50 Great Places for Memorial Day Getaways

Maybe you've got too many possibilities in suggesting a vacation for your clients for Memorial Day, or maybe your clients are being ambivalent. With that in mind, we're sharing some suggestions through priceline.com's latest report. It may help you in telling clients where, or where not, to go.

Over the eight years that the site has published its annual survey of the 50 most popular destinations for Memorial Day, two cities— Las Vegas and Chicago— have consistently jockeyed for the top spot. Las Vegas has won four times (including 2009), with Chicago winning three times. New York City was tops only once. This year, the most popular destination for Memorial Day 2010 is Chicago's Millennium Park.

Priceline.com's Memorial Day Top 50 list is based on over 30,000 hotel room booking requests made by  customers for the upcoming May 29-31 long weekend.

"Higher international airfares have made overseas cities a bit less popular with American travelers this Memorial Day," said priceline.com's in-house travel expert Brian Ek. "There are a number of smaller U.S. cities on the list this year, possibly indicating an uptick in driving trips for the long weekend. The big development this year is the large number of cities and towns that are making the list of the top 50 Memorial Day destinations for the first time. This should be very encouraging news for local tourism industries." Destinations making the list for the first time include Providence, RI; Ottawa, Ontario; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Petaluma, CA; Madison, WI; and  Atlantic City/Cape May and Princeton, NJ.

The Priceline Top 50 Destinations List for Memorial Day 2010

1. Chicago, Millennium Park, Loop & Grant Park Area
2. Chicago, North Michigan Ave./River North Area
3. New York City, Times Square/Theater District
4. San Francisco, Union Square West/Nob Hill
5. Seattle, Downtown/Pike Place
6. Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity South
7. Toronto, Downtown Toronto South
8. Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity North
9. Vancouver, Downtown
10. Las Vegas, Las Vegas Strip North
11. Niagara, Ontario, Niagara Falls/St. Catharines
12. Boston, Harborfront/Aquarium
13. New York City, Chelsea Area
14. Montreal
15. Monterey, CA
16. Atlantic City, Atlantic City/Cape May
17. Miami, South Beach/Ocean Drive
18. Austin, Downtown
19. Chicago, Lincoln Park
20. Savannah, Historic Savannah and Riverfront
21. San Antonio, Riverwalk Area
22. Boston, Copley Square/Theater District
23. Ottawa, Ottawa/Hull
24. San Diego, Downtown & Harbor Island
25. Halifax, Nova Scotia
26. New York City, Empire State Building Area
27. New York City, Hell's Kitchen
28. Washington, DC, White House/Downtown
29. Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage/IndianWells/Palm Desert
30. Niagara Falls, Buffalo/Amherst
31. Key West
32. Baltimore, Inner Harbor Area/Downtown
33. San Francisco, Union Square East
34. Philadelphia, Downtown
35. New York City, Midtown East
36. Milwaukee, Downtown
37. Providence, Downtown
38. Sonoma, Rohnert Park/Petaluma/Napa
39. Charleston, Downtown
40. Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls (NY)
41. New Orleans, French Quarter
42. Las Vegas, Convention Center Area
43. Madison, Wisconsin, Downtown
44. Virginia Beach Area
45. Miami, Downtown
46. New York City, Central Park South
47. Boston, Fenway Park Area
48. Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach South
49. Princeton, Princeton West/Trenton
50. San Diego, San Diego Coastal