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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 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.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
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.
745 places match
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Typical visit duration
Interests
The National Museum of African Art is the Smithsonian Institution’s museum devoted to the arts of Africa, beneath the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The Anacostia Community Museum is a Smithsonian Institution museum located in Washington, D.C.'s Anacostia neighborhood. Established in 1967, it was originally founded as the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum with a mission to serve the local community.
Newberry Library is an independent research library in Chicago, founded in 1887 and dedicated to rare books, manuscripts, maps, and other humanities materials.
The Apollo Theater is a historic music hall in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. Established in 1914 as a burlesque venue, it became a cornerstone of African American culture during the 1930s.
Battleship USS Iowa
USS Iowa, also known as BB-61, is a retired United States Navy battleship preserved as a museum ship in San Pedro at the Port of Los Angeles.
West Potomac Park is a large public park in Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. It forms part of the broader National Mall and Memorial Parks area.
Freedom Tower at Miami Dade College
The Freedom Tower at Miami Dade College is a historic landmark in downtown Miami, Florida.
Kings Chapel
King's Chapel is a historic Anglican congregation in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1686, it was the first Anglican church in New England during a period of Puritan dominance.
The USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park is a World War II submarine museum located adjacent to the Pearl Harbor visitor centre on Oahu, Hawaii.
Fort Point is a Civil War-era brick fortification situated directly beneath the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. Constructed by the United States Army between 1853 and 1861, it was built to defend San Francisco Bay from naval attack.
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
The New York Public Library Main Branch, locally known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, stands as a landmark research library in Manhattan. Opened in 1911, this Beaux-Arts structure occupies a prominent position at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.
Hirshhorn Museum
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is the Smithsonian Institution's museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., it features a distinctive cylindrical building designed by Gordon Bunshaft.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is a National presidential library and museum located on Columbia Point in Boston. It serves as the official repository for documents and artifacts from the presidency of John F.
Bunker Hill Monument is a granite battle monument and Boston’s principal memorial to the Battle of Bunker Hill, standing above Charlestown as the final major stop of the Freedom Trail.
The Old State House is a historic colonial government building in Boston, Massachusetts. Constructed in 1713, it served as the seat of the Massachusetts colonial government and later the state government until 1798.
Theodore Roosevelt Island is a wooded island memorial in the Potomac River, accessible by footbridge from Virginia. It honors the twenty-sixth President of the United States, known for conservation and progressive reform.
The Harold Washington Library Center is the main branch of the Chicago Public Library system. Named after Chicago's first African American mayor, it opened in 1991 and serves as the central library for the city.
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx borough of New York City. It serves as the home ballpark for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball.
Waikīkī Beach
Waikīkī Beach is Honolulu’s best-known urban beach and the seafront focus of Waikīkī.
Museum of Contemporary Art
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a leading contemporary-art institution with a downtown presence. Founded in 1979, it operates multiple locations in the Los Angeles area.
Norton Simon Museum of Art
The Norton Simon Museum is a major art museum located in Pasadena, California, within the greater Los Angeles area. It holds significant collections of European paintings, sculpture, and Asian art.
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
The Tenement Museum occupies the former tenement at 97 Orchard Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The building preserves and interprets the lives of working-class immigrant families who lived there between 1863 and 1935.
Lombard Street's famous block is the steep, landscaped section between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets on Russian Hill. Eight tight turns carry one-way downhill vehicle traffic through red-brick paving and planted beds, creating the image commonly called the crookedest street.
Arnold Arboretum is a botanical research institution and public park in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1872, it serves as Harvard University's living collection of woody plants.
Hollyhock House is a historic residence in Los Angeles designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Built between 1919 and 1921, it represents Wright's first Los Angeles commission.
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is a large public park in the northern part of Queens, New York City. It was created for the 1939 New York World's Fair and later hosted the 1964 World's Fair.
The Getty Villa
The Getty Villa is an antiquities museum in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. It is part of the J. Paul Getty Museum system.
Aloha Tower is a historic lighthouse and landmark located at Honolulu Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The tower was completed in 1926 and served as a welcoming beacon for arriving ships.
DC War Memorial
The District of Columbia War Memorial, often called the DC War Memorial, stands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The Conservatory of Flowers is a Victorian glasshouse in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. It is one of the park's most visible botanical attractions. The building features a distinctive white-painted wood and glass structure with a central dome.
Venetian Pool is a public swimming pool in Coral Gables, southwest of Downtown Miami, created from a former coral-rock quarry.
Dolby Theatre is a purpose-built live-performance and awards venue in Hollywood, inside the Hollywood & Highland Center.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the Smithsonian’s purpose-built museum of African American life, history, and culture on the National Mall.
The Phillips Collection is the United States' first museum of modern art, located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a major museum of modern and contemporary art in the South of Market district.
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
Bishop Museum is the principal museum for Hawaiʻi and Pacific natural and cultural history. Founded in 1889, it holds the world's largest collection of Polynesian cultural artifacts and natural history specimens.
U.S. National Arboretum
The United States National Arboretum is a large federal botanical research institution in Washington, D.C. Established by Congress in 1927, it operates under the U.S.
Merchant's House Museum preserves a four-storey New York City home built in 1832. The house is an unusually complete example of nineteenth-century domestic life, with original architecture, furnishings and family possessions still presented in their historic setting.
Neue Galerie New York
Neue Galerie New York is a museum devoted to early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design. It occupies a historic mansion on Manhattan's Museum Mile.
The New Museum is a contemporary art museum located on the Bowery in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Founded in 1977, it was conceived as a venue dedicated to new art and new ideas.
The Petersen Automotive Museum is a specialist vehicle museum located in Los Angeles, California. It houses a notable automotive collection that spans automotive history and culture.
Chicago Union Station is a major intercity rail terminal in Chicago, Illinois. It serves as the primary hub for Amtrak long-distance and Midwest corridor trains, as well as Metra commuter rail services.
Battery Park
The Battery, historically known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. It occupies the site of historic fortifications that once protected the harbor.
The Rookery
The Rookery Building is a historic commercial structure in Chicago's Loop district, designated a Chicago Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fort Tryon Park is a public park in Upper Manhattan, set on elevated ground above the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.
The White House and President's Park
President's Park is a National Park Service landscape in Washington, D.C. encompassing the White House grounds and adjacent public spaces.
The National Museum of American History is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It serves as the Smithsonian's central collection for United States social, political, and material history.
The Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly called the Castle, stands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Completed in 1855, it was the first Smithsonian building and originally housed all Smithsonian operations.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a major national art museum in Washington, D.C. It occupies the historic Patent Office Building, a Greek Revival landmark constructed between 1836 and 1867.
Fisherman's Wharf is San Francisco's best-known northern waterfront visitor district, stretching across working piers, historic vessels, seafood businesses, museums and bay-facing public space. It is a neighbourhood rather than one gated attraction.
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It functions as the principal pedestrian and cultural hub surrounding Harvard University.
Korean Friendship Bell
The Korean Bell of Friendship is a prominent civic monument in Los Angeles, located at Angels Gate Park in San Pedro.
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is a unit of the United States National Park Service located on the waterfront of San Francisco.
Washington Square Park is a public park in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. It occupies approximately 9.75 acres and is defined by its iconic Washington Square Arch at the northern edge.
The Hammer Museum is a UCLA-affiliated art museum located in Los Angeles, California. Founded by industrialist Armand Hammer, it opened in 1990 and became part of the University of California, Los Angeles in 1994.
Trinity Church is a historic Episcopal parish church in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The current building, completed in 1846, is the third church on this site and features Gothic Revival architecture designed by Richard Upjohn.
Gramercy Park is a private, fenced green space in Manhattan’s Gramercy neighborhood. Established in 1831, it is surrounded by historic townhouses and apartment buildings.
The National Portrait Gallery is a Smithsonian Institution museum in Washington, D.C., dedicated to portraiture. It shares the historic Patent Office Building with the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a landmark skyscraper in Chicago's Loop district. Completed in 1930, it stands as one of the city's most recognizable Art Deco structures.
Waimānalo Beach is a long sandy shoreline on Oahu’s Windward Coast, set beneath the Koʻolau mountain range. Its broad coastal setting feels quieter and less urban than Waikiki, with residential communities inland and open views across the ocean.
The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is a major art institution located in the Civic Center area. It houses one of the country's principal collections of Asian art, spanning diverse cultures and historical periods.
Rock Creek Park is a large urban national park in Washington, D.C. Established in 1890, it is one of the oldest federally managed parks in the United States.
Washington Place is a historic residence in Honolulu, Hawaii. Built in the 1840s, it served as the home of Queen Liliuokalani, the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and later became the official residence for territorial governors.
Copp's Hill Burying Ground is a historic colonial cemetery in Boston's North End. Established in 1659, it is the city's second-oldest burying ground.
Emancipation Monument
The Emancipation Memorial, also called the Emancipation Monument, is an 1876 sculpture in Lincoln Park on Capitol Hill. The bronze group depicts Abraham Lincoln standing beside a kneeling freedman and was dedicated during the centennial year of American independence.
Quincy Market is a historic marketplace in downtown Boston, part of the larger Faneuil Hall Marketplace complex. Built in 1824-1826 and named after Mayor Josiah Quincy, it was designed by architect Alexander Parris.
The SS Jeremiah O'Brien is an operational Liberty ship museum vessel berthed in San Francisco.
Dumbarton Oaks is a research institute, museum, historic estate, and garden in Georgetown. Its public collections focus on Byzantine and pre-Columbian art, while the institution also supports research in art history, archaeology, and garden studies.
The New York Transit Museum occupies a decommissioned 1936 subway station in Downtown Brooklyn. It serves as the largest museum in the United States devoted to urban public transportation history.
Tribune Tower is a historic neo-Gothic skyscraper located on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It served as the headquarters for the Chicago Tribune newspaper from 1925 until 2018.
Las Vegas Springs Preserve
Las Vegas Springs Preserve is a cultural and natural-history campus built around the water source that supported Indigenous presence, early settlement and the growth of Las Vegas.
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site preserves Cedar Hill, the final home of Frederick Douglass, the renowned abolitionist, orator, and writer. Located in Washington DC's Anacostia neighborhood, this property represents a major Black-history site in the United States.
Walt Disney Concert Hall is an architecturally distinctive concert venue in downtown Los Angeles. Designed by Frank Gehry, it serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.
Watts Towers is a singular self-built art environment in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Constructed by Italian immigrant Sabato Rodia over thirty-three years from 1921 to 1954, the site comprises seventeen interconnected sculptural structures.
Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures Museum
The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures is a museum operated by the University of Chicago. It houses major archaeological collections from West Asia and North Africa.
East Potomac Park is a peninsula park in Washington, D.C., extending into the Potomac River south of the Tidal Basin and the National Mall. Water surrounds several sides of the park, giving the landscape a distinctly open waterfront character.
Fort Mason is a former United States Army post located in San Francisco, California. The National Park Service now manages the site as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Lincoln Park is a public green space on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. It is one of the city's oldest parks and carries the name of President Abraham Lincoln.
USS Cassin Young is a preserved Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, now a museum ship at Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts. The vessel saw service in World War II and the Korean War.
Little Island
Little Island at Pier 55 is an artificial island park in the Hudson River, connected to Manhattan's West Side. The structure sits on tulip-shaped concrete pilings rising from the water, creating an elevated landscape above the river.
The Museum of the Bible is a large museum in Washington, D.C. dedicated to examining the Bible's history, narrative, and cultural influence. It opened in 2017 near the National Mall.
The National Postal Museum is a Smithsonian Institution museum dedicated to the history of the United States Postal Service and philately. Located adjacent to Union Station in Washington, D.C., it occupies the historic City Post Office building constructed in 1914.
The African Meeting House is a historic church building on Beacon Hill in Boston, Massachusetts. Constructed in 1806, it is recognized as the oldest extant Black church building in the United States.
The Miami-Dade County Courthouse is a historic government building in downtown Miami, Florida. It serves as a functioning courthouse for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida.
Old Corner Bookstore Building
The Old Corner Bookstore is a historic commercial building in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It stands at the intersection of Washington and School Streets in the colonial core of the city.
The Roosevelt Island Tramway is an aerial tramway in New York City. It spans the East River, connecting Roosevelt Island to Manhattan. The system operates as a public transit option alongside the subway.
The Wrigley Building is a prominent office building and Chicago landmark located on the Near North Side, directly across Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower.
National Museum of Asian Art
The National Museum of Asian Art is the Smithsonian Institution's national museum devoted to Asian art. It brings together the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a botanical garden located in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. It occupies land within Prospect Park's vicinity and serves as a cultural and educational institution focused on horticulture, conservation, and environmental education.
The Painted Ladies are a famous row of Victorian and Edwardian houses on Steiner Street, facing Alamo Square in San Francisco. Their layered colours highlight gables, bay windows, trim and other architectural details.
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.
Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in Morningside Heights, Manhattan. The structure features Gothic Revival architecture and stands as a prominent landmark near the Hudson River.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
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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