Capital: Washington DC

Currency: US Dollar

Language: English

Visas: Travel Visa Information

The USA (United States of America) offers a massive diversity across this country of over 300 million people. From the hectic chaos and savvy chic of big cities like ‘The Big Apple’ New York, to the simply indescribable landscapes and scenery of the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Niagara Falls, to wild nights in Las Vegas to relaxing on the beaches of California and star spotting in Hollywood. The ‘land of the free’ has surprises at almost every turn.

World Famous Cities and Sites

The major cities of the US are icons and inspirations immortalized in art, music, TV, movies and music. It’s almost imposable to travel anywhere in the world and not see references to these modern wonders.

New York’s skyline, the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and Times Square to name but a fraction of what ‘city that never sleeps’ has to offer may well make it the most famous city in the world.

Washington DC, home of the Pentagon, the Whitehouse and Capital Building, monuments and memorials as well as the Smithsonian Museums is a modern day Rome while in the north you can find Chicago’s mighty Sears Tower on the shores of Lake Michigan and Cleveland’s Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame.

California alone presents a whole host of sights and delights, the least which include Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego while it’s not only the cities but other cultural icons like the Las Vegas Strip, Route 66, Mt Rushmore, the Golden Gate Bridge, Disneyland and Hollywood sign are known the world over.

National Parks & Natural Wonders

Perhaps the aspect of the United States that is least well known is its simply world class natural wonders.

The States has areas of forests, mountains, deserts and wilderness of awesome and emotive natural beauty with the most famous most amazing being the the Grand Canyon in Arizona. On the other end of the scale are the huge, soaring Rocky Mountains while the lush, green forests of the Sierra Nevada Mountains around Bass Lake contrast with natures sculpture gallery in the deserts of Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion and Monument Valley.

The largest and oldest of all Americas natural reserves is Yellowstone while Yosemite National Park is simply awesome while the Badlands National Park of South Dakota is totally different yet again.

Niagara Falls, on the border between the US and Canada are also some of the most famous falls in the world.

Theme Parks

Disneyland in Anaheim is a must for big kids at heart while the trills of big roller coasters can also be found nearby Knotts Berry Farm. The Disney adventures continue at Orlando’s Disney Worlds in Florida.

Sports

The Americans are sports crazy. The United States is home to some fantastic Professional and College sporting teams going to a game is a must for any sports nut. NBA Basketball(official site) is widely popular with teams like the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, LA Lakers. Major League Baseball (official site), the National sport, with games featuring the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and Anaheim Angels among many, many others are always cheap and accessible while gridiron Football with the NFL’s (official site) Dallas Cowboys, San Diego Chargers and Washington Redskins also goes off. Ice Hockey too often draws packed houses to see teams like the Anaheim Ducks, LA Kings, New York Rangers hit the ice in the NHL (official site).

Food

Most famous for the hamburger and french fries you will find a huge diversity of food across the United States from the Mexican specialties of California to the steaks of Texas and the mid-west, Creole cooking in New Orleans, Famous New York Pizza and hotdogs, Chicago style sub-sandwiches, ball-park hot dogs, great seafood around Boston.

Although not widely known outside of the US, there are usually local specialties and variations in almost every region of the States.

The Americans are well known for their huge serves of everything and you can almost be guaranteed to be filled to the brim at almost every meal.

Drinks and Alcohol

The US is the home of Coca Cola but this is just one of the myriad of flavors of ‘soda’ available nation-wide.

The legal drinking age is 21 across the whole country. This age restriction is taken seriously and enforced in bars and clubs across almost everywhere.

Beers like Budweiser, Busch, Coors Light (light beers are light in calories, not alcohol)and Sam Adams are popular the whole country over while the Napa Valley, just outside of San Francisco in California has gained a reputation the world over as producing some excellent wines.

The US is also home to Jim Beam, Jack Daniels and a whole host of liquors and spirits.

Beaches

For iconic US beach scenes, the stuff ‘Baywatch’ is made of, you cannot go past California while in Pensacola provides a tastes of Florida beach fun and the Pacific island of Hawaii rounds out best of the beaches.

Sports

Baseball, Basketball, Gridiron and Ice Hockey are just the start of plethora of sports the US is famous for!

Places Contiki Visits in the USA

East Coast

• Annapolis – Home of the US Naval Academy
• Boston – ‘Bean town’ – Drenched in US history
• New York – The Big Apple
• Philadelphia – ‘City of Brotherly Love’ and ‘Birthplace of the Nation’
• Washington DC – The Capital, the Whitehouse, amazing monuments and museums

Florida and The South

• New Orleans – Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras and the Swingin’ South
• Orlando – The Mecca of theme parks
• Pensacola – Beach, Beach, Beach
• Raleigh – North Carolina, History in the State Capital
• Savannah – Georgia, the true south
• St Augustine – Americas oldest city

Hawaii

• Hawaii – Snorkel, swim, surf, Waikiki, Pacific paradise and island culture

Colorado, Nevada, Utah & Arizona

• Bryce Canyon National Park – Spectacular desert scenery
• Cortez – The Rocky Mountains
• The Grand Canyon and Kanab – ‘Grand’ is too small a word
• Las Vegas – Bright lights, the Vegas Strip, a playground for adults
• Phoenix – Capital of Arizona
• Salt Lake City – Utah, Olympic city and Mormon capital of the world
• Zion National Park – Cliffs, canyons and amazing desert stone formations

The North

• Chicago – Super city of the north
• Cleveland – Home of the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame
• Cody – Wyoming, Gateway to Yellowstone
• Madison – Rocking University town and capital of Wisconsin
• Milwaukee – One of the brewing capitals of the USA
• Mt Rushmore – The famous 4 presidents faces on the mountainside
• Niagara Falls – Huge rushing waterfalls
• Sioux Falls – More beautiful waterfalls
• Yellowstone – Wildlife, Lakes, canyons and ‘Old Faithful’

Texas and New Mexico

• Albuquerque – The Wild West
• Amarillo – Cowboy County
• Dallas – The best of Texas

West Coast and California

• Anaheim – Disneyland and our West Coast base
• Bass Lake – Sierra Nevada Mountains
• Los Angeles – Hollywood, Santa Monica, the land of the stars
• San Diego – ‘Americas Finest City’
• San Francisco – The Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz
• Santa Barbara – The best the Californian coast has to offer
• Yosemite National Park – El Capitan and spectacular granite formations