This April’s NFL Draft will bring hundreds of thousands of visitors and millions of dollars to Pittsburgh. While the multi-day event is a boon for the city, not every resident will want to navigate crowds, road closures and packed reservations. For Pittsburghers inclined to trade crowds for less crowded coastlines, forests or culture destinations, these spots offer a well-timed respite. (And you can still watch the draft online or on tv.)
Escape to These Destinations and Avoid the NFL Draft Craziness in Pittsburgh
Allegheny National Forest
Just hours from Pittsburgh, the state’s only national forest spans more than 500,000 acres of hardwoods, water and wilderness. The sprawling wilderness in the state’s northwestern corner offers one of the East Coast’s most under-the-radar escapes and a true off-the-grid respite.
Accommodations range from lake-adjacent cabins and understated vacation homes near the reservoir to refined accommodations such as The Lodge at Glendorn in nearby Bradford, along with charming inns in Warren. By late April, trails are open, the reservoir welcomes paddlers and daylight stretches into evening.
The Longhouse National Scenic Byway offers a natural introduction, tracing a 36-mile loop along the Kinzua Creek arm of the reservoir. From there, days are best spent hiking shaded trails like Minister Creek, reading beside the water or drifting across the lake. Boat-access campgrounds such as Pine Grove and Morrison allow travelers to arrive by water, leaving road noise behind entirely. For a brief counterpoint, the Kinzua Sky Walk rises above the gorge, a moment of vertical drama before returning to the forest’s defining luxury: stillness.
Seattle
An easy nonstop or one-stop flight from Pittsburgh — often with some of the shortest itineraries via Alaska Airlines — brings you to Seattle, where the city’s most striking quality is how seamlessly it holds urban life and landscape in the same frame: salt water at its feet, mountains on the horizon, forests threaded through daily life.
Stay downtown at the Thompson Seattle, where floor-to-ceiling windows look out over Pike Place and Elliott Bay, and begin the evening at The Nest, the hotel’s rooftop bar, for cocktails with ferry traffic gliding below. Visit famous Pike Place Market early before crowds arrive, then take a trip to the top of the Space Needle, which clarifies the city’s relationship to water and wilderness in a single sweep. Just beneath it, Chihuly Garden and Glass adds a luminous, distinctly Pacific Northwest counterpoint.
Seattle’s dining scene reflects its global outlook without excess. Serious Pie remains a benchmark for wood-fired pizza, while spots like Din Tai Fung (soup dumplings), Revel (Korean-influenced plates) and Maneki (a historic Japanese institution) underscore the city’s long-standing international palate. There are plenty of outdoor adventures to be had, as well; walk the loop at Green Lake, ferry across to Bainbridge Island or explore the bluffs of Discovery Park. Close out your evenings with drinks at Seattle’s growing cluster of urban wineries, including Structure Cellars, Browne Family Vineyards or Cairdeas, where Washington wine is poured in its place of origin.
Philadelphia
If Pittsburgh’s charm lies in its neighborhoods, Philadelphia turns that idea up to eleven. Less than five hours east, the city layers American history, neighborhood life and food culture into a walkable, lived-in whole.
A single day can include cobblestone walks around Independence Hall, an unhurried afternoon eating through Reading Terminal Market and a quiet escape into the wooded trails of Wissahickon Valley Park before dinner.
Old City’s brick townhouses and pocket museums give way to the grand sweep of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, where the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation and the Franklin Institute line a tree-framed boulevard. Inside Reading Terminal, DiNic’s roast pork, Amish baked goods and steaming bowls of pho share space beneath an iron-and-glass roof, while Chinatown’s bakeries and noodle shops spill just beyond its doors.
Turks and Caicos
By April, Pittsburgh is edging toward spring; Turks and Caicos is already in the throes of tropical summer.
The journey is straightforward, roughly a six- to seven-hour travel day from Pittsburgh (typically with a single connection through Miami, Charlotte or Atlanta) to Providenciales, the island that anchors most first-time visits.
April hits a rare sweet spot: dry, sunlit days, steady trade winds and a thinning of peak-season crowds. Grace Bay Beach remains the centerpiece, its pale sand and shallow, shimmering water ideal for morning swims and long walks. Snorkeling requires little planning at Bight Reef and Smith’s Reef, both accessible from shore, while half-day catamaran sails drift toward uninhabited cays for sandbar swims and freshly prepared conch ceviche.
Evenings favor simplicity — grilled seafood, open-air dining and the convivial ease of a weekly fish fry. Grace Bay Club and The Shore Club offer restrained, oceanfront luxury, while Beaches Turks & Caicos provides a seamless option for families.
New Orleans
New Orleans is an easy city to settle into, with easy nonstop flight options from Pittsburgh. In the French Quarter, wrought-iron balconies frame quiet courtyards and Creole townhouses just steps from the Mississippi River, while Uptown’s oak-canopied streets remain anchored by streetcar lines.
Staying in the Quarter (or nearby Marigny) places Jackson Square, Crescent Park and the music clubs of Frenchmen Street within walking distance. Days begin with cafe au lait and beignets, stretch into long lunches of gumbo or oyster po’boys and end in candlelit dining rooms shaped by Gulf seafood and deep-rooted culinary traditions.
Between meals, historic cemeteries, streetcar rides and the galleries of the Bywater and St. Claude corridor offer an unforced sense of discovery.
Story by Aakanksha Agarwal
Photo Courtesy of USDA Forest Service and K. Creek
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