Top 7 Cities You Should Travel This Summer

4/25/2017

Traveling has always been a hobby of mine, and in fact, I love going around new restaurants, cities, museums, and everywhere! (Traveling or spending time alone is totally fine! Read about the advantages of spending time alone. The more places you go, the more new things you experience, and the more you get to try new food! (haha) How exciting is that? That's why today I want to share the top 7 cities you definitely should travel this summer. As you can see above, that is my favorite quote on traveling! Once I graduate this spring 2017, I will be traveling the east cities: Boston, NYC (again), New Haven, & Philly. (TBH, super pumped!) I will definitely blog about my trip in my future posts but for now, let's get right into the 7 cities.

1. New York City

Time Square (2014)

Been to NYC around 5 times, but every time I go, it feels different. Maybe because most of the time I went during winter. During winter, it's REALLY cold & windy! Some perks include able to visit a lot of museums, many trendy restaurants, cafe, & bars. Transportation is well developed so you can ride trains, buses, and cabs. I prefer walking though because as a traveler, you can make the most out of your trip by walking around. The city vibe and people are totally different from Houston. People are more city-city style and everyone is wearing something on-point. Very busy city, but that's how New York is. Will be going to Soho & Brooklyn this summer!

Some of the places I went are:

Central Park
Brooklyn Bridge
Empire State Building
MoMA
Statue of Liberty
Rockefeller Center
Bryant Park
Time Square
Washington Square Park
New York University
and more!!

2. Chicago

Love this windy city! Colder than NYC in winter but still love it. Chicago is like NYC, but less busy and more cleaner. I was impressed how the seats were comfortable and everything was clean (no smell). The people are very nice, including uber drivers.

Chicago trip is memorable for me because I went alone. This was my first solo travel; one of the best perks of traveling alone is, you get to choose what to do without having to negotiate with whomever you are going with! And I made most out of it which was so fun!

Some of the place I went are:

Navy Pier
Millenium Park
Shedd Aquarium (waited almost an hour in the line, but was totally worth it)
Magnificent Mile
Lincoln Park Zoo
Grant Park
Adler Planetarium
Cloud Gate (Bean!)
Lincoln Park Conservatory
Chicago Riverwalk
Chicago Observation Deck (photo below) - they also have an observation deck where it tilts right next to it. You pay extra $7 but it looked so scary. If you like thrilling activities, I think this one will be a great lifetime experience (LOL)

Unless you like freezing snowy weather, I think the best time to visit Chicago is anytime but winter.

3. Washington D.C.

source: wcsr.com

Washington D.C is another great city. I actually went here in my middle school for my U.S. government class field trip. That was my first year of boarding school, which I still remember it was rainy on that day, and we drove 8 hours from school. Although it was dark once we got there, throughout the trip, I had a memorable time with my friends. I would definitely want to go back for trying out new restaurants, cafe, malls & more museums.

Some of the places we went:

White House - not the inside, only outside
Lincoln Memorial
Washington Monument
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
and.. I remember seeing a lot of monuments, sculptures, but probably more history related places!

4. Los Angeles

I recently went to LA during spring break in March. I've been wanting to go to Los Angeles and I had SO much fun! If you haven't check out yet, you can find my LA trip food post here. But what I did below is everything all the first-timers would do. Below are the things I did for a week:

Universal Studio (Front of Line pass is a MUST because we were able to ride every single rides more than once without waiting in line at all!!!)
- I can't tell which to ride first since every.single.one is a blast. But if I had to choose top 3 to ride first, I will say harry potter and the forbidden journey, revenge of the mummy ride, and transformers!
Disney's California Adventure Park (This one is larger & less-packed than Disneyland. You can always get the park hop ticket where you can stay in both parks.)
Downtown
- Bradbury Building
- Walt Disney Concert Hall
- The Broad
- MOCA
- Little Tokyo
Hollywood
- Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Ripley's Believe it or Not
- Hollywood Guinness World of Records
- Hollywood Wax Museum
- Hollywood Sign
- Griffith Observatory
Beverly Hills
- Rodeo Drive
- Beverly Drive
- Beverly Center
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art (below photo - urban light)
- The Grove
Beach
- Santa Monica
- Venice Boardwalk
- Santa Monica Pier
- 3rd Street Promenade

Aside from themed parks, I loved Beverly hills, especially Rodeo Drive! Definitely going back.

5. Seoul

source: techcrunch.com

Me: from Seoul but doesn't have any good skyline photo. Oh guys, it's South Korea not North!!!
Best thing about Seoul is the food. There's just so much to eat! Aside from that, probably partying, drinking, and nightlife! Another city that never sleeps since many of them close really late. A lot of 24h shops, including coffee shops. I can't list all of the places because there's a lot, but some of the main districts you should check out are:

Gangnam
Myungdong
Hongdae
Itaewon
Sinsa
Chungdam

If you wish to see Korean culture, you should visit Insa-dong. For waterparks, Ocean World or Caribbean Bay is the best. You don't need to worry about transportation because everyone uses buses, subways (trains), and cabs. If you have more questions, feel free to ask me!!!

6. Seattle

Bellevue, Seattle (2015)

Another great city! The weather can be a bit cold and rainy, but you can still have a lot of fun. If you love Starbucks, their headquarters are in Seattle. Transportation is used by a lot of people as much as cars. Some of the places are walking distance so you can walk as well! I stayed in Bellevue throughout my stay. I mostly hung out with friends in their houses & went to eat, rather than the sightseeings. But still, take a look below.

Here are some places we went:

Pike Place Market
Bellevue downtown park (photo below)
Bellevue Square
Poo Poo Trail (Hiking) - called poo poo because the trail is very muddy
Federal Way - to eat Korean food
University of Washington
Macy Winter Parade
A lot of small art galleries

I love traveling with my camera and capturing all the beautiful places! It lasts way longer than a phone can with better quality. Plus, you need to use your phone for all the other things like texting, snapchatting, instagramming and more!

7. Houston

University of Houston (2017)

After living in Houston almost 4 years, I can say that Houston is more a food & beverage type of city than sightseeing. If you love food, discover the best restaurants in Houston here!

Some of the attractions in Houston are: