I f there’s one thing we know about travelling in the USA is that the sheer diversity is astounding. It’s rare for a country to have such a range of landscapes, from rugged mountains to sprawling deserts, and charming small towns to cities strewn with skyscrapers . Often in the past, travellers from the UK have tended to stick to the old favourites for their holidays – and while New York , Los Angeles , Florida and Las Vegas no doubt make incredible destinations for a US trip, there are other highways to be driven, national parks to be hiked and restaurant menus to be sampled.
The tide does seem to be changing. Over the past few years, post-pandemic travel has seen tourists venturing down to the south of the country where the states are proudly distinct in terms of both landscapes and culture (from the rest of the country as well as and each other). Mike Mangeot, chair of Travel South USA and commissioner of Kentucky Tourism, told The Independent that the US south is ‘booming’, with the southern states welcoming more than four million international air visitors in 2023.
” Read more on USA travel : “Today, travellers are looking for their vacations to work harder for them; they want to visit multiple places and enjoy a diversity of experiences all in one trip. This is where the South comes into its own,” he says. “Travellers can take to the open road on music pilgrimages from Kentucky to New Orleans , hike the Appalachian Mountains or explore our vast coastlin.