8 American Cities You Should Visit Before They're Too Popular

unremarkably you could bank on hipster millennials to tell you what ’s gon na be cool before it ’s cool . Like , drinkinguncomfortably hoppy beer , or eating Spam , or whichneighborhood will be the next hip neighborhood . But for whatever reason , you seldom listen talk of the next up - and - come locomotion destination ( except , like , Mexico City . “I was going to Mexico City waaay before everyone else was extend to Mexico City . ” )

transfer my inner nerveless kid , I went searching for under - the - microwave radar cities across the US that are poised to become the young Nashvilles and Portlands – polling locomotion experts around the country and bet at data tendency like increased hotel construction and tourism substructure . And , you cognize , cities with the coolheaded , unagitated , collected behaviour of someone who knows something you do n’t yet . Here are eight city you should go visit before they get too democratic .

Houston, Texas

Right now , you are pointing to your projection screen and yelling : " There is ABSOLUTELY no reason to go to Houston . Ever . " But do you make love what US metropolis built more hotel rooms in 2015 than any other city , after New York ? Not Orlando . Not Las Vegas . Freaking Houston . Yes , much of that was because they hosted the Super Bowl this year , but a urban center does n’t add two new 1,000 - room hotels in a yr just for a one - week celebration .

Turns out H - Town is estimable for something other than business conventions and sprawl : The metropolis just wind up a full restitution ofEmancipation Parkand turned the area around the convention centerfield , dubbed Avenida Houston , into the largest new shopping and dining terminus in the country – and the food scene here is nothing to sneer at . Houston ’s built three new sport arena in the past decade , expanded its already - renowned museum dominion , and in expectation of all the plug , put $ 150 million in upgrades at Hobby Airport .

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga is the kind of place Austin or Nashville was before the full world decided to move there . It ’s the only metropolis to receive the revered “ Best Town Ever ” prize from Outdoors Online , twice . Maybe something to do with all the biking and hiking and whitewater rafting and low-priced material estate prices .

But even if you are n’t displace there , it ’s one of the mostunderrated city to expend a weekend , a clear alternative if you want to escape the human elbow - to - elbow bachelorette parties of Nashville while still catching great live music in a much - more - than - decent entertainment district . The new Chattanooga Choo Choo complex has a 500 - ass medicine venue , guitar museum , and a funniness baseball club joining the already - popularTrack 29venue on Station St , make for a walkable civic center full of eating house , bars , and public effect spaces . Plus , Chattanooga will open up three Modern hotel this class and host theIronman 70.3 World Championshipin September .

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

It ofttimes tops lists of best place to live in the States , but when you require to get aside for a weekend , Minneapolis and St. Paul in all likelihood are n’t top of mind . That ’s about to vary : Just outside the Twin Cities seat more than 50 hike trailhead , most notably in Interstate State Park and along the Superior Hiking Trail . In under an hour you could paddle on the mighty Mississippi , or the Rum , Root , and Cannon Rivers . Though Prince is gone , Paisley Park lives on , and the Graceland of Minnesota is already meet mass pilgrimages from lover . And with 1,000 new hotel rooms to accommodate them , the secret will soon be out that the Twin Cities are actually pretty sweet .

Columbia, South Carolina

Here ’s one : There may be no better city from which to view the total solar eclipse this August 21 than Columbia . But that ’s not the only thing SC ’s capital has going for it . First off , Tim Tebow ’s play baseball game with the Fireflies this season , a novelty we should all catch while we can , and the spanking - newSpirit Communications Parkisn’t a spoiled place to watch . The Vistais a rehabbed warehouse district that ’s welcome Columbia ’s first Aloft hotel this year – it ’s also home to restaurants Motor Supply Co. and Cola ’s , housed in a former Engine Supply shop and RC Plant , respectively . Add in a fashion week , a rosé festival , the multitudes of USC bar at college - favorable prices , and all that old southerly computer architecture and charm that people go ga - ga for in Charleston , and you ’ve engender a metropolis on the hike .

Vieques Island, Puerto Rico

What was a US Naval bombing kitchen range until just a few years ago has since become the most pristine US destination in the Caribbean . So much so that the W Hotel determine up shop there ; which then , of course of instruction , led to an influx of boutique hotels all around it . The W then nonchalantly add a two - level infinity pocket billiards with an underwater sound system – which may be worth the trip alone . But it ’s also home to Mosquito Bay , one of the few bioluminescent bays where visitors can kayak through the shine water at night . Vieques has n’t quite had meter to develop into a Caribbean mega - destination just yet , but thanks to its proximity to the US – and the fact that we can get there without a recommendation – its time is drawing near .

Boise, Idaho

If you want to see Seattle , Portland , or Denver before $ 14 - a - drink bar discovered them , turn back out Boise . The originative pith of Idaho is filling the beer - and - open air gap these cities left when they come to the mass popularity . first , it boasts 190 miles of individual - rail trails that start much in the eye of Downtown and a 30 - sea mile Greenbelt trail that traverses the metropolis . Second , Boise opens brewpubs like Florida work up condo , with four young single planned for this year , including Bozeman ’s White Dog . The X - Games will be hosting a modifier at the city ’s spanking - raw skate park , and Bogus Basin just pump $ 4 million into summertime - activity improvements . Combine all of this with the walkability and affordability bigger urban center lack , and you ’ve fuck off a strong subject for Boise as “ the new Portland . ”

San Marcos, Texas

Last yr , an honored panel of well - traveled sommeliers declared the Texas Hill Country one of thebest wine regions to visit in America . And what city sit smack in the middle of a part with more than 46 wineries between Austin and New Braunfels ? San Marcos , a coolheaded hippy enclave and home to Texas State University . Now that tourist and traffic have ruined Austin perpetually ( just kidding ATX , we hump youeven when you ’re bloated ) , many of the older - school Texans who keep it weird have flocked to the south to this place - back , artsy choice that ’s been pretty much the same since the ' sixty . And nothing says “ vacation ” like lying on your back with a beer and float down a river in the Dominicus , an activity you may pursue on both the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers . And San Marcos has all the making of a large wine - and - escapade area , with breathtaking scene and law of proximity to about all the big Texas city .

Charlotte, North Carolina

Outside the big three and Houston , no city in America is building more hotel room in 2017 than Charlotte . The metropolis added 3,363 new elbow room in 2017 , and prognosticate an extra 8,000 by 2020 . Kimpton is bring its brand of voguish sumptuousness accommodation here with two new property – one in Dilworth / South End and the other in Charlotte City Center . The culinary landscape is slowly but certainly drawing cock-a-hoop epithet , like Charleston ’s Steve Palmer and his new Oak Steakhouse . Or just international town in Lake Norman , Kindredwas name one of 2016 ’s respectable fresh restaurants . Charlotte is also home to the National Whitewater Center – sort of a natural theme park where you may whitewater raft , hike , rock climb , and mountain wheel right next to the Catawba River . And it ’s also built the secretive affair to a Major League Baseball commons in Minor League Baseball at Downtown ’s BB&T Ballpark .

american travel destinations