As the US Turns 250, Each and Every State Has Something to Be Excited About

Is there any country as diverse as the United States? We have glaciers and rainforests, height-defying mountain tops, and canyons so vast they attract millions of visitors each year from around the world. But it’s also a country of diverse people, projects, and ambition, where sprawling urban spaces with and world class dining scenes create spectacular culture, all held together by a system of roadways, trains, and more to ensure that every inch can be explored (there is a reason why this is the best roadtripping country in the world). And yet, for all the time any of us have spent traversing these lands, there is always something new to see, to taste, to experience; always someone new to meet. Here, a by-no-means-exhaustive list of reasons to visit each of the 50 states this year—and beyond. Ride the wave to the Surf Championship in Hawaii Fifty years after its launch, the World Surf League Championship Tour is returning home to Oahu’s North Shore in Hawaii this December after five years away. Expect a larger group of female surfers, a new format, and the final leg to be held on the storied Banzai Pipeline. Eat well on the Great Lakes Hot new spots to eat and drink are landing this Midwest region on the culinary map. Looking north, the food scene is heating up. Known for its diverse population, Minnesota now has culinary champions in its Hmong immigrant community. Chefs Yia Vang and Diane Moua run Vinai and Diane's Place, respectively, buzzy new kitchens that opened two years ago in Minneapolis. Grab beef laab carpaccio at the former, and indulge in the crab rangoon Danish pastry at the latter. There's also the upcoming Šhotá Indigenous BBQ by Owamni, helmed by chef Sean Sherman, offering bison ribs. And next door in St. Paul, French-inspired Aubergine has superb duck. Across the lake in Michigan, a clever drinking scene is gaining ground: Bar Chenin, at Detroit's Siren Hotel, serves martinis alongside focaccia and house-made ice cream; in the Little Village cultural corridor near the Detroit River, Father Forgive Me pours small-producer wines in an erstwhile church garage next to an art gallery. And in Wisconsin the latest openings have a European flair. The menu at Milwaukee's Cassis lists ravioli Dauphiné and tarte tropézienne, while tiny New Glarus welcomed the fine-dining Canter Inn, which spotlights the region's Swiss heritage and the seasonal bounty of aptly named Green County through rösti potato sticks and kalberwurst smash burgers. Capitalize on the culture in D.C. In the District of Columbia, important exhibitions are marking the 250th. The National Museum of American History's “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness” features objects like the lap desk Thomas Jefferson used to draft the Declaration of Independence. At the National Museum of Natural History, “Bison: Standing Strong” and “Imagining Bison” honor our national mammal. The National Museum of African American History and Culture will host a block party for its 10th birthday in September, and for its 50th, the National Air and Space Museum adds five galleries, including one showing how aviation helped make the US a global superpower. Play ball in Iowa In picture-perfect Dyersville, Iowa, a new and permanent professional ballpark is set to debut this summer right next to the site of the beloved 1989 film Field of Dreams. Expect exhibition games from Major League Baseball teams like the Philadelphia Phillies and the Minnesota Twins (the designated home team). And who knows? Maybe one day Oscar winner Amy Madigan will appear in the stands. Get back on the road in Big Sur, California In California, the Pacific Coast Highway has reopened in Big Sur after a three-year closure due to landslides and the Palisades fire. Drives along this nearly seven-mile stretch between Los Padres National Forest and the Ventana Wilderness Area offer breathtaking ocean views and classic stops like cliffside restaurant Nepenthe and cozy Deetjen's Big Sur Inn. Love up on Lisa in Las Vegas, Nevada The Hottest Ticket on the Vegas Strip This November the mononymous multihyphenate Lisa, of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, will headline her own residency, Viva La Lisa, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, bringing to the Nevada metropolis a fresh, even more global audience. Cruise via a new terminal in Pennsylvania This April, for the first time in nearly two decades, a leisure cruise ship docked in Philadelphia, thanks to the new PhilaPort Cruise Terminal on the banks of the Delaware River. The new port boosts the profile of Pennsylvania as a stop on North American sailing itineraries. Currently Norwegian Cruise Line is departing from the City of Brotherly Love on its Norwegian Jewel and, come this November, Norwegian Pearl, ships that will ferry travelers to Maine's Bar Harbor, Bermuda, the Caribbean, and beyond. Watch World Cup history get made in New Jersey All eyes will be on New Jersey as it prepares to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup's finale at MetLife (called New York/New Jersey Stadium for the tournament) in East Rutherford on July 19. Though it's too early to say whether Team USA will be one of the last two teams standing, the halftime show featuring Madonna, Shakira, and K-pop sensation BTS may even upstage the competition. If you're not one of the 82,000 lucky ticket holders, there are ways to get in on the action: The official NYNJ World Cup 26 Jersey Fan Hub near Hoboken will broadcast live games, and various free-to-the-public events will take place across the state, including an Around the World Watch Party in diverse Jersey City. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association voted this year to move from Colorado to Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 2029. And with it goes the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and the Museum of the American Cowboy, which spotlights rodeo culture and its impact on our history. This news could mean big tourism business for the Cowboy State; there are already talks to develop a Western-themed entertainment, cultural, and shopping district around it. Stay entertained in Maryland Maryland's largest city is doubling down on its entertainment. Next year Pimlico Race Course welcomes back the Preakness Stakes horse race with a major reconstruction of the grandstand and clubhouse to include luxury suites and an upgraded paddock, among other things. There's also talk of building a sphere like that in Vegas (albeit smaller), which would draw talent—and visitors—in droves. Find new connections between neighboring states Train travel between Oregon and Washington (and Vancouver, BC!) will get a major upgrade when Amtrak launches the first of its cutting-edge Airo fleet on the Cascades route. Plus, the Missouri and Kansas sides of Kansas City are linked anew by a redevelopment of the Rock Island Bridge that installs food outlets and public spaces on a historic former railroad crossing. Access our newest National Park with ease in West Virginia Opening later this summer, the 40-room Hill Hall Hotel in Fayetteville, West Virginia, installed in a historic school building, is just seven minutes away by car to the nearest visitor center at New River Gorge National Park & Preserve, which spans over 70,000 acres of forestland along the 320-mile New River. Go for its sandstone cliffs and excellent rafting on the namesake river. Meet the makers of our best bites across the gamut Fans of Tootsie Tomanetz, the 91-year-old pitmaster of Snow's BBQ in Lexington, Texas, get in line before the crack of dawn for tender meat cooked upwards of 12 hours. During the night shift at Illinois's The Wiener's Circle, sassy Poochi Rollins slings Chicago red hots loaded with mustard, relish, onions, and more—with a side of insult comedy. Bill Pustari will be the first to tell you Connecticut is where America's pizza scene peaks. Try his thin-crust pies with hot cherry peppers at Modern Apizza in New Haven. Explore more of our 50 States, 50 People package here. Return to Asheville, North Carolina Nearly two years after Hurricane Helene, North Carolina's enduringly quirky mountain city is building back better thanks to its strong community ethos. New openings include Resurrection Studios Collective, a gallery-studio for displaced artists, and Hellbender by The Orange Peel, a 6,000-seat live-music venue that will have its first show on the Swannanoa River in August. Beloved businesses like Neng Jr.'s, a Filipino spot popular for its pork lumpia, have also survived, contributing to the vitality. Dolly doubles down on Tennessee National treasure Dolly Parton's latest love letter to Nashville, Tennessee, is the 12-story, 245-room SongTeller Hotel, which opens later this year. There's Dolly-themed suites with guitar-shaped pillows and walls decked out with decals of ticket stubs and butterflies; the rooftop bar Jolene's; live-music venues; and the treasure trove that is Dolly's Life of Many Colors Museum, filled with outfits, songwriting notes, and guitars, among other artifacts from her iconic career. Black history is front and center in Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama Lately states have been investing in experiences to honor their Black history. Williamsburg, Virginia's African American Heritage Trail debuts later this year with public art and digital storytelling that pulls from 300 years of history, breathing new life into such landmarks as the historically Black Braxton Court neighborhood. Down in Mississippi, the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum join forces to curate “Mississippi Made,” a 250-artifact exhibit showcasing items like B.B. King's guitar and quilts by Hystercine Rankin. Alabama continues the campaign for UNESCO World Heritage List recognition of its Civil Rights landmarks, like the Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham and the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Heritage hotels are born anew across the board They've been around for decades—now these beloved, classic properties are luring us back. Florida's Art Deco grande dame, the Delano Miami Beach, reopened after an estimated $100 million reno. At the property once considered the Studio 54 of Miami, the revamp trades flash for discretion and whoopee for extensive wellness programming. In Arizona the landmark Sanctuary Camelback Mountain has a new, 12,000-square-foot spa with a reflection pond and meditation garden. Over in New England, Newport, Rhode Island, classic Hotel Viking celebrated 100 years of hospitality with a much-needed redo by LA-based Beleco Design. One of New Hampshire's oldest hotels has reopened as the elegant and textured Inn at Hancock. Nearby, the historic Walloomsac Inn, long-ago used by Vermont's pre-statehood legislature, is being reimagined by Litchfield, Connecticut, hospitality business Place in Mind. A new chapter for Charleston, South Carolina In South Carolina's largest city, The Cooper, a 191-room hotel, opened this spring. With it came a whole new way to explore the city's prime waterfront. The hotel has a private marina on the banks of the namesake river—expect glamorous sunset sailings in classic Lowcountry style. It's a sibling venture of Holy City mainstays The Charleston Place, the historic Riviera Theater, and more from the developer Ben Navarro, whose ambitious plans to glow up the area next to The Cooper in the coming years include taking over nearby Union Pier to bring a new spate of restaurants, parks, and residences to life. Second cities on the upswing in Colorado, Indiana, and Ohio Second cities have much to celebrate, with major milestones, infrastructure upgrades, and more. As Boulder, Colorado, ramps up to host its first Sundance Film Festival in January, its hospitality scene is rising to the occasion. Check in to the largest all-electric hotel as Limelight Boulder turns on the power, or the Hotel Boulderado, an all-American classic fresh off a major renovation. Indianapolis, Indiana, shifts into third gear as one of the country's most cyclable cities. This year Indy will debut 38 miles of brand-new trails that will merge seamlessly into the region's existing 77-mile network that takes you everywhere from the Fairgrounds to downtown. A new Trailways app maps it all as well. Meanwhile, independent commerce is alive in Columbus, Ohio, where the city's historic public market is marking 150 years in business. To celebrate the milestone, The Merchant Building, a 32-story tribute to the North Market's legacy, will unveil a 162-room luxury hotel at the beginning of next year. The space grows in Delaware, Georgia, and Nebraska Nationwide, access to nature is being expanded and improved. There's greater investment in the earth across the country. In Delaware, expansions of White Clay Creek State Park and Ponders Tract at Pemberton Forest Preserve, plus a new Sussex County reserve, mean 535 additional acres of protected land. On Georgia's Jekyll Island, 52 acres of grassy terrain will be restored as a wildlife corridor, reconnecting fragmented pine and grassland habitats for shorebirds and snowbirds. Over in Nebraska, Omaha's sweeping RiverFront development links Gene Leahy Mall, Heartland of America Park, and Lewis and Clark Landing into a cohesive public space. A new design pilgrimage is born in North Dakota, Arkansas, and New York The most ambitious architecture projects are happening in places you'd never expect. On July 4, North Dakota gained the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library atop a butte in Medora. Designed by Norwegian super-firm Snøhetta, the library features mass-timber and rammed-earth materials, geothermal systems, and a living green roof. In Arkansas, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has just grown in size by 50 percent thanks to a 114,000-square-foot expansion of the original facilities by Safdie Architects, which coincides with the largest collection gift in the museum's history: 200 works by such artists as Warhol and Mapplethorpe. Looking to next year, the Eero Saarinen–designed Lipsey Architecture Center Buffalo will open in upstate New York, a region that's dense with designs by late, great midcentury architects, Frank Lloyd Wright chief among them. Longer visiting windows at Acadia in Maine The Gateway Center, an 11,000-square-foot welcome facility for Maine's Acadia National Park, opened in May with 300 free parking spaces, retail, and a bounty of service for visitors. The fare-free Island Explorer shuttle between the park and Bar Harbor has also expanded service into the shoulder seasons. Indigenous Hollywood on the rise in Oklahoma Home to the filming of hits like Reservation Dogs, Tulsa King, and Killers of the Flower Moon, Oklahoma's pop culture is luring travelers. Osage Nation rises to the occasion with guided tours of Fairfax, while Tulsa Tours takes you through that city's Art Deco district. New ways to enjoy astrotourism in Montana, Alaska, and South Dakota An increase in areas dedicated to seeing stars is helping more travelers explore our dark skies. Astrotourism, one of the most popular reasons to travel, is spreading across the country. Last year Montana welcomed the arrival of One&Only Moonlight Basin, which has an on-site observatory outfitted with a PlaneWave telescope, with stargazing sessions led by local astronomers. The Orion, a 10-room property in Fairbanks, Alaska, opened in February with a dedicated viewing lodge and an in-room aurora notification system to make sure no guests miss out. The Observatory Sun Valley, A Viceroy Resort, will open this fall in Ketchum, right at the southeastern tip of the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, the first International Dark Sky Reserve in the US. And this July, South Dakota hosts its second annual Badlands Astronomy Festival for scientists and amateur astronomers at Badlands National Park, which has a pending bid to become one of the state's International Dark Sky Parks. This article appeared in the July/August 2026 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.