San Francisco vs Utah Mighty 5

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.

Utah's Mighty 5 is the classic Southwest road trip: five national parks strung across roughly 400 miles of red-rock desert, each completely different from the last. Start in Zion, where the Virgin River has carved a sheer sandstone canyon you explore by shuttle, then climb to Bryce Canyon's amphitheaters of orange hoodoos at more than 8,000 feet. Scenic Byway 12, one of the most beautiful drives in the country, carries you to Capitol Reef, a quieter park of cliffs, petroglyphs and pioneer orchards near the small town of Torrey. The trip ends in Moab, base for Arches and its 2,000-plus stone arches and for Canyonlands, where the Island in the Sky mesa looks down on the Colorado and Green rivers. Most travelers fly into Las Vegas or Salt Lake City, rent a car and spend about a week, sleeping in Springdale, Bryce or Tropic, Torrey and Moab. Plan ahead: Arches uses a timed-entry system in its busy season, Angels Landing needs a permit, and summer afternoons regularly top 100°F (38°C), so early starts, plenty of water and spring or fall dates make the biggest difference.