US travel: The best guided tours in America

In a rustic as numerous because the US, you may discover excursions to go well with all tastes and pursuits, writes Brett Atkinson

From Oregon to Orlando and Nevada to Nashville, workforce up with savvy and authoritative native guides to find the meals, artwork, historical past and tradition of cities all through North America.

Discover Portland’s craft beer scene

Dubbed “Beervana”, Oregon’s largest metropolis is likely one of the world’s finest locations for travelling hopheads. Getting across the metropolis in a minibus, choices with Metropolis Brew Excursions embody the Pacific Northwest is Finest tour, exploring the hoppy beer types influencing craft beer across the planet, and the Unique Brew Tour, together with as much as 16 totally different beer tastings and the chance to talk to native brewers harnessing hops, grain, yeast and water to create Oregon craft beer alchemy. Breweries visited may embody revolutionary Portland icons comparable to Von Ebert, Ex Novo and Unicorn. citybrewtours.com

Study JFK’s legacy in Dallas

JFK Historic Excursions gives detailed and poignant insights into the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in Dallas in November 1963, starting at Dealey Plaza and the constructing then often known as the Texas Guide Depository – allegedly the place pictures have been fired by Lee Harvey Oswald and now the Sixth Ground Museum – earlier than persevering with to the Grassy Knoll the place debate continues over whether or not extra pictures have been additionally fired from there. Following the weekend timeline that unfolded after the Friday afternoon capturing, different Dallas places visited throughout complete and informative excursions embody the Texas Theatre the place Oswald was arrested by Dallas police. discoverdallastours.com

Be part of a rollicking nation music highway journey in Nashville

Equal components comedy present, interactive music gig and metropolis tour, an expertise with Music Metropolis Rollin’ Jamboree is a good way to discover the house of nation music. Hosted by a rustic music uber-fan and a Grammy award-winning singer, it is a vastly enjoyable solution to spend 90 minutes. Sing alongside to nation classics you may be stunned you understand all of the phrases to, and positively pack a sturdy sense of humour for all of the jokes delivered alongside the best way. A couple of of the jokes imply the Rollin’ Jamboree expertise is restricted to nation music followers 21 years and older. musiccityrollinjamboree.com

Go behind the scenes at Orlando’s Kennedy House Middle

Choices at Nasa’s Kennedy House Middle – round 80km east of Orlando – embody guided bus excursions across the facility’s most important installations. These embody the Apollo/Saturn V Middle which enabled journey to the moon within the Nineteen Sixties and Seventies, and extra modern multi-user areas now being contracted by non-public house exploration corporations comparable to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Different highlights of the centre embody the Race to the Moon exhibition and the Gateway gallery specializing in journeying to Mars and additional into deep house. kennedyspacecenter.com

Expertise the meals scene of downtown Los Angeles

Six totally different meals stops throughout three hours present loads of native flavours on a strolling tour of downtown Los Angeles. Additionally incorporating the cultural and architectural heritage of this revitalised and re-emerging space, tasty dishes may embody slow-cooked beef tacos, genuine Naples-style pizza topped with farm-fresh Californian components, and oven-fresh French baking. A spotlight of LA’s historic Grand Central Market is Texas-style barbecue from Horse Thief BBQ, whereas the hip Company Meals Corridor consists of plant-based burgers at Plant-It Burger and Japanese dumplings at Gyoza Boyz. sidewalkfoodtours.com

Journey throughout the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Dominating the San Francisco skyline, arguably the world’s most well-known bridge is finest explored on two wheels. Golden Gate & Sausalito bike excursions with Streets of San Francisco meander for 13km over three hours, starting with the well-known California sea lions round Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf and ending throughout the bay within the picturesque seaside village of Sausalito. Choices for lunch in Sausalito embody oceanfront seafood at Salito’s Crab Home & Prime Rib earlier than catching considered one of San Francisco’s well-known Blue & Gold ferries again to Fisherman’s Wharf. sosfbiketours.com

Uncover culinary fusion in Hawaii

With the meals cultures of more moderen arrivals from Japan, Korea and the Philippines all mixing with native Polynesian traditions, Hawaii affords scrumptious culinary fusion. Starting in Honolulu, Oahu Circle Island Meals Excursions mix exploring Hawaii’s most populous island – together with important sights just like the Halona Blowhole and Kualoa Regional Park – with foodie stops for garlic shrimp at Fumi’s meals truck, malasadas (Portuguese-style doughnuts) on the legendary Leonard’s Bakery, and conventional Hawaiian dishes comparable to kalua pork. Macadamia nuts and natural espresso full a flavour-packed day. andyoucreations.com

Eat your method all over the world in Toronto’s Kensington Market

Greater than 170 totally different languages are represented in Canada’s largest metropolis, and a good way to discover Toronto’s cultural range is on a strolling tour round Kensington Market. Experiences with Native Toronto Meals Excursions spend round three hours exploring the market, combining historic and cultural insights with a worldwide menu of tastings. It is in all probability the one place on the planet the place Native American bannock (fry bread)) on the Pow Wow Cafe will be adopted by conventional Tibetan momos (dumplings) and spicy Jamaican-style meat patties. localfoodtours.com/toronto

Uncover the roots of punk and hip-hop in New York

Exploring the legacy of iconic New York bands together with The Velvet Underground and Speaking Heads, Beginning of Punk excursions with Stroll on the Wild Aspect soak up legendary venues like CBGB, the native spots the place the New York Dolls and the Patti Smith Group first fashioned, and gritty city places the place basic album covers for the Ramones and Tv have been photographed. Different excursions give attention to exploring the rap and hip-hop legacy of Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC, and the graffiti-influenced artwork of Jean-Michel Basquiat. walkonthewildsidenyc.com

Cruise previous Chicago’s architectural heritage

Finest seen whereas cruising alongside Chicago’s river system – a labyrinthine community of rivers and canals really masking 250km – the hovering architectural heritage of Chicago spans greater than 150 years. Proto skyscrapers erected following 1871’s Nice Hearth of Chicago have been adopted by hovering Twentieth-century edifices designed by legendary architects together with Mies van der Rohe, whereas Twenty first-century temples to commerce and ego embody Aqua and Chicago’s very personal Trump Tower. Ninety-minute excursions run all through the day, whereas two-hour Saturday evening excursions additionally embody fireworks. architecturetourchicago.com

Be immersed within the after-dark neon spectacle of Las Vegas

At sundown, Nevada’s Sin Metropolis of nightlife and playing is illuminated by shimmering neon, a spectacle finest skilled on a Vibrant Lights: Las Vegas at Night time tour with Pink Journey Excursions. Sit up for getting across the desert metropolis in a vibrant pink Jeep Wrangler, and after kicking issues off with a photograph cease on the well-known Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas signal, persevering with previous Marriage ceremony Chapel Row and on to trip the Excessive Curler Ferris wheel, hovering 180 metres above the Las Vegas strip. pinkadventuretours.com

Perceive African-American historical past in Memphis

Exploring the affect of African-American tradition and heritage in Memphis, two-and-a-half-hour excursions with ATOP Memphis – standing for “A Tour of Prospects” – showcase the affect of black America in music, sports activities and historical past within the Tennessee metropolis. Poignant stops embody visiting the Nationwide Civil Rights Museum and the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum, whereas there is a music focus on the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and Beale Avenue, the historic birthplace of the blues. atopmemphis.com