A drive along Yellowstone National Park’s 142-mile long (228 kilometer) Grand Loop Road takes you past most of the park’s major attractions. Cruise along the figure-eight-shaped road for a ready-made Yellowstone tour featuring Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, and more, easily completed in one day or spread out over your own timeline.
Families traveling with young kids won’t want to skip the Please Touch Museum, which has been the children’s museum of Philadelphia since 1976. The guiding principle of the museum is teaching through play, and it offers a multitude of engaging hands-on activities, especially geared toward infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary-age children.
Running for 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) along San Francisco’s Pacific coast, Ocean Beach marks the western edge of the city. The wide shoreline attracts both locals and visitors for picnics, walks, beach bonfires, and beautiful sunsets. Though swimming isn’t common here (the water is cold), surfing is popular.
Designed by American architect Willoughby Edbrooke, this enormous Romanesque Revival building was the largest office building in Washington, D.C. when it opened in 1899, and was soon abandoned in favor of a new mail depot near Union Station. Today the Old Post Office and Clock Tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fashioned like a medieval fairy tale, the castle-inspired facade of the Excalibur Hotel & Casino is an instantly recognizable landmark along the Las Vegas Strip. Named after the fabled sword of King Arthur, the long-established resort features an almost 4,000-room hotel, a huge casino with all the most popular slot machines and table games, kid-friendly activities, and some of Vegas’ longest-running shows.
Perched atop Cape Diamond (Cap Diamant) overlooking the St. Lawrence River, Upper Town (Haute-Ville) is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Quebec (Vieux-Québec). Historic fortifications, built by the French and British, enclose a series of well-preserved streets lined with buildings dating back as far as the 17th century.
The music of Memphis fills the airwaves around Handy Park, a greenspace in the Memphis Historic District named for W.C. Handy, the local musician many consider the “Father of the Blues.” It’s a favorite gathering place for local musicians, both amateur and professional, and hosts free concerts regularly.
Union Square is a lively public space in the heart of Manhattan, between Greenwich Village and the Flatiron District. Come here to stroll through Union Square Park, watch street performers, or visit the popular Greenmarket—a lively farmers market that can feature over 140 stalls. From fresh produce to artisan goods to cooking demonstrations and tasty street food, it’s a buzzing destination that’s fun for browsing and people-watching alike.
Azure water wraps seven small, reef-fringed islands in Dry Tortugas National Park, a 100-square-mile (25,900-hectare) coastal preserve accessible only by boat or air. While untouched natural beauty abounds amid the islands, there’s history here, too. On the shores of its Garden Key lies the sprawling Fort Jefferson, one of the largest 19th-century forts in the United States.
Discover the story of the nation’s founding at the Museum of the American Revolution. Conveniently located in Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood, near many other revolutionary highlights including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, the popular museum is easy to fit into a day out in the city. Its exhibitions and living history demonstrations take visitors on a journey from the beginning of the conflict in the 1760s through to the creation of the nation.
The USA’s oldest art museum and art school, the 1805-opened Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts—PAFA for short—houses American art from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Occupying a striking historical building, it beckons with works by luminaries such as Edward Hopper, Thomas Eakins, and Gilbert Stuart.
Built atop one of Seattle’s steepest hills, this neighborhood is named for its abundance of Queen Anne–style architecture—charming, well-maintained homes with manicured gardens. In this inviting area you’ll discover leafy staircases, viewpoints, and quaint parks, and at its very top perch restaurants, cafés, and boutiques.
One of three museums that make up Savannah’s Telfair Museum of Art, the Telfair Academy stands in a stately mansion in the city’s Historic District and houses fine art, period rooms, and exhibition galleries. Visitors come to admire the artworks and elegant architecture of the 19th-century house.
With more than a dozen bridges spanning the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, Portland is certainly a city of bridges. However, there’s one that stands out; Portland's Steel Bridge is the only telescoping, double-decker truss bridge ever built. You can ride the light rail across, admire its expanse on a cruise, or just stroll along the century-old landmark.
Sitting next to Liberty Plaza in downtown Atlanta, this gold-domed capitol celebrated Georgia’s emergence after the American Civil War. A National Historic Landmark, the neoclassical building features a statue of Lady Freedom holding a sword and lanterns atop the dome, plus a museum about art and state history.
The National Geographic Visitor Center is both a gateway to the Grand Canyon and a destination in its own right. Conveniently located near the South Rim entrance, the center makes a logical first stop at Arizona’s iconic landmark. Visit the center for guidance on your trip, and to experience its IMAX Theater, cafe, and exhibits.
Located in Charlotte’s Fourth Ward neighborhood next to the First Presbyterian Church, the Old Settlers’ Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Charlotte and one of the oldest in North Carolina. The cemetery operated between 1774 and 1878 and is the final burial place of many of Charlotte’s early settlers and prominent families.
The two-story brick Heyward-Washington House takes its name from its original owner, Thomas Heyward Jr., whose signature appears on the Declaration of Independence, and George Washington, who stayed at the home in 1791. The Georgian-style double house offers a veritable portal into 1700s Charleston.
Cradled between mountains an hour south of Guadalajara, Lake Chapala is Mexico's largest freshwater lake and a longtime magnet for artists, birdwatchers, and a big international community. The shoreline strings together laid-back towns such as Chapala and Ajijic, where palm-lined boardwalks look out over the water and mountains beyond. Come for the sunsets, the fresh fish, and the flocks of white pelicans that winter here each year.
It doesn't get more Wild West than the dusty streets of Tombstone, Arizona. This historic mining town is renowned for the OK Corral shootout, where gunslingers Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday battled a group of outlaws. Now restored to its 19th-century frontier glory, the town is the setting for numerous Westerns and a tourism hotspot. Catch recreations of the OK Corral gunfight, get a drink at the Crystal Palace Saloon, and stroll the wooden boardwalks.
Made of gravel and dirt, and not for the faint of heart, the 414-mile (666-kilometer) Dalton Highway is one of the wildest roads in the world. It runs from Livengood—north of Fairbanks—to Deadhorse, just a few miles from the Arctic Ocean and the Prudhoe Bay Oil Fields. Originally for ice truckers, this mountain-traversing, wildlife-rich, ultra-remote highway is technically open to the public year-round. However, it’s best left to those looking for off-grid adventure in Alaska’s interior.
The huge star-shaped Citadel of Quebec (Citadelle de Quebec) is the largest military fortress in North America still occupied by troops. Begun by the French in the 1750s, the fortress was completed by the British in the mid-19th century, but never actually saw any action. Today, Canada’s French-speaking Royal 22nd Regiment (Royal 22e Régiment) is based here.
Space Center Houston, the official visitor center of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, offers visitors some out-of-this-world experiences. See where astronauts train for missions, touch a real moon rock, and tour control centers used for groundbreaking NASA discoveries. Anyone with interests in aeronautics and astronautics will appreciate Space Center Houston’s interactive exhibits that dive into the evolution of human space exploration.
The African American Civil War Museum, opened in 1999, tells the stories of the 209,145 soldiers of the United States Colored Troops who fought during the Civil War to end slavery. Visit the museum in Washington D.C.'s historic U Street community, and don't miss the companion African American Civil War Memorial across the street.
Shelter Island is only 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) long—and it’s technically a peninsula, rather than an island—but this self-contained neighborhood in Point Loma still feels worlds away from San Diego’s bustle. Poised at the entrance to San Diego Bay, Shelter Island is known for its peaceful, nautical vibe, complete with beaches, marinas, a boardwalk, and resort hotels.
In a city of skyscrapers, the 45-story Chicago Board of Trade Building (CBOT) stands out. The National Historic Landmark dates back to 1930 and remains a gateway to the city’s financial district as an active trading venue and office space. Fascinating both inside and out, the art deco masterpiece is an essential stop on nearly all Chicago architecture walking tours.
With a permanent collection of contemporary American and European art created after 1940, MOCA Grand Avenue is the premier venue in Los Angeles to see both emerging and classic contemporary masterpieces. The museum holds more than 7,500 objects by artists such as Barbara Kruger, Donald Judd, and Mark Rothko in paintings, sculpture, multimedia, light, and more.
Once a massive plantation, Audubon Park is now, at 350 acres (142 hectares), a treasured source of open land in New Orleans. Home to sports fields, picnic and playground facilities, a golf course, biking tracks, lagoons, and other facilities, Audubon Park is where locals and tourists head when they need a breath of fresh air or time to stretch their legs.
Fort De Soto Park is one of the most peaceful outdoor spots near St. Petersburg—a far cry from its former life as a military fort, with a past that features the Spanish-American War and World War II. The chain of five interconnected islands is home to hundreds of bird species, white-sand beaches rated among the best in the country, and a variety of ecosystems that you can explore by land or from the warm gulf waters.
Castle Island is one of the Boston’s most appealing waterfront parks. Spanning 22 acres (9 hectares), the former island has been attached to the mainland by a concrete causeway for almost a century. Today a state park, the outpost is home to Fort Independence, as well as lawns, paths, a playground, and beaches—making it an ideal spot for visitors interested in a day of history or outdoor recreation.
