This most storied of urban green spaces earns its fame; there’s no park quite like Central Park. It’s an oasis of running tracks, flower-speckled lawns and baseball fields surrounded on all sides by skyscrapers and spending an afternoon cycling its paths is a quintessential Big Apple experience.

Standing in the yard with the icy sea wind whipping at your hair, it’s easy to understand why The Rock is one of the most infamous prisons in the world. Escape was futile – even if you managed to evade the guards, you faced a very long and chilly swim to land. Now a well-established tourist attraction, it’s a fascinating look at life on the inside.

Even if you’re not a theatre fan, seeing a performance in the home of musical theatre is a classic New York experience. Amid the neon glow of Times Square, 41 professional theatres put on shows every night of the week.

At the very tip of Florida, this sprawling wetland is a truly unique ecosystem of mangroves and marshes. Dry season is the best time to visit – the less-steamy conditions mean fewer bugs and mosquitos and a better chance of spotting the famous wildlife – and the ideal way to see it is via airboat, a fan-powered vessel that skims across the swamp.

It’s possible to catch a glimpse of this sentinel on the Hollywood Hills from lots of spots in LA but climbing one of the three routes to sign is a different view entirely: you’ll see the city laid out in front of the giant white letters (as well as doing some mental cartwheels as you read them backwards).

Yosemite isn’t short of natural wonders but its powerful cascades are a must-see. There are scores of waterfalls throughout the 310,800-hectare reserve but you’ll find many in Yosemite Valley, including the eponymous plunge (at its strongest in May) and 300m-high Horsetail Fall, best known for its sunset-induced fiery hue in February.

It’s what’s beneath your feet that induces the most wonder at this iconic national park. More than half of the world’s geysers – hot springs that occasionally bubble and burst towards the sky – are found within Yellowstone’s bounds, as are plenty of limestone terraces formed by magma, mudpots and (inactive) volcanoes.

You can’t touch this bronze symbol of America’s various fights for freedom – though that certainly doesn’t stop people from trying. It’s been used as iconography for various causes throughout its history, including by abolitionists, suffragettes and civil rights leaders.

Four key symbols of American democracy are found within walking distance of each other in D.C.: the White House, The Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol Building. You can visit them all in a day, leaving plenty of time to explore the nearby museums, including the Smithsonian and the International Spy Museum.

You half expect the witch from Hansel and Gretel to beckon you from the doorway of one of these ice-cream-coloured homes in Oak Bluffs. The whimsical 19th-century cottages are tightly clustered and tightly held by their owners; summer visitors can peek inside some of the homes for a fee.

Yes, you need to take a spin on the Ferris wheel and look back towards the glittering LA lights but you can easily spend a day poking about this pier. There’s an arcade, aquarium and even a trapeze school, not to mention plenty of food options made for cheat-meal days.

You can take in these cascades from the Observation Tower – but where’s the fun in that? Board the 150-year-old Maid of the Mist, don your (ineffective) waterproof poncho and take a spin through the spray.

The seasons are pronounced in the north-east corner of the country and none is more beautiful here than autumn, when country roads are lined with trees in every colour of the sunset. Hire a classic convertible and plan a road trip through Vermont, Maine and Connecticut, with plenty of stops to frolic among the fallen leaves.

The General Sherman tree has had plenty of time to reach its 83 metre height – its estimated to be more than 2000 years old. Yet it’s just one of the staggering giant sequoias found in the park, many of which are found in the suitably named Giant Forest near the Kaweah River.

It makes sense that a city with a museum dedicated to vacuum cleaners and a well-known local who walks around playing bagpipes while dressed as Darth Vader is largely regarded as the country’s capital of quirk. But it’s also home to great vegan food, dozens of breweries and Australian-standard coffee.

The southern city’s historic heart, The French Quarter is the best place to marvel at  18th-century architecture, duck into lively bars and see sights such as the 300-year-old St. Louis Cathedral.

There’s something very American about watching a baseball game live, hotdog and cup of beer in hand – it is the national pastime, after all. Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs since 1916, is one of the most famous diamonds in the country and the oldest in the National League.

The topography of this pocket of the US is truly varied, with Pacific Ocean beaches to the west and the jagged Rocky Mountains to the east – which makes it one of the most stunning spots to take a drive. If you’re taking the Portland to Seattle path, set aside a minimum of six days to ensure plenty of time for surprise detours to the Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks.

This desert is rich in wonders, including its incredible namesake tree. The branches of joshua trees seem to follow no rhyme or reason, some zigzagging in tall spindles towards the sky, others a thick cluster of spiky leaves. Visit between February and May, when the weather is still relatively cool, and you might also catch the sprouting wildflowers.

This iconic highway stretches from Santa Monica in the west to Chicago in the east – that’s more than two-thirds of the way across the United States. Though many parts of the original road have fallen into disrepair, you can still travel along an approximation of this Great American Road Trip.

Even if you’ve never managed to balance on a board before, Waikiki is the perfect place to take your wobbly first waves: the swell is manageable, there are plenty of places to hire boards and there are always other beginners trying out their skills so you’re in good company. 

To drive this coastal road from start to finish takes just two hours; to do it properly takes several days. Get into cruisy Hawaii mode and stop wherever your fancy takes you: for banana bread at one of the many roadside stalls, or to lose a few hours on a black-sand beach.

It’s been a symbol of Seattle for more than half a century and in 2018 underwent a major refurbishment to modernise its interiors and add a rotating glass floor.

Yes, it’s smaller than you expect but that doesn’t make seeing this iconic lady in the flesh (well, the copper) any less incredible. If you want to get onto Liberty Island to get inside her head, be sure to book with a licensed operator. If you’re happy to see it from afar, the free Staten Island ferry chugs past several times a day.

It’s one thing to buy a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from this celebrated wine region; it’s quite another to sit in the sun, fruitful vines laid out in front of you, and sip on a glass straight from the source. You can’t really pick a bad drop but Silver Oak, Beringer and Opus One are good places to start.

The natural beauty is raw in this far-flung state: towering glaciers, untouched rivers and empty wilderness. That makes it the ideal place to go on a real adventure – think white-water rafting over several days, diving in unique underwater environments and hiking through impossibly quiet forests.

Beloved by the Kennedys (and more recently Taylor Swift) this a beautiful beachside retreat in its own right. Hooking into the Atlantic Ocean, the region encompasses 15 towns and many more quaint villages and calm beaches.

The Best Way to See the Australian Open