2026 Visit USA Travel Planner Highlights

2026

VISIT USA TRAVEL PLANNER

Create your USA experience

BUCKET LIST USA

PETER ELLEGARD

Take a helicopter tour from Las Vegas to land in the Grand Canyon for a Champagne breakfast.

From natural wonders to iconic man-made structures, iconic 'must do' experiences are found in every U.S. state ADD THESE TO YOUR DREAM LIST

PETER ELLEGARD

Soar high on a tandem hang-gliding flight or learn to hang-glide on your own where the Wright Brothers first flew in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Feel the raw power of Niagara Falls as you stand on the edge of the thundering torrent.

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BUCKET LIST USA

Catch the autumn spectacle of Alaskan brown bears feasting on sockeye salmon as they leap up waterfalls in Katmai National Park’s Brooks River to fatten up for winter.

Rent a bike and cycle across San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge . Catch the Sausalito ferry back to Pier 41at Fisherman's Wharf.

MOS SUKJAROENKRAISRI/UNSPLASH

Be awed by the eruptions of Yellowstone National Park’s famous geyser, Old Faithful.

JULIENNE SCHAER – NYC TOURISM + CONVENTIONS

Climb 162 steps to the top of the Statue of Liberty’s crown and gaze over New York Harbour and the Manhattan skyline.

PETER ELLEGARD

Witness a breathtaking sunset and go stargazing from the 14,000-foot high summit of Hawaii’s tallest peak, the dormant volcano Mauna Kea.

KITTY HAWK KITES

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WORLD CUP 2026

The final

countdown

Eleven U.S. cities will play host to the 2026 World Cup, which will be staged from June 11 to July 19

VISIT KC

SAN FRANCISCO AND LOS ANGELES The California duo will stage 14 World Cup matches between them. Los Angeles hosted the 1994 World Cup final at the Pasadena Rose Bowl but this time the futuristic Los Angeles Stadium (SoFi Stadium), which opened in 2020, will be the venue for games that include the U.S. team's first match, against Paraguay, on June 12. The city is promising 39 days of fan engagement events. The San Francisco Bay Area Stadium (Levi's Stadium) in Santa Clara will host six matches. DALLAS The largest of all the U.S. World Cup venues, Dallas Stadium (AT&T Stadium) has room for 94,000 and its ultra-modern design incorporates an opening roof. The home of the Dallas Cowboys, it will host eight group games – including England v Croatia on June 17 – knockout matches and a semi-final. KANSAS CITY Known as the “soccer capital of America”, the Kansas City metropolitan area straddles

Fan parks and special events in the U.S. host cities will ensure even those who don’t get tickets to matches can join the fun. ATLANTA Atlanta Stadium – renamed from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the World Cup – and its retractable roof claims to be the world’s most sustainable stadium. It hosted five matches of FIFA's new Club World Cup in 2025 and will stage eight World Cup matches in 2026, including a semi-final. Downtown’s Centennial Olympic Park will be transformed into a FIFA Fan Festival, with activities, entertainment and match screenings. PHILADELPHIA Fittingly, the City of Brotherly Love’s final World Cup match of the six being played at Philadelphia Stadium (Lincoln Financial Field) will be on the July 4, exactly 250 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed at Pennsylvania State House, now called Independence Hall. Throughout the tournament, the FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park will attract up to 20,000 each day, with giant TV screens, food and drink, music, cultural events and parties.

Houston Stadium, home of the popular Houston Rodeo every March, will host five group games and two knock-out matches

the Missouri-Kansas state line, attracting sports fans from both states. Expect the six World Cup

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WORLD CUP 2026

PICTURED Main image: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City. Below: The World Cup trophy; Opposite page: Beach soccer in Miami; Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia; Let's play ball!

SPARK

World Cup events in various locations across host city Seattle will include fan zones, watch parties, concerts, beer gardens and food trucks

VISIT PHILADELPHIA

matches at the open-air Kansas City Stadium (Arrowhead Stadium) to be raucous; it has been certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s loudest outdoor sports venue, for the record-breaking 142.2 decibels recorded when NFL team Kansas City Chiefs played the New England Patriots in 2014. BOSTON Seven matches will be played at Boston Stadium (Gillette Stadium) located in Foxborough just south of the city. These include the England v Ghana group match on June 23. Scotland also play two of their group matches in the city: against Haiti on June 13 and Morocco on June 19. The stadium has a new signature 22-story lighthouse with a 360-degree observation deck that is open year-round to visitors. MIAMI The FIFA Fan Festival in Miami will be a family-friendly event bringing the tournament to life across the city with live match broadcasts, entertainment, music, food, and interactive fan experiences. Miami Stadium will stage seven World Cup games including Scotland v Brazil on June 24, a quarter final

and the "bronze final" between the losing semi-finalists. The stadium, a regular Super Bowl host, is the home of the Miami Dolphins. NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY The World Cup Final will be played on July 19 in front of more than 80,000 fans at the New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It will also host seven other matches – including the England v Panama group match on June 27. The temporarily renamed MetLife Stadium is the home ground of NFL teams the New York Giants and New York Jets.

MEET BOSTON

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ROUTE 66

The mother

of all roads

America’s most famous road turns 100 in November 2026 and the eight states it runs through are planning festivals, car parades and a host of other festivities

NEW MEXICO TRUE

Enjoy car museums, attractions, oddities and events on the Mother Road’s 2,500 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica. BIRTHDAY PARTIES Centenary celebrations in 2026 are planned in all eight of the states Route 66 passes through. National Kick-Off events in five cities include a concert in Springfield, Missouri, on April 30 with top artists, to mark the 100th anniversary of a telegram sent from Springfield to the U.S. Highway Commission requesting the new cross-country road be named Route 66. It also stages the annual Birthplace of Route 66 Festival in August. Springfield, Illinois, will hold its 25th annual International Route 66 Mother Road Festival in September. In June, Tulsa, Oklahoma, will host the AAA Route 66 Road Fest, dubbed the “Mother of All Road Fests”. STOP BY A MUSEUM Many museums dot the road’s length. The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, the state’s official Route 66 showcase, displays period vehicles and themed music-filled exhibit rooms, while the National Route 66 Museum in the state’s Elk City celebrates the

people who lived, worked and travelled along the road. New Mexico’s Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa and Tucumcari Route 66 Museum has collections of classic cars and memorabilia. Other facilities include the Arizona Route 66 Museum in Kingman, the Texas Route 66 Museum in McLean, the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac and the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville. CAR-RAZY Roadside Americana doesn’t come much wackier than along the Mother Road. The Cadillac Ranch is an art installation outside Amarillo, Texas, featuring 10 half buried old Cadillacs. Other Route 66 oddities include Oklahoma’s giant Blue Whale in Catoosa, Tulsa’s 76-foot-tall Golden Driller statue – the official state monument – the world’s tallest petrol pump at the Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum in

CADILLAC RANCH

The longest urban stretch of Route 66 is in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A new visitor centre has a gift shop

Sapulpa, and roadside fibreglass sculptures called “Muffler Men”

at the American Giant Museum in Atlanta, Illinois.

route66centennial.org

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ROUTE 66

PICTURED Main image: Swallow Motel. Bottom: Cadillac Ranch. Top right: Classical Gas Museum. Middle right: Imperial Motel;

Bottom right: Route 66 Museum, Oklahoma.

NEW MEXICO TRUE

The Route 66 Centennial Great Race, a nine-day cross-country rally from Illinois to California for vintage cars, will take place in June 2026

NEW MEXICO TOURISM DEPARTMENT

IT’S A GAS Several gas (petrol) stations from the heyday of Route 66 still survive. Preserved examples can be found in Shamrock, Texas, where the Art Deco 1936 Conoco gas station landmark is topped by a tall tower, at Embudo’s Classical Gas Museum in New Mexico and at Ranch Cucamonga in California, where the vivid yellow Cucamonga Service Station has been restored to its original look. DINE IN STYLE Get your snacks on Route 66 in original diners and restaurants converted from iconic buildings from its prime. In Illinois, feast on pancakes and breakfasts at Lou Mitchell’s, by the road’s starting point in Chicago, and dine among historic memorabilia at Ariston Café in Litchfield, both of which predate the road’s opening. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, eat at 66 Diner, which started out in 1945 as a service station, and El Camino Dining Room, which has served customers for 75 years. And visit the Monarch Pharmacy & Soda Fountain in Baxter Springs, Kansas, and a former gas station, Cruiser’s Café 66, in Williams, Arizona.

MOTEL MAGIC Nothing shouts Route 66 more than its iconic roadside motels with their with neon signs. These include New Mexico quartet the Blue Swallow (Tucumcari), Hotel El Rancho (Gallup) and Albuquerque’s Imperial and Monterey motels, the Lincoln Motel in Chandler, Oklahoma; the Route 66 Motel in Barstow, California; and the oldest continuously operated motel on Route 66, the restored Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri. Sleep in tepee-style rooms at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

OKLAHOMA

TOURISM &

RECREATION

DEPARTMENT

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