Why do you love the US so much? As someone who has dedicated her career to telling stories about the States, it’s a question that I’m asked often — and it’s one with many possible answers. The simplest is: you could visit 100 times and no two trips would be the same.

The US is a continent mustering its best impression of a country. In a decade of travels in this big, beautiful, complicated nation, I’ve hiked in snow-crowned mountains, chased the sun on Pacific Coast beaches, museum-hopped in titanic cities, and had the best meals of my life in small towns you could blink and miss.

The country’s culture is every bit as diverse as its terrain and I relish cracking open a new slice of it each year. Most recently, a spry octogenarian taught me to flatfoot dance in the depths of Appalachia, while indigenous guides led me through the land that’s set to become America’s newest national park. I found one of the country’s finest art museums in the depths of the Ozarks (Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, in Arkansas, if you were wondering), and drank old fashioneds at breakfast in bourbon-soaked Kentucky. The only thing that no longer surprises me is how often the US surprises me.

This new year brings a renewed crop of reasons to visit — and with them, more fresh perspectives on a country that feels both warmly familiar and wonderfully exotic. Plan a 2025 trip to visit newly opened luxury hotels that are sure to become landmarks; attend art festivals on tropical islands; ride new rail routes; and celebrate pop culture anniversaries in style. Whether it’s your first, or your 100th, a trip to the US is always one worth taking.

16. Kansas

Immersive art in America’s Midwest

Billed as the first of its kind in the United States, the Museum of Art + Light debuted in the quirky college town of Manhattan, northeastern Kansas, in November 2024. It’s an extravaganza for the senses, combining contemporary artworks and classics from old masters with visual tech to create giant immersive displays. Debut exhibitions include Renoir: A Luminous Evolution, which features digital displays of paintings by the French impressionist, alongside personal family photographs and footage. There’s also an exhibition looking at the development of the digital arts and how it’s changing the creative world. Book a trip that packs in visits to Manhattan, the buzzy state capital, Topeka, and Wichita, plus Kansas’s Flint Hills, a precious area of tallgrass prairie…

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