1. Statue of Liberty, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City
- The copper statue, a gift from the people of France, its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel
- The statue was dedicated in 1886
Featured in The Best of New York
#1 in Best Landmarks in the World
2. Golden Gate Bridge, California
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean
- Recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Wonders of the Modern World, the bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco and California
Featured in The Best of California
#8 in Best Landmarks in the World
#12 in Best Attractions in the USA
3. Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- National memorial that honors the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln
- Built in the form of a neoclassical temple, the interior statue of Abraham Lincoln was carved in marble
- Dedicated in 1922, it has been a major tourist attraction since its opening, and over the years, has occasionally been used as a symbolic center focused on race relations and civil rights
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
#53 in Best Attractions in the USA
4. Mount Rushmore and Presidential Trail Loop, South Dakota
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- National memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills
- Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed the sculpture, called Shrine of Democracy, and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son
- The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln
- The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation
Featured in The Best of South Dakota
#12 in Best Landmarks in the World
#19 in Best Attractions in the USA
5. South Kaibab Trail to Ooh Aah Point, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Grand Canyon National Park, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park
- The Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, is often considered one of the Wonders of the World
- The park received the second highest count of visitors of all American national parks after Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Featured in The Best of Arizona
#1 in Best Attractions in the USA
#3 in Best National Parks in the USA
6. Niagara Falls, New York
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States
- The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, which straddles the international border of the two countries
- Bridal Veil Falls is separated from Horseshoe Falls by Goat Island and from American Falls by Luna Island, with both islands situated in New York
Featured in The Best of New York
#5 in Best Attractions in the USA
#17 in Best Attractions in the World
#52 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#59 in Best Landmarks in the World
7. Empire State Building, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, built from 1930 to 1931
- Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the state of New York.
- The Empire State Building was the world's tallest building until the first tower of the World Trade Center was topped out in 1970; following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Empire State Building was New York City's tallest building until it was surpassed in 2012
- As of 2022, the building is the seventh-tallest building in New York City, and the sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas
Featured in The Best of New York
#14 in Best Landmarks in the World
#51 in Best Attractions in the USA
8. Space Needle, Washington
Best time to visit: Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Observation tower in Seattle, considered to be an icon of the city
- It was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World's Fair, which drew over 2.3 million visitors
Featured in The Best of Washington
#44 in Best Landmarks in the World
#85 in Best Attractions in the USA
9. Alcatraz Island, California
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Small island 1.25 miles (2.01 km) offshore from San Francisco
- The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison
- In 1934, the island was converted into a federal prison
- The strong currents around the island and cold water temperatures made escape nearly impossible, and the prison became one of the most notorious in American history
- The prison closed in 1963, and the island is now a tourist attraction
Featured in The Best of California
#21 in Best Landmarks in the World
#48 in Best Attractions in the USA
10. Lower Yosemite Falls Trail, Yosemite National Park, California
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Park internationally recognized for its cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and biological diversity
- Almost 95 percent of the park is designated wilderness
- Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada
Featured in The Best of California
#1 in Best National Parks in the USA
#3 in Best Attractions in the USA
11. Monument Valley, Utah
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $$$
- Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor
- The most famous butte formations are located in northeastern Arizona along the Utah–Arizona state line
- The valley is a sacred area that lies within the territory of the Navajo Nation Reservation, the Native American people of the area
- Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s and has signified the American West in American film
Featured in The Best of Utah
#48 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#95 in Best Attractions in the USA
12. Washington Monument, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Obelisk built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1784 in the American Revolutionary War, and the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797
- The monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, is both the world's tallest predominantly stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk
- It was the world's tallest structure between 1884 and 1889, after which it was overtaken by the Eiffel Tower, in Paris
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
13. Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-early Oct
Cost: $
- Largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, after Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand and Boiling Lake in Dominica
- Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration
- Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue
Featured in The Best of Wyoming
#2 in Best Attractions in the USA
#2 in Best National Parks in the USA
#8 in Best National Parks in the World
#11 in Best Attractions in the World
#46 in Best Landmarks in the World
14. Garfield Peak Trail, Crater Lake, Oregon
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Garfield Peak is a mountain peak on the south end of Crater Lake in Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
- The top of the peak reaches 7,976 feet (2,431 m) above sea level
- The peak has a 1,000 feet (305 m) elevation trail to the summit from the Crater Lake lodge, one of the most popular hiking sites surrounding the lake
Featured in The Best of Oregon
#9 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#52 in Best Attractions in the USA
15. Portland Head Light, Maine
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, that sits on a head of land at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor
- Completed in 1791, it is the oldest lighthouse in Maine
- The light station is automated, and the tower, beacon, and foghorn are maintained by the United States Coast Guard, while the former lighthouse keepers' house is a maritime museum within Fort Williams Park
Featured in The Best of Maine
16. The Henry Ford, Michigan
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- History museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn
- The museum collection contains the presidential limousine of John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln's chair from Ford's Theatre, Thomas Edison's laboratory, the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop, the Rosa Parks bus, and many other historical exhibits
- It is the largest indoor–outdoor museum complex in the United States
17. USS Arizona Memorial, Hawaii
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Dec
Cost: $
- The USS Arizona Memorial, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and commemorates the events of that day
- The attack on Pearl Harbor led to the United States' involvement in World War II
- Accessible only by boat, it straddles the sunken hull of the battleship without touching it
- Historical information about the attack, shuttle boats to and from the memorial, and general visitor services are available at the associated USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center
Featured in The Best of Hawaii
18. Biltmore Estate Path Loop, North Carolina
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-early Nov
Cost: $$
- Historic house museum in Asheville, it is a Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895
- It is the largest privately owned house in the United States, at 178,926 sq ft (16,622.8 m2) of floor space
- Still owned by George Vanderbilt's descendants, it remains one of the most prominent examples of Gilded Age mansions
Featured in The Best of North Carolina
19. Monticello, Virginia
Best time to visit: May-July
Cost: $
- Monticello was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father and the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 14
- In 2017, a room identified as Sally Hemings' quarters at Monticello, adjacent to Jefferson's bedroom, was discovered in an archeological excavation
- Sally Hemings was an enslaved woman with one-quarter African ancestry owned by president of the United States Thomas Jefferson
- Modern DNA analyses indicate Jefferson was the father of her six children, whom Jefferson agreed to free when they came of age, in exchange for Sally Hemings' life of slavery on Jefferson's plantation
Featured in The Best of Virginia
20. Alamo Mission, Texas
Best time to visit: Jan-April, Nov-Dec
Cost: $
- The Alamo is a historic Spanish mission and fortress compound founded in the 18th century by Roman Catholic missionaries in what is now San Antonio
- It was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, a pivotal event of the Texas Revolution in which American folk heroes James Bowie and Davy Crockett died
- Today it is a museum in the Alamo Plaza Historic District
Featured in The Best of Texas
21. Gettysburg Trail, Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- The Gettysburg National Military Park protects and interprets the landscape of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War
- Properties include most of the Gettysburg Battlefield, many of the battle's support areas during the battle, and several other non-battle areas, including the Gettysburg National Cemetery
Featured in The Best of Pennsylvania
22. Brooklyn Bridge, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn
- Opened in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River
- It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening
- The span was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge but was officially renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915
Featured in The Best of New York
23. White House, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Official residence and workplace of the president of the United States
- It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 when the national capital was moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
#24 in Best Landmarks in the World
#61 in Best Attractions in the USA
24. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- National memorial that includes the Stone of Hope, a granite statue of Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.
- The inspiration for the memorial design is a line from King's "I Have a Dream" speech: "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope"
- The memorial opened to the public in 2011, after more than two decades of planning, fund-raising, and construction
- Although this is not the first memorial to an African American in Washington, D.C., King is the first African American honored with a memorial on or near the National Mall and only the fourth non-President to be memorialized in such a way
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
25. Laurel Falls Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Nov
Cost: $
- Historic trail that ascends Cove Mountain, leading past Laurel Falls, one of the most popular waterfalls in the national park, en route to the summit of Cove Mountain
- Landmarks include the falls, old-growth forest, and the Cove Mountain lookout tower
- The tower used to be a fire tower, and is only one of four remaining former fire towers in the park
Featured in The Best of Tennessee
#7 in Best National Parks in the USA
#9 in Best Attractions in the USA
26. Bunker Hill Monument, Massachusetts
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Oct
Cost: $
- Monument erected at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, which was among the first major battles between the Red Coats and Patriots in the American Revolutionary War
- The Americans, having caught word of a British plan to fortify the Charlestown peninsula, decided to get to the peninsula first, fortify it, and present sufficient threat to cause the British to leave Boston
- A force of 1,500 colonists held off two British Army attacks, but the third attack, by British Royal Marines, forced the rebels to retreat
- Though it was a tactical victory for the British, the battle had demonstrated that inexperienced militia were able to stand up to regular army troops in battle
Featured in The Best of Massachusetts
27. Old Faithful Geyser Loop Trail, Wyoming
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Sept
Cost: $
- Cone geyser in Yellowstone National Park, named in 1870, and was the first geyser in the park to be named
- It is a highly predictable geothermal feature and has erupted every 44 minutes to two hours since 2000
Featured in The Best of Wyoming
28. Grand Central Terminal, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Commuter rail terminal located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City
- The terminal is the third-busiest train station in North America, after New York Penn Station and Toronto Union Station
Featured in The Best of New York
29. Times Square, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City
- It is brightly lit at all hours by numerous digital billboards and advertisements as well as businesses offering 24/7 service
Featured in The Best of New York
#23 in Best Landmarks in the World
#34 in Best Attractions in the USA
30. National Mall, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Landscaped park that contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and various memorials, sculptures, and statues
- The core area of the National Mall extends between the United States Capitol grounds to the east and the Washington Monument to the west
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
#86 in Best Attractions in the USA
31. Ellis Island, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States
- From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 million immigrants arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey were processed there under federal law
- Today, it is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and is accessible to the public only by ferry
Featured in The Best of New York
#41 in Best Landmarks in the World
32. Independence Hall, Pennsylvania
Best time to visit: March-May
Cost: $
- Historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers
- The building was completed in 1753 as the Pennsylvania State House
- It served as the first capital of both the United States and of the Province and later the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- It was the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1781, and was the site of the Constitutional Convention, at which the U.S. Constitution, the longest-standing written and codified national constitution in the world, was ratified on June 21, 1788
Featured in The Best of Pennsylvania
33. Cloud Gate, Illinois
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Public sculpture that is the centerpiece of AT&T Plaza at Millennium Park in the Loop of Chicago
- Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is nicknamed "The Bean" because of its shape
- Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams, and is inspired by liquid mercury
Featured in The Best of Illinois
#42 in Best Landmarks in the World
34. Freedom Trail, Massachusetts
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Oct
Cost: $
- 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) path through Boston that passes by 17 locations significant to the history of the United States
- Stops along the trail include simple explanatory ground markers, graveyards, notable churches and buildings, and a historic naval frigate
Featured in The Best of Massachusetts