United States
Tipping is not optional and the price on the label is never the price
Population
342m people
Currency
US Dollar
Main Language
English
best time to visit
Varies enormously by region – broadly May – June and September – October
Climate
Everything from Arctic to tropical, desert to rainforest
Visa
ESTA required in advance for UK, EU and most Visa Waiver Programme visitors, valid 90 days
Country overview
The United States is not a destination, it is a continent with one flag. The drive from New York to Los Angeles takes about forty hours, the country spans six time zones, and the difference between rural Louisiana and downtown Seattle is larger than the difference between most European countries. Pick a region.
Two financial habits catch visitors out immediately. Sales tax is added at the till, so the price on the shelf is never what you pay. And tipping is not a bonus for good service, it is how hospitality staff are paid, with twenty percent the current norm in restaurants and bars. Not tipping is not a protest, it is just taking money off someone wage.
The national parks are the strongest argument for going. Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, the Grand Canyon and Glacier are genuinely world class and the system that protects them was the first of its kind anywhere. A road trip through the southwest, or the Pacific Coast Highway, delivers more than any single city can. An America the Beautiful pass covers entry to all of them for a year.
Annual events and festivals
- Mardi Gras, New Orleans (Feb-Mar) — parades, krewes and beads. Far older and stranger than the Bourbon Street version suggests.
- SXSW, Austin (Mar) — music, film and tech taking over an entire city for ten days.
- Coachella (Apr) — the festival that set the template for a generation of them.
- Memorial Day (last Mon May) — the unofficial start of summer, and a solemn military commemoration.
- Independence Day (4 Jul) — fireworks, barbecues and parades in essentially every town in the country.
- Burning Man (Aug-Sep) — a temporary city of 70,000 in the Nevada desert, ending with a very large fire.
- Thanksgiving (4th Thu Nov) — the biggest travel weekend of the year, and arguably the most important family holiday.
- Halloween (31 Oct) — taken far more seriously here than anywhere else, by adults included.
- New Year in Times Square (31 Dec) — the ball drop. Enormous crowds, no toilets, and hours of waiting.
- Kentucky Derby (May) — two minutes of racing, one very long day of hats and bourbon.
United States Travel Guides
United States guides are coming soon.