20 amazing trips to rediscover the best of America in 2022

The US finally opened its borders to British tourists on November 8, more than 18 months after the Trump administration introduced a travel ban on the UK. And it seems absence only makes the heart grow fonder: Virgin Atlantic recently reported a 600 per cent increase on bookings to US destinations, while, according to flight search engine Skyscanner, the US is now the most searched destination in the world for travel in 2022.

And yet, despite the expected influx of visitors, it shouldn’t be hard to escape the crowds in a land that captures the imagination for its very scale. The US is one nation, but in many ways it’s also 50 countries, with each state having its own unique mindset, customs and landscape. It is, after all, almost the same size as the entire European continent; 11 states are bigger than Britain. And its enormity is only matched by the range of experiences it has to offer. From polar bears loping across the Alaskan tundra to alligators stalking Florida’s tropical wetlands, and from the snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains to Arizona’s parched canyons, this is the land of bigger is better.

But now more than ever is the time to look beyond the tourist staples and dig a little deeper into what really makes America great. Whether that’s cities bouncing back from the pandemic’s adversities, new communities and creativity borne from necessity, or even just a great new museum or train journey, the US has so much to offer right now. Here’s what should be on your to-do list. 

1. Cruise to Alaska

Navigating Alaska by land is tricky, to say the least. The nation’s largest state – bigger than Texas, California and Montana combined – is mostly infrastructure-less wilderness: even the state capital, Juneau, can only be reached by boat or plane. Cruising, then, is the most practical (and cost-effective) way to explore the States’ final frontier. Not that it’s all comfy cabins and buffet dinners: small ship lines, such as Linblad Expeditions, will have you exploring backcountry fjords and glacial valleys via kayak, slipping into narrow channels that big boats can’t reach. 

Linblad Expeditions offers six-day, full-board cruises from £3,454pp, disembarking at Ketchikan and excluding flights. expeditions.com

2. RV around Utah’s red-rock country

Utah’s Mighty Five national parks live up to the name. But, though the likes of Zion’s rust-red chasms and Capitol Reef’s pink-rock cathedrals are jaw-dropping, there’s so much more to explore beyond the usual suspects. The creation this year of a brand new state park, Utahraptor – where the skeletons of 10 dinosaurs have recently been found – shines a spotlight on Utah’s lesser-visited state park system. From lush, bison-covered Antelope Island in the north to blush-coloured Coral Pink Sand Dunes in the south, a road trip that takes in both states and nationals, via some of Utah’s 26 designated scenic byways, gives an astonishing overview of this wild slice of the Southwest. As all parks have campgrounds, renting an RV means you get to spend your nights in the heart of nature, too. 

Hire an RV with Cruise America from £50 to £150 per night. cruiseamerica.com

3. Island-hop the Florida Keys

Forget what you think you know about Florida, because this 125-mile-long archipelago is a world unto itself. Curving away from the US mainland toward Cuba, “America’s Caribbean” is all about unplugged island life, although each island – or “key” – has a unique identity. Explore via the Overseas Highway, an engineering marvel that allows you to island-hop by car. Check out bohemian Stock Island’s art collectives, dip into the “diving capital of the world” at Key Largo, and kayak mangrove tunnels around Marathon. The route culminates in Key West, the islands’ most developed resort town, where pastel-painted villas and a bounty of tiki bars captivated Ernest Hemingway for a decade. Treat yourself with a stay at Little Palm Island Resort & Spa: its thatched-roof bungalow suites are paradisiacal perfection.    

Plan your trip at fla-keys.com. For more inspiration, see Telegraph Travel's guide to the best hotels in Florida Keys.

4. Explore Arizona’s urban boom

For the longest time, Arizona’s biggest draw has been its barren canyonlands. But, while visitors busied themselves gaping into beautiful emptiness, they missed the full story. Arizona’s stifled desert cities have lately become buzzing, dynamic centres of urban cool. In Tucson, microbreweries and third-wave coffee spots cram in aside new boutique hotels, the latest of which is the forthcoming Bike Ranch: a sustainable mountain-biking resort stationed right by Saguaro National Park. Phoenix, meanwhile, has risen to become all farmer’s markets, art walks and James Beard-approved restaurants; hippie Sedona has, improbably, become a destination for wine. Plus, you’re never far from a desert hike (or a prickly-pear margarita if you’re craving something more sedate).

Plan your trip at visitarizona.com. For more information on where to stay, read our complete guide to the best hotels in Arizona.

5. Do the Rocky Mountains by rail

The luxurious Rocky Mountaineer rail company launched its first journey outside of Canada this summer, and it’s a stunner. The new ‘Rockies to the Red Rocks’ route kicks off against a backdrop of snow-topped peaks in Denver, Colorado, and ends in the dramatic canyonlands of Utah’s adventure capital, Moab. And while the stops are doubtless sensational – see Denver’s hip mix of craft breweries and street art – this trip is about the journey as much as the destinations. The train’s glass-domed roof gives panoramic views of the route’s rugged canyons and desert cliffs, while five-star service includes regional cuisines and wines. The two-day jaunt also includes a night in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where thermal hot pools sit at the confluence of the Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers. 

Rocky Mountaineer’s two-day Rockies to the Red Rocks route, including one-night’s hotel accommodation, costs from £1,031pp. rockymountaineer.com

6. Rediscover New York City

NYC is back to its best, with new places to stay and new ways to play. In 2022, there are a trio of luxury openings that are finally slated to open: Aman’s “urban sanctuary” in Midtown, the Ritz-Carlton NoMad and North America’s first Six Senses property in Chelsea. Can’t wait until next year? Check into the brand-new ModernHaus SoHo. It honours the neighbourhood’s arty history with an impressive collection of works by the likes of Alexander Calder. Meanwhile, the Open Restaurants programme, a pandemic necessity that saw hundreds of city blocks converted into vibrant sidewalk dining and drinking scenes, has now been made permanent, bringing a celebratory feel to the streets of “the city that never sleeps” – which, after more than a year of hibernation, is excited to wake up. 

Plan your trip at nycgo.com. See Telegraph Travel's complete guide to the best hotels in New York City for more ideas on where to stay.

7. Road-trip the Blue Ridge Parkway

Straddling Tennessee and North Carolina, the Great Smoky Mountains consistently top the National Park Service’s most-visited list. Even in 2020, they beat second-placed Yellowstone by a whopping 8.3 million visits. Though it doesn’t much feature on UK travellers’ to-do lists, it should, particularly as it sits at the southern tip of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the nation’s favourite scenic driving route. Check out what all the fuss is about with a road trip along the parkway’s storied 469 miles, starting at the north end in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, and stopping for dips into the Appalachian Trail, bluegrass history, Cherokee culture and barbecue joints along the way. The two-lane route, where the speed limit rarely exceeds 45mph, will steep you in the “low and slow” way of the South.

Plan your trip at blueridgeparkway.org

8. Bike New Mexico’s badlands

Better Call Saul fans won’t need any convincing about the cinematic beauty of New Mexico’s landscape: the soaring, high desert mesas and rugged plateaus. But just as enthralling is the state’s combination of native Puebloan culture and artsy, bohemian towns. Trek Travel’s new bike tour takes it all in with a series of challenging rides, wheeling between the High Road to Taos’ ochre ridges, and Carson National Forest’s green juniper groves. Stops along the way include prehistoric cave dwellings and pictographs at Bandelier National Monument; Santa Fe’s adobe neighbourhoods and art galleries; and Taos Pueblo, a living, 1,000-year-old mud-brick Puebloan village. The trip also includes two nights at Santa Fe’s iconic, and recently reimagined, Western-style adobe ranch, Bishop’s Lodge.

Trek Travel offers its six-day New Mexico Bike Tour, including accommodation, bike and some meals, from £2,500pp. trektravel.com

9. Try a taste of Northern California

The best way to appreciate Northern California’s dreamy landscape is to taste it: the specialist fruit of the orchards; the artisanal cheese of the dairies; the mushrooms foraged from coastal woods; the oysters plucked from its bays. And that’s before we’ve even got to the vineyards. Boutiquey pastoral idylls Napa and Sonoma may have been shaken by successive years of wildfires, but both are bouncing back. Particularly Sonoma, which has two splashy new resorts to its name: biodynamic farmstead New Tree Ranch, and Montage Healdsburg, where luxurious bungalows are scattered among vines. Consider also Auberge Resorts’ new bespoke road trip, starting with wine tastings and a Michelin-starred meal at Napa’s olive-grove-set Auberge Soleil, and ending on Sonoma’s woodsy, family-owned Farmhouse Inn. 

Auberge du Soleil and Farmhouse Inn’s Rutherford to Russian River package offers four nights’ accommodation, $300 (£223) of resort credits, and a customised programme of experiences from £3,239. aubergedusoleil.com; farmhouseinn.com

10. Catch a wave in Kauai

For a more low-key feel than you’ll find among the high-rises of Honolulu, ‘Green Island’ Kauai is the Hawaiian isle for you. Though it’s hardly a well-kept secret (there are plenty of tourists), it is a less-developed paradise: no structure may be built taller than a coconut tree, and no town exceeds 10,000 people. Plus, that important pillar of Hawaiian culture – surfing – can be indulged in the free-spirited way it was intended, with much of the scene centred in the bohemian surf village of Po’ipu. Along with legendary sunsets, the wild shores here aren’t short on surf schools. Try beachfront resort Ko’a Kea, also beloved for its award-winning, locally sourced seafood restaurant, Red Salt. 

Rooms at Ko’a Kea from £363. meritagecollection.com. Discover the best hotels in Kauai with Telegraph Travel's full guide.

11. Peep art and autumn leaves in The Berkshires

A classic fall foliage trip meets contemporary cool in The Berkshires, a rural region of western Massachusetts that, until recently, was arguably best known for retirees. Though the area has a long history as a summer getaway for artists, it’s the new wave of young families from New York and Boston that has revitalised its cutting-edge cultural chops. Follow up a day wandering the avant-garde outdoor works at sprawling Art Omi with an evening of contemporary dance in the woods at Jacob’s Pillow. Or enjoy alternative cabaret at factory-turned-arts-centre Mass MoCA, before bedding down at retro riverside motel Tourists, co-founded by the bassist of rock band Wilco. Head over in October for the best autumn colours; you should strike out for Mount Greylock to see endless ridges ablaze in scarlet and gold. 

Plan your trip at berkshires.org

12. Track bears and wolves in the Wild West

The closure of US national parks when the pandemic first struck hailed a welcome break for the wildlife: that is, a welcome break from us. Quick to take advantage of a people-less landscape, bears began sunbathing in car parks; bobcats sauntered down once-busy roads. Our return is doubtless a disappointment. But choose an operator wisely, and you can have plenty of unforgettable animal encounters without disturbing their peace. The nation’s finest wildlife reserve? Surely Yellowstone, where it’s common to spot bears and bison, while next door’s Grand Teton is known for its grizzlies as much as its soaring peaks and mirror-still lakes. Responsible Travel offers a wildlife-spotting small group trip into both parks, including a day with a specialist wolf tracking guide

Responsible Travel’s 12-day Yellowstone and Grand Teton Wildlife Vacation, including accommodation and specialist guides, starts from £4,399, excluding flights. responsibletravel.com

13. Dig into SoCal’s high desert cool 

For a few years now, there’s been something astir in Southern California’s high desert. Suddenly, the diminutive, dusty towns around Joshua Tree National Park aren't just all dirt paths and scrub. LA creatives, burned out by city life, were increasingly making the two-hour drive east, turning solitary sun-cracked roads into hubs of hip restaurants, retro motels and vintage boutiques. The exodus has only multiplied since then, so that against a backdrop of bleached boulders and spiky succulents, tiny communities like Twentynine Palms and Yucca Valley are “hot”. Forget Silverlake: the best secret gigs are at Pioneertown saloon Pappy & Harriet’s; the finest on-trend ramen bowl at La Copine in Flamingo Heights. And don’t miss the many immersive folk art masterpieces, from climbable Salvation Mountain to East Jesus’s junkyard sculpture garden. 

Plan your trip at visitcalifornia.com and see Telegraph Travel's full guide to the best hotels in Los Angeles.

14. Seek out the sounds of the South

Nashville’s world-first National Museum of African American Music opened in January, where interactive exhibitions trace the evolution of indigenous African music through slavery, gospel, blues, hip-hop and more. It also further cements the Tennessee state capital’s moniker of “Music City,” joining the raucous Lower Broadway honky-tonks, Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry in a legacy of uniquely Southern sound. But don’t just stop at Nashville. Digging deeper into surrounding regions’ scenes – New Orleans jazz, Memphis soul and rock ‘n’ roll – reveals stirring stories about Southern life. Black Tomato offers a music-themed trip to all three cities, with a bonus stop in South Carolina’s Charleston: the oft-voted “best city in the US.”   

Black Tomato offers its 13-night New Orleans to Charleston: Luxury Holiday of Music in the South, including accommodation, from £6,750pp, excluding flights. blacktomato.com. See Telegraph Travel's complete guide to the best hotels in New Orleans for ideas on where to stay.

15. See Las Vegas beyond The Strip

While its four-mile, neon-lit stretch of excess is the reason people come to Vegas, there’s as much to do off The Strip these days as on. And Sin City’s burgeoning arts scene got a boost this year with the unveiling of Omega Mart, a permanent, interactive art experience from the people behind Santa Fe’s legendary Meow Wolf. An idle around Omega Mart’s aisles sends you into secret portals, redefining the meaning of “shopping trip”. Elsewhere, explore indie galleries, vintage boutiques and on-trend brunches in the Arts District. Or find Vegas culture – no, really! – at a trio of fantastic museums chronicling organised crime, neon signs, and Nevada’s history of nuclear weapons development. Back on The Strip, check into Circa Resort & Casino: its unique swimming pool amphitheatre has capacity for 4,000 swimmers. 

Plan your trip at visitlasvegas.com; themobmuseum.org; neonmuseum.org; and nationalatomictestingmuseum.org. See Telegraph Travel's guide to the best hotels in Las Vegas for ideas on where to stay.

16. Drink in and drive the Oregon coast     

If California’s coastal Highway 1 is the big stadium band, then Oregon’s Highway 101 is the cooler upstart playing beer-soaked basements. And that means fewer crowds, more fun and, yes, better brews. Because the moment the borders reopen, you can bet the lines of convertible Mustangs will be backed up along the Big Sur coast. Oregon’s 101 traces a glorious route clinging to coastal cliffs, with California-calibre ocean views. Hike to secluded beaches at Ecola State Park, spot whales in Depoe Bay, and sip a beer with a view at Pelican Brewing’s shoreside pub on Cannon Beach. At Cape Kiwanda, climb towering sand dunes for superlative sea views, and, if you’re looping back to Portland, make time to walk among the Douglas firs in Tillamook. 

Black Tomato offers a four-night Oregon: Whales, Wine and Coastal Wanderings trip from £3,000pp, excluding flights. blacktomato.com

17. Live your best cowboy life in Fort Worth 

Texas might be in vogue for its hipster towns (we’re looking at you, Austin and Marfa), but this is still cowboy country through and through. And if there were a capital of cowboy culture, it’d be Fort Worth: home to the world’s only weekly, year-round rodeo, the Stockyards Championship, held in its historic Cowtown Coliseum. More than that, though, the city tells a broader Western story, from its National Cowgirl Museum, to the annual Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, where black cowboy clubs, such as the legendary Circle L5, come to rope and ride. A 90-minute drive outside the city, Wildcatter Ranch is the dude ranch of your dreams, with cabin suites, cowboy-led horserides and an on-site steakhouse catering to your every Old West whim.

Plan your trip at traveltexas.com

18. Tour classic and contemporary New Orleans 

After losing its 2021 Mardi Gras carnival, The Big Easy is prepping to bring the party back bigger than ever in 2022. But there’s so much more to NoLa than the French Quarter. Particularly as the post-Katrina rebuild has revitalised areas including the Warehouse District (now a thriving arts hub), and the once-sterile Central Business District. The latter is lately stuffed with boutique hotels (The Troubadour for its rooftop restaurant and craft cocktails in your mini-bar), and slick restaurants (see Nina Compton’s French-Creole fusion at Compere Lapin). And while the Garden District’s antebellum mansions remain must-sees, you’d also be mad to miss Bywater, where bright-painted bungalows, bona-fide Banksies and backyard wine bars add up to New Orleans’ coolest locale. Though many parts of Louisiana are still struggling after Hurricane Ida hit in August, the city has made a quick comeback.

Plan your trip at neworleans.com, and see Telegraph Travel's expert guide to the best hotels in New Orleans.

19. Sail the Great Lakes 

Maybe they call it “flyover country” because it’s better by boat. While the likes of Wisconsin and Minnesota don’t make it onto many a bucket list, the Great Lakes do – and a cruise around all five of these vast, interconnected near inland seas will sail you into Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, too. Middle America sure looks different from on-deck, with car-free islands, beaches, and picturesque lighthouses dotting the route. The Great Lakes Cruise Company offers an epic, 12-night small-ship cruise with big-city stops in Detroit, Cleveland, and Toronto as well as lesser-known spots like Manitoulin: the world’s largest freshwater island, and home of the native Anishinaabe people.   

The Great Lakes Cruise Company offers its 12-night Great Lakes Grand Discovery trip, departing Chicago, from £4,429pp. Includes accommodation and port charges; excludes flights. greatlakescruising.com

20. Hike the Sierra Nevadas 

The great outdoors doesn’t get any greater than the Sierra Nevadas. From the giant redwoods and colossal caverns of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, to Yosemite’s monumental granite cliffs, this is nature on the very largest scale. And you’ll feel your smallest if you get out of the car and onto the hiking trails: trekking to the top of great peaks, alongside rushing rivers, and through towering, old-growth forest. G Adventures offers an eight-day hiking and camping trip through all three parks, and there’s stargazing in Sequoia thrown in for good measure. The trip starts in Las Vegas and ends in San Francisco, so consider tacking on time to let loose in the big cities as well.

G Adventures’ Hiking Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite tour starts from £1,199pp, excluding flights. gadventures.com