Coast To Coast The Best Of America

By Author: Roberto Raffa
Total Articles: 10
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America represents such an overwhelmingly vast patchwork of often wildly disparate possibilities for the prospective visitor that deciding where to start really can be an intimidating prospect. In the end it probably comes down to what you want from your visit because this epic nation really does have it all.

The multiplicity of subcultures crammed into this vast land means that even a single state can offer as much variety as some countries can muster in their entirety. Take California, a state which contains within its boundaries such remarkable diversity, both cultural and physical, that a thorough tour taking in everything from the arid deserts of the south to the brisk, verdant terrain bordering Washington State might not feel too dissimilar to a round the world trip.

We've compiled a summary of three of our favourite cities in the hope of providing some sort of entree into this mind bogglingly varied nation:

San Francisco
There can be few more immediately pleasant cities to visit than San Francisco. With its picturesque bay views (completed, of course, by the imposingly iconic Golden Gate ...
... Bridge), it's pleasingly relaxed vibe and the fact that, particularly when compared with the inaccessible sprawl of LA, San Fran is surprisingly compact and easy to take in, it's not hard to see why ‘Baghdad by the Bay' is such a popular tourist destination.

In fact San Francisco is pretty close to being the complete package, combining natural beauty, diverse period architecture, an idiosyncratic cultural scene and an intriguing history, and all with an easy grace that it is hard not to be charmed by. The city is not short of big draws - the aforementioned Golden Gate Bridge, the ever popular Alcatraz tours and the tourist magnet that is Fisherman's Wharf - but once you've got these out of the way you'll find that San Francisco's real magic is best experienced away from this altogether too frantic tourist trail.

Miami
Think of Miami and one thing inevitably springs to mind - partying. And yes, however reductive a summary of this city's many redeeming qualities it may be, there can be no denying that Miami has long been, and continues to be, party central.

Nestled at the south east tip of Florida, Miami is the sun dazed repository for all of America's most gaudily decadent and downright hedonistic inclinations. There really is nowhere better suited to letting your hair down and revelling amidst a hazily glamorous mirage of cool Art Deco architecture, unabashedly brazen displays of wealth and the feisty rhythms of Latino culture.

Miami is, unapologetically, a good time city and whilst at times the stark juxtaposition of beautiful people spending a lot of money with the genuine poverty that often accompanies recent immigration might be hard to take, that's Miami for you - a sultry, vibrant melting pot surrounded by swampland and ocean that might be a bit, well, crazy but remains a vital and utterly unique expression of the American dream.

Seattle
Seattle seemed suddenly to appear on everyone's cultural radar at some point in the nineties; there was grunge of course, it's iconic figurehead Kurt Cobain in particular, there was Starbucks and its (soon to invade every high street in the developed world) version of coffee culture, there was Bill Gates and the commodification of vaguely hippyish values. All this somehow became part of the Seattle brand, a brand it must be said that has endured and proliferated pretty well over the last 15 years or so. Grunge excepted of course.

However influential Seattle has been it‘s never really joined the frontline of American tourist destinations, perhaps because this ‘brand' has been so successful that aspects of it have sprouted up in everyone's hometown. Maybe it's time to discover what Seattle's really all about.

The first thing to realise about Seattle is that much of its appeal lies in the natural beauty of its setting; the city is surrounded by rugged, mountainous splendour and broad expanses of water and this proximity to the great outdoors has lent Seattle and it's Gore Tex favouring citizens something of an outdoorsy vibe. Indeed, if you like the idea of holiday that combines time spent exploring a thriving modern city with a chance to get out and discover some of North West America's exhilarating natural scenery then there really is nowhere better to base yourself.

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