Grand Canyon vs San Francisco

The Grand Canyon is the one sight in the American Southwest that genuinely lives up to the hype: 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and about a mile deep, with layer upon layer of rock that changes color by the hour. Most visitors head to the South Rim, open year-round, where Mather Point, Yavapai Point, Hermit Road and Desert View Drive deliver the classic views and the Bright Angel Trail drops below the rim. It is very possible to see it as a long day trip from Las Vegas, about 4.5 hours each way, with a stop at Hoover Dam; the closer Grand Canyon West and its glass Skywalk, run by the Hualapai Tribe, is a shorter but very different alternative. Stay a night or two at the rim and you can add sunrise, a partial hike and the quieter eastern viewpoints. With more time, Northern Arizona fills a great road trip: Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon near Page, the red rocks of Sedona and a stretch of historic Route 66 through Williams, Seligman and Kingman. Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, but the Navajo Nation does, so watch the clock on tour days.

San Francisco packs world-famous sights into a compact, hilly peninsula wrapped in fog and bay views. Ride a clanging cable car up Nob Hill, then drop toward the water for sourdough bread bowls of clam chowder at Fisherman's Wharf. Book Alcatraz well ahead, because the ferry to the former prison island and its gripping audio tour sell out weeks in advance. Walk or bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, coast downhill into Sausalito for seafood by the bay and ride the ferry home past the skyline. Give a full day to wine country, sipping Cabernet in Napa Valley or Pinot Noir in laid-back Sonoma, and save a morning for the towering coast redwoods of Muir Woods, where parking or shuttle reservations are required, or swap in the cliffs and beaches of Half Moon Bay. The city itself rewards slow wandering: dim sum in Chinatown, espresso in North Beach, murals in the Mission and sunset at Ocean Beach. Pack layers whatever the month, since summer fog can drop temperatures into the 50s while the sun shines a few miles inland, and wear comfortable shoes for the steep hills. September and October usually bring the warmest, clearest days of the year.