The index
All destinations
100 places, each reviewed for what American travelers actually need: safety context, timing, and what's worth booking.
USA Travel
29 destinations
Napa Valley
Tasting rooms, hot air balloons and a strong restaurant scene.
Seattle
Coffee, Puget Sound ferries and a launchpad for Mount Rainier.
Denver
A mile-high base camp for the Rockies with a serious food scene.
Zion National Park
Slot canyons and the Narrows, an easy add-on to Las Vegas.
Yosemite National Park
Granite walls, waterfalls and giant sequoias in one valley.
Niagara Falls
The classic falls trip, doable from Toronto or Buffalo.
Sedona
Red rock canyons, trailheads and dark skies two hours from Phoenix.
Savannah
Spanish moss, historic squares and an easy pairing with Charleston.
Salt Lake City
Four world-class ski resorts within an hour of the airport.
Great Smoky Mountains
The most-visited national park in America, free to enter.
Austin
Live music, barbecue and swimming holes inside the city limits.
Nashville
Live music seven nights a week and hot chicken worth the queue.
Key West
The end of the Overseas Highway, with reef diving and sunset rituals.
Charleston
Antebellum architecture, Lowcountry cooking and nearby barrier islands.
New York City
Five boroughs, endless itineraries, and the densest concentration of world-class museums in America.
Orlando
The theme park capital of the world, with four Disney parks and Universal in one metro area.
Las Vegas
Resort megahotels, headline residencies, and a launchpad for the Southwest's national parks.
Los Angeles
Beaches, studios, hiking and the most varied food scene in the country.
Miami
Art Deco, Latin American food culture and the gateway to the Keys and Everglades.
San Francisco
Seven square miles of hills, fog, and the best gateway to Napa and Yosemite.
Chicago
Architecture, lakefront and one of America's great museum cities.
Washington DC
Free national museums, monuments and the most educational family trip in America.
San Diego
Perfect weather, a world-famous zoo, and the most relaxed big city in California.
Boston
Colonial history in a walkable, compact New England city.
New Orleans
Creole food, live music every night, and architecture unlike anywhere else in America.
Grand Canyon
A mile deep, 277 miles long, and the most recognisable landscape in America.
Yellowstone
Geysers, wolves and bison across the world's first national park.
Hawaii
Six visitable islands, volcanoes, and the best beaches under the American flag.
Alaska
Glaciers, grizzlies and the largest national parks in the country.
North America
8 destinations
Cozumel
Drift diving on the Palancar reefs, a ferry from Playa del Carmen.
Los Cabos
Desert meets ocean, with resorts along the corridor to San Jose.
Toronto
Canada's largest city — diverse, walkable and a short flight from the Northeast.
Vancouver
Mountains, ocean and rainforest inside one city limit.
Montreal
French-speaking, festival-driven, and the best food value in Canada.
Quebec City
The only walled city north of Mexico — and the most European place in North America.
Cancun
Caribbean beaches, Mayan ruins and the busiest resort corridor in Latin America.
Riviera Maya
Playa del Carmen, Tulum and eighty miles of coast south of Cancun.
Caribbean
11 destinations
Bridgetown
Calm west-coast swimming and Atlantic surf on the east.
Providenciales
Grace Bay Beach and calm, shallow, unusually clear water.
Grand Cayman
Seven Mile Beach, Stingray City and easy shore diving.
Belize City
Gateway to the cayes, the Blue Hole and Maya ruins.
San Jose
The hub for Arenal, Monteverde and both coasts.
Soufriere
The Pitons, sulphur springs and rainforest lodges.
Nassau
Colonial architecture, Paradise Island resorts and a 30-minute flight from Miami.
San Juan
A 500-year-old walled city, rainforest an hour away, and no passport required.
Montego Bay
All-inclusive resorts, Doctor's Cave Beach and the Luminous Lagoon.
Punta Cana
Thirty miles of beach and the best all-inclusive value in the Caribbean.
Aruba
Constant trade winds, guaranteed sun, and outside the hurricane belt.
Europe
26 destinations
Edinburgh
A castle on a crag, closes full of history, and August festivals.
Interlaken
Between two lakes, under the Jungfrau, built for adventure sports.
Berlin
Cold War history, huge parks and Europe's most unfiltered nightlife.
Santorini
Caldera views, white villages and the classic Aegean sunset.
Copenhagen
Design, harbor swimming and a bike-first city layout.
Dublin
A compact capital and the natural start of any Ireland road trip.
Budapest
Thermal baths, ruin bars and Danube views from both banks.
Milan
Fashion, the Duomo and fast trains to the lakes.
Munich
Beer halls, Alpine day trips and the gateway to Neuschwanstein.
Nice
The French Riviera base for Monaco, Antibes and Eze.
Prague
A largely intact medieval core at a friendly price.
Reykjavik
Base for the Golden Circle, glaciers and northern lights.
Stockholm
Fourteen islands, an old town and long summer evenings.
Vienna
Imperial palaces, coffee houses and world-class classical music.
Paris
The most visited city in the world, and still worth every bit of the hype.
Rome
Three thousand years of history stacked on top of itself.
Venice
A city on 118 islands, with no cars and no equivalent anywhere.
Florence
The Renaissance in a city you can cross on foot in thirty minutes.
Barcelona
Gaudi, beaches and the Gothic Quarter in one Mediterranean city.
Madrid
Europe's great art capital, with a nightlife that starts when others end.
Lisbon
Seven hills, tiled facades, and the best value capital in Western Europe.
London
Free world-class museums, deep history and no language barrier.
Amsterdam
Canals, Vermeer and Van Gogh, all on a bicycle.
Zurich
Lake, old town and the launchpad for Swiss alpine rail.
Geneva
Lakeside diplomacy at the foot of the Alps.
Athens
The Acropolis, and the gateway to every Greek island.
Asia & Pacific
20 destinations
Kuala Lumpur
The Petronas Towers, Batu Caves and three food cultures at once.
Taipei
Night markets, hot springs and mountains at the metro's edge.
Chiang Mai
Temples, mountain villages and ethical elephant sanctuaries.
Ho Chi Minh City
War history, Mekong Delta trips and relentless street life.
Hanoi
Old Quarter street food and the gateway to Ha Long Bay.
Hong Kong
Harbor skyline, hiking trails and dim sum at every price point.
Osaka
Japan's kitchen, and the best base for Kyoto and Nara.
Male
Seaplane and speedboat transfers to overwater resorts.
Nadi
The arrival point for the Mamanuca and Yasawa island resorts.
Phuket
Thailand's largest island, with island-hopping to Phi Phi and Krabi.
Tokyo
Thirty-seven million people, and one of the safest cities on earth.
Kyoto
Two thousand temples, and the cultural heart of Japan.
Seoul
Palaces, 24-hour markets and the most connected city in the world.
Singapore
A city-state that works — and the easiest introduction to Asia.
Bangkok
Golden temples, river life and street food at the highest level.
Bali
Rice terraces, temples, surf and the most photographed island in Asia.
Sydney
The harbour, the Opera House, and beaches inside the city.
Melbourne
Laneway coffee, street art and Australia's cultural capital.
Auckland
A harbour city built on fifty volcanoes.
Queenstown
The adventure capital of the world, on a lake beneath the Remarkables.
Middle East & Africa
6 destinations
Dubai
Desert safaris, record-breaking towers and a global airline hub.
Marrakech
A walled medina of souks, riads and rooftop terraces at the foot of the Atlas.
Cairo
The pyramids of Giza, the Grand Egyptian Museum and 20 million people of energy.
Cape Town
Table Mountain, penguin beaches and winelands within an hour of the city.
Petra
The rose-red city carved into a canyon, and the best-organised ancient site in the region.
Zanzibar
Spice-island beaches and Stone Town, the classic add-on to a Serengeti safari.