Visiting America: When to Come, Where to Go

The most basic decisions about coming to visit the U.S. are:

• When to come
• Where in the country to go

These are personal decisions to make based on your own interests.

Won't See It All

You must start out understand -- you won't be able to see it all. There are distinct regions in the country. Places to go might include:

• Florida. Sunshine, beaches, etc. Good weather year round. I don't know if people go swimming in the winter months, but I've been swimming and SCUBA diving there in November.
• East coast. Washington DC, New York, Boston. Museums, restaurants and live theater and the top draws here.
• New England. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont. Beautiful countryside. Access to Boston or places like Cape Cod or Martha's Vineyard. Mountains for some skiing in the winter.
• Upper Midwest especially Minnesota, Wisconsin and portions of Michigan. A variety of year round outdoor activities. Cold winters, warm (sometimes hot) summers.
• Rocky Mountains. Portions of Montana, Colorado, Nevada, Utah. Skiing in the winter. Hiking and beautiful sites in the summer.
• California. Divide California into two pieces -- the Bay Area around San Francisco Bay and Southern California near Los Angeles and San Diego.
• Hawaii. Year round beautiful.
• Alaska. An amazing place. Probably too cold for most people in the winter. Magical in the summer.

For distances, remember we're huge, about 2.5 times the size of western Europe. From St. Paul, it's 2000 miles to San Francisco. New York City is 1100 miles. Miami is 1800 miles. Dallas is 1000 miles. Minnesota is 250 miles wide and 400 miles tall, encompassing 87,000 square miles or 225,000 square kilometers. You can drive to Florida -- people do it all the time. But with stops, it's about 26 hours drive time to Fort Myers or 30 hours to Key West.

Where To Go

You must decide why you're coming to the US. If it's to visit people, then that defines where you're going. If you want beaches, then Florida is the obvious destination. The most interesting tourist places are on the east coast, especially Washington DC, and San Francisco.

When to Go

This depends on what you want to do. If you want to go swimming, don't go to Minnesota in January. Outdoor swimming season is 3 months long, June, July and August, and the water in early June can still be very chilly.

If you look at the left side in the navigation area, you'll see where I talk about the available activities in Minnesota in winter and summer.