37 Best Sights in USA

Strolling this esplanade famous for its magnificent Manhattan views, you might find it surprising to learn that its origins were purely functional: the promenade was built as a sound barrier to protect nearby brownstones from highway noise. Find a bench, and take in the skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and the Brooklyn Bridge; in the evening, the lights of Manhattan sparkle across the East River. Below are the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE) and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The surf and sand of Venice are fine, but the main attraction here is the boardwalk scene, which is a cosmos all its own. Go on weekend afternoons for the best people-watching experience; you'll see everything from Baywatch wannabes to break-dancers to TikTok influencers to would-be messiahs. You can also swim, fish, surf, and skateboard, or have a go at racquetball, handball, shuffleboard, and basketball (the boardwalk is the site of hotly contested pickup games). Or you can rent a bike or in-line skates and hit the Strand bike path, then poke around the gloriously tacky tourist and souvenir shops before pulling up a seat at a sidewalk café and watching the action unfold.

The boardwalk is the social and sentimental heart of Long Beach, so when the beloved historic structure was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, hearts broke. Today a brand new fortified boardwalk stands in its place, a symbol of the city's resilience, and throughout the summer weekend vendors and entertainers attract crowds. Walkers and cyclists hit the planks year-round, and food trucks and a trapeze school are welcome additions to its lively scene.

The cement pathway lining the sand from the southern end of Mission Beach north to Pacific Beach is always bustling with activity. Cyclists ping the bells on their beach cruisers to pass walkers out for a stroll alongside the oceanfront homes. Vacationers kick back on their patios while friends play volleyball in the sand. The activity picks up alongside Belmont Park, where people stop to check out the action at the amusement park and beach bars.

Wide concrete pathways loop through and around this 7.5-acre section of the national park, where a natural grass amphitheater is the site of concerts and other events throughout the year, including Blues at the Arch every August. The north section is also home to the Explorers’ Garden, which is planted with flora that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark encountered on their journey west and features paths scaled for children. Enjoy incredible views of the Arch, the city skyline, and Eads Bridge, which was completed in 1874, making it not only the world's first all-steel span but also the oldest bridge over the Mississippi River.

Built in 1923, this famous wood-planked walkway is better known as the Coney Island Boardwalk, and in summer it seems like all of Brooklyn is out strolling along the 2½-mile stretch. The quintessential walk starts at the end of the pier in Coney Island, opposite the Parachute Jump, where you can see the shoreline stretched out before you, where the waves of the Atlantic Ocean meet the Big Apple. From here to Brighton Beach is a little over a mile and should take about a half hour at a leisurely amble. Admire the modernistic, rectangular structures perched over the beach, housing bathrooms and lifeguard stations.

From the base of Gateway Arch National Park's Grand Staircase enjoy strolls along Leonor K Sullivan Boulevard, the 1.5-mile riverfront promenade that stretches from the landing for the riverboats at the south end to the Laclede's Landing historic site at the north end. The promenade hosts outdoor activities and events throughout the year and is the hub not only for the seasonal riverboat cruises but also Arch helicopter rides. A bike path along the riverfront promenade serves as the hub of the River Ring, a network of trails developed by Great Rivers Greenway ( greatriversgreenway.org). To the north, the Mississippi Greenway provides a 12.5-mile trail, connecting downtown St. Louis to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, a historic Route 66 landmark.

Built a full story below street level, the Paseo del Rio is a leading state tourist attraction, with the Downtown Reach section comprising about 3 miles of scenic stone pathways that line both San Antonio River banks as it flows through downtown, connecting many of the city's sights, hotels, and restaurants. In some places, the walk is peaceful and quiet; in others, it is a mad conglomeration of restaurants, bars, hotels, shops, and strolling mariachi bands, all of which can also be seen from GO RIO Cruises tour boats and river shuttles.

To the north, the Museum Reach section of the River Walk extends roughly 4 miles from Lexington Street to Grayson Street. Boat tours do not travel to this section, but the river shuttles do, making their last stop at the Pearl District after a lock-and-dam experience at Brooklyn Street.

The final section, the Mission Reach, extends south of downtown, uniquely encompassing 8 miles of riparian woodlands with native plants and an active aquatic habitat. No restaurants, hotels, shops, or river boats are on this stretch, but visitors can access the four missions at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park via the walking path alongside the river. The fifth mission, the Alamo, is steps away from the Downtown Reach. The San Antonio River Walk and its three distinctive sections extend about 15 miles total.

At the southern tip of Miami Beach is a beautifully manicured park where locals and visitors alike stroll along a palm-fringed waterfront promenade. Sunbathers lounge in hammocks, runners zoom through trails, kids enjoy a small water playground, and socialites dine al fresco at Smith & Wollensky. At the end of the promenade is access to South Beach as well as the South Pointe Park Pier, an observation deck that gives a wide angle view of the beach.

A 1½-mi boardwalk lines the town's Atlantic Ocean beach. Two large beach houses stand, one on each end, with 100-foot-long by 33-foot-wide saltwater pools inside. From June through August, you need a badge to access the beach and beach houses—but use of the saltwater pools themselves is limited to residents and their guests. A beach badge is usually provided by your lodging, or you can buy one at either beach house. Much of the boardwalk had to be rebuilt in 2011 after extensive damage caused by Hurricane Irene. Dogs are allowed on the beach in the off-season, but are never allowed on the boardwalk.

Tampa’s revitalized Downtown waterfront offers numerous restaurants, breweries, shops, museums, and outdoors activities along a pedestrian-friendly, 2.6-mile stretch of the eastern bank of the Hillsborough River. Whether you’re walking, biking, or in-line skating, you'll find something here to pique your interest amid open spaces and stunning water views. Be sure to check out the Historic Monument Trail, which offers insight into Tampa's storied past.

Four miles of gorgeous coastline stretch from the county fairgrounds at the northern border of the city of San Buenaventura, through San Buenaventura State Beach, down to Ventura Harbor Village in the south. The main attraction here is the San Buenaventura City Pier, a landmark built in 1872 and restored in 1993. Surfers rip the waves just north of the pier, and sunbathers relax on white-sand beaches on either side. The mile-long promenade and the Omer Rains Bike Trail north of the pier attract scores of joggers, surrey cyclers, and bikers throughout the year.

Part thoroughfare, part three-ring circus, the Boardwalk is center stage for every imaginable oddity. Conceived in 1870 as a way to allow Victorian-era visitors to experience nature without getting sand in their shoes, the Boardwalk became the place to see or be seen. Named for Alexander Boardman, the promenade's inventor—and not as you might think, for its wooden boards—the 4-mi-long Boardwalk begins in Atlantic City's Inlet section (at Maine Avenue), and heads south into neighboring Ventnor, where it continues for another 1½ mi (to Jackson Avenue). Saltwater taffy was invented on the Boardwalk in 1883, as legend has it, when a storm flooded a candy dealer's wares. The Boardwalk's attractions include amusement piers, museums, arcades, bars, restaurants, carnival games, and miniature golf. The Steel Pier, which once hosted the best music acts of the day as well as the famed diving-horse show, is now home to rides and carnival games. On Schiff's Central Pier you can take a spin in go-carts or play the signature shore game: skeeball. Aside from strolling up and down the boards, the traditional way to experience the Boardwalk is to be pushed in a rolling chair. These wicker chairs evolved from the wheelchairs that infirm visitors used back when the city's promoters' claimed the salty ocean air could cure all diseases. Despite medical evidence to the contrary, after a long stroll on the Boardwalk, you might have to agree.

A formerly dilapidated section of Reno's waterfront is now the toast of the town. The Riverwalk itself is a ½-mile promenade on the north side of the Truckee River, which flows around Wingfield Park, where festivals and other events take place. On the third Saturday afternoon of each month, local merchants host Wine Walk tastings ($30). The monthlong Artown festival in July presents outdoor art, opera, dance, live music, and kids' performances, most at Wingfield Park.

Taking in one of Yarmouth Port's most beautiful areas, Bass Hole Boardwalk extends over a swampy creek, crosses salt marshes, and winds around vegetated wetlands and upland woods. Gray's Beach is a little crescent of sand with still water that's a favorite family swimming hole. At the end of the boardwalk, benches provide a place to relax and look out over abundant marsh life and, across the creek, the beautiful, sandy shores of Dennis's Chapin Beach. At low tide you can walk out on the flats for almost a mile.

Although it's just four blocks long, the wide, wooden path is a delightful oceanfront stroll. Shops sell beach vacation essentials like candy, french fries and frozen custard, clothing and souvenirs. Hear all sorts of music during summer concerts at the Boardwalk Bandstand.

The 1.25-mile Canal Walk meanders through downtown Richmond along the Haxall Canal, the James River, and the Kanawha Canal, and can be enjoyed on foot or by boat. Along the way, look for history exhibits such as the Flood Wall Gallery, bronze medallions, and other exhibits placed on Brown's Island and Canal Walk by the Richmond Historical Riverfront Foundation. Many sights intersect with Canal Walk, including the Richmond National Battlefield Park Civil War Visitor Center, and 5th, 7th, Virginia, 14th, 15th, and 17th streets meet the water along it.

The James River–Kanawha Canal was proposed by George Washington to bring ships around the falls of the James River, and to connect Richmond to major trade routes. Brown's Island, once the location of an ammunition factory during the Civil War, hosts festivals and concerts in warmer months.

Commissioned in the French boulevard style, the mall is a grand allée of shade trees extending down the middle of the Back Bay's Commonwealth Avenue. Studded with statuary, it serves as the green link between the Public Garden and the Back Bay Fens. One of the most interesting memorials, at the Exeter Street intersection, is a portrayal of naval historian and author Samuel Eliot Morison seated on a rock as if he were peering out to sea. The Boston Women's Memorial, installed in 2003, sculpted by Meredith Bergmann, is between Fairfield and Gloucester streets. Statues of Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone, and Phillis Wheatley celebrate the three women's progressive ideas and contributions to Boston's history.

A dramatic and personal memorial near Dartmouth Street is the Vendome Hotel Fire Memorial, dedicated to the nine firemen who died in a 1972 blaze at the Back Bay's Vendome Hotel, which, now office space, is across the street. The curved black-granite block, 29 feet long and waist-high, is etched with the names of the dead. A bronze cast of a fireman's coat and hat drapes over the granite.

Between the city's two promenades, this one, often overlooked by tourists, has by far the best view. Gracious Victorian homes, many now converted to condos and apartments, border one side of the street. On the other is 68 acres of hillside parkland that includes Ft. Allen Park and, at the base of the hill, the Eastern Prom Trail and tiny East End Beach and boat launch. On a sunny day the Eastern Prom is a lovely spot for picnicking, snacking (there are always a few top-notch food trucks), and people-watching.

The center of Morro Bay action on land is the Embarcadero, where vacationers pour in and out of souvenir shops and seafood restaurants and stroll or bike along the scenic half-mile Harborwalk to Morro Rock. From here, you can get out on the bay in a kayak or tour boat.

Near the corner of Beacon and Arlington streets, the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge crosses Storrow Drive to the 3-mile-long Esplanade and the Hatch Memorial Shell. The free summer concerts here include the Boston Pops' immensely popular televised July 4 performance. For shows like this, Bostonians haul lawn chairs and blankets to the lawn in front of the shell; bring a takeout lunch from a nearby restaurant, find an empty spot—no mean feat, so come early—and you'll feel right at home. An impressive stone bust of the late maestro Arthur Fiedler watches over the walkers, joggers, picnickers, and sunbathers who fill the Esplanade's paths on pleasant days. Here, too, is the turn-of-the-20th-century Union Boat Club Boathouse, headquarters for the country's oldest private rowing club. You can also access the park by crossing the Frances Appleton Pedestrian Bridge linking the Beacon Hill neighborhood to the Esplanade.

Stroll on the paths or take to the water on a boat tour or in a paddleboat to explore this 32-acre urban waterfront park. Boat rides are available at the riverwalk center at 101 South Union Avenue.

OK, we'll cut to the chase—the Kemah Boardwalk is a commercial, touristy development run by Landry's Restaurants (the folks who brought you Joe's Crab Shack and Saltgrass Steakhouse)—but most people love it. Just off I–45 between Houston and Galveston, this cluster of moderately priced restaurants, amusement-park rides, game arcades, and inns is set on a bustling ship channel. It's a family-oriented destination where you can catch a Gulf breeze, eat seafood, shop, or just watch the ships sail by. Kids can get up close to some of nature's most misunderstood creatures at Stingray Reef—they can even feed them. A 96-foot-tall wooden coaster called the Boardwalk Bullet was recently added to the mix. It reaches speeds of 51 mph—only five feet from the water's edge. Don't eat first!

The ½-mile-long wooden boardwalk runs through the dunes parallel to the beach, and is a great place for strolling, bird-watching, or just sitting and listening to the wind and the roar of the surf. It runs between Bolstad Avenue and Sid Snyder Drive.

This mile-plus-long, paved footpath hugs the shore of a rocky promontory just beyond Ogunquit's downtown. Thirty-nine benches along the easygoing path allow you to appreciate the open sea vistas. Expect heavy foot traffic, even in the off-season—which is the only time of the year that dogs are allowed.

The heart of Myrtle Beach is this mile-long oceanfront destination that stretches from the 14th Avenue Pier, where seafood restaurant-café Pier 14 roosts, to the newly renovated 2nd Avenue Pier and its Wicked Tuna restaurant and open-air rooftop lounge. Take a sky-high seat on the SkyWheel, one of the largest observation wheels on the East Coast at 187 feet tall, with enclosed gondolas for a smooth ride (don't miss the light show at night), then stop in for a bite to eat at the LandShark Bar & Grill located right at the entrance. You can also take the kids to play in the old-time arcade, zip across the Myrtle Beach Zipline Adventures aerial course, break for a soft-serve ice cream cone, shop for a souvenir at the world-famous Gay Dolphin, shuck oysters at Dirty Don's, pull up a stool at the Bowery (the legendary bar that gave country band Alabama its start), or just stroll or sit, taking in the beach scene. A schedule of free live concerts, performances, fireworks, and children's carnivals abounds in summer at the boardwalk's Plyler Park. Don't miss the holiday, family-friendly block parties year-round.

Bikes, pets, and skateboards are prohibited on the boards May to September.

The first in a planned series of parks along the Delaware River, this green space offers dramatic views of the overhead Benjamin Franklin Bridge and allows for up-close views of the river itself. Designed by the same firm behind New York's popular High Line, the terraced promenade features lush plantings, including some three dozen trees and many perennials, as well as amphitheater-style seating near the river's edge, plenty of benches and green lawns for relaxing, and regular donation-based yoga classes during the summer months. 

The first phase of The Rail Park is a quarter-mile trail that turned an abandoned, elevated train line into a public park lined with greenery and offering stunning views of the city. The project is envisioned to eventually span 3 miles from near the Art Museum into Northern Liberties. While the open part of the park is small, it's a lovely way to understand the future of the city's unused spaces. There are swings for children, bike racks, and lots of native plants.

This mile-long, family-friendly boardwalk offers ocean views and plenty of places to stop for coffee, eats, ice cream, and shopping. Saltwater taffy and vinegar-seasoned fries are boardwalk traditions—enjoy them while people-watching, which is especially colorful during college spring-break season.