Pittsburgh

Philadelphia may get most of the press, but Pittsburgh offers plenty of reasons to visit, too. Pennsylvania's second-largest city has moved beyond its “Steel City” years to become a hip, modern city with lots of historic charm.
Steel industry money is responsible for many of the attractions you can visit today–including museums and city parks. When the steel industry was no longer the economic driver, Pittsburgh managed to rebuild by attracting other businesses, and today the city is routinely named one of the move livable cities in the United States.
Pittsburgh sits at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monogahela Rivers, and there are plenty of river-based recreational opportunities when the weather is nice. The downtown Cultural District is where you'll find a high concentration of theaters, galleries, shops, parks and restaurants, while Pittsburgh also claims to have the most bars per capita in the entire country. This is a sports-loving city, too, with professional baseball, football and hockey to enjoy.

Practical Info

Pittsburgh is in the western part of the state, roughly 300 miles from Philadelphia. The population of the city itself is just over 305,000– much less than when it was at the height of its steel-related power, but perhaps that's part of what makes the city so livable today.