States

One article per state to get a feel for a region before you go: general atmosphere, best time to visit, what to expect — alongside our place-by-place guides.

All states

50 articlesWe've visited it

New York

New York State: far beyond Manhattan

New York City, of course, but also Niagara Falls, the Adirondacks, the Finger Lakes and their vineyards, the Hudson Valley, the Catskills and the beaches of Long Island: our guide to the Empire State, from the metropolis to the forests.

Florida

Florida: far more than Disney and Miami Beach

The Everglades and their alligators, the road through the Keys above the ocean, the manatees in the springs, the rockets of Cape Canaveral, Miami, the Orlando parks and the white sand of the Gulf: our guide to planning a trip to Florida.

California

California: ocean, sequoias, desert and big cities

California holds several countries in a single state: Big Sur, Yosemite, Death Valley, San Francisco, Los Angeles, the giant sequoias and the vineyards of Napa. Our guide to finding your bearings and building your itinerary.

Nevada

Nevada: Las Vegas, and the great desert around it

Las Vegas is only a small corner of Nevada. Around it: the red rocks of Valley of Fire, the loneliest road in America, the Extraterrestrial Highway, ghost towns, the oldest trees in the world and Lake Tahoe. Our guide to the state.

Arizona

Arizona: the Grand Canyon, and everything else

You come to Arizona for the Grand Canyon, and you leave with Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, the red rocks of Sedona, the saguaros of Tucson and a stretch of Route 66. Our guide to planning the trip.

Utah

Utah: the Mighty 5, the salt desert and Salt Lake City

Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef, Monument Valley, Scenic Byway 12, the Great Salt Lake and Salt Lake City: Utah packs in more spectacular scenery than any other state. Our guide to planning the trip.

Wyoming

Wyoming: Yellowstone, Grand Teton and the cowboy West

The geysers and bison of Yellowstone, the peaks of Grand Teton, Jackson Hole, Devils Tower, Cody and Buffalo Bill, the Cheyenne rodeo and endless plains: Wyoming is the least populated state in the country, and one of the most spectacular. Our guide.

Idaho

Idaho: far more than potatoes

Everyone knows its potatoes, nobody knows the rest. Yet Idaho hides the peaks of the Sawtooths, the deepest canyon in North America, a lunar lava field, falls higher than Niagara and dozens of hot springs.

Montana

Montana: Big Sky Country

Glacier National Park, the Beartooth Highway, the north entrance to Yellowstone, mining towns and ranches, Little Bighorn and Flathead Lake: Montana is the American West in large format. Our guide to planning the trip.

Texas

Texas: a country within the country

Austin and its live music, San Antonio and the Alamo, the desert of Big Bend, Marfa, the Hill Country and its German villages, Houston and NASA, barbecue and Tex-Mex: Texas is too big for a single trip. Our guide to choosing.

Hawaii

Hawaii: volcanoes, cliffs and Polynesian culture

Oahu, Maui, the Big Island or Kauai? Hawaii is visited island by island: active volcanoes, the Road to Hana, the Nā Pali cliffs, North Shore surf and a Polynesian culture that is still alive. Our guide to choosing and planning your islands.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts: Boston, Cape Cod and the cradle of America

Mayflower Pilgrims, Salem witches, the American Revolution, Harvard, Cape Cod, the islands and the hills of the Berkshires: Massachusetts fits in a pocket handkerchief and tells the story of the origins of the United States. Our guide.

Illinois

Illinois: Chicago, Lincoln and the start of Route 66

Illinois means Chicago and its skyscrapers, but also the start of Route 66, Lincoln's home town, a Native American city bigger than medieval London and unexpected canyons in the middle of the plains. Our guide to the state.

New Jersey

New Jersey: the Jersey Shore, Springsteen and diners

Far more than a corridor of motorways between New York and Philadelphia: New Jersey means 200 kilometres of beaches and boardwalks, the Pine Barrens, Cape May, Princeton, Edison, Springsteen and more than 500 diners. Our guide.

Georgia

Georgia: Atlanta, Savannah and the Deep South

Atlanta and the memory of Martin Luther King, the shaded squares of Savannah, the islands with wild horses, the northern mountains and the Okefenokee Swamp: our guide to Georgia, the American state, not the country in the Caucasus.

Washington

Washington State: Seattle, volcanoes and rainforests

Seattle and Pike Place Market, Mount Rainier, the rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula, the North Cascades, the San Juan Islands and their orcas, Mount St. Helens and the vineyards of the east: our guide to Washington State, not to be confused with the capital.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania: where America was born

Philadelphia and the birth of the United States, Gettysburg, the Amish country of Lancaster, Hershey the chocolate town, Pittsburgh and its bridges, Fallingwater and the forests of the Appalachians: our guide to Pennsylvania.

Virginia

Virginia: Shenandoah, colonial history and wild ponies

Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway, Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, Richmond, the Civil War battlefields, the Chincoteague ponies and Virginia Beach: our guide to Virginia, the cradle of America.

Tennessee

Tennessee: Nashville, Memphis and the Smoky Mountains

Country music in Nashville, blues and Elvis in Memphis, the Great Smoky Mountains, Lynchburg whiskey and Dolly Parton: Tennessee is visited above all with your ears. Our guide to a road trip from Memphis to the mountains.

North Carolina

North Carolina: from the Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks

The Great Smoky Mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Biltmore château, the Outer Banks islands where the Wright brothers learned to fly, and a barbecue war that splits the state: our guide to North Carolina.

Colorado

Colorado: the Rockies, life-size

Summits above 4,000 metres, giant dunes, cliff dwellings and dizzying mountain roads: Colorado is the great playground of the Rockies. Our guide to planning the trip, summer or winter.

Maryland

Maryland: Chesapeake Bay and America in miniature

About the size of Belgium, Maryland packs in Baltimore, the old capital Annapolis, Chesapeake Bay and its blue crabs, Atlantic beaches, wild ponies and mountains in the west. Our guide to a state people drive through too quickly.

Michigan

Michigan: Detroit, the Great Lakes and the far north

Michigan touches four of the five Great Lakes: giant dunes, coloured cliffs, car-free islands, northern forests and a Detroit in full revival, the cradle of the car and of Motown. Our guide to the state.

Louisiana

Louisiana: jazz, bayous and Cajun cooking

New Orleans and its jazz, the bayous and Cajun country, the plantations along the Mississippi, Mardi Gras and an inimitable cuisine: Louisiana is like no other American state, and a little French is still spoken there.

Ohio

Ohio: rock 'n' roll, aviation and Amish country

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the birthplace of aviation, the roller coasters of Cedar Point, Amish country, the gorges of the Hocking Hills and a chili served on spaghetti: Ohio is far more than a drive-through state. Our guide.

Connecticut

Connecticut: New England between New York and Boston

Smaller than half of Belgium, Connecticut hides whaling ports, colonial villages, Mark Twain's house, Yale and the best pizza on the East Coast. Our guide to a state people drive through too quickly.

South Carolina

South Carolina: Charleston, islands and Lowcountry marshes

Charleston and its colourful houses, the islands and Gullah culture of the Lowcountry, the plantations and their history, the swamp forest of Congaree, the beaches of the Grand Strand and the waterfalls of the Blue Ridge: our guide to South Carolina.

Minnesota

Minnesota: the land of ten thousand lakes

More than 11,000 lakes, the source of the Mississippi, the wild shore of Lake Superior, the canoes of the Boundary Waters, the Twin Cities and Prince: our guide to Minnesota, freezing in winter and superb in summer.

Indiana

Indiana: the Indy 500, the dunes and basketball

People drive through Indiana without stopping, between Chicago and Ohio. Wrongly: the Indianapolis 500, the Lake Michigan dunes, covered bridges, Amish country, a town called Santa Claus and a passion for basketball that borders on religion.

Oregon

Oregon: wild coast, volcanoes and Portland

Crater Lake and its unreal blue, the wild coast of Highway 101, the Columbia River Gorge and its waterfalls, the Cascade volcanoes, the desert of the Painted Hills and eccentric Portland: our guide to Oregon.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin: lakes, cheese and supper clubs

Door County and its fish boils, the sea caves of the Apostle Islands, Milwaukee and its beer, Madison between two lakes, the Green Bay Packers, Frank Lloyd Wright, cheese curds and supper clubs: our guide to Wisconsin, the Midwest at its warmest.

Missouri

Missouri: the Gateway to the West

The St. Louis arch, the jazz and barbecue of Kansas City, Route 66, Mark Twain's Mississippi, the rivers and caves of the Ozarks: our guide to Missouri, a quiet crossroads between East and West.

Alaska

Alaska: the last great American wilderness

Fifty-six times the size of Belgium, fewer inhabitants than Brussels and towns with no road in: Alaska takes a different kind of planning from the rest of the United States. Our bearings for finding your way among glaciers, bears and northern lights.

Kentucky

Kentucky: bourbon, horses and giant caves

You come to Kentucky for the bourbon, and you leave having walked in the longest cave in the world, watched thoroughbreds race, listened to bluegrass and eaten a Hot Brown. Our guide to planning the trip.

Maine

Maine: lighthouses, lobsters and endless forests

In the far north-east of the United States, Maine lines up lighthouses, fishing harbours, Acadia National Park and immense forests full of moose. Our guide to the coast, the lakes and the best lobster roll of your life.

Alabama

Alabama: civil rights, rockets and white sand

People often drive through Alabama without stopping. A pity: between the memory of the civil rights movement, the Saturn V in Huntsville, the Muscle Shoals studios and the Gulf beaches, it's the American South in concentrated form.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island: the smallest state, facing the ocean

The smallest American state can be crossed in an hour, yet it lines up the Newport mansions, pretty Providence, Block Island and its cliffs, lighthouses, legendary festivals and a coffee milk all of its own. Our guide.

New Mexico

New Mexico: the Land of Enchantment

Santa Fe and its adobe houses, the thousand-year-old pueblos, the white dunes of White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, the hot-air balloons of Albuquerque, Roswell and "red or green" chile: our guide to New Mexico.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire: White Mountains and "Live Free or Die"

The White Mountains and Mount Washington, the Kancamagus Highway in autumn, Lake Winnipesaukee, Portsmouth and a strong-willed character: our guide to New Hampshire, New England's Granite State.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma: Route 66, Native nations and the Great Plains

The longest stretch of Route 66, 39 Native American nations, Tulsa and the memory of Greenwood, the bison of the Wichita Mountains, turquoise lakes and cowboys: Oklahoma hides far more than its plains. Our guide.

Vermont

Vermont: maples, covered bridges and autumn colours

The Green Mountains ablaze in autumn, Stowe, Burlington and Lake Champlain, covered bridges, Woodstock, maple syrup and Ben & Jerry's: Vermont is postcard New England, without a single billboard. Our guide.

Arkansas

Arkansas: the nature state nobody saw coming

Few people can place Arkansas on a map. And yet: the Ozarks, the Buffalo River by canoe, the baths of Hot Springs and a park where you keep the diamonds you find. Our guide to a state that deserves its Natural State nickname.

Iowa

Iowa: the farming heart of the Midwest

Cornfields, certainly, but also the baseball diamond from the film Field of Dreams, the bridges of Madison County, German and Dutch villages, Native American mounds shaped like animals and the country's biggest agricultural fair. Our guide to Iowa.

Kansas

Kansas: the prairie, the sky and the legends of the West

Kansas doesn't try to win you over at first glance. But between the last great tallgrass prairie, Dodge City, the chalk pyramids, the space museum in Hutchinson and Dorothy's homeland, it rewards those who take the time to cross it.

South Dakota

South Dakota: Black Hills, Badlands and Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, the Badlands, the bison of Custer State Park, the giant caves of the Black Hills, Deadwood and the famous Wall Drug: our guide to South Dakota, between wide-open spaces and a slightly mad America.

Mississippi

Mississippi: the birthplace of the blues

You visit Mississippi for the stories it tells: the Delta and the birth of the blues, Elvis in Tupelo, Faulkner in Oxford, the mansions of Natchez, the siege of Vicksburg and the history of civil rights. Our guide to the state.

Nebraska

Nebraska: the Oregon Trail, the dunes and the cranes

People usually cross it on autopilot on the motorway. Yet Nebraska hides the landmark rocks of the Oregon Trail, the ocean of dunes of the Sandhills, the spectacular crane migration, Carhenge and Omaha. Our guide.

Delaware

Delaware: the First State, small but full of surprises

The second-smallest state in the country, Delaware can be crossed in two hours. Between the du Pont châteaux, the tax-free shopping beaches of Rehoboth, the horseshoe crabs of the bay and an intact colonial town, it deserves a proper stop.

North Dakota

North Dakota: badlands, bison and a great silence

One of the least visited states in the country hides the colourful badlands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, giant sculptures in the middle of the fields, the earthlodge villages of the Mandan and the memory of Lewis and Clark. Our guide to North Dakota.

West Virginia

West Virginia: mountains, rivers and country roads

The New River Gorge and its giant bridge, rafting on the Gauley, Seneca Rocks, the wild plateaus of Dolly Sods, Harpers Ferry, the secret bunker at the Greenbrier and the Mothman: our guide to West Virginia, John Denver's "Almost Heaven".