All too often, business trips are a blur of early-morning airport shuttles, followed by a whirlwind day of meetings, ending with a long night on an extremely uncomfortable hotel bed.
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Unless you have a bit of downtime in between meetings, there’s usually no time for sight-seeing or venturing outside the confines of your hotel or convention center. But what’s the point of traveling if you don’t take a little time to explore your destination?
Imagine taking a quick helicopter tour over Manhattan during your lunch break or a dumpling-making class with a local chef in Shanghai before your next client dinner. In the quest to add some inspiration and enjoyment into business travel, we have taken the top 10 US and international cities for business trips and pulled together some of the most exciting tours and activities for each.
So, instead of scheduling that ump-teenth working lunch, punch out for a little sight-seeing, or just schedule your next meeting on a boat tour around the city!
New York City
If your visits to New York are limited to the conference rooms of Midtown or Wall Street, consider putting aside a few minutes to explore what’s on the other side of that window you’re gazing out of.
If you’ve only got half-an-hour, there are a few excellent ways to see Manhattan. You could spend your lunch on a helicopter tour, taking in the city’s most iconic sites, or instead of indulging in yet another steak at Peter Luger, spend a relaxing two hours on a twilight sail of the Hudson.
Or, push your flight home an hour later, and take a behind the scenes look viewing of your favorite TV shows during an NBC studio tour.
Las Vegas
While Las Vegas is best known for attracting flocks of partiers, it’s also the second most traveled-to city in the U.S. for business travelers.
While some might take this opportunity to gamble away their hard-earned money, there are plenty of adventures off the strip. You could experience the vivid colors and towering spires of Red Rock Canyon from behind the wheel of a Lamborghini, on a supercar tour of the conservation area.
Or, you could flee the confines of the convention center and try out zip lining in Bootleg Canyon, where you’ll zoom down Red Mountain at fifty miles-per-hour. If death-defying stunts aren’t quite your thing, why not relax and sip champagne on a gondola cruise on the crystal waters of Lake Las Vegas?
Chicago
If you’re the one of the lucky ones who can avoid Chicago in the winter, there are a slew of options to explore Chicago’s incredible cultural offerings in the warmer, more enjoyable months.
Skip the workout in the hotel gym and book a walking tour of Chicago’s Gold Coast instead, where you take in the best of the city’s Gilded Age opulence. In the evening, a progressive “dine-around” of the city’s best restaurants is the perfect way to gobble up as much Chicago cuisine as possible. Instead of passing out to a Seinfeld re-run at the hotel, take in a jazz performance in one of the city’s famous blues music emporiums.
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