United States holidays

The United States is the world's third-largest country (depending on how you count China and Russia) and one of its most-varied travel destinations — a country where you can do beach in Florida or Hawaii, city in New York or Chicago, desert in Arizona or Nevada, mountain in Colorado or Wyoming, wine in California or Oregon, forest in Pacific Northwest or New England, and theme parks in Orlando or Anaheim, all in different trips. Most UK travellers focus on one or two regions per trip: the East Coast (New York, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia — the cultural-historical loop), the West Coast and California (San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, plus the wine country Napa-Sonoma), the Southwest desert and national parks (Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Arches, Monument Valley — the iconic "American Wild West" landscapes), the Pacific Northwest (Seattle, Portland, the Olympic and Mount Rainier national parks), the Deep South (New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville for music heritage), Florida (the Miami beach and South Beach Art Deco, the Florida Keys, the Orlando theme parks Disney/Universal), and Hawaii (the volcanic-island archipelago — Oahu for Waikiki and Pearl Harbor, Maui for snorkelling and the Hana Highway, Kauai for the dramatic Na Pali Coast).

A 14-day USA West Coast and Southwest trip: Los Angeles (3 nights — Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, the Getty Center, optional Universal Studios) → drive Pacific Coast Highway via Santa Barbara to San Francisco (3 nights — Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Fisherman's Wharf, the Painted Ladies, optional Napa-Sonoma wine country day-trip) → fly to Las Vegas (2 nights — the Strip casinos, Cirque du Soleil show, optional helicopter to Grand Canyon) → road trip Grand Canyon-Bryce-Zion-Monument Valley loop (4-5 nights — Grand Canyon South Rim, Bryce Canyon hoodoos, Zion Canyon Narrows hike, Monument Valley on Navajo Tribal Park lands, Antelope Canyon) → optional fly to NYC for East Coast finish or back to LA. A 10-day East Coast trip: New York City (5 nights — Manhattan walking, Central Park, the Met, MoMA, Empire State, the Statue of Liberty, the High Line, Brooklyn, Williamsburg, the Broadway theatre district), Washington DC (3 nights — the National Mall, Smithsonian museums, the White House and Capitol exterior, Arlington Cemetery), Boston (2 nights — Freedom Trail, Harvard, the North End Italian quarter, Fenway Park).