Pittsburgh: The US City Nobody's Talking About (Yet)

Pittsburgh doesn't usually make the shortlist when people think about a US city break, and I think that's largely down to it simply not being on people's radar rather than anything the city itself is lacking. That's about to change a little, with Aer Lingus launching a new direct route between Dublin and Pittsburgh from 25 May 2026, running up to four times a week over the summer on the Airbus A321LR. For anyone flying from Belfast, that means a straightforward connection through Dublin rather than the longer routing via London or a major US hub that Pittsburgh has typically required.

Why Pittsburgh, though?

Known as the Steel City, Pittsburgh has spent the last couple of decades quietly reinventing itself - the steel industry that built the city has given way to healthcare, education and technology, and the skyline and neighbourhoods have been transformed along with it. It sits at the meeting point of three rivers, which gives the city a genuinely dramatic setting that most people don't associate with what they picture when they think 'industrial American city'.

It sits at the meeting point of three rivers, which gives the city a genuinely dramatic setting.

What's actually worth doing

The Duquesne Incline is the classic first stop - a Victorian-era funicular railway climbing Mount Washington, with a viewing platform at the top that gives you the whole downtown skyline and the three rivers meeting below it. The Andy Warhol Museum, dedicated entirely to Pittsburgh's most famous native son, is one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the country. And Pittsburgh's sports culture - the Steelers, the Penguins, the Pirates - runs deep enough that even a passing visit during a home game gives you a genuine sense of the city's identity.

A city break that's easier to reach than it looks

With a new direct-feeling connection through Dublin, Pittsburgh is now a genuinely realistic option for a long weekend or a week-long US break, rather than something that required an awkward routing to justify. It won't be for everyone, but for anyone after a US city that isn't New York, Orlando or Vegas, it's worth a proper look.

If Pittsburgh's piqued your interest, or you'd like to talk through how the new route fits into a wider US trip, I'd be glad to help plan it properly.