Anyone planning a trip to America who is unsure of where to start might as well throw a dart at a map of this vast and hugely disparate land because every corner of the good ol’ USA has something unique and exciting to offer. Perhaps it’s best to think of America as an epic and impossibly complicated idea rather than a country. The first thing a prospective visitor should understand is that whichever corner you care to peer into is a world unto itself so the very notion of a single land that the casual tourist can take in is essentially misguided. Instead it makes far more sense to pick somewhere and let its particular charms reveal themselves to you. In case you don’t fancy the dart in map approach here’s our pick of three of our favourite American cities you might consider starting with: San Francisco There can be few more immediately pleasant cities to visit than San Francisco. With its picturesque bay views (completed, of course, by the imposingly iconic Golden Gate Bridge), it’s pleasingly relaxed vibe and the fact that, particularly when compared with the inaccessible sprawl of LA, San Fran is surprisingly compact and easy to take in, it’s not hard to see why ‘Baghdad by the Bay’ is such a popular tourist destination. In fact San Francisco is pretty close to being the complete package, combining natural beauty, diverse period architecture, an idiosyncratic cultural scene and an intriguing history, and all with an easy grace that it is hard not to be charmed by. The city is not short of big draws – the aforementioned Golden Gate Bridge, the ever popular Alcatraz tours and the tourist magnet that is Fisherman’s Wharf – but once you’ve got these out of the way you’ll find that San Francisco’s real magic is best experienced away from this altogether too frantic tourist trail. Los Angeles It’s probably foolish to attempt a succinct summary of LA and, likewise, highly unlikely that a short visit will do this sprawling collection very distinct districts any sort of justice. The clichés are easy of course - LA is LaLa Land, a city built on dreams and fantasy, where impossible glamour veneers an all too real underbelly of rough edges and disappointment , where Hollywood sparkle flickers seductively across a surface of smog and traffic that stretches out into a seemingly endless suburban mass. Perhaps it’s best not to bother trying to deconstruct the ‘City of Angels’ thoroughly self mythologized image, for the tourist LA is most likely a more manageable section of metro area at the heart of the city – Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice, Beverly Hills, Downtown. The itinerary seems likely to include such quintessential LA sites as Hollywood Boulevard, mansion gawping in Beverly Hills, window shopping in Rodeo Drive, hitting a beach or two, a rambling drive along Mulholland Drive or up to Malibu and, for those anxious to cram in a little culture a visit The Getty Centre. All this might not get you any closer to really understanding this chimera of a city but, hey, what do you expect, this is LA after all. Seattle Seattle seemed suddenly to appear on everyone’s cultural radar at some point in the nineties; there was grunge of course, it’s iconic figurehead Kurt Cobain in particular, there was Starbucks and its (soon to invade every high street in the developed world) version of coffee culture, there was Bill Gates and the commodification of vaguely hippyish values. All this somehow became part of the Seattle brand, a brand it must be said that has endured and proliferated pretty well over the last 15 years or so. Grunge excepted of course. However influential Seattle has been it‘s never really joined the frontline of American tourist destinations, perhaps because this ‘brand’ has been so successful that aspects of it have sprouted up in everyone’s hometown. Maybe it’s time to discover what Seattle’s really all about. The first thing to realise about Seattle is that much of its appeal lies in the natural beauty of its setting; the city is surrounded by rugged, mountainous splendour and broad expanses of water and this proximity to the great outdoors has lent Seattle and it’s Gore Tex favouring citizens something of an outdoorsy vibe. Indeed, if you like the idea of holiday that combines time spent exploring a thriving modern city with a chance to get out and discover some of North West America’s exhilarating natural scenery then there really is nowhere better to base yourself.
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Anyone planning a trip to America who is unsure of where to start might as well throw a dart at a map of this vast and hugely disparate land because every corner of the good ol’ USA has something unique and exciting to offer.
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