I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. I’ll admit a few things here. Boise, Idaho has never been on my travel radar. I doubt I’d have been able to point to where the city was on a map of Idaho before coming. And prior to this trip to visit friends who relocated to Idaho’s capital during COVID, I don’t think I could have told you anything about the city beyond its status as the largest in the state. What was there to do? I would have been clueless.

So yeah, I’m not sure what I was expecting when I got off the plane – a direct flight from Burbank helped – in Boise to a warm summer evening. It was a quick ride to our friends’ house, and then we walked about 20 minutes into downtown. And from that moment until my last one leaving the city five days later, I was amazed. Boise – yes, Boise – is actually really cool!

Downtown Boise is easily walkable – having 8th Street closed to traffic reinforces that – and filled with cool restaurants, hipster coffee shops, and some terrific early 20th century buildings. And while none of these buildings are as cool as the Idaho Capitol (click here to read about that and the history of the state), they add ambience to an area of lovely outdoor dining and drinking spaces. And when in Boise, you’ll definitely want to both eat and drink.

Food here is diverse, much more so than a state that is 90%+ white would lead you to believe. Heck, just about a half hour outside of town, in Caldwell, sits AMANO, a James Beard award winning Mexican restaurant. (Pro tip: come for brunch and the best cafe de olla, coffee spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, that I’ve ever tasted.)

Within the city proper, food ranges from stunning burgers with huckleberry bbq sauce (huckleberry is a THING here) to fresh river trout, all served with Idaho’s ubiquitous potatoes, generally in fry form. (My favorite fries were at Highlands Hollow Brewhouse, but you’ll find your own.)

Boise also has the one of the country’s largest expat Basque populations – click here to read about that – and a ton of awesome food and drinks to choose from that represent this culinary culture. Basque Block is where you’ll find most of these, just a few minutes’ walk from the pedestrian 8th Street.

Local beers are diverse and plentiful, along with ciders. Or get a cocktail at Thick as Thieves or The Mode. You can even go wine tasting at one of more than a dozen wineries just outside of town. I had a white blend at Famici that was lovely, especially on a hot summer day where weather routinely is in the 90s.

Ok, fine, so there is good food. But Boise can’t have much to actually do, right? Wrong! There are hundreds of miles of trails here in the foothills of the Rockies, but you can stay in town itself and enjoy the Boise River Greenbelt by foot, bicycle, or scooter. Or rent a tube and float down the Boise River in this oasis in the heart of the city.

Are animals more your thing? There is a zoo here in Boise, but for a truly unique experience head to the Peregrine Fund’s international headquarters, and their World Center for Birds of Prey. Here you can get up close to falcons, eagles, condors, and more, helping to support conservation efforts for these magnificent aerial friends. (Click here to read about the Peregrine Fund.)

For museum-goers, the Boise Art Museum has a great reputation, although I didn’t make it there. I did, however, visit the Basque Museum and Cultural Center and the Idaho State Museum, and can recommend both. The state museum, especially, has a lot of interactive fun!

And there is even a really great street art scene in Boise!

By this point, I probably have you convinced that a trip to Boise will leave you well fed and fairly busy. But it’s still Idaho, right? And Idaho is one of those super conservative states that sucks. So the people here will be conservative and there will be a lack of acceptance. Again, Boise is not what you are expecting, and it wasn’t what I thought.

Boise itself voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, although the state as a whole went overwhelmingly for Donald Trump. And even then Ada County, where Boise sits, was pretty evenly split. Anecdotally, within the city, the only Trump signs I saw were either preceded by “Fuck” or followed by “For Prison,” and pride flags were routinely in evidence. I truly believe that if I’d stood on a table in any restaurant or bar in downtown Boise and yelled out my personal political beliefs (incredibly liberal for those who have not been regular followers), I’d have been greeted with nothing but cheers. (But I’d have risked knocking over a great drink or stepping in a terrific plate of fries, so that would suck.)

Before heading back to the airport, I stop at Boise’s old railroad station, which might be activated again on a Seattle-Salt Lake City Amtrak route that is possibly in the works. From here, I stand and stare down at the city below me.

I don’t know what I expected when I decided to spend a long weekend in Boise, Idaho. I certainly didn’t expect to love this place, to shake my head over and over while muttering “man, Boise is cool,” or to compare the city to hipster paradises like Portland or Austin. But those cities are the closest comps to what I feel this place is, or at least what it will be when it is larger and more thoroughly discovered.

So to Boise, I say thank you. Keep doing what you’re doing. I will be back. And one day, maybe Idaho will be worthy of just how cool you are.

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