What are your favorite countryside vacation places in the US?

North Conway,, NH

Two college friends and I rented an AirB&B in the Gatlinburg, TN, area for a long weekend. There was plenty to do in the immediate area.

The siblings and I celebrated two of Mom’s birthdays at The Gristmill Inn in VA. It’s in the George Washington National Park. The rooms are nice, the food is fantastic, and there is a warm springs nearby that is legendary.

A third is The Tides Inn. It’s a Chesapeake Bay, VA, resort with plenty of activities to do in the immediate area.

I live in an area that’s considered a vacation spot for many people across the US. Gatlinburg is not even an hour from my house. East Tennessee, Western North Carolina and North Georgia will always be my home. The one place that blew me away other than things here was Sedona AZ. I’d fly in to Phoenix to visit my Grandparents most years for a week in late February. By that point I’m starting to feel the effects of seasonal affective disorder and a week in the warm sun hiking in a different landscape completely rejuvenates me.

Flagstaff or Breckenridge for me. There were very lovely but there was more to do in Breck. Lots of lovely coffee shops, friendly locals, great hiking and lots of hippie types.

I hear Death Valley is lovely this time of year.

Lake Tahoe, the main vacation destination for NorCal/Reno folks. My family has a vacation home there, so I’ve been going since I was a kid. Snowboarding in the winter, boating on the lake and mountain biking and hiking in the summer; it’s kind of perfect. It’s unfortunately suffering from over-tourism right now, but there are plenty of quiet, natural spots in the Lake Tahoe Basin area.

Another good NorCal area is Big Sur/Carmel Valley. It’s another major hiking destination, plus there’s the ocean and numerous resorts.