Go in September. The best coastal beach towns USA has to offer, from Cape May, New Jersey to the Outer Banks, North Carolina, feel warmer, cheaper, and emptier after Labor Day. The ocean peaks late, and rental rates drop. Atlantic hurricane season runs through November 30, so book refundable lodging and watch the forecast. Why…
The best ski resorts USA skiers can book this winter are Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming for experts, Park City Mountain, Utah for variety, Deer Valley Resort, Utah and Aspen Snowmass, Colorado for luxury, and Stowe Mountain Resort, Vermont for the East. Choosing the right mountain saves more than any pass deal, because day tickets…
Book Fairbanks, Alaska. A northern lights tour USA trip works there on most clear nights between August 21 and April 21, according to Explore Fairbanks, the city’s official tourism board. The sun peaked around October 2024 and is now in its declining phase, which makes the lower 48 a long shot. Below, I cover where…
New York City leads the most populous cities USA list with 8,584,629 residents as of July 1, 2025, per the U.S. Census Bureau. Los Angeles, California (3,869,089) and Chicago, Illinois (2,731,585) follow, then Houston, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. Population rank doesn’t predict trip quality, though. I’ll give you the official top 15, then my own…
The best volcanoes to visit in USA run from a parking lot view to a 10-mile slog through loose ash. Kīlauea on the Island of Hawaii, inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, is the only one erupting right now, and you can’t schedule it. Everything else here is dormant, which makes it safer and easier to…
The best things to do in Key West cluster at the edges of the day. Catch the Dry Tortugas ferry at 8 a.m., swim at Fort Zachary Taylor before the cruise crowd lands, and save Old Town for after the heat breaks. Midday on Duval Street is hot, loud, and mostly T-shirt shops. Here’s how…
The best small towns in New England for the coast are Camden, Maine, Stonington, Ogunquit, Chatham, Massachusetts, Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Block Island, Rhode Island. Skip Bar Harbor, Maine, as a base in August, and don’t book a stay in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Pick two towns, not six. The driving between them will eat your trip. The…
The best places to visit in June in the USA are mountains and northern coasts: Acadia National Park, Maine, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, Yosemite National Park, California, Glacier National Park, Montana, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and Haleakalā National Park, Maui, Hawaii. I rank them in that order below. Skip the desert Southwest and…
The best USA bucket list travel destinations all ration access in some way, so your booking window matters more than your airfare. Miss a lottery or a lodge release date and the trip slides back a full year. I also flag which picks double as family destinations in the USA. Below, I rank the places…
The best things to do Kansas City, Missouri, come down to four stops: burnt ends, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the National WWI Museum and Memorial, and a night of live jazz. Two days covers all of it. Add a third if you want a ballgame or the zoo. And if you’re staying downtown, skip…