Top things to do

Whether you're mildly interested in space or a die-hard sci-fi fan, a visit to the Space Center is awe inspiring. To get a good overview, start at the Early Space Exploration exhibit, progress to the 90-minute bus t…

One of the world’s most renowned green spaces, Central Park spreads across 843 acres of rolling meadows, boulder-studded outcroppings, elm-lined walkways, manicured European-style gardens, a lake and a reservoir — n…

Saguaros (sah-wah-ros) are icons of the American Southwest, and an entire cactus army of these majestic, ribbed sentinels is protected in this desert playground. Or, more precisely, playgrounds: the park is divided …

With their massive stature and multi-millennium maturity, the chunky high-rise sequoias of Mariposa Grove will make you feel rather insignificant. The largest grove of giant sequoias in the park, Mariposa is home to…

This sprawling encyclopedic museum, founded in 1870, houses one of the largest art collections in the world. Its permanent collection has more than two million individual objects, from Egyptian temples to American p…

When San Franciscans refer to 'the park,' there's only one that gets the definite article: Golden Gate Park. Everything San Franciscans hold dear is here: free spirits, free music, redwoods, Frisbee, protests, fine …

This stark arrangement of gleaming Modernist temples house some of Manhattan’s most important performance companies: the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet and the iconic Metropolitan Opera House, whose…

One of the most spectacular national parks in the country, Shenandoah is like a new smile from nature: in spring and summer the wildflowers explode, in fall the leaves burn bright red and orange, and in winter a col…

The 66-acre winter estate of railroad, real-estate and circus baron John Ringling and his wife, Mable, is one of the Gulf Coast’s premier attractions and incorporates their personal collection of artworks in what is…

Completed in 1913, Grand Central Terminal – more commonly, if technically incorrectly, called Grand Central Station – is one of New York’s beaux-arts beauties. Adorned with Tennessee-marble floors and Italian-marble…