6. South Dakota’s Black Hills
Groups seeking a Wild West experience can discover cowboy roundups, Native American culture, vast landscapes and an indelible piece of mountainside art in South Dakota’s Black Hills region. The mountain range rising from the Great Plains served as the canvas for the colossal Mount Rushmore sculpture, which immortalized four presidents. Groups can explore this 14-year mountain project with a ranger-led walk and the luminous Evening Lighting Ceremony.
Visitors often couple the experience with a viewing of the Crazy Horse Memorial, the world’s largest mountain sculpture, still in progress. Other nearby stops include Deadwood, the Needles Highway, Custer State Park and Badlands National Park.
7. New England Fall Foliage
Gold, scarlet and orange leaves glow like a sunset on a fall foliage tour of New England. Tours frequently start in Boston from the last week of September to the second week of October and follow scenic routes up through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Vermont’s Route 100 is a cherished foliage route, with white-spired churches, clapboard homes and red barns breaking up the parade of autumnal glory.
Maine’s Acadia National Park frequently appears on foliage itineraries for its rocky coastal beauty and carriage ride tours. In New Hampshire, guests flock to the White Mountains for the outdoor recreation opportunities and stunning forest views. Vermont educates visitors on the rural past of the area at Billings Farm and Museum, a living museum and working dairy farm with locally made ice cream.
8. Chicago
Bookended between the 110-story Willis Tower and the crisscross-trussed John Hancock Center, Chicago’s downtown skyline rose from the visions of influential architects eager to make their marks. Visitors love gazing up at the city’s skyscrapers, especially the Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, which stood as the world’s tallest building from 1974 to 1998.
Groups can discover how the Windy City became an architectural marvel with riverboat tours by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. The Willis Tower also welcomes guests to its Skydeck for an exceptional view from above.
The city’s structures also offer remarkable interiors with several entertaining museums, among them the Field Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry.
9. California’s Pacific Coast Highway
From San Francisco to Los Angeles, the most famous stretch of California’s Pacific Highway 1 reveals panorama after panorama of rocky coast meeting the sea. This winding seaside road is made for slow travel, scenic overlooks and stops at the small towns along the way.
The celebrated coastal route starts in San Francisco, where groups can explore the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, Fisherman’s Wharf and the Japanese Tea Garden. Visitors relish the thrill of riding the city’s famed cable cars up the impossibly steep San Francisco hills.
After driving down the coast to the Big Sur area, groups can admire the beauty of the landscape at the McWay Waterfall, Pfeiffer State Beach and the Bixby Bridge. Guests often take a detour near San Simeon to discover the opulence at Hearst Castle. The National Historic Landmark was the residence of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who inspired the classic movie “Citizen Cane.”
10. New Orleans
With French, Southern and Creole influences all blending together, New Orleans is a compelling city for the curious. Though Mardi Gras is legendary as an over-the-top party, the rest of the year the city draws crowds seeking the cobblestone streets, Creole cottages built on stilts and French colonial townhouses draped in ivy.
Guests can wander through art galleries, antique stores and jazz clubs. The city also entices food lovers with its beignets, Cajun-spiced specialties and other culinary treats. The eclectic town can deliver both a slow-paced Old World tour and a thrilling nightlife tour.
