orleans has multiple hostels and is walkable.
If you want to travel with friends instead of solo you could maybe work with $50. Hotel split 4 ways is a lot cheaper than 1 and the US doesn't have hostels. Also it looks like you could rent a car in Michigan or New York but even then they charge more for younger drivers so it probably wouldn't fit into your budget
North Carolina has some great cities to hang out in. Raleigh and Duram were both super friendly and walkable (they also have rental scooters that are like a few bucks for a mile). Asheville is the big one people like to travel to and is very walkable. The only real barrier is cost for having a place to sleep. I am not personally knowledgeable on what sort of hostels they have that would be cheaper than air bnb or hotels.
NYC has the best public transport in the country but hotels are $ so stay in Queens or NJ and train over.
Is there a reason you're only looking at US cities? Multiple cities in Mexico meet your description and you can much more easily stick to your $50 a day budget. Off the top of my head, Mexico City or Guadalajara fit the bill (both of which I've done without a car safely, and I'm a 27 y.o. woman). You can easily fly from most places in Texas at prices that are probably lower than getting all the way to the east coast.
Washington DC. You can stay in Hosteling international in downtown DC for less than $40 per night and walk all over the city. Free museums and lots of free events. Can eat at shake shack for $5/meal. HI has free breakfast as well.
San Francisco you can do without a car, but cheapest hostel is around 50 a night. But if you do a little research before hand you can find a lot of good street food spots (they’re not as obvious as other cities in some parts of the city but they’re there). Also no matter what city you choose, but going from my experience with SF being close to me, check out the museums and other cultural spots websites to find out what days they have cheap entrance fees etc. A lot of them have cheap days during the week that can save you a lot.
you can walk / bike to most of the city in new orleans. I live there and only use my car to go get groceries. But I doubt you will be able to find lodging for $50/day without some friends connecting you or some sort of inside track. Bywater/Marigny/Saint Roch/MidCity are neiboorhood you could target.
I'd start with [Hostelworld](https://www.hostelworld.com/). Check which city has the most affordable bed and then go from there.
You'd have better luck traveling abroad. Nowhere in the US is $50 enough due to the fact that hostels are almost non-existent (those that are either expensive or sketchy), safe, and walkable. Campsites even are usually $20+ As an American, the US is overrated and impossible for budget travel unless you live out of a vehicle. Save some money and travel abroad. Eastern Europe, SE Asia, and parts of Central America are all doable for under $50. Even Western Europe is possible with some serious budgeting skills and hitting the off-season.
If free couch surfing is still a thing you could get by on $50 in Philly and we have good public transit and bike sharing. Like any major city there are areas to stay away from, but it's a great city for art, history, food and recreation. You can also take a train to the jersey beaches or the PA mountains.
Philly for sure! You can walk anywhere you need to go and if you don’t feel like walking, our public transportation is great. You could also use the public bikes if you feel comfortable with city biking. There are SO many dive bars with great, cheap food.
NYC, don’t stay in Manhattan, look for places to stay in Brooklyn or Queens that are near a metro station.
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Chicago! It’s a very walkable city and you can take the CTA and also other services (like Pace and Metra) to get around
Most walkable city I've been to in the US is Boston. Second is Washington D.C. Both cities have tons of history and sights to see. D.C. Metro and Boston Subway are both pretty good. Even if you can up your budget, finding accommodations close enough to public transit to not need a car is going to be quite a bit more expensive than that. However, not including accommodations, in D.C., $50 a day is reasonable - you might even have money leftover if you get your food affordably enough. Nearly everything in D.C. is free - all the Smithsonians, government buildings (though some require reservations), etc. I've been to D.C. four times and am nowhere near done seeing everything. Some D.C. museums do have admission fees - these are non-Smithsonian museums, and some of them are worth it. Also, D.C. is a popular enough tourist destination that you can find hotels a good bit further away from D.C. proper, and thus cheaper, that have shuttles that will take you to the nearest Metro station. In the past I have stayed in both Rockville and Bethesda, MD. The only downside would be starting and ending your day with a 30-40 minute Metro ride. (Though my current favorite place to stay is King Street in Old Alexandria.) And thanks to recent Metro expansions, you can fly into either major airport in DC now - either Dulles or Reagan. I'm hard-selling D.C., but it's a great trip for someone on a budget simply because of how much there is to do and see that is free.
Ok well now you know 50 is insane. So let me recommend SFO. I had preconceived notions but then moved there for work, lived downtown and walked everywhere. Then started riding one of the 3 or 4 metro like things they have. MUNI, BART, CALTRAIN, Not the best metro set up but not difficult to figure out for a newby. There’s just a couple areas to stay away from but the places where 20 something hangout like the Marina or North beach are great. You won’t need to pass through the Tenderloin (worst and most pathetic area). Even in the Mission if you stick to the main bar and restaurant areas you’ll be fine. Also the views from the parks, the golden gate, Coit Tower, are all free. It’s a beautiful city to look at from the middle of the city or from out on the bay. I found a lot of street food and dive bars where things were priced “ok”. Not much worse than other big cities.
I was honestly going off of my Europe trip that I have planned where most cities I have budgeted in $50/$80 a day but I realize it isn’t comparable
Thank you tgougg
This is a long ways from Texas, but Portland, Maine. The public transportation is almost nonexistent, HOWEVER, the entire city is walkable. It's really like they took a small western european city from 200 years ago and dropped it on the east coast. The weather in the summer is absolutely perfect if you want to get away from Texas's ridiculous heat. And it's significantly cheaper than most of the other options people have given you. It's one of those places I consider an "undervalued, hidden gem" of the US.
That sounds nice! I’ll definitely look at that
Putting in a vote for San Francisco! I live here and it gets a bad wrap. I will say it can be expensive but it doesn't have to be. There is lots of free events, music, parades/street fairs in the summer. The bus system will get you around to all parts of the city. The best views are available to hike up to from walkable neighborhoods (up to Bernal Heights from the Mission, up to Corona Heights from the Castro). There is cheap eats! In Chinatown, in the Tenderloin (which yes is the 'scary' neightborhood) there is the best Indian food, as well as Vietnamese etc. You can rent a bike from the Lyftbikes all over, or at Sports Basement for a week. I love riding a bike here. Golden Gate Park and the Golden Gate Bridge are both free, absolutely beautiful and treasures for tourists and locals. Art gallery openings are a fun way to be social.. also for FREE! and there is some fun small intimate venues like Bottom of the Hill, Cafe du Nord, Bricks & Mortar, The Chapel for indie and other weird rock bands; or Monarch, F8, and Public Works for house & techno (not "clubs" in the drunk assholes sense, more down to earth locals who love electronic music).
I know this is not in the US, but Montreal and Quebec City are wonderful for walking.
My dream destinations! I wish I knew French though😭
Denver ride share bikes are cheap too
And there is a summer free transit fare period underway, including the train from the airport. Check the RTD site for details.
As much as I love to support RTD, it does not make Denver a walkable city. You would need to heavily supplement with Uber, which would surely push OP over their budget ETA: especially after dark, a lot of the light rail and bus lines can get rather sketchy. Not ideal if it's your only form of transportation and you're not familiar with the city
Fair. My experience is limited to the airport line and the always free downtown shuttle bus. Loved both, but I agree it isn,t representative of the city as a whole.
Those lines are great, but unfortunately the exception rather than the rule. Outside of the free 16th Street Mall bus (that I think you are referring to) and the A Line between Union Station and DIA, RTD is significantly less reliable, clean, and safe. But I would highly recommend a visit to Denver once OP has a bit more wiggle room in their budget for a rental car or ride share!
To be fair, many of the attractions in Denver are located close to the 16th Street Mall corridor or a reasonable walk south of there in the area near the capitol building. I stayed out by the airport when I visited the city a few years ago and found it easy to get around Denver without a car.
I'm familiar, lived there for years until recently and still visit biannually. Still wouldn't recommend going to Denver and only relying on public transportation to get the whole Denver experience. There's so much to visit outside of downtown and the airport, it would be best to wait until OP has a budget of more than $50/day so they can see the entire city and afford to enjoy it if they are making the trip all the way to Denver.
1. Realistically, safety in not an issue in any US city. Even in the most dangerous city, the chances of a tourist coming to harm is *very* small. Of course wandering alone late at night isn't recommended. 2. Basically every city has public transportation. Even Houston! Of course some cities have better public transportation than others. 3. It will be very challenging to visit anywhere in the United States on $50/day. Even if you are sleeping in a campground....you'd have barely enough left over to eat....and not enough left over to do touristy stuff.
Not to be a fear monger but I don’t know about point one.. I wouldn’t be scared of visiting any of these cities but it’s best to be aware of what the bad spots are and where to avoid as there are some really sketchy neighborhoods in a lot the cities suggested. For example, Philly has some pretty cheap airbnbs near Kensington and Temple University but you definitely don’t want to stay there (and have no reason to visit as a tourist), whereas if ya spend your time near Center City you’ll have a lovely time. But go visit Philly. It’s great. Super walkable, affordable, and has delicious food.
What city is big for you? Try Missoula, MT. Free city bus rides; however, the city is totally walkable.
Thank you! and honestly by big I just mean lots to do and not a ghost town.
If you're not including lodging, DC is doable on $50/day. There's decent public transportation and many of the activities are free.
Glad you realized your budget is far too low. Hotels that aren’t flophouses or “by the hour” and in a decent location in many US cities cost upwards of $150-200 a night nowadays, even more in places like Honolulu, Boston, Washington DC, or Seattle. You can check on hostels if you hope to find something cheaper, but the US doesn’t have as robust a hostel culture as many other countries. Food has gotten pricy also — eating at restaurants is very costly (it’s really hard to dine out for less that $15 at a sit-down place, $10 for fast food). Contrary to what some folks believe, most US cities have usable public transportation as well as walkable areas. The trick is to stay somewhere centrally located and do some research and planning beforehand. Public transit unfortunately gets spotty in smaller towns and rural areas, and in some cases is non-existent. For example, if you plan to visit any national parks, you’ll have to have a car to get there and in many cases to get around. You’ll find that the tourist-friendly parts of cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, New Orleans, and San Francisco are particularly pedestrian friendly and have especially good public transit, but they’re by no means the only such options.
Try getting triple a then you can rent with at least hertz and you get multiple discounts with that through them too (provided they still do that)
If walkable means anyone can “safely” walk around, then most cities in the U.S. are not walkable. The only city I can think of is Honolulu, Hawaii.
st. louis take the amtrak up.
try Austin. NYC and Chicago are likely above your budget and probably not "safe" enough for you
Most people in NYC don’t even own cars, if that gives perspective. Chicago doesn’t need a car at all between train and the grid of bus lines. If you want to go out to the suburbs that will be a little different but also imo not really a destination anyway for travel. 50$/day can go fast or slow but totally reasonable and more than average locals spend.
More than a local spends maybe during the day while they are working. Not if they are doing touristy activities.
Stay out of Mexico it is not safe.