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Enjoy the music of the Deep South or explore hip New York with 6 of our favourite American holidays
From the West coast to the East, these are the best places to visit in America according to our travel team.
There’s so much on offer in each of the USA's 50 states that it can be hard to choose which one to holiday in. From iconic cities like New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas, to the mountains, canyons, lakes and prairies in America’s 63 National Parks, it all depends on the type of break you’re looking for.
Nature and wildlife lovers will want to explore those incredible parks including Yellowstone, the first, Yosemite, famous for its giant sequoias, and the Grand Canyon, which at 277 miles long and around 10 miles wide, can even be seen from space.
Culture vultures will want to wander around The Met or The Guggenheim in NYC before booking a show on Broadway and sports fans should try to combine a trip with a visit to the home stadium of their favourite American football, baseball, basketball or ice hockey team (or head to Miami to see David Beckham’s Inter Miami play).
Whichever destination you decide on you won’t be disappointed, but to give you a helping hand here are six of the best places to visit in America according to our travel experts . . .
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For music and Mardis Gras head to the Deep South
If you love soul, country, blues, jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll you need to experience America’s musical heartland on a Southern Sounds tour with Cosmos.
It starts in New Orleans, birthplace of jazz, which has been associated with The Big Easy (as the city is affectionately known) since the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Believed to have evolved from the rhythmic music of Africa, musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton, who were born in New Orleans, first made jazz famous and you’ll still hear it emanating from almost every doorway in the famous French Quarter, the city’s oldest neighbourhood.
If you want an authentic taste of jazz, head to Preservation Hall established in 1961, which offers a platform to local musicians, while Fritzel’s has daily performances from 12.30pm. The latter is on Bourbon Street, which in the 1950s and 1960s was associated with illegal gambling dens and brothels and is now the lively epicentre of Mardi Gras in March. You can also take a jazz cruise on an old-fashioned steamboat down the Mississippi as an additional excursion.
Your musical tour continues in Indianola, hometown of the legendary blues musician B.B. King, where you’ll learn about his incredible career (spanning more than 60 years) and big break on Memphis’s Beale Street. The home of Rock ‘n’ Roll is your next stop and local Cosmos guides will take you to Memphis’s best live venues, as well as the legendary Sun Studio, where Elvis recorded 24 of his songs. The snake-hipped singer would have celebrated his 90th birthday this year, making it the ideal time to make a pilgrimage to Graceland, in Tennessee, where he lived in over-the-top splendour. Your final stay will be in Nashville, home of the Country Music Hall of Fame, RCA StudioB, and the Grand Ole Opry, the world’s premier country-music venue, where Taylor Swift made her debut in 2006.
For hip neighbourhoods head to New York
Farewell, Times Square; so long, Upper West Side: it’s time to step off the usual New York City tourist trail and embrace parts you’ve never seen before.
First up, Hudson Yards, an ultra-modern development located to the west of Manhattan. A testament to contemporary urban planning, it’s home to cutting-edge buildings such as The Shed and Edge, home to the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere at 1,100ft.
Nearby Little Island is a unique park by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, which has been built on the remnants of Pier 55 on the Hudson River.
Down on the Lower East Side, check out the New Museum for its bold architecture and exhibitions, as well as the International Center of Photography.
Over in Brooklyn, Bushwick is taking over from Williamsburg in the cool stakes. Look out for its huge street murals and innovative contemporary galleries and performance spaces such as House of Yes.
Further afield lies Queens, another of NYC’s five boroughs. One of its districts, Astoria, offers a vibrant diversity of cultures, traditions and cuisines. Don’t miss the Kaufman Arts District for its Astoria Film Studios, where scenes from the hit TV show Succession were filmed, and the Museum of the Moving Image.
Hallet’s Cove, a recently developed area on the waterfront, is perfect for a deli picnic – and be sure to get a Sightseeing Pass, which gives you access to more than 150 attractions in the city.
For a short flight time visit New England
Boston, one of America’s most walkable cities, has a relatively short flying time from the UK (just under eight hours) and an airport that’s just 20 minutes from the centre, making it perfect for a weekend break.
Treat yourself to a stay at the elegant five-star Four Seasons Boston, overlooking the Public Garden – America’s oldest. It’s picturesque at any time of year but glorious in the autumn or should that be fall (late September to November). Spot the Ivy League university students from Harvard and MIT studying in the Boston Public Library; follow The Freedom Trail to learn about America’s fight for independence, have a beer in the Cheers Bar, where everybody knows your name, or give Mark Wahlberg’s burger chain Wahlburgers a try.
If you stay longer, hire a car to explore New England’s six beautiful states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Head to the White Mountains along the scenic Kancamagus Highway and stay at Adair Country Inn in Bethlehem, where you’ll be welcomed like one of the family.
Visit in winter and ski on Mount Washington or go in early spring to see maple tapping in one of the sugar shacks. Nearby Lake Winnipesaukee is beautiful in summer, with boat rides, watersports and beaches. Visit Meredith for shopping in Mill Falls and stay at the Center Harbor Inn overlooking the water.
If you love HBO’s The Gilded Age, written by Julian Fellowes, head south to Newport, Rhode Island, where it’s set and see the opulent ‘summer ‘cottages’ built here in the late 19th century by the Astors, Kennedys, Roosevelts and Vanderbilts. Most impressive are The Breakers, a 70-room mansion that looks like an Italian Renaissance palace; Marble House, with 500,000 cubic feet of marble inside; and Rosecliff, modelled after Versailles. Go on a Newport Mansions tour and stay at the Brenton Hotel overlooking the harbour.
For Cowboy culture head to Texas
In the 18th and 19th centuries, during the frontier era, cowboys would herd cattle, care for horses and work the ranches in Texas, the USA’s second largest state. And while you won’t find John Wayne or Clint Eastwood patrolling the streets on horseback, you can still experience cowboy culture on one of the state’s estimated 248,000 ranches.
Head to the Lone Star Ranch in Austin, the fourth-biggest city in Texas (after Houston, San Antonio and Dallas), to ride a not- so-lonesome trail through a beautiful nature reserve and try your hand at tomahawk-throwing, archery or clay-pigeon shooting.
Want to look the part? Head to the legendary Allens Boots on South Congress Avenue for beautiful embroidered boots, silver-buckled belts and Stetsons. Austin is a Democrat-leaning pocket in a mostly Republican state and its ‘Keep Austin Weird’ slogan encapsulates its liberal ethos. It’s also said to have the most live music venues per capita in the USA.
Country-music legend Willie Nelson has a long association with the city, while other celebrities who have homes here include Matthew McConaughey and Emma Stone.
Austin is also the kind of place where you can let your hair down after a hard day in the saddle. The best place to do that is in ‘Dirty 6th’, a stretch of historic 6th Street known for its live music, hip bars, food trucks and restaurants. For a morning- after pick-me-up, cool off at the popular swimming spot in the heart of Zilker Metropolitan Park, and once you’ve worked up an appetite, seek out some of the country’s best barbecue hotspots, serving smoky brisket, ribs, pulled pork and more, such as Franklin Barbecue, Iron Works Barbecue, or Terry Black’s BBQ.
For Hollywood glamour visit Los Angeles
One could say that Los Angeles is a tale of two cities, yet there’s more to this Californian icon than the beaches and Hollywood Hills. Visit California say more than 98 percent of Los Angeles has been left undamaged by the recent wildfires and responsible tourism is part of what's needed to help the state recover.
No visit to the home of the film industry is complete without a tour of Hollywood itself. There’s a tick list of must-sees: the TCL Chinese Theatre, where movie stars’ hand and footprints line the street; the 1.3mile-long Walk of Fame, which celebrates actors with brass tipped stars; and Griffith Observatory, as immortalised in the film La La Land, with its glittering views across the city below.
Stay at Thompson Hollywood, which oozes glamour all the way up to its super-chic rooftop pool and Bar Lis lounge. Mid-century rooms have terrazzo bathrooms, glitzy glass wardrobes and postcard views of the city’s famous Hollywood sign. On the same block is Mother Wolf a grandiose Italian-style bistro loved by stars such as Michelle Obama and Orlando Bloom for its superb pasta.
If old-school Los Angeles is its Hollywood mansions, then new-school must be Downtown LA. The business district is also home to art galleries (The Broad boasts two of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms), famous architecture (such as the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall) and a host of intriguing eateries at Grand Central Market.
Nearby, you’ll find the Moxy, a 380-room hotel with sweeping views across the urban sprawl. The decor is simple but slick, and it’s an affordable option for those seeking trend-led design without the extortionate prices. Finally, if you want to end your trip by partying into the night, try Sinners y Santos, a cathedral-inspired nightclub, or Mr. Wanderlust, the perfect piano bar for a taste of those La La Land jazz-club vibes.
For politics and power head to Washington and the US Capital Region
You can feel the weight of history in the US capital – from the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall to the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum, education and research complex.
Stay in style at The Morrow Hotel in NoMa, near buzzy Union Market. Georgetown, dating back to 1751, is also worth a visit for its boutiques, independent coffee shops and restaurants. But there’s so much more to the US Capital Region than DC - it also includes the mountain ranges of Virginia and the beaches and waterfronts of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.
Just 30 minutes from Washington is Middleburg, Virginia, aka horse country, with its rolling hills, wineries and picket fences. Try a ‘horse-whispering’ class at the Salamander Middleburg resort, where the horses help teach guests to live in the moment.
In Middleburg itself, taste the plumpest, juiciest oysters at the King St Oyster Bar, and follow in the footsteps of President John F Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, by having a drink in The Red Fox Inn & Tavern.
Heading west, the Shenandoah National Park (with more than 500 miles of hiking trails) and the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia are a two-hour drive. Or bypass DC and head east, crossing the border into Maryland, to visit the US’s largest estuary, Chesapeake Bay. Stay at the Kent Island Resort, a country house set against 220 acres of gardens on the water’s edge. Look out for ospreys and river otters, then try the famous blue crab. It’s about as far away from politics as you can get!
Tours of the region also include Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown, where you can march in the steps of American Revolution and Civil War soldiers and stand inside the Palladian walls of George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
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