Non Beach Travel Ideas for Spring Break?

Weather in Ireland and Scotland will be fine at that time of year—rainy and cool, but those places are rainy & cool pretty much year round. Ireland, even in the depths of winter, can be green and mild. I went over Mardi Gras a few years back, in mid-Feb, and it was 42 degrees, all day & night. Those temps made for great outdoor walking, with proper clothes. There are some gorgeous coastal walks within easy commuter train ride of Dublin.

Airfare to Dublin routinely goes on sale—RTs from MSY ~$350-$400. You clear US customs in the Dublin airport, so the trip home is pretty simple, just like a domestic arrival.

The Scots say “there is no bad weather, only wrong clothing”, and it’s a country loaded with incredible scenery/hiking. Check out the website Walk Highlands: a compendium of hiking routes, sorted geographically, rated by difficulty & elevation, with route maps, pictures, and other hikers’ reports: LINK

Santa Fe, NM

Colorado. Stay low or be prepared for snow

Depending on where you are driving from Tahoe is quite a haul.

Most of the Rockies will still have snow in April, however Utah and Arizona will be mostly snow free, although chilly at night.

The southern Utah parks would probably be your best bet in the US if you want to hike/backpack in April.

This dude started an around the world honeymoon in early April with a traverse of the Hayduke trail (800 miles across southern Utah and Arizona).

His instagram pics give you a good idea of the weather to expect. Warning: viewing these pics will probably end your search for a destination.

(the most current pics are in Europe, scroll down until you see the familiar slot canyons and hoodoos of the southwest and read through all of those posts. It looks incredible that time of year, plus zero crowds)

eta: some of the pics right before (around May) you get to the Utah pics are from his coast to coast traverse across Scotland. They are also impressive.

I’d definitely head to Southern Utah if you want to spend most of your time hiking. Spend a few days around Moab at Arches & Canyonlands National Parks or even up in the La Sal Mountains depending on the snow pack. From there I’d head to Zion/Bryce Canyon and I’d stop at Capitol Reef on the way if you have the time.

Telluride.

see some Broadway plays in NYC
Italy and Spain are gorgeous that time of year
Louisiana weather is generally perfect that time of year, so a trip to New Orleans could be nice
Nashville or Austin could be perfect weather as well.

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Late April and May are bad times for the Rockies in general. Its mud season, when the snow melts, ground is soft, and rivers are high. A lot of stuff is closed or very limited hours. I'd stay away personally.

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Exactly. Scratch Colorado off the list

We did this trip for spring break second week of April two years ago and it was one of the best we’ve ever done.

Flew in to Las Vegas, rented car, headed to South Rim of Grand Canyon [saw Hoover Dam and Route 66 on way — there’s a famous diner to get ice cream there] Also stopped in a small town at a WalMart and bought ice chest and breakfast and lunch, drinks, beer and wine for the week.

Spent three nights in one of the GC national park lodges. Hiked the rim trail to get acclimated [awesome free shuttle system], hiked down S. Kaibab a few miles next day. Hiked down Bright Angel Trail day after.

Drove to Page, AZ for one night and did Antelope canyon tour and went to Horsehoe Bend and did private Jeep tour of area.

Drove to Bryce Canyon NP and stayed in the lodge for one night. Did the drive all the way to the end and stopped at overlooks. [you can hike down in at some of these] Did long hike down into the Canyon next day, then drove to Zion.

Stayed in Zion [at Cable Mountain Lodge which I highly recommend because of great location] for three nights. Hiked every day all day. Ate at the Zion Lodge for dinner one night and a couple of cool places in town. Zion is beautiful.

We made sandwiches in our room every day to carry hiking along with a few other snacks. We had camelbaks I had gotten at costco that had water plus room for storage. The weather was PERFECT. At the top of the GC it was chilly, long pants and light fleece. As you hiked down it got hotter. Bryce was amazing — snow all along the top where the lodge and drive are, with pleasant, cool hiking down into the canyon. You will need a coat for Bryce. Zion was hotter. Shorts and short sleeve shirts were fine.

If I had a do-over, I’d probably just drive through Page and not stay there and do Antelope — it was just ok, and we could have shaved a night off the trip. I would instead have added a day at Capitol Reef state park which is near Bryce or added a night in Bryce — Bryce is really underrated. I would have like to have hiked there more. Also, make sure when you head to Zion from Bryce, you do the Canyon Overlook trail hike before you get to the tunnel.

This sounds like a lot of driving. However, driving to each of these places is an adventure in itself as the scenery is spectacular. Lots of “wow” moments just driving along the highways.

Yea, totally sucks when the waterfalls are beautiful.