US holiday: East Coast or West Coast?
East or west, which is best (for you)?
Landscapes
Winner: West Coast
One of the world’s most breathtaking coastlines, golden sand beaches, starkly beautiful desert, iconic national parks and jaw-dropping mountains – the West Coast has this category in the bag. The East Coast is lovely in its own way, but you won’t find the sheer variety of dramatic landscapes that you get at every turn in the West.
History
Winner: East Coast
All of the USA’s oldest European settlements are on the East Coast and you can step back as far as the early Spanish settlers. Visit the oldest city in the country, St Augustine in Florida, then see where the first Pilgrims arrived to settle the new world around Boston and New York City.
Weather
Winner: West Coast
The weather on much of the West Coast is practically perfect year round. Hot dry summers, cool mild winters and hardly any of the extremes that you’ll experience in the east. Plus, you can travel just a little way inland for your hit of snow at resorts like Lake Tahoe.
Culture
Winner: East Coast
Los Angeles has around 100 museums. New York is home to more than double that. Over East, you’ll also find the most famous theatre strip in the world, Broadway, plus a rich literary tradition, galleries, fantastic bookstores, national monuments and much more.
Food
Winner: it’s a tie
People like to make fun of American cuisine, claiming it’s all fast food in enormous sizes. But in reality, you’ll find some of the most exciting, innovative, delicious food and exceptionally good produce in the USA. In the East, you can feast on fresh lobster every day or tuck into a classic New York steak. West side, try on trend food trucks, the latest celebrity restaurant and out of this world Mexican-inspired meals.
Have you ever travelled in the US? Where did you visit?