10457 Best Sights in USA

This longtime Santa Fe art dealer is a leader in both contemporary and modern art, with a dramatic 14,000-square-foot neo-industrial building across from the farmers' market. You'll also find a dazzling collection of abstract sculptures, photography, and paintings by up-and-coming regional and international talents.

Salt Lake's oldest (and second-largest) park contains a wealth of intriguing amenities, including the Tracy Aviary, the Chase Home Museum, several playgrounds, a large pond, a swimming pool, and volleyball and tennis courts, on its eight square city blocks, which total about 80 acres. Weekly farmers' markets on Friday nights and the city's biggest Pioneer Day celebration (July 24) mark a busy summer schedule annually. Within walking distance of a number of inviting neighborhood restaurants, it's also a nice place for a stroll before or after brunch or dinner.

Vintner Douglas Stewart takes pride in his contrarian views about farming and winemaking. Bucking accepted California wisdom, he planted his vines tightly together, mimicking French practices, and with his sparkling wine—of Pinot Gris rather than Chardonnay and/or Pinot Noir—he selects only the high-quality middle portion of the initial press. Stewart earned raves from influential critics and a loyal following for his initial Pinot Gris and later for two sparklers, a rosé, and several Pinot Noirs.

The sculptor Walter De Maria created Lightning Field, a work of land art composed of 400 stainless-steel poles of varying heights (the average is about 20 feet, although they create a horizontal plane) arranged in a rectangular grid over 1 mile by ½ mile of flat, isolated terrain, and installed in 1977. Groups of up to six people are permitted to stay overnight from May through October—the only way you can experience the artwork—at a rustic on-site 1930s cabin. Fees include dinner and breakfast, and range from $600 (May to June, September to October) to $1,000 (July to August) per group; additional people incur extra fees. Dia Art Foundation administers Lightning Field, shuttling visitors from Quemado to the sculpture, which is on private land 45 minutes to the northeast. Thunder-and-lightning storms are most common from July to mid-September; book way ahead for visits during this time. If you're lucky, you'll see flashes you'll never forget (though lightning isn't required for the sculpture to be stunning in effect).

Narrow Limahuli Valley, with its fluted mountain peaks and ancient stone taro terraces, creates an unparalleled setting for this botanical garden and nature preserve, one of the most gorgeous spots on Kauai and the crown jewel of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Dedicated to protecting native plants and unusual varieties of taro, it represents the principles of conservation and stewardship held by its founder, Juliet Rice Wichman. Limahuli's primordial beauty and strong mana (spiritual power) eclipse the extensive botanical collection. Call ahead to check if guided tours are being offered, or tour on your own. A reservation is required to park here, though North Shore Shuttle riders are exempt. Check out the quality gift shop and revolutionary compost toilet, and be prepared to walk a somewhat steep hillside.

To watch whales cavorting in Haro Strait, head to these 36 acres on San Juan's western side just nine miles from Friday Harbor. A rocky coastal trail leads to lookout points and a little 1919 lighthouse. The best time to spot whales is from the end of April through September, but resident pods of orcas regularly cruise past the point. This park is also a beautiful spot to soak in a summer sunset, with expansive views of Vancouver Island and beyond.

The rocky clay soils of this winery's northeastern sliver of the Russian River Valley AVA combine with foggy mornings and evenings and hot sunny afternoons to create the swoon-worthy Zinfandels (critics love 'em) produced here. The estate 1910 Block Zinfandel comes from old-style head-trained vines planted more than a century ago. Fruit from this block adds richness and depth to the flagship Russian River Zinfandel, whose grapes also come from nearby sources. You can taste Limerick Lane's Zins and a few Rhône-style wines in or outside a restored stone farm building with vineyard and Mayacamas Mountains views. Tastings are by appointment; call ahead for same-day visits.

Internationally renowned, this cultural destination attracts more than 6.5 million visitors annually to its massive, white-travertine-clad complex of buildings, including the homes of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, the Juilliard School, the Film Center, a branch of the New York Public Library specializing in the performing arts, and the Damrosch Park outdoor performance space. All of this makes Lincoln Center one of the nation's most concentrated destinations for the performing arts. The16-acre campus, containing 30 venues in all, was designed by prolific New York architect Wallace Harrison and was built over the course of several years from 1962 to 1969. When David Geffen Hall reopened in fall 2022 after a two-year $550 million renovation, the acoustically superior venue—home to the New York Philharmonic, the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States—evoked and honored the vibrant Black and Puerto Rican neighborhood that had been razed to make way for the complex with a multimedia piece by the composer Etienne Charles called “San Juan Hill.” The opening included a commitment to making programming more accessible to all audiences: performances from within the Wu Tsai Theater are simulcast on the lobby’s Hauser Digital Wall for anyone to experience, and rotating visual artworks are also shown on the digital wall as well as on the facade on 65th Street at Broadway. You can also get a glimpse of artists working and rehearsing in the new Sidewalk Studio facing Broadway.

The Metropolitan Opera House, notable for its arched entrance, features immense chandeliers and Marc Chagall paintings, both of which can be seen from outside. Even the fountain in the central plaza puts on a show, with performances that include spouts of water 40 feet high. From mid-May to mid-August, Lincoln Center's \"Summer for the City\" presents hundreds of mostly free events. 

Guided tours (weekdays 2 pm and 3:45 pm) are 75 minutes and include backstage access to Geffen and Tully halls where visitors can enjoy a unique look behind the scenes at rehearsals, technical work, backstage areas, and theaters. Book tickets online or at Geffen Hall Box Offices.

Lincoln Road has some of Miami's best people-watching. The eclectic interiors of myriad fabulous restaurants, colorful boutiques, art galleries, lounges, and cafés are often upstaged by the bustling outdoor scene. It's here, amid many alfresco dining enclaves, that you can pass the hours easily. Indeed, Lincoln Road is fun, lively, and friendly for everyone—old, young, gay, and straight—and their dogs. A few of the shops are owner-operated boutiques with a smart variety of clothing, furnishings, jewelry, and decorative elements, but more often you'll find typical chain stores.

Two landmarks worth checking out at the eastern end of Lincoln Road are the massive 1940s keystone building at No. 420, which has a 1945 Leo Birchansky mural in the lobby, and the 1921 mission-style Miami Beach Community Church at Drexel Avenue. The Lincoln Theatre ( 541–545 Lincoln Road, at Pennsylvania Avenue) is a classical four-story art deco gem with friezes that now houses an H&M.

An all-in-one, surf-themed recreation complex at Hoakalei Resort (a master-planned community) on the Ewa Beach waterfront, the LineUp celebrates Hawaii’s connection with water, surf, and cultural traditions. It centers around the Wai Kai Wave, a 100-foot wave pool that emulates river surfing, and there's also a 52-acre lagoon for paddling or floating. Wai Kai doesn’t have a hotel yet, but it serves as a popular community hub, with three restaurants and numerous programs and activities, such as farmers markets, surfing classes, and performances. It’s just a 10-minute drive from Kapolei and worth the drive to check out the complex. You can ride a shuttle to Wai Kai from West Oahu (Ko Olina, $35 round-trip) or Waikiki (from various resorts, $35 round-trip).

Busy enough throughout the day, the hip-casual downtown tasting room and sidewalk patio of vintners Matt and Sara Licklider often fill up after 5 pm, when service shifts and only wine by the glass or bottle is offered (no flights), and their peers from other indie wineries materialize to unwind. Lioco produces Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and "outliers" like Cortese, an Italian white, and old-vine Valdiguié, a French red. Matt describes the wines as "high tension, high energy," intentionally "a little more fresh and zingy,” partly because the grapes are harvested on the early side, when acidity is still high. An additional benefit: the wines are also lower in alcohol. Matt and Sara are often on hand to share their story, with vinyl from their collection providing the soundtrack.

The Allen Elizabethan Theatre overlooks this park, a wooded nearly 100-acre jewel founded in 1916 that serves as Ashland's physical and spiritual anchor. The park is named for the town's mineral springs, which supply water fountains by the band shell and on the town plaza—be warned that the slightly bubbly water has a strong and rather disagreeable taste. From morning through evening, picnickers, joggers, dog walkers, and visitors congregate in the park's most popular areas, which include dozens of paved and unpaved trails, two duck ponds, a rose garden, a Japanese garden, and ice-skating rink, and a reservoir with a beach and swimming. A great way to get a sense of Lithia Park's vastness, and just how much wilderness there is in the northern section, is to make the 3-mile loop drive around its border. On weekends from mid-March through October, the park hosts a lively artisans' market, and free concerts take place Thursday evenings in summer.

Critics favoring fruit-forward, Bordeaux-style reds with silky-smooth tannins often wax rhapsodic over this winery’s collector-quality offerings—high-90s scores and 100s are not atypical. Guests settle into leather chairs and sofas at the exposed-brick storefront for Cabernet-focused tastings of wines overseen by Matt Sands, whose international résumé includes producers in Napa and New Zealand. Top-flight consultants like Michel Rolland and Philippe Melka also weigh in. Alejandro Bulgheroni, an Argentine-born entrepreneur with worldwide winery holdings, established Lithology.  Bulgheroni’s St. Helena estate on Meadowood Lane hosts more intensive tastings.

Church Square is the grounds of the Lititz Moravian church, built here in 1787 and still in operation today. Make an appointment for a free tour with a church volunteer who will regale you with historical facts and stories. You'll see the sanctuary with its exquisite organ and the coffee kitchen where goodies were prepared for gatherings. Your guide will also point out other historical buildings on the property and take you into the Moravian Museum and Archives, a true treasure trove of historical artifacts. In the gift shop you can buy an iconic Moravian star.

One of just three ranges in the United States set aside for wild horses, this range encompasses 36,113 acres of rugged canyons and plateaus in the Bookcliffs. Between 90 and 150 wild horses roam the sagebrush-covered hills. Most years new foals can be spotted with their mothers in spring and early summer on the hillsides just off the main trails. Local favorites for mountain biking and hiking include the Coal Canyon Trail and Main Canyon Trail, where the herd often goes in winter. Vehicles are permitted on designated trails.

Much like the High Line when it opened, Little Island was an instant hit with locals and visitors when the gates to this man-made isle in the middle of the Hudson River first swung open in May 2021. The 2.4-acre park is elevated on 132 tulip-looking concrete stilts and connected to Manhattan by two footbridges. Funded mostly by Barry Diller and Diane von Fürstenberg, the island park and its rolling stair-clad hills make for a fun wander. It also provides stunning views of the Manhattan skyline. There's a small outdoor food court and an ambient amphitheater for free concerts.

One of three official Japantowns in the country—all of which are in California—Little Tokyo is blossoming again thanks to the next generation of Japanese Americans setting up small businesses. Besides dozens of sushi bars, tempura restaurants, and karaoke bars, there's a lovely garden at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center and a renovated 1925 Buddhist temple with an ornate entrance at the Japanese American National Museum.

On 1st Street you'll find a strip of buildings from the early 1900s. Look down when you get near San Pedro Street to see the art installation called Omoide no Shotokyo ("Remembering Old Little Tokyo"). Embedded in the sidewalk are brass inscriptions naming the original businesses, quoted reminiscences from residents, and steel time lines of Japanese American history up to World War II. Nisei Week (a nisei is a second-generation Japanese American) is celebrated every August with traditional drums, dancing, a carnival, and a huge parade.

Docent-led walking tours are available by appointment on occasional Saturdays starting at 10:15 am. The cost is $15 and should be reserved in advance at littletokyohs.org.

Located on the southern end of town, this fascinating historic site contains the modest three-bedroom cottage in which Roosevelt stayed during his visits. The cottage, built in 1932, remains much as it did the day America's 32nd president died here (while having his portrait painted) and includes the wheelchair Roosevelt designed from a kitchen chair. The unfinished portrait is on display, along with the 48-star American flag that flew over the grounds when Roosevelt died. The FDR Memorial Museum includes an interesting short film narrated by Walter Cronkite (last screening at 4 pm), exhibits detailing Roosevelt's life and New Deal programs, and some of Roosevelt's personal effects, such as his 1938 Ford, complete with the full hand controls he designed. Admission here allows you to also visit the nearby pools where Roosevelt took his therapy.

More preserve than traditional zoo, this park contains an impressive collection of plants and animals native to the Chihuahuan Desert. The Desert Arboretum has hundreds of exotic cacti and succulents, and the Living Desert Zoo is home to mountain lions, javelinas, deer, elk, bobcats, bison, and a black bear. Nocturnal exhibits let you view the area's nighttime wildlife, a walk-through aviary houses birds of prey, and there's a reptile exhibit. The park also sponsors some great educational events. Though there are shaded rest areas, restrooms, and water fountains, in summer it's more comfortable to visit in the morning before the desert oven heats up. The expansive view from here is the best in town.

Architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood was already a national park specialist, having designed lodges at Zion and the Grand Canyon, before turning his T square to Bryce in 1924. With its distinctive, wavy, hunter-green shingle roof and artful interior, this National Historic Landmark has been faithfully restored, right down to the lobby's huge limestone fireplace and log and wrought-iron chandelier. Inside the historic building, the only remaining hotel built by the Grand Circle Utah Parks Company, are a restaurant and gift shop, comfy sitting areas, and information on park activities. Just a short walk from the rim trail, the lodge's landscaped brick terrace is an enchanting place to relax after a hike. The lodge also offers accommodations in several historic log cabins and two lodge-inspired but motel-style buildings nearby on the wooded grounds.

Located in a certified green building in Loggerhead Park—and established by Eleanor N. Fletcher, the "turtle lady of Juno Beach"—the center focuses on the conservation of sea turtles, using education, research, and rehabilitation. The education center houses displays of coastal natural history, detailing Florida's marine ecosystems and the life and plight of the various species of sea turtles found on Florida's shores. You can visit recovering turtles in their outdoor hospital tanks; volunteers are happy to tell you the turtles' heroic tales of survival. The center has regularly scheduled activities, such as Kids' Story Time and Junior Vet Lab, and most are free of charge. During peak nesting season, the center hosts night walks to experience turtle nesting in action. Given that the adjacent beach is part of the second-biggest nesting ground for loggerhead turtles in the world, your chances of seeing this natural phenomenon are pretty high (over 15,000 loggerheads nested here during one recent season).

Remember the old nursery rhyme "London Bridge Is Falling Down"? Well, it was. In 1968, after about 150 years of constant use, the 294-foot-long landmark was sinking into the Thames. When Lake Havasu City founder Robert McCulloch heard about this predicament, he set about buying London Bridge, having it disassembled, shipped more than 5,000 miles to northwest Arizona, and rebuilt, stone by stone. The bridge was reconstructed on mounds of sand and took three years to complete. When it was finished, a mile-long channel was dredged under the bridge and water was diverted from Lake Havasu through the Bridgewater Channel. Today the entire city is centered on this unusual attraction. Pick up a self-guided walking tour brochure at the Lake Havasu City Visitor Information Center; guided tours are offered for groups of 10--24 from October through April. Both tours begin at the visitor center at the eastern base of the bridge, where you'll find a colorful re-creation of an English Village that houses a few curio shops and restaurants and offers good views of the channel of cool blue water flowing under London Bridge. On the western side, you'll find a handful of more urbane restaurants as well as the hip Heat Hotel.

The most-photographed tree along 17-Mile Drive is the weather-sculpted Lone Cypress, which grows out of a precipitous outcropping above the waves about 1½ miles up the road from Pebble Beach Golf Links. You can't walk out to the tree, but you can stop for a view of it at a small parking area off the road.

The Long Beach Peninsula consists of 28 continuous miles of broad sandy beach, which fills with kite flyers, sand-castle builders, sunbathers, bicyclists, horseback riders, and drivers during summer months. Watch out for horses, cars, and other motor vehicles as you drive on the sand—some sections are open for driving year-round, while other parts don't allow it in summer. The beach has seven official access points, and bonfires are allowed. Bring a windbreaker—strong gusts are common near the water, which remains consistently frigid throughout the year. Amenities: parking (free), toilets. Best for: solitude; sunrise; sunset; walking.

With touch tanks, a submarine simulator, sea lion kisses, swimming with the sharks, and a shark keeper program, this aquarium offers a truly interactive and hands-on experience for its visitors. Based on the theme of the Lost City of Atlantis, indoor and outdoor exhibits, such as a natural rockscape pool and salt marsh, offer a compelling glimpse of regional marine life. Educational programs and events for kids include "sleeping with the fish" overnight stays; for the adults, there are wine cruises. A "Behind the Scenes" tour is offered twice daily and provides a glimpse into the inner workings of the aquarium.

Come here for solitude, hiking, and fishing. On the ocean side, the 1.1-mile Golden Orb Trail leads to a boardwalk that cuts through the mangroves (may require some wading) and alongside a lagoon where waterfowl congregate. A 1¼-mile canoe trail leads through a tidal lagoon, and the grass flats are perfect for bonefishing. Bring a mask and snorkel to observe the marine life in the shallow water.

Camping, snorkeling, and bonefishing are popular activities along this narrow strip of natural, rocky shoreline. The day area offers a nice respite, and the campground is edged by shallow, sea-grass-bottom waters. Amenities: showers; toilets. Best for: snorkeling; swimming; walking.

Formed over thousands of years from water cutting and dissolving limestone bedrock, Longhorn Caverns are a fantastic exhibit of Texas natural history. With a history of Comanche tribes seeking refuge in the caves and calcite-crystal beds, the caverns are a perfect destination for families interested in how the limestone caverns in the Hill Country were formed. Be sure to wear rubber-soled shoes; it gets slippery down there.

Today it's a public garden with an international reputation for its immaculate, colorful gardens and conservatories full of plants from around the world, but the Longwood Gardens story began in 1906, when Pierre S. du Pont (1870–1945) bought part of a Quaker farm and turned it into his home and the ultimate early-20th-century estate garden, complete with magnificent fountains. Seasonal attractions on the nearly 400 acres of the 1,100-acre property open to the public include tulips and azaleas in spring; floral borders in summer; chrysanthemums in fall; and extremely popular decorated spaces and light displays in the winter holiday season. Late spring through fall, illuminated evening fountain shows (some with fireworks, requiring a separate ticket) in the 1,719-jet main fountain garden are a highlight. Bad weather is no problem, as cacti, orchids, and floral displays fill acres of heated conservatories. The outdoor Waterlily Court has undergone a major expansion (completed in 2025), and a new West Conservatory dedicated to Mediterranean-type landscapes, a Cascade Garden in a new glasshouse, and an outdoor Bonsai Courtyard opened in 2024. Besides children's gardens outside and in the conservatories, kids can explore three tree houses on the grounds. Concerts and other performances (some requiring separate tickets) take place year-round. There's a cafeteria, and the seasonal Beer Garden is a fun dining option. The elegant 1906 restaurant (reservations recommended) serves sophisticated modern American fare in a room that overlooks the main fountain garden.  A new Gardens by Day & Night Ticket (allowing one readmission certain summer days for an extra $6 per ticket) and a Two-Day Pass (10% discount off price of two tickets) are special ticket options with limited quantities available.