Recent events may have halted our travel plans, but now airlines such as Virgin Atlantic have reported an increase of 600 percent in ticket sales to the USA. The online flight search engine Skyscanner just reported that the USA is basically “the most searched vacation destination for 2022.

So, whether you are hoping to discover the US for the first time, a returning traveler, or a native who has yet to really explore your own country, we are here to help you with your upcoming American travel plans. Thus, without further ado, here are 20 amazing trips to (re)discover the best of the USA in 2022. 

20 Amazing Trips To (Re)Discover The Best Of The USA

1 Take a Cool Cruise to Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States. Attempting to navigate this place on land is, to say the least, difficult. It is essentially infrastructure-less wilderness.  

Indeed, even Juneau, the state capital, is only accessible via boat or plane. Thus taking a cruise is unquestioningly the most cost-effective and downright sensible way to discover this wild frontier. Mind you, we’re not talking about a cruise that’s all about buffet dinners and cozy cabins here.  

This is traveling on a small ship that offers the opportunity to explore glacial valleys and backcountry fjords via kayak. You will go through close channels that large cruise ships simply could not navigate. These six-day, full-board, six-day cruises disembark at Ketchikan.

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RV ‘Round Utah’s Red-Rock Nation

Exploring Utah’s national parks in an RV can be a unique experience, especially if you spend some time at the lesser-known locations. Don’t get us wrong, Zion National Park’s rugged, rust-red chasms and Capitol Reef National Park’s pink-rock cathedrals are stunningly beautiful. But there’s more to see here!

Consider Utahraptor State Park in Grand County, less than 14 miles northwest of Moab. This lesser-known park is where the skeletons of at least 10 dinosaurs were recently discovered and are certainly worth a look-see. There’s also Antelope Island State Park or simply Antelope Island. This is the home of numerous free-ranging bison, bighorn sheep, mule deer, pronghorn (antelope), and a number of other desert dwellers. It’s also the largest of the 10 islands found in the Great Salt Lake.  

There’s the beautiful blush-colored Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park as well. All of them can be reached via a few of the state’s 26 designated scenic byways. All of these parks have campgrounds too. Renting an RV means you get to spend the night in the midst of nature without having to rough it. 

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Island-Hop in the Florida Keys

The fantastic Florida Keys bear little resemblance to the rest of the state. This standout 125-mile-long archipelago is known to some as “America’s Caribbean.” Here people can focus on what some travel writers call “unplugged island life.” Each key, or island, has its own individual identity and vibe. Thanks to the engineering marvel known as the Overseas Highway, you can actually go island-hopping by car.

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Explore Arizona’s Awesome Urban Boom

Yes! Everyone should already have Arizona on their travel bucket lists because of the gorgeous Grand Canyon. But this trip idea doesn’t focus on what some call a beautiful barren emptiness.  

The once stifled desert cities of Arizona are said to be quickly becoming buzzing centers of “urban cool.” Tucson today features new boutique hotels, hip shops, third-wave coffee shops, and multiple microbreweries. Be sure to check out the new Bike Ranch too! It is a popular “sustainable mountain-biking resort” located not far from striking Saguaro National Park.

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See the Rocky Mountains and More via Rail

All Aboard! The Canadian rail-tour company known as Rocky Mountaineer is offering luxurious scenic train trips on four different rail routes not only in Canada but now also in Utah and Colorado. Previous passengers prefer the rockin’ “Rockies to the Red Rocks” route.  

You climb aboard in Denver, Colorado backdropped by snow-capped peaks, and ride right on to the climactic canyonlands of Moab, Utah’s adventure capital. Of course, this luxury train ride is reportedly just as much about the trip as it is the actual destination. Stops include seeing hip street art and craft breweries in Denver.  

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(Re)discover New York City

New York City (in the state of New York, of course) is reported to be back at its best. Indeed, it now offers new places to stay as well. There are three new hot spots to rest your head this year. There’s Aman’s latest “urban sanctuary”, Aman New York located in Midtown Manhattan, the raved about Ritz-Carlton NoMad and North America’s premiere Six Senses property found in Chelsea. If you’ve not already seen them, be sure to hit the iconic Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, and 9/11 Memorial too. 

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Take a Road-Trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway

The famous Blue Ridge Parkway is actually a part of America’s National Park Service. It’s also known as “America’s Favorite Scenic Drive.” This ribbon of road runs for a total of 469 miles around the picturesque peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains and connects the stunning Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with the striking Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina.

This ravishing road trip often tops the US National Park Service’s official most-visited list. Just two years ago the distinctive drive beat out legendary Yellowstone National Park by over 8 million visits.

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Bike New Mexico’s Badlands

Yes, New Mexico has badlands too. You’ll find them in the northwestern portion of the state, in the San Juan Basin.  They are the result of numerous deposits of shale and sandstone from sometime in the Jurassic period and millions of years of exposure to erosion, uplift, and volcanism. Take in the rugged plateaus and high desert mesas. Be sure to stop and check out the cool combo of artsy, bohemian towns and native Puebloan culture too.

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Take a Taste of Northern California

Yes, Oenophiles, the Northern California wildfires in 2017 heavily devastated some parts of California’s famous Wine Country, but it’s bouncing back folks! Mind you, travelers come to Cali to visit more than the numerous vineyards.

They come to taste everything! There’s the artisanal cheese from the dairies, the fruit from the orchards, the oysters from the bay, and even the mushrooms from the coastal woods. After sampling everything you can also go hiking and biking here to burn off the calories.

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Catch a Wave in Kauai

If you want to visit Hawaii but avoid being Spam-canned in with the typical tourist trade, consider the more low-key “Green Island” of Kauai. While you will still encounter a share of more informed tourists, it is a much less developed place with no building taller than your average coconut tree and no town with more than 10,000 residents.  

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See Art and Fall Foliage in The Berkshires

What’s more family-friendly than a perfect blend of an iconic fall foliage trip and the contemporary cool of art exhibitions? That’s what you’ll discover here in western Massachusetts’ rural region known as The Berkshires. Once known for little more than its retirees, it actually has a long (perhaps hidden) history of being a hot summer getaway for assorted artistic types. Indeed, young blood from both Boston and New York has revitalized its cultural community. 

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Track Wolves and Bears in the Wild West

The pandemic was terrible for travel but wonderful for wildlife. Closing US national parks gave the critters a break from those of us not satisfied with seeing them in captivity. Bobcats sauntered slowly down deserted roads and bears were reportedly sunbathing in parking lots. While they might not be glad to see us, it might be easier to see wolves and bears now that they’ve had to spend less time hiding from humans and more time mating.

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Dig California’s High Desert 

Something’s happening in California’s High Desert. Apparently, the dusty, diminutive towns not far from the famous Joshua Tree National Park are no longer all sandy scrub and dirt paths. The creative crowd who’ve suffered the city of L.A. long enough, (and–let’s be honest here–those who simply can’t afford to live closer to civilization), have increasingly been making the two-hour commute east. Thus, we witness once solitary sun-cracked rough roads becoming a growing thoroughfare of hip, assorted eateries, vintage boutiques, and retro motels.

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Seek out the Song of the South

January marked the official opening of the world’s first National Museum of African American Music. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, this melodious museum offers an assortment of interactive exhibitions on the evolution of indigenous African music through the days of slavery, and the genres of gospel, blues, hip-hop, and rap. Yet another reason why the state capital is known as “Music City,” home of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry, and the raucous, random honky-tonks of Lower Broadway.

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See “Sin City” Beyond The Strip

Remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Still, Las Vegas, Nevada is not just about the number of drunk and depraved acts committed in a strange hotel room. Yes, the iconic neon-lit, four-mile stretch of outright excess is famous for its casinos. However, there’s another kind of action off the famed Strip. There are specialty boutiques, museums, and a new interactive art experience known as Omega Mart, brought to you by the people who brought you Santa Fe’s Meow Wolf.

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Drivin’ on the Oregon Coast

U.S. Route 101, a.k.a. US 101 may not be as famous as California’s coastal Highway 1 but you will discover it has its own beauty and charm and less traffic. This north-south highway runs along the Pacific coastline through Oregon. It stretches from the border of California, south of Brookings, Oregon, to the state line between Megler, Washington, and Astoria, Oregon. It’s a great way to avoid the tourists cruising along the beloved Big Sur coast.  

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Live The Cowboy Life in Famous Fort Worth

Yeah, we know, the state of Texas is somehow in vogue for the hipster towns of Marfa and Austin. Nevertheless, Texas truly remains cowboy country. In fact, if one were to designate a capital city of genuine cowboy culture, why it surely would be Fort Worth. For it is here that you will discover the Stockyards Championship, the only weekly, all-year rodeo on the planet, held in the historic Cowtown Coliseum.

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Experience The Classic and Contemporary New Orleans

The Big Easy, as some call it, is getting back into the swing of things. Yes, everyone should have attending Mardi Gras on their travel bucket list, but there’s more to Northern Louisiana than the famous French Quarter. You should also see the post-Katrina revitalized areas such as the Central Business District and the rebuilt Warehouse District which today is a thriving arts hub. It’s a jazzy place!

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Sail Upon the Gorgeous Great Lakes

The Great Lakes, a.k.a. The Laurentian Great Lakes or the Great Lakes of North America is a group of five big interconnected freshwater lakes that have sea-like qualities. Nestled in the mid-east region of the continent, they are connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the mighty St. Lawrence River. The lakes are named Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior and are on or near the border between the US and Canada. Sail upon all five of these lakes into Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, and Ohio.

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Hike the Stunning Sierra Nevadas

The Sierra Nevadas is a majestic mountain range in California. There’s so much to see in this part of the awesome American Cordillera: the colossal caverns and giant redwood trees of Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks respectively. There are Yosemite National Park’s mighty granite cliffs too. Hiking through these massive mountains 400 miles long and 80 miles wide, through old-growth forests of towering trees, by rushing rivers to the top of peaks that are between 5,000 and 9,000 feet high can certainly put things into perspective. 

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