Attraction
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago is a major encyclopaedic art museum on Michigan Avenue, with collections spanning thousands of years and a separate Modern Wing entrance…
The United States covers a huge area, from major cities to national parks, deserts, mountains and coastlines. New York is one of the most popular entry points, with its museums, theatres, neighbourhoods and skyline. Other well-known cities include Washington, D.C., the capital, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Miami, each with a distinct character and food scene. Las Vegas is known for entertainment, and Orlando for its theme parks. The national parks are a major draw, including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion. Hawaii and Alaska offer very different landscapes again. Because distances are large, most visitors focus on one or two regions per trip.
Attraction
The Art Institute of Chicago is a major encyclopaedic art museum on Michigan Avenue, with collections spanning thousands of years and a separate Modern Wing entrance…
Attraction
Free choreographed water and light show on the 8.5-acre lake in front of Bellagio, with fountains set to music that run from the afternoon until midnight.
Attraction
The Getty Center is a hilltop art museum in Brentwood with European paintings, photography, sculpture gardens and wide views over Los Angeles, free with a timed…
Attraction
The Golden Gate Bridge is the 1937 suspension bridge across the mouth of San Francisco Bay, free to walk, with a Welcome Center and café on…
Attraction
Boston's encyclopaedic art museum on Huntington Avenue in the Fenway, with collections ranging from ancient Nubia and Japan to American art and late evening opening on…
Attraction
The Smithsonian's flagship aviation and space museum on the National Mall, home to the Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis and the Apollo 11 command…
Café
Thomas Keller's French bakery at The Venetian, known for artisanal breads, viennoiserie and traditional French desserts, with coffee blended by Equator Coffees.
Café
The original French Market coffee stand, serving beignets under powdered sugar and chicory coffee since 1862, open from early morning until late.
Café
A Viennese-style café inside the Neue Galerie on Museum Mile, serving Austrian pastries, coffee and dishes amid period furnishings.
Café
Lou Mitchell's is a family diner dating from 1923 near Union Station, known as the first stop on Route 66 and for its breakfasts, coffee and…
Café
A North End pastry shop on Hanover Street, founded in 1946, best known for its many varieties of cannoli as well as cookies, cakes and Italian…
Café
Baking in Pike Place Market since 1992, Piroshky Piroshky is a small Eastern European bakery selling savoury and sweet piroshky and pastries to take away.
Hotel
A luxury hotel on Rowes Wharf, described as the city's only Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five Diamond waterfront hotel, with harbour-view rooms and an indoor pool.
Hotel
Faena Hotel Miami Beach is a luxury oceanfront hotel on Collins Avenue with restaurants by Francis Mallmann and Paul Qui, a spa and its own theatre.
Hotel
A downtown landmark since 1924, the Fairmont Olympic fills a city block between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, with 450 rooms, an indoor pool and five places…
Hotel
The Fairmont San Francisco is a 1907 Beaux Arts landmark on top of Nob Hill with 606 rooms, afternoon tea in Laurel Court and the Tonga…
Hotel
A Dorchester Collection hotel set in twelve acres of gardens in Bel Air, opened in 1946 and reached across a footbridge over its famous Swan Lake.
Hotel
A 1928 luxury hotel facing Lafayette Square and the White House, with a fine-dining restaurant, a well-known bar and a rooftop with city views.
Bar
A 1,200-capacity independent music club on V Street NW that opened in 1980 and moved to its current home, a former music hall, in 1996.
Bar
Fremont East bar that calls itself Las Vegas' oldest freestanding bar, with 20 rotating draft beers, bar food and a history that has drawn film crews…
Bar
Ball & Chain is a Calle Ocho bar established in 1935, with live Latin music and jazz from the afternoon, an outdoor stage and Cuban food.
Bar
Family owned and operated since 1980, Dimitriou's Jazz Alley is a Seattle jazz supper club hosting touring artists, with its own dining menu.
Bar
The Green Mill in Uptown is a historic jazz club with Prohibition-era links to Al Capone's Outfit, live music every night and the long-running Uptown Poetry…
Bar
French-inspired rooftop bar and restaurant high above Pershing Square, with outdoor patios, skyline views, cocktails and small plates, plus weekend brunch.
Restaurant
Grant Achatz's Alinea in Lincoln Park is one of a handful of US restaurants with three Michelin stars, serving theatrical modernist tasting menus in three formats…
Restaurant
A family-run U Street institution since 1958, serving its original half-smokes and chili from a building that was once a silent cinema.
Restaurant
Family-owned since 1950, Canlis is a Seattle fine-dining restaurant on Aurora Avenue North, known for its award-winning building, wine list and tableside Canlis Salad.
Restaurant
A Garden District institution run by the Brennan family since 1974, serving what it calls New Haute Creole cooking, with weekend jazz brunch and a strict…
Restaurant
Joe's Stone Crab has been a Miami Beach institution since 1913, serving chilled stone crab claws with mustard sauce near the southern tip of South Beach.
Restaurant
A Lower East Side institution since 1888, famous for hand-carved pastrami on rye, corned beef and its role in When Harry Met Sally.
Thing to do
The Chicago Riverwalk runs along the south bank of the river's main branch through the Loop, with plazas, piers, floating gardens, places to eat and boat…
Thing to do
Capitol Hill's historic public market, trading since 1873, with an indoor food hall all week and outdoor produce and craft stalls at weekends.
Thing to do
A 2.5-mile marked walking route linking 16 official historic sites, from Boston Common through downtown and the North End to Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown.
Thing to do
A historic riverside market district in the French Quarter, with a farmers market of food stalls, a daily flea market, local shops and a riverfront park.
Thing to do
Downtown's public market has traded on Broadway since 1917, and today more than 40 vendors serve food from across Los Angeles under one roof, seven days…
Thing to do
550-foot observation wheel at The LINQ on the Center Strip, with 28 cabins that complete a full rotation in about 30 minutes.
Tour operator
Amphibious sightseeing tours that cover central Boston by road before splashing into the Charles River, departing from the Prudential Center, Museum of Science and Aquarium.
Tour operator
The Chicago Architecture Center's river cruise aboard First Lady boats introduces the city's buildings from the water, with commentary from the Center's docents.
Tour operator
A long-running sightseeing cruise company sailing from Pier 83 on West 42nd Street and Pier 16 at South Street Seaport, with full-island, half-island, Statue of Liberty…
Tour operator
Two-hour French Quarter history walks led by volunteer guides from Friends of the Cabildo, starting daily from the 1850 House on Jackson Square.
Tour operator
Helicopter tour operator with a terminal on South Las Vegas Boulevard, flying Strip night flights and Grand Canyon tours that land on a bluff above the…
Tour operator
The Miami Design Preservation League runs a daily two-hour Art Deco walking tour of South Beach from its Art Deco Welcome Center on Ocean Drive.
Domestic flights are the most practical way to cover long distances. A car is usually needed for national parks and rural areas, while Amtrak trains are useful in the Northeast.
It depends on the region. Spring and autumn suit most cities, summer is the main season for northern national parks, and winter is popular in Florida, Hawaii and the ski areas.
Popular choices include Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami and national parks such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.