New York’s Favorite Cities to Visit

Fact Checked by Pat McLoone

New York is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States – a visitor favorite due to Broadway shows, Fifth Avenue shopping, top-flight museums and some of the nation’s best restaurants. 

For kids, there’s the Bronx Zoo and FAO Schwarz toy store and ice skating in Rockefeller Center in the winter. And that’s just NYC.

When New York City residents like to get away for a short jaunt, upstate is the opposite of the city – spread out and green. There are vineyards and orchards galore, mountains for skiing or climbing, millions of trees to leaf-peep in the fall, and tourist destinations across the state from Syracuse to Buffalo.

But what about longer trips? EmpireStakes.com decided to take a break from New York sports betting to look at New York’s Favorite Cities to Visit – outside of New York.

To do so, we went to Google Trends to determine the most searched cities by each state of the United States by utilizing the term “Flights To” and finding the most often searched city at the end of the phrase. After completing the trends over the past 12 months (from June 25,  2022, to June 25, 2023), we were able to find results to get the top three cities for the state of New York. Other cities within the state were not included.

Favorite U.S. Travel Destinations of New Yorkers

Here are results researched by EmpireStakes.com that you won’t find on any of the state’s nine legal New York betting apps.

RankCity
1 ✈ Miami
2 ✈ Orlando
3 ✈ Chicago

 

Looking at 1-2-3

Coming in at No. 1 is Miami for two major reasons: It’s as ethnically diverse as New York is, and it’s warm in the winter, for New Yorkers who like to get away from the cold. Plus, there’s a lot of good eating and Miami folks know that you get corned beef on rye with mustard at a deli and not ham and cheese on white with mayo. Young New Yorkers can wear next to nothing on the sand in South Beach checking out BetMGM NY promo codes during the day, then go clubbing at night. Older New Yorkers can visit their parents, who live up the coast in Boca.

At No. 2 is Orlando. While Gov. Ron DeSantis is sending New York his immigrants, New York is sending back tourists. Orlando is one of the most popular destinations for the entire northeast, thanks to Disney World, Universal Studios Theme Park, Sea World and more. Plus, again, the weather. Don’t want to take a ride on Space Mountain, visit Hogwarts or feed a dolphin? There’s a lot of golf to play and tons to do at night.

Coming in third, and not for the weather, is Chicago. It’s where New Yorkers go when they tire of New York pizza, and want a dish that’s deeper. Chicago also has other types of great food and its own Miracle Mile of shopping. Chicago is also a city for New Yorkers to visit when they don’t want to rent a Vrbo cabin in the woods. It has lots of people, elevated trains, sausages, skyscrapers and water flowing through the city. It’s like New York’s little sibling, but it’s midwestern nice instead of New York nice. 

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Author

Howard Gensler

Howard Gensler is a veteran journalist who’s worked at the Philadelphia Daily News, TV Guide and the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a founding editor of bettorsinsider.com.

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