America's most iconic destinations

America's most iconic monuments, landscapes, or pop culture destinations? Here are our top 10 picks.

Highway 1, Calif.

One of the most meditative--and celebrated--drives you can take in the States is the 135-mile stretch of California's Pacific Highway 1 between San Luis Obispo and Monterey.

French Quarter, New Orleans, La.

The French Quarter of New Orleans, which is bounded by the Mississippi River, Rampart Street, Canal, and Esplanade, is home to nightclubs lit up in neon, French colonial townhouses draped in ivy, Creole cottages built on stilts, and antebellum mansions whose balconies are laced with intricate ironwork. 

Grand Canyon, Ariz.

Many American landmarks inspire people to think big, but few can match the scale and grandeur of the Grand Canyon. A mule ride along Bright Angel trail, shown here, emphasizes the timelessness of the canyon, a geological wonder more than a million years in the making.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyo.

 Wide-open space is a unique inheritance for every American, and Yellowstone is the most dramatic example of what "wide-open space" really means. Here, the Lower Falls of Yellowstone River.

Disney's Magic Kingdom, Orlando, Fla.

Walt Disney pioneered the use of technology to create enchanted moments that surpass the mere roll-into-town carnival. His handiwork is probably our nation's most beloved contribution to global culture, in the form of movies and theme parks such as the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.

Times Square, New York City

Times Square—the stretch of Broadway between Manhattan's 42nd and 47th streets—delivers the most intense straight-up celebration of round-the-clock visual stimulation in the free world. 365 days a year, it's all lights, cameras, and action.

Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nev.

The neon-lit desert outpost of Las Vegas has a magnetic pull like no other. Every American ends up on the Strip sooner or later, whether for a bachelor party, a girlfriend getaway, a trade show, or a shockingly cheap hotel-and-airfare deal.

Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, Calif.

In 2013, Helen Mirren, James Franco, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Ron Howard, and another 19 actors and musicians will be added to the more than 2,400 celebrities who've left their handprints and bronze-engraved names on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 1958. 

South Beach, Miami, Fla.

No place in the country captures Latin-tropical chic like South Beach, with its 23 pastel-hued blocks of hotels, shops, restaurants, and cocktail bars south of Dade Boulevard. Glamorously restored art deco and art moderne hotels dominate Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, which run parallel to the Atlantic.

Architecture in Chicago, Ill.

Chicago's downtown is jam-packed with prized buildings: the 110-story Willis Tower, the world's tallest structure until 1998; the John Hancock Center, whose crisscross trusses leave giant X marks rising 100 stories into the clouds; Tribune Tower, a Gothic fantasy of an office complex; Skybridge, a 39-story, glass-plate wonder that resembles a razor-sharp grater; and Aqua Tower, a two-year-old structure

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