6 Spectacular Spring Day Trips Near Big Cities

When in Atlanta …

Take a Porsche for a spin

Visitors to Atlanta can head to the city's Porsche Experience Center, a high-octane playground located next to the airport that offers the ride of a lifetime for anyone who's ever fantasized about putting a $150,000 racing machine through its paces. Drivers have their pick of the German carmaker's inventory, from a 911 to the 750-horsepower Taycan Turbo S. Whatever your choice, don't expect a leisurely drive. Participants get a quick briefing before buckling up. The speeding vehicle responds instantly to every turn of the wheel or touch of the accelerator, gripping the pavement. A professional driver in a separate car leads the way around the track, offering instruction via radio. There's no speed limit on the twisty, 1.6-mile circuit, which is full of surprises. All you need are a reservation and a valid driver's license. —L.B.

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When in Los Angeles …

Go up the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

​Fleeing L.A. for the desert oasis of Palm Springs has a long tradition dating back to the early studio days, when legends like Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor were obliged to remain within easy reach of Hollywood. They would sun and soak, gazing up at the 10,000-foot San Jacinto Mountains backdropping the Coachella Valley. Put yourself in the picture with a ride on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, which spins 2.5 miles up the rock walls of Chino Canyon to Mount San Jacinto State Park, trading oppressive desert heat for snow-covered pines in 10 dramatic minutes by climbing 6,000 feet. From the observation deck, panoramas stretch for up to 200 miles, nearly to Las Vegas to the north and clearly to the Salton Sea to the southeast. If it’s a sweltering 95 degrees Fahrenheit below, it’s a refreshing 60 atop the tram (elevation 8,516 feet), ideal conditions for a hike on some of the 54 miles of trails around Mount San Jacinto, where alpine forests and meadows buffer granite outcroppings. In winters, layer up for the 30- to 40-degree drop in temperature, and have a snowball fight, before descending back into the SoCal balm. —Elaine Glusac

When in Austin …

Visit an old-time Texas dance hall

Located on a bluff above the Guadalupe River, less than an hour's drive from Austin, tin-roofed, white-clapboard Gruene Hall first served a German community of cotton farmers in the late 1800s. Now the saloon calls itself Texas’ oldest continually operating dance hall, and if you've ever tapped your toes to Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson or Loretta Lynn — who've all performed here — you'll want to stop by this Texas treasure in New Braunfels, on the edge of Texas Hill Country. Step onto the worn wooden dance floor to hear fiddles playing and singers harmonizing; it's like being in the midst of a knee-slapping barn dance that hasn't let up for more than a century. You'll be torn: Watch the band and the couples two-stepping around the floor, or join them? And if you ever want a break from the music or the crowd, the adjacent outdoor beer garden is just as welcoming. —L.B.

Kristina Blokhin/Alamy

When in Santa Fe …

Savor a New Mexican specialty

Forty minutes north of Santa Fe, in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, is the Santuario de Chimayó, a Roman Catholic church built in the 1800s — a worthy pilgrimage stop that can be followed by a truly memorable dining experience at the family-run Rancho de Chimayó. Set in a century-old adobe ranch house with a patio, the James Beard award winner is famous for its carne adovada — slow-cooked pork stewed in a sauce of locally grown heirloom-variety Chimayó chiles, which have reddish-orange skins and offer a delicious, sweetly picante kick. Order the Combinación Picante, so you can sample the carne adovada along with a tamale, a cheese enchilada, and beans and posole. Then comes a sopaipilla: steaming, puffed fry bread served with honey. Sitting in the courtyard, with the sunset lighting the hillside in pink, there may be no sweeter way to end a day. —R.K.

Editor's note: This article was published on February 15, 2021. It's been updated to reflect new information.