Written by JOHN GARRY
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With a distinctly European flavor, visiting one of these destinations in the USA will make you feel like you’re thousands of miles away from home, even if you’re only traveling for a few hours.
The beer is Bavarian. The timber-framed buildings are Bavarian. Even the seasonal celebrations, like Oktoberfest, are Bavarian. The only thing not Bavarian about Leavenworth is its location.
But the surrounding Cascade Range looks similar to the Bavarian Alps. The mimicry is intentional. In the 1960s, after economic turmoil, Leavenworth decided to reinvent itself as a tourist magnet.
The community worked together to model itself after the mountain villages found outside Munich. Their plan worked. Today, Leavenworth draws millions looking for a kitschy slice of German life.
From redwood forests to sun-kissed sands, the Pacific Coast Highway snakes its way through tiny beach towns and along dramatic cliffs matched only by the drive from Dubrovnik to Split in Croatia.
This rite-of-passage road trip unfolds like a fairytale. Big Sur's rugged shores and hiking trails give way to San Simeon, where Hearst Castle rises like a mirage from the ocean's summertime fog.
Exciting though these architectural sites may be, don't forget to keep your eyes on the road – the best views on the PCH are the ones outside your windshield.
Rhode Island's ritziest summer escape boasts enough Gilded Age glamour to give Louis XIV a run for his money.
In the 1850s, American business tycoons started building palatial summer cottages in Newport, inspired by the Beaux-Arts mansions, Italian Renaissance villas and Elizabethan manor houses of Europe.
Today, Bellevue Avenue – the street where the elite built their vacation homes – feels like the American answer to Versailles.
Old World opulence isn't Newport's only jaw-dropping feature. The city has a waterfront cliff walk reminiscent of the French Riviera and a fleet of yachts large enough to make Cannes feel quaint.