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For five centuries, travelers have brought their hopes and dreams to America. For the earliest pioneers, it was a virgin
wilderness ready to be shaped into a "New World," a potential paradise wasted on its native peoples. Millions of immigrants followed,
to share in the building of the new nation and to better their lives, far from the hidebound societies of Europe and Asia. Eventually,
slaves, who had been shipped over from Africa and the Caribbean, joined them as free citizens. As the United States expanded to fill
the continent, something genuinely new was created: a vast country that took pride in defining itself in the eyes of the world.
There's a real temptation to see America as a succession of big cities . True enough, New York and Los Angeles have an
exhilarating dynamism and excitement, and among their worthy rivals are New Orleans, the wonderfully decadent home of jazz,
Chicago, a showcase of modern architecture, and San Francisco, on its beautiful Pacific bay. Few other cities - with the possible,
and idiosyncratic, exception of Las Vegas , shimmering in the desert - can quite match this level of interest, however, and following
a heavily urban itinerary will cut you off from the astonishing landscapes that make the USA truly distinctive. Especially in the
vast open spaces of the West, the scenery is often breathtaking. The glacial splendor of Yosemite , the thermal wonderland of
Yellowstone , the awesome red-rock canyons of Arizona and Utah, and the spectacular Rocky Mountains are among many of the treasures
preserved and protected in the splendid national park system. Once you reach such wilderness, the potential for hiking and camping is
magnificent - but it's usually essential to have a car to get near these spots.
Every traveler in the United States - be they foreigners on a
coast-to-coast road trip or locals exploring their extraordinarily
diverse land - has some idea of what to expect. American culture
has become so thoroughly shared throughout the globe that one
of the principal joys of getting to know the country is the repeated,
delicious shock of the familiar. Yellow taxis on busy city streets;
roadside mailboxes straight out of Peanuts cartoons; wooden porches
overlooking the cotton fields; tumbleweed skittering across the
desert; endless highways dotted with pick-up trucks and chrome-plated
diners; the first sight of the Grand Canyon, or the Manhattan
skyline - now more than ever an indelibly iconic image.
Above all, travelers can enjoy the sheer thrill of experiencing American popular culture in the places where it began. Rock'n'roll
place names spring to life; panoramas etched on our consciousness from a century of movies spread across the horizon; road trips
taken by your favorite literary characters are still there to be traveled. For music fans, the chance to hear country music in
Nashville or rhythm and blues in New Orleans, to dance in a
Mississippi jook-joint or to visit Elvis's shrine in Memphis,
verges on a religious experience; readers brought up on the books of Mark Twain can ride a paddle wheeler on the Mississippi; moviegoers
can live out their Wild West fantasies in the rugged Utah deserts.
There's so much more to learn... Check out our Facts For The Visitor or read up on our reviews of everything about the United States:
If you know of a great destination we're missing,
review it for us!!
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