If you’re a traveler, you’re lucky. You know the secret.
You know that travel heals. Travel uplifts. As long as the world still goes round, travelers can reset their minds and hearts simply by traveling somewhere else and immersing themselves in someone else’s methods for going through life.
In 2026, there are mindset reboots to be found at many ends of many roads. Some of them we will all be exposed to news about: Milano Cortina in Italy will host the Winter Games of the Olympics, Barcelona will commemorate the centenary of Antoni Gaudí's death, and the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will gather soccer fans from around the world for the FIFA World Cup.
But for this new edition of our eagerly awaited annual Where to Go list, Frommer’s editors and contributors from around the globe have chosen places that you might not have otherwise considered for your own adventure through 2026. Each destination is marking a milestone, honoring traditions that predate all of us, or garnering attention for the first time. Even in a moment of uncertainty, they are evolving.
If your mindset needs a reboot, do what travelers do: Climb out of your usual circular thinking and seek a reset at the end of a journey. We live in a wide world with more than one way of doing things. Plug into enduring truths of humankind and renovate your perspective at one of our 2026 Best Places to Go destinations.
In no particular order, our Best Places to Go in 2026:
Chicago, Illinois
The big news in the City of the Big Shoulders is the long-awaited debut of the Obama Presidential Center, slated to open in June. The 19-acre, multifaceted complex is located in Jackson Park, a South Side green space on the shores of Lake Michigan. The new center dedicated to the 44th president includes a monumental museum that tells the stories of Barack and Michelle Obama and delves into a larger discussion of democracy. (There’s also an NBA-size basketball court onsite.)
Speaking of notable buildings, the birthplace of the modern skyscraper boasts numerous influential structures, and the Chicago Architecture Biennial makes a good excuse to check them out. The free architecture-and-design exhibition runs through the end of February.
In the spring, Chicago will be the host city for UNESCO’s International Jazz Day 2026, when Windy City native Herbie Hancock will lead a concert on April 30. If you miss it, catch a set at the Green Mill in Uptown or any other iconic jazz venue in town (take your pick).
Also in spring 2026, the historic McCormick Mansion in the Gold Coast on the Near North Side will complete its transformation—presto chango!—into The Hand & The Eye, the Midwest's answer to California's Magic Castle. Billed as the world’s largest magic venue, there'll be multiple spaces across several floors for close-up prestidigitation as well as bars and a restaurant.
Finally, Route 66 celebrates its centennial in 2026. Get your kicks on the iconic roadway in Chicago, the easternmost terminus. Recently installed signage helps lead the way as you motor west. Drive the entire 2,448-mile route and you’ll end up at the pier in Santa Monica, California. —Lori Rackl
Jasper, Alberta, Canada
Alberta’s Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies is making an appealing pitch to visitors as the region continues to recover from a destructive wildfire in summer 2024. Come for the pristine landscape of startlingly blue lakes and forested peaks that remain unharmed and as screensaver-ready as ever. Stick around to witness a natural comeback in damaged areas undergoing dramatic transformation.
Since the park's reopening for tourism, Parks Canada and local operators such as SunDog Tour Co. and Jasper Tour Company have seized the opportunity to enlighten visitors on fire ecology with new programming and guided hikes to illustrate the adaptations of wildlife to such disasters as well as the emergence of scrappy, fresh-growth flora. As environmental dangers grow ever-more severe around the world, Jasper is giving visitors a firsthand sense of nature’s resilience and renewal—and our responsibility to protect it.
To see the region’s recovery from a more elevated vantage, you can ride the rails on the new-in-2026 “Passage to the Peaks” route from luxury train company Rocky Mountaineer. Scheduled for June and July only, the journey between Jasper and Banff is the sole Rocky Mountaineer offering that remains entirely in the Canadian Rockies, skipping the West Coast for travelers hoping to avoid the crowds of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Vancouver.
Opt for an extension to the Jasper portion of the trip and you can witness wonders such as the Columbia Icefield (see above), a vast glacial expanse that makes another awe-inspiring argument for conservation. —Zac Thompson
Viti Levu, Fiji
Fiji's remote isles have long captured the popular imagination (The Blue Lagoon and Survivor, anyone?), though the nation's visitor numbers have remained low compared with other Pacific island destinations—a blessing in this age of overtourism. That may be soon changing, however, thanks to new and better airlift: Fiji Airways flies to Nadi from Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and now Dallas/Fort Worth, and Honolulu.
So now it's easier to go, and we recommend the main island of Viti Levu for easy access to unique landscapes and cultural experiences, including sampling the vibrant Indo-Fijian culture, that you don’t find elsewhere.
From the main airport of Nadi, it’s a short drive south to the colorful spires of Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple, the largest Hindu temple in the Pacific, en route to Natadola Bay, where there are lovely beach resorts, and guests can take part in programs that help preserve the local environment and learn about Indo-Fijian culture (at the InterContinental Fiji, for example, guests can plant coral and take curry cooking classes). In nearby Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park, look for ancient pottery shards in the sand and native birds in its dry forest. Travel by jetboat on the Sigatoka River Safari to one of 18 villages for a traditional kava ceremony, lunch, and meke (dance), or ride an ATV in the new Off-Road Cave Safari, which takes you inside the historic natural fortress of Naihehe Cave.
Clustered north of Nadi are the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, home to more than 1,000 varieties of orchids and native plants; the Sabeto Hotsprings Mudpool, a fun (and allegedly therapeutic) reason to get down and dirty; and the retail outlet Rise Beyond the Reef, which sources beautiful crafts from women artisans all over Fiji.
A scenic and inexpensive 30-minute flight from Nadi to Suva, the capital city typically bypassed by tourists, allows you to learn more about Fiji’s indigenous people and the British colonial era that brought Indian and Chinese immigrants. Visit local fruit and spice markets and the updated Fiji Museum on one of poet Peter Sipeli’s fascinating guided walking tours, then savor an elegant afternoon tea overlooking the harbor at the 111-year-old Grand Pacific Hotel. — Jeanne Cooper
Oulu, Finland
Oulu’s primary claim to fame? It has hosted the Air Guitar World Championships since 1996 (see above). This year, though, the quirky Arctic Circle–adjacent city is planning an even bigger party than that gloriously silly spectacle of pretend shredding. For all of 2026, Oulu will be one of two European Capitals of Culture, as designated by the European Union. (The other is Trenčín, Slovakia).
Since 1985, the EU has chosen one or two places per year for this eminently travel-worthy event, for which creatives from an array of disciplines—opera, visual art, dance, theater, and so on—debut a year’s worth of new works created around a theme selected by the destination—Oulu went with the vaguely future-focused idea of “Cultural Climate Change”. More compelling than the given theme, though, is the EU’s move, since 1990, to pick lesser-known destinations as culture capitals, using the event to introduce the charms of unheralded cities and regions to a wider audience.
Oulu’s year in the spotlight should be an electric one. To name just a few of the entries on the packed schedule: There will be world-class visual arts exhibits from the Finnish National Gallery and Fotografiska Tallin, as well as Lumo Art & Tech fest, a 10-day light-and-sound extravaganza incorporating cutting-edge technology.
An Arctic Food Lab will highlight Northern Finland’s culinary trends and the challenges of farming in this harsh region. And, most intriguingly, many works will explore the culture and history of Finland’s Indigenous Sámi people, of whom approximately 1,000 live in Oulu. Offerings include an original opera, Ovllá, that explores generational trauma from a Sámi perspective.
When you need a breather from all the art, some of Finland’s most spectacular nature areas await just outside the city. In North Ostrobothnia, as the region is called, you can go fat-tire biking on the frozen sea, set out on an excursion for moose or the Northern Lights, go on a reindeer sled ride, or traverse old-growth forests on cross-country skis or snowshoes.
As for the Air Guitar World Championships, those will be held in Oulu August 25–29. Fortunately for travelers, an air guitar takes up very little space in a carry-on. —Pauline Frommer
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina, has been in comeback mode since Hurricane Helene swept through in 2024. The ongoing revival will be on full display in 2026 in the Blue Ridge Mountains destination known for its outdoorsy and creative sides.
Among the signs of recovery: Chimney Rock State Park has reopened, Asheville Regional Airport completed the first phase of a $400 million expansion, and more than half of the artists and other makers in the hard-hit River Arts District have returned to their galleries and studios. Only a fraction of the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed due to storm damage, and the rest is expected to reopen by fall 2026.
Hotels like Peri Social House, The Radical, and Grand Bohemian Lodge Asheville have resumed welcoming guests, and there are intriguing new developments in the works, such as the Artful Way Hotel, designed and decorated by local architects and artists in the River Arts District. Additionally, this foodie city has new dining spots like Crusco, a continuation of the legacy of the much-missed Italian institution Cucina 24 and its chef Brian Canipelli, who died suddenly in February 2025.
Come spring, things will get even brighter in Asheville with the debut of the Luminere experience at Biltmore Estate. The new evening spectacle will use the imposing historic property and its gardens as a canvas to tell the story of the place with projections, music, and shimmering waves of color. —Beth Luberecki
Algarve, Portugal
With its balmy climate and 125 miles of beaches, Portugal’s southern Algarve region has attracted European sunseekers for decades. Now, direct transatlantic flights into the regional capital of Faro are making it easier for North Americans to enjoy the sandy coastline, superlative seafood, and a rich cultural heritage featuring Moorish fortresses, gold-lined baroque churches, and the clifftop launchpad of Portugal’s voyages of discovery.
In 2026, Faro’s museum, housed among the arcaded cloisters of a 16th-century convent, will host works from Portugal’s greatest collection of Old Master paintings while the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon is closed for refurbishing. Visitors to the gleaming white lagoon-side town of Tavira can hear top Portuguese musical acts at a newly reopened theatre, while July’s Afro Nation festival will rock Praia da Rocha beach with what promises to be the world’s biggest festival of Afrobeats music. A few new hotel openings are also on the horizon.
Getting around will be faster and more comfortable by early 2026 when modernization is completed (hopefully) of the picturesque linha do Algarve (Algarve train line) that chugs through dunes, salt marshes, and orange groves to link towns along the coast. —Paul Ames
Adelaide, Australia
We know what you need right now. You need a getaway at the edge of the world that’s as far from the madness as you can get. Australia is a country that’s already perceived as being at the far end of the planet, but even people from Sydney or Melbourne consider Adelaide, South Australia, to be out-of-the-way.
Imagine a city with a Mediterranean climate (mild winters, hot and dry summers) where a gourmet food hall dating to Victorian times, Adelaide Central Market, is the top tourist attraction, and art and expression are core values. The Adelaide Fringe arts festival, mounted in the Aussie late summer of February and March, is the world’s second-largest, and in 2025, the Tarnanthi festival marked its 10-year rise from a one-off event to an annual movement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.
When you’re exploring Adelaide’s avenues and colonial history, clean and swimmable beaches are just 20 minutes away, and 20 minutes in another direction, you’re exploring rustic hill towns where fine organic ingredients are grown and flocks of sheep still stop traffic.
Some of the continent’s oldest wine regions, like the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, are also ripe for the tasting nearby.
A 45-minute ferry ride west, the aptly named Kangaroo Island, Australia’s third-largest island (also teeming with koalas, Tammar wallabies, and echidnas) makes your removal from the grid complete. KI’s disconnection from both Wi-Fi and class pretensions suits vacationers of every economic bracket—there’s something egalitarian about fishing for whitefish and hand-catching giant crayfish in a secluded sapphire cove you could only find by boat. The western half of the island, walloped by bush fires in 2020, is green and growing again, and golfers are staking out their slice of the isolation. In 2026, the US$13 million The Cliffs Kangaroo Island opens after navigating nearly a decade of stringent technical and regulatory hurdles to bring an environmentally sustainable golf resort to the getaway’s ancient dunes and promontories.
All this solitude and good living used to be laborious to reach from North America, but in December 2025, Adelaide gets its first-ever direct flight from the United States as United Airlines starts service from San Francisco. When you’re in Adelaide, you’re as far away from the lunacy back home as you could be without a spacesuit. — Jason Cochran
Patagonia Azul, Argentina
This isn’t the Patagonia of arid steppes, imposing glaciers, and desert mountain ranges. Patagonia Azul is a coastal stretch along the South Atlantic Ocean, a remote and rugged marine environment teeming with biodiversity across its islands, bays, and coves.
As of April 2025, the local government designated more than 700,000 acres of the region as the country’s newest nature preserve, Patagonia Azul Provincial Park. According to Rewilding Argentina, the nonprofit that donated much of the land and is helping to develop the project, the park—a first for its home province of Chubut—protects an area roughly the size of Yosemite National Park while supplying thrilling new opportunities for low-impact ecotourism.
To get an idea of just how rich the wildlife is on the park’s rocky beaches and sixtysomething isles, consider that some observers have called this the “Galápagos of Argentina.” Whales, dolphins, sea lions, penguins, petrels, and cormorants all converge here, as well as less familiar, intriguingly named species of birds and mammals, including the Chubut steamer duck, the ruddy-headed goose, and the Patagonian mara, which looks like a cross between a rabbit and a capybara.
Staying at one of the park’s two onsite lodges puts those critters and more within reach, via boat trips, guided tours, and vigorous activities such as diving in kelp forests, surfing in the bays, and mountain biking between historic gateway towns. More hiking trails, campsites, and other visitor facilities are on the way. Go now to keep things between just you and the penguins. —Zac Thompson
Vienna, Austria
Culture vultures can count on a full dance card in Austria’s capital in 2026 when this former imperial city celebrates a slew of milestones and hosts several noteworthy arts events.
Austria’s national performance house, the Burgtheater (see below), toasts its 250th season through June with special shows, anniversary exhibits, and guided tours that give visitors an up-close look at Gustav Klimt’s ceiling paintings. That same month, the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art will reopen after a lengthy renovation, and Central Europe’s largest Pride Parade will make its way around the regal Ringstrasse boulevard for the 30th time.
As ever, top-notch classical music is as easy to find here as schnitzel and strudel. Events kick off right away with the waltzes and polkas of the Vienna Philharmonic’s beloved New Year’s Concert, under the baton of star conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin for the first time. From there the schedule doesn’t let up, with performances in concert halls, churches, palaces, and, in summer, outdoor spaces such as public squares and the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace.
Music lovers will want to take note as well of the highly entertaining Johann Strauss New Dimensions museum, a permanent exhibit recently unveiled in the city center to mark the Waltz King’s 200th birthday in 2025. The 75-minute multimedia experience takes you through a seven-act interactive journey through the life of the composer and violinist dubbed by some as the world’s first pop star. —Lori Rackl
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Brimming with historic bathhouses, gangster lore, and a unique national park, Hot Springs is well worth a spot on your travel wish list. The Central Arkansas destination about an hour’s drive west of Little Rock has a colorful past, thanks largely to the city’s eponymous natural springs and the spas, famous (and infamous) visitors, and quirky traditions the thermal features have attracted over the years.
This is a place where you can stay at a hotel once favored by mobster Al Capone (the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa) or attend the World Championship Running of the Tubs, an annual event (see above, held in early June) involving teams racing elaborately decorated, water-filled bathtubs down Central Avenue.
Though situated in the state’s scenic Ouachita Mountains, Hot Springs National Park is the rare example from the National Park System where the most interesting attractions are indoors. At the park’s historic bathhouses, dating back to the late 1800s, you can soak in the mineral-rich waters or book old-school treatments, such as sitting for a spell inside a steam cabinet.
Nearby you’ll find the Superior Bathhouse Brewery, a 109-year-old former bathhouse that now holds the distinction of being the only brewery inside a U.S. national park. The beer is made using thermal water at a piping-hot 143 degrees Fahrenheit (62 Celsius). After enjoying a stout or IPA on the patio, stroll through the nearby 210-acre Garvan Woodland Gardens, where a timber-and-glass chapel has fanciful Lord of the Rings vibes. — Sarah Sekula
Palawan, Philippines
In 2026, a new seaside rom-com pairing two actors from the Star Wars franchise—Daisy Ridley, who played Rey in the sequel trilogy (2015–19) and Alden Ehrenreich, who played Han Solo in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story—could create a new star right here in this galaxy: Palawan, the stunning spot where the film was made.
The new movie, named The Last Resort (coming in February), shines a Hollywood spotlight on this photogenic but up-to-now often overlooked province in the Philippines. The Southeast Asian island country’s westernmost province, Palawan serves as the film’s backdrop, but don’t be surprised if the spectacular shooting locations upstage the cast.
The Palawan archipelago is made up of nearly 1,800 coral-fringed isles and islets offering untold wonders for snorkelers, divers, beachgoers, spelunkers, and island hoppers. The province’s biggest island, also called Palawan, has plenty to see and do for all of those types of visitors, plus unique natural landmarks such as Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where imposing limestone karst cliffs conceal dramatic caves you can explore via boat tours on an underground river.
Though airfare to the Philippines from North America can get pricey, costs for accommodations and other expenses once you get there are often pretty affordable. Travelers with Hollywood-size budgets, though, can splash the cash for private island stays at luxury resorts such as the newly spruced-up Lagen Island. —Tamara Hinson
Peru
Peruvians fondly refer to their country as costa, sierra, y selva, “coast, mountains, and jungle.” But the lion’s share of international visitors who come to Peru concentrate only on the mountains, specifically the cloud-scraping ancient city ruin of Machu Picchu. That’s led to serious overtourism, and just as worrying for visitors, a number of political protests in recent years have periodically cut off rail transportation to this tourism juggernaut.
Truth is, there are other sights in Peru as compelling as Machu Picchu but far less visited, like Peñico, a city built in 1800 BCE. Peñico's ruins only opened to the public in July of 2025, so if you head there in 2026, you’ll be among the first non-archeologists to see it.
The fortified citadel of Kuélap is another strong alternative to Machu Picchu; this city from around 500 AD sits in the cloud forest in the northern sierra. It was built by the Chachapoya, the mountain people who were called the Warriors of the Clouds for their fierce resistance to the Inca in the 1470s. Arrival is by gondola, and around the ruins, birdwatchers come to spot the aptly-named Marvelous Spatuletail hummingbird, an endemic species.
In the southern sierra, visitors get a taste of contemporary and ancient cultures when they visit artist workshops in Ayacucho and the nearby ruins left by the Wari, who ruled this part of the Andes from 500–900 AD.
More Peruvian adventures? Those curious about the new Pope Leo XIV, can go to Chiclayo, where he was named bishop in 2015. Beachgoers can surf a reed craft called caballito de totora in Huanchaco, where the Mochica began surfing around 1500 BCE. Fans of ancient mysteries can fly over the Nasca Lines, massive figures carved into the desert.
About 60% of Peru is rainforest with astounding biodiversity. Eco-lodge and river cruise tours can show you pink dolphins, sloths, 52 species of monkeys, and more species of birds than you could track in a lifetime. — Heather Jasper
Albuquerque, New Mexico
In Albuquerque in April 2026, more than 3,000 Native American and Indigenous dancers from 800 U.S. and Canadian tribes, wearing buckskin, headdresses, and elaborate shawls, will spiral their way into a vast arena to the beat of 30 traditional drum groups and the applause of 100,000 onlookers. The spectacle is the Grand Opening of the 43rd Gathering of Nations—and the last dance, so to speak, as this is the final year the Gathering will take place and your last chance to attend America’s biggest powwow. Also on the weekend-long agenda are dancing and music performances, a horse-and-rider parade, and an Indian Traders Market showcasing Indigenous arts and crafts.
Can’t make it in April? You can still learn about indigenous culture at Albuquerque’s Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, where the history and traditions of New Mexico’s 19 Pueblo Indian communities are upheld. Then head 60 miles west to Acoma Pueblo, also known as Sky City. Founded around 1250, this stunning adobe village set high atop a sheer-faced mesa is the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America.
And powwow enthusiasts mourning the loss of the big Albuquerque event can take heart: Hundreds of smaller powwows take place across the United States each year, even in New York City in June—to keep up with them, check out https://calendar.powwows.com. — Stephen Brewer
Kruger National Park, South Africa
South Africa’s largest national park turns 100 in 2026. Not that you need an excuse to visit—its beauty isn’t just the diversity of its wildlife, but its accessibility. Kruger is one of the most popular national parks in Africa for self-drive safaris, with a clearly marked network of well-maintained roads that any rental car handle and two camps solely for visitors who are camping or driving their own camper vans. As for the benefits of this approach? More flexibility, to begin with—you’ll never be dragged away from a sighting because a passenger in your Jeep is desperate to get back to their lodge for afternoon tea. You’ll also be able to stay in the park for longer—you’ll simply need to be inside your camp gates before dark.
Taking this approach is much cheaper than private safaris elsewhere: Kruger's daily entry fees for self-drive visitors stand at just $30 a day, and you’ll pay as little as $21 for a campsite plot, while accommodation (the cheapest of which is bungalows) starts from around $92 a night. Given that prices for game reserve-based safari packages start at around $400 a day and can cost much, much more (a one-night stay at the luxurious Klaserie Drift Safari Camp, for example, starts at around $1,617), it’s easy to see why Kruger is such a hit with budget travelers.
Finally, don’t be surprised if the park has a name change soon. Prior to its proclamation as a national park in 1926, Kruger was known as Sabi Game Reserve, and local politicians want its original moniker to be reinstated. — Tamara Hinson
Costa Navarino, Greece
Forget the overcrowded isles of Mykonos and Santorini. This year, a spot on the Greek mainland is having a moment. The reason: Costa Navarino, a luxury resort development encompassing several hotels, restaurants, and other facilities in Messinia, located in the country’s southwest Peloponnese peninsula.
The area, accessible by flights from Europe and by ferry from Italy, has the perfect combo of fine dining, uncrowded beaches, and rooftop pools. Plus, there’s easy access to hiking, secluded waterfalls, rock climbing, and mountain biking. Best of all, you don’t have to compete for all of that with hordes of tourists.
Not yet, that is. The up-to-now under-the-radar beauty will snag the limelight in July 2026, when Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey hits cinemas. Parts of the movie, starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, and Zendaya, were filmed here, so plan your visit to get a jump on set-jetting fans.
Pickleball and tennis players will appreciate the clay courts and Ionian sea views at Costa Navarino’s new Mouratoglou Tennis Center, opening in 2026. An upgraded culinary program at the W Costa Navarino hotel is led by Nikos Billis, an executive chef with a Michelin-starred pedigree. And a new scenic tour delves into Mycenaean history at the Palace of Nestor, Voidokilia Beach, and the castles of Pylos. — Sarah Sekula
The USA's 250th Birthday Parties
The United States celebrates the Fourth of July with fireworks, an apt metaphor for the verbal pyrotechnics in the Declaration of Independence, which put forward the then-radical ideas that “all men are created equal,” that the government derives its power from the consent of the governed, and that laws and representation, not kings and decrees, should reign supreme. Those aspirations remain just as important today, 250 years after the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.
Not surprisingly, Philly will host a multitude of events all year long marking the semiquincentennial in 2026—concerts, parades, museum exhibits, street festivals, and lots more. The centerpiece is an enormous “Red, White, and Blue To-Do” parade and block party on July 2, followed on July 4 by a FIFA World Cup match at Lincoln Financial Field. Because what could be more all-American than gathering many nationalities to party in peace together?
Other U.S. destinations that played important roles in the American Revolution are commemorating the anniversary, too. New York City will, of course, do it up big, with a massive fireworks display, something new from the cast of the Broadway hit Hamilton (to be announced), and special exhibits at the city's iconic museums, foremost among them The New York Historical, which will look into women's roles during the Revolution and display famous Revolutionary artifacts, while The Museum of the City of New York will mount a 7,000-square-foot exhibition revisiting the British occupation of New York City during the war.
In addition to the expected concerts, fireworks, and historical exhibits, Boston is using the occasion to spotlight more stories of women, Indigenous people, and people of color along the city’s iconic Freedom Trail.
In Virginia, Colonial Williamsburg and George Washington’s Mount Vernon are rolling out new offerings about the Founders. And there’s a lot planned for Washington, D.C., where the best commemorations will be led by the historians of our national institutions headquartered there.
Outside of the original colonies, Disney launches a patriotic all-USA version of its Soarin’ attraction at EPCOT in Florida and Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, and Branson, Missouri, will attempt on Flag Day to set the Guinness World Record for the most American flags displayed in one destination. Wyoming, which became a state in 1890, is getting in on the 250th, too, planning an Indigenous-led audio tour of Wind River Canyon, a traveling exhibit of western craftmanship, and more.
Beyond all the stars and stripes and fun and fireworks, our hope for the USA’s 250th birthday is that it spurs people to think deeply about what it means to be an American today, and what kind of country they hope to be celebrating on the 300th birthday. —Pauline Frommer