First post-pandemic vacation to Pittsburgh

So excited to share that we did a family vacation in July 2021 after a break of 18 months! Yes, the COVID situation was the culprit, as it was for all of us travel lovers, the last trip for us being in December 2019. Finally after being vaccinated and feeling a little more comfortable to travel, we did our air travel in July 2021.

The last family vacation for all four of us was in December 2019 but the last air travel for us was in July 2019 when we had visited India and parts of Europe. You can read this post about our trip to Europe where we visited few cities of 3 countries- Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic. This was our first ever trip to Europe and we can’t wait to go back.

Going back to the last vacation pre-pandemic, we had a wonderful Walt Disney World trip in the winter break of 2019 and spent January 1st 2020 at WDW only before making the road trip back to Houston from Florida. You can read about our Disney World trip here. Hadn’t realized that we wouldn’t take any more trips for years, as we love to travel as a family and try to take a minimum of 2 vacations every year. So read on about this trip we recently took to visit Pittsburg, PA and New York, NY. This is part 1 of the trip about places we explored in Pittsburgh. My next post will be part 2 of the trip where I write about our New York vacation details.

The main reason for us to visit Pittsburgh was to do the campus tour of the University of Pittsburgh. My older one is a graduating senior and she received her acceptance in January but we waited for more merit scholarship money to make a decision. She was awarded a second set of merit scholarship money and by the end of April we knew she was going out of state to Pitt!

Arrival At Pitt

We debated about traveling by car or flying. We love road trips and take at least one road trip every year. But we decided to fly to Pitt to save time and to spend more time visiting the cities than to be on the road. Our flight was on July 4th at 11 am with a stopover at Atlanta. We reached Pittsburgh and immediately checked into the Hilton Garden Inn at University Boulevard. It was close by from campus, within minutes walk, and $25 per day for valet parking. We rented our car from airport itself and used the in and out provision for our car from the hotel daily. The first evening was spent at Point State Park where we also stayed till 9:35 pm to watch the spectacular Independence Day fireworks! Point State Park is located at the confluence of three rivers, and is at the tip of Pittsburgh’s “Golden Triangle.” Point State Park is a National Historic Landmark and preserves the strategic and historic heritage of the area during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). 

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All the nearby dining places were booked and not available for even take out, so we ended up ordering online at Pizza Parma eating our dinner back at Hilton Garden Inn at 11 pm. First day well spent and we all got a good night’s sleep.

Day 2 at Pitt

We did an amazing incline ride with a beautiful city view at dusk. There are 2 incline rides at Pitt- Duquesne & Monongahela. We enjoyed the Duquesne incline ride- it was completed in 1877 and is 800 feet (244 m) long, 400 feet (122 m) in height, and is inclined at a 30-degree angle. In the morning, we explored Mt Washington and visited the Andy Warhol museum. Mount Washington is charming with its panoramic city views. Pittsburgh has three rivers: the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio. They give a picturesque view from the hill top. Carnegie Melon museum, CM science center and Phipps conservatory were on our list but we didn’t have enough time in the day to visit those but those are great recommendations for anyone going to visit Pitt for the first time.

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We also visited a local attraction Randyland. It is a colorful public art landmark. Dinner was at an Indian restaurant- Tamarind Taste and it was a yummy meal to end our day.

Day 3

On 7/6 our campus tour was scheduled at the University of Pittsburgh. It was a student led tour with small groups of only 2-3 families. We went to the Cathedral of Learning, which is a 42 story skyscraper in the center of the university. It houses lecture halls as well as holds 29 different rooms distinctly themed to different countries.  It is the tallest university building in the Western Hemisphere. We also saw many UPMC (University of Pennsylvania Medical Center) buildings throughout the Uni of Pitt campus. We also visited Balaji temple in Penn Hills, which was only a 20 minutes drive. Loved both the tamarind rice and yoghurt rice served at the canteen!

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Lunch was at Condado taco and dinner at Everyday Noodles. Thanks to my older one, we got to try 4 different cuisines on all 3 days at Pittsburgh!

Last day, Day 4

We walked some more around the campus in the morning before catching an afternoon flight from Pittsburgh to New York which was only an hour long. Lunch was at the airport and dinner was Italian.

Wrap Up

To wrap up, the 3 days spent at Pittsburgh was fun filled with lot of scenic beauty of rivers and mountains, downtown views and lots of explorations of local museums and parks. In addition to campus tour of Pitt, we enjoyed the Duquesne incline ride, Mount Washington, Point State Park, local museums and parks. Pittsburgh is a beautiful place to explore.

Related Posts

Disney World Trip

Our first Europe Trip

Our road trip experiences

Dear readers, we would love to hear from you. Have you taken a trip post pandemic? Are you planning one? Have you explored Pittsburgh, or done a campus visit with your child this year? Do share any recent travel experiences, if any. Please comment below or send an email to nishtha@dawnandhope.com.