From November 8 the borders of the United States reopen to international tourism. National Parks, road routes, cosmopolitan cities, theme parks, and much more will once again welcome travelers, including Spaniards. To celebrate this good news, today we tell you which are the 10 best destinations to visit in the US, at least from our point of view.
In addition to the fact that there is a bit of everything, both in terms of nature and iconic cities, we leave you beforehand with a few essential tips for traveling to the United States. We are talking about legal information to travel to the country or the health requirements to do so, among other things that will help you when looking at cheap flights to the US and planning a getaway to that great country.
Documentation necessary to travel to the USA
It is necessary to have a visa or ESTA to travel to the United States before boarding and at least 72 hours before. While the visa is processed in person at Consulates and Embassies, the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or Electronic System for Travel Authorization) is filled out online.
The ESTA is available for the countries of the European Union and some others, such as Chile or South Korea to name just two. If you are an EU citizen and your trip is for tourism or business and less than 90 days, you can process the ESTA instead of a visa.
Top 5 things to see in the US
When a country is the size of a continent, it becomes difficult to make a list of what to see and, by default, what not to see. In this list of what to see in the United States, we have tried to group the main cities and the most important natural landscapes of the country.
Whether it’s a one-week getaway to visit a couple or three places, or a multi-week itinerary, here’s our list of the best things to see in the US.
New York (New York State)
The city that never sleeps, probably the most recognizable skyscraper profile in the world, the financial center of the planet, and almost certainly the city with the largest number of inhabitants from different countries in the world, all that and much more in New York.
What to do in New York?
A walk through Central Park, tossing heads or tails whether to climb the Top of the Rock or the Empire State Building (if you go upside down, why not contemplate the city from the One World Observatory? ), see from the Staten Island Ferry (free) the Statue of Liberty, learn about immigration at Ellis Island, enjoy the elevated gardens of the High Line, visit some of its famous museums such as MoMa, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum or the Met, applaud in a Broadway show, going to a baseball game or visiting an air museum on an aircraft carrier are some of the recommended activities in New York.
Remember that if you buy the New York Pass you will have free access to more than 100 attractions in the city, including the Empire State Building,
Washington, DC (District of Columbia)
Not far from the financial capital of the country is the political capital and also, due to its strategic and historical weight, that of the Western world, Washington, DC If you are wondering why “DC” comes from the District of Columbia, the federal status of the territory in which it is located, that it does not belong to any of the states that make up the Union and that it is under the direct control of the United States Congress.
What to do in Washington, DC?
Approaching a few meters from the White House, seeing the famous statue of the president sitting in the Lincoln Memorial, being careful with your neck when raising your head to contemplate the top of the Washington Monument, feeling like a child walking through the objects, planes, and rockets on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, shudder before the Memorial with the names of those who fell in the Vietnam War, visit the famous Library of Congress or pay silent tribute to the graves of the Arlington Military Cemetery are some of the things you can do if you visit Washington, DC.
With an 8% discount offer on the usual price, you can take a 4-hour tour in Spanish of Washington, DC, with transportation included, which will take you to the White House, the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the monuments to Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, to those who died in the wars in Vietnam and Korea and the elevation in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., the Arlington Cemetery, the most famous military cemetery in the world where the tombs of the Kennedy family, including JFK, Robert, and Edward.
Las Vegas (Nevada)
Las Vegas is the gambling capital of the United States, although, interestingly, it is not the capital of the State of Nevada (that is Carson City). Las Vegas is internationally known ( films aside ) for its casinos, its kitsch buildings, its pharaonic hotels, express weddings, dance shows, and its slot machines, but also for its proximity to overwhelming landscapes such as those of Death Valley.
What to do in Las Vegas?
Stay in the hotel of one of the most famous casinos in the city, watch the light and water show in a very cinematographic fountain, play (responsibly) in one of its casinos, discover the city with a night tour, attend the show Quintessential Vegas! The Show, visit the Mafia Museum, take an excursion in Spanish to Death Valley and since you are in the United States you can access the experience of shooting different firearms in a shooting range or having Elvis and Get married in Graceland Chapel.
Monument Valley (Arizona)
The first natural place that we include in this list of the best tourist destinations in the United States, is probably not the one you think (if it is the Colorado Canyon, that will be the next). This is Monument Valley, a desert area with huge and lonely sandstone formations on land that belongs to Native Americans, which is why it has been declared a Navajo Tribal Park.
If you like movies, Monument Valley has served as the setting for both films such as “Stagecoach”, by John Ford and with John Wayne, more recent films such as Back to the Future III, Mission Impossible 2 or, a little after the mile 13 of Route 163 is where Forrest Gump stopped racing.
What to do in Monument Valley?
Straddling the states of Arizona and Utah, what can you do in a desert-like Monument Valley? Our proposal is that you enjoy this landscape as curious as it is beautiful in one of the various possible ways. The simplest is to travel some of the kilometers of Route 163, which passes through Monument Valley, and see it from the car. The second way is to pay the 20 USD for access to the Park and, by your own means, travel it to the extent that the paths and the suspension of your vehicle allow it.
If you want to learn about the culture of the Navajo Indians, about the huge rock formations that can be seen on the horizon, and about the landscape that you walk through, then the best thing to do is to take a guided tour of Monument Valley.
Los Angeles (California)
Along with New York, it is the city that we have seen the most times in television series and in movies (on a few occasions, ending up destroyed by aliens), and is also home to the famous Oscars. It’s no wonder then that one of the most visited destinations in Los Angeles is the factory of dreams, Hollywood.
What to do in Los Angeles?
Visit the famous Universal Studios in Hollywood or the no less well-known Warner Bros studios, enjoy one of the most famous beaches by taking a surf course at Venice Beach, appreciate one of the most iconic views of Las Vegas from the Griffith Observatory with a hiking trail through Griffith Park, discover the cuisine of the many cultures that have built the city with a food tour of Los Angeles, or, both converted into floating museums, explore two mythical ships in naval history for different reasons, the luxurious ocean liner RMS Queen Mary or the mighty battleship USS Iowa, which lived through conflicts such as World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War until being withdrawn from service in 1990.
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