For those well traveled...

Lots of amazing things to see in this great country of ours...what has been some of your favorite places...and likewise, what/where do you think is overrated?
Or maybe a better question would be, if you had to make a top ten list for someone, what/where would they be?

 

1) White mountains in New Hampshire
2) Smoky Mountains in Tennessee

 

the Pacific Northwest, From norcal up is beautiful. I also liked the eastern part of California, east of SR 70.
Utah/Colorado is beautiful, if you've never seen the nightsky from out west. You've never seen the nightsky.
Vermont and Maine are gorgeous as well. I'm biased with Maine so there is that.
I skipped yellowstone too much of a tourist trap so nothing to comment on that. But the rest of the region is great.
Idaho shouldn't be left out, a trip on 84 to the coast is pure eye candy imo.
Haven't made it to Montana yet but I'd love to visit some amazing country there.
Completely agree there is lots of amazing places to see in this country.

 

Some if my favorite trips are/were:

Black Hills
Badlands National Park
Glacier National Park
Dauphin Island AL
Boundary Waters

 

Alaska
I like Northern New England in general but New Hampshire is my favorite.
Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, in the fall.
Florida Keys-east of Key West

Coastal California is overrated, but I would go back to see the northern part.

 

I love Hatteras!

 

The Badlands was pretty cool to see. And the Grand Canyon if you've never seen that. Maine was nice when I drove through, would probably be better in the fall. I'd like to get to some of the western parks one day

 

While I didn't find it pleasing to the eye for the most part, driving though the plains on route 90 is something everyone should experience just to get a grasp of how wide open the land is and how vast the nothingness truly is.

 

Maine, lived he majority of my life here, Acadia and Bar Harbor needs to float further out into the Atlantic and take a good chunk of Route 1a corridor with it! I love far northern Maine, that’s where I was born and lived until I was 8. Still spend tons of time there and actually going tomorrow to the MILs house in way southern Aroostook county. College in Wyoming was AWSOME and I will be going back, just wish I’d have gone to Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons. Colorado was nice. West Virginia was good in the mountains. I hate Florida.

 

Heck yeah, a lighthouse tour along the coast. You have to take a boat to see the cape lookout lighthouse. Small boat taxis run from Harkers island. Morehead city, Beaufort, Fort Macon, Fort Fisher, Battleship NC in Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, Charleston, Folly Beach, Angel Oak, Savannah.
Myrtle, Virginia, Ocean City, Panama, Daytona type tourist beaches are all the same, but if you’re into watching drunk greasy tattooed leather skinned folks sardined on a beach it’s not too bad.
Have you been to Dollywood?

 

It's hard to make a list, as there are so many cool places to see. Of the places I've been...

*The White Mountains are close by and easy to drive to in a few hours. One of my personal favorites. Mount Washington in particular is impressive and has the Cog railroad that goes up to the summit. Tons of stuff to see in New Hampshire. Like the Kancamagus highway that weaves through the White Mountains offering 3d views that are hard to put into words, especially in the Fall.

*The rugged rocky coastline of Maine is a must see. Places like Marginal Way are very cool to visit. Would like to see Bar Harbor someday.Also a "close" drive for me.

*Niagara Falls. It's breathtaking to see in person from a few yards away. The sheer amount of water falling over every second is unbelievable. Awe inspiring even. A must see in my opinion. Especially the Canadian side.

*Myrtle Beach area is fun to visit. Great beaches, but not that "amazing" as far as views or anything though. The bathtub temp water is very comfortable though and lots to do in that area. One of the cool things about driving to SC from New England is all the big bridges you go over like the George Washington in New York, and the Delaware Memorial bridge.

*Green Mountains in Vermont aren't as impressive as the White Mountains, but they are still very nice. The covered bridges in Vermont are definitely worth seeing.

*Berkshires in Western Mass are similar to the Green Mountains imo.

*The Rocky Mountains are a must see. More impressive than the White Mountains but not as pretty in my opinion. I saw them in winter though. They dont even look real when you're up close to them. Just rising out out nowhere like frost giants.

*If you like architecture there is a Swiss themed town in Utah we visited called Midway. The inhabitants were largely from Switzerland so they built Swiss style buildings everywhere. You literally feel like your in another country when you're there. Awesome place to visit. Speaking of architecture, Washington DC is a great place to go. Well kept historic buildings all over. Impressive monuments too. Definitely worth visiting.

Some day I'd love to see the:
California coast along the ocean
Redwood forest
Hoover Dam
Some of the deserts
Yellowstone national park
Alaska

 

Drove past it once!! Lol

 

I forgot about some of the roads in Arizona, northeast of Flagstaff if I remember correctly. Coming from east and limited exposure to the west, it was amazing how flat, long and straight sections of roads were. Made me wonder "how far is over there where I can see?"... Don't get that at all here in Southern VA.

And like chud said, coastal Carolina has some nice places. We're going to Atlantic beach in 2 weeks, hope to get over to Cape Lookout this time. Not so much for the lighthouse, but for the (hopefull) shells

 

The PCH in California is simply awesome! And the giant redwoods… .
The Smokey Mountains are awesome too. A motorcycle riders paradise down there.
Key West… been there more times than I can count. Several years ago I told the wife I’d never go back. Seeing a 60 year old man walking down the sidewalk in a g-string and flip flops, that’s all. I’m out.
We love the OBX too. Always stayed in Duck. But we toured around all the light houses. Rode the ferry to the Ocracoke Island.
Boston is a great place to visit. Highly recommend the duck boat tours. That was neat! And the lobster rolls.
I have a sister that lives in SC near Beaufort. If anyone ever gets in that area, search out the Angel Oak tree. Amazing!! And while there we toured an old steam powered aircraft carrier. The USS Yorktown. Very cool experience.

But our favorite place to travel to is wine country in the Finger Lakes NY. The gorge trails in the area are awesome! We once stayed in the Belhurst Castle. Felt high class on that trip.

 

Shackelford banks is good for shells and you may see the wild horses.

 

Thanks Chud! I remember someone down there last year mentioned Shackleford banks, maybe someone at the hotel desk. I'll look into that.

Hoping that disturbance coming this way doesn't mess up our plans....

 

Lots of good input so far. Let's say, up front, that all of this is personal, no one-size-fits all. Here's some of my thoughts:
1) Utah/Arizona parks and monuments, i.e. Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Grand Canyon NP, etc. These are SPECTACULAR and wholly American. You will never find anything like this anywhere else on earth.
2) Pacific NW: Oregon/Washington/British Columbia coast is absolutely awe inspiring and the temperate rain forests are profoundly inspiring.
3) NC/SC/GA coast. The barrier island and coastal marsh ecosystem is sublime.
4) WILD CARD. Stockholm Archipelago. Fantastic and unique geographic, culture and history all in one place.

 

Trail of tears, Oregon trail, trails of westward expansion. Custers last March to the little big horn and what lead up to it. Route 66.

In Texas, the historical landmarks have ID on them linked to websites.

geocache is another good resource for fun and new things to explore.

the list goes on and on of things I’ve dreamed about going back and looking at in depth in my travels. Even driving through upstate New York and seeing cities/ towns dating back to the 1600’s is mind blowing.

 

I'm not particularly well traveled, but here goes.

My favorites from when I was a teenager/early adult in the mid to late 70's, into the early 80's:

Backpacking for 10 days thru the Colorado Rocky Mountains. I was with the Campfire Girls in KS, and that was one of our summer trips. We started from Mesa Verde National Park (which Anasazi ruins are cool to explore). We were in the 4 corners area (which is truly an area since you can see all 4 states from many mountain tops). Our highest elevation during the hike was 8,000' (IIRC). Imagine 10-12 teenage girls carrying everything on their backs, with 2 camp councilors with no civilization (and no way to contact civilization - no cell phones back then). We rarely saw anyone else. I did that trip two summers in a row (I passed up "tripping" which was a 10 day canoe trip, to do the backpacking adventure again).

The Grand Canyon. I was lucky as my mom and a coworker of hers were Cessna pilots. We took a 4-seater from KS and flew over/along the canyon before touching down and doing the on-ground stuff. It was only a long weekend trip so didn't do any of the treks down into the canyon.

Sandia Mountains in NM. If you can make it during the Balloon Fest, that is a sight to see. Lived in Albuquerque for a short time in the early 80's. Speaking of which, Old Town in Albuquerque is an awesome Native American tourist trap (or was back then anyway). Santa Fe, NM is a nice artsy town (jewelry and art) if you are into that sort of thing. Their views are also nice and the building architecture very cool.

My favorites as an adult, say from the year 2000 on:

Niagara Falls. We went just after school started so the crowds weren't as bad as the middle of summer. It is great for a weekend trip.

NH White Mountains down toward the lakes region - I especially liked taking a couple of hikes thru Lost River Gorge, the Flume and the Polar Caves (go when it is hot out to fully appreciate the caves). If you can get a clear day, the top of Mt. Washington's view is awesome and you can either hike to it, drive to it, or take the Cog Railway up (expensive, but cool).