Country guide
At 9,833,520 km² the United States has the fourth-largest land area in the world, and its 50 states and federal district span enough longitude that the ordinary...
Photograph · Tuxyso · CC BY-SA 3.0
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
At 9,833,520 km² the United States has the fourth-largest land area in the world, and its 50 states and federal district span enough longitude that the ordinary clock runs from UTC−4 to UTC−10, with the territories reaching −12, +10 and +11. The 2025 population estimate is 341,784,857. Washington, D.C. is the capital and New York the largest city, but neither stands in for the rest of it. Distance is the planning problem here, not choice: a trip works far better as one region covered properly than as anything resembling a national tour.
Checked 2026-08-25
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Fred Hsu on en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · J. Crocker · Attribution
Photograph · Alek Leckszas · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain
Photograph · Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada · CC BY 2.0
Photograph · Lightandtruth · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Photograph · Marc Averette · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photograph · Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
286 places match
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Typical visit duration
Interests
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a major film museum in Los Angeles tied to the Academy Awards institution. It opened to the public as a dedicated institution for celebrating and exploring the art and science of cinema.
Pérez Art Museum Miami is a waterfront museum in Maurice A. Ferré Park, where architecture, terraces and views across Biscayne Bay frame a collection devoted to modern and contemporary art.
The Broad Museum
The museum opened in 2015 to house the collection assembled by Eli and Edythe Broad. The Broad collection is particularly associated with artists working in the second half of the twentieth century and after.
Adams National Historical Park is a National Park Service unit preserving the homes and grounds associated with the Adams family in Quincy, Massachusetts, within the Boston visitor-metro area.
The Eames House, also known as Case Study House No. 8, is a landmark modernist residence in Los Angeles, California.
Louis Armstrong House Museum
The Louis Armstrong House Museum preserves the Corona, Queens home where Louis Armstrong and his wife, Lucille, lived from 1943 until Armstrong’s death in 1971.
McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum
McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum occupies the historic bridgehouse at the Michigan Avenue Bridge, now known as the DuSable Bridge, over the Chicago River.
The Paul Revere House is Boston's best-preserved Revolutionary-era house museum. Built around 1680, this wooden structure in the North End is the oldest surviving building in downtown Boston.
President Lincoln's Cottage
President Lincoln's Cottage is a historic house museum on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C. It served as Abraham Lincoln's seasonal residence during his presidency, offering retreat from the White House.
The Museum of Science is a major science museum located in Boston, Massachusetts. It spans the Charles River, situated on a dam between Boston and Cambridge.
The Jewish Museum
The Jewish Museum is a museum of Jewish culture, history, and art on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It occupies a former mansion in the Museum Mile district, placing it among several major cultural institutions.
Museum of the Moving Image is a museum in Astoria, Queens, devoted to film, television, and digital media. It brings together the creative, technical, and cultural sides of moving images in one visit.
Marina City is a mixed-use residential complex in downtown Chicago, Illinois, notable for its distinctive corncob-shaped twin towers.
Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary-art museum founded in 1967 near Water Tower Place. Its visitor experience is defined by changing exhibitions, installations, painting, sculpture, media art, performances, commissions, talks, and public spaces.
The National Zoological Park is a Smithsonian Institution zoo in Washington, D.C. Established in 1889, it is one of the oldest zoos in the United States.
The Harvard Museum of Natural History is Harvard University's public natural-history museum, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Boston.
The Legion of Honor is a major European-art museum located in Lincoln Park, San Francisco. It occupies a dramatic coastal setting overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Cooper–Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
The Andrew Carnegie Mansion houses the Cooper–Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, a design museum forming part of the Smithsonian Institution. Located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the building was constructed as a private residence for industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
The Exploratorium is a museum of science, art and human perception at Pier 15 on the Embarcadero. Its galleries are built around experiments that visitors operate, compare and discuss rather than objects viewed from a distance.
Harvard Art Museums is Harvard University's major public art collection and gallery complex in Cambridge, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston. The institution brings together three formerly separate museums: the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M.
The Museum of the City of New York is a history and art museum located on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, facing Central Park. Founded in 1923, it occupies a Georgian Colonial Revival building designed to house its collections.
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Boston. Founded in 1866, it is one of the oldest museums devoted to anthropology in the world.
The Queens Museum is a public art museum located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York City.
Bronx Zoo is a zoological park located in the Bronx borough of New York City. It is one of the largest metropolitan zoos in the United States, covering extensive grounds within Bronx Park.
Intrepid Museum
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is a military and maritime history museum aboard the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, a National Historic Landmark. The museum complex includes the carrier itself, the submarine USS Growler, and the British Airways Concorde.
Ten to fourteen days should focus on one US region: New York, Washington, and Boston work together by rail, while San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas form a different trip. Miami, Orlando, and Honolulu each require separate travel time and should not be appended casually.
US admission depends on passport, visa status, and eligibility for the Visa Waiver Program and ESTA. Confirm both the Department of State visa guidance and Customs and Border Protection requirements for the actual route.
Domestic flights are often necessary between US regions, while Amtrak is strongest on the Northeast Corridor. A car is unnecessary in New York or Washington but can be useful in Los Angeles and beyond compact city centres.
April to May and September to October are broad shoulder-season references, not a national weather forecast. Florida heat, western wildfire conditions, hurricane exposure, and Hawaii's trans-Pacific logistics require destination-specific checks.
The United States uses the US dollar (USD). Card use is widespread, but taxes, deposits, and gratuities can make the final amount differ from the displayed base price; keep a second payment method for holds or terminal failures.
Dial 911 for police, fire, or medical emergencies in the United States. Type A and B sockets use 120 V; national tap-water safety is not recorded here, so consult the local utility or accommodation.
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