Whatever your take on the American Dream, we challenge you to visit New York City for the first time, and not come back wide-eyed and wild about it. Über-happening Manhattan is still one of the most electric places on the planet, from its swanky Fifth Avenue stores and glittering skyscrapers to the winking wonderland of Chinatown, late-night coffeehouses in 'the Village', and more sushi bars, art galleries and rollerbladers than you could cram inside the Empire State Building.
Believe it or not, even Central Park - every corner of the 150 city blocks it covers - was created from scratch out of a mega-consignment of stone, earth and foliage.
Not only is the US of A huge, but it's crammed coast to coast with things to see, so the key to any trip across the pond is deciding where to start, and when to stop. If you like nothing more than scoping out sizzling cities, find your favourite (one by one, or in a single epic adventure) among the Big Apple, atmospheric Boston, the live music capital of Chicago, museum-packed Washington DC, gorgeously groovy New Orleans, or the Latino flavours of Miami. That's just the eastern third of the country.
In the west, San Francisco is the jewel in the crown - its tram-traversed charms shoot right off the chart - but Seattle to the north, and Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas to the south are also massively popular destinations.
If the great outdoors is more your thing, America has it in spades, from the North Dakota Badlands' lunar landscapes and the awesome Grand Canyon, to the echoing mountain kingdom of Utah and the spectacular wilderness of the Yosemite Valley.
And that's all just a taster. Best thing for it, is to hire a camper van or Cadillac, if that's more your style, hit the highways, and experience the American Dream for yourself.
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