The best mountain towns in USA travel splits along one line that most guides ignore: elevation. A town at 3,000 feet and a town at 9,600 feet are different vacations, different weather, and different physical experiences, even if the photos look alike. Pick your elevation first, then pick your town. Here are the ones worth…

The best lake destinations USA travelers ask about are split into two groups: cold alpine lakes with startling clarity, and warm inland lakes you can actually swim in for hours. Deciding which group you want takes about ten seconds and saves you from booking the wrong trip entirely. Below are the lakes I return to,…

The best places to visit in August in the USA all have one thing in common: either they sit high enough that the heat never arrives, or they sit next to water big enough to hold it off. Everything else is a gamble. I have spent six Augusts driving, flying, and train-hopping across this country,…

If you want to visit Vermont in fall and actually catch peak foliage, book the last week of September through the second week of October, and pick your elevation instead of your dates. Color moves north to south and high to low, which means the same weekend can be past peak in one valley and…