Americans afflicted with wanderlust can be forgiven for always looking beyond our borders. Much of the world can seem older and more diverse. But experiencing that can be incredibly expensive. Just in time for summer travel, National Geographic has put together a book on the global experiences one can have in North America titled Abroad at Home. It is a curated list of the 600 best places in North America where one can experience foreign cultures, food, landscapes, and architecture that don't require a passport.
One of those, pictured to the left, is the town of Solvang in California. Founded by Danish immigrants at the turn of the 20th century, it is filled with Danish architecture and bakeries, but blessed with California sunshine. Of course, there is even a replica of the famed Little Mermaid statue.
The best part of the book is finding interesting experiences in completely unexpected places. One of the more surprising is the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida. The gardens encompass 11 centuries of Japanese garden design. Even more bizarre is that the gardens are the site of a community founded by immigrant Japanese farmers who set out to change farming in Southern Florida in the early 20th century. The last survivor from that endeavor, George Morikami, donated his land in the '70s to create the gardens.
iStockphoto via National Geographic
There are many things that make Provence what it is (and thus inimitable), but it is perhaps most iconic for its breathtaking fields of lavender. Americans desperate to see the "Lavender Capital of North America" should head to Sequim, Washington.
Shutterstock via National Geographic
New York's Dutch roots can be found in more places than the names of towns and blue-blood families. Every spring, more than 100,000 tulips of every color blossom in Albany.
For those looking for some old world glamour, head to ... Pennsylvania. The Du Pont estate at Longwood Gardens has more than 1,000 acres of natural beauty, but the real highlight is the Italian Water Garden. Modeled after the Villa Gameberaia near Florence, its fountains are made up of roughly 600 jets.
The cliff dwellings at Bandelier are not precise equivalents of the rock houses of Cappadocia in Turkey. However, anything that draws attention to these ancient dwellings in New Mexico is commendable. The iconic structures were mainly built between 1150 and 1600 by Pueblo Native Americans, and are truly fantastic.
The British Columbian range's moniker isn't as sexy as that of the Alps. However, the books claims, "the granite peaks ... are a worthy sub for the Swiss Alps."
Abroad at Home: The 600 Best International Travel Experiences in North America. Published by National Geographic.
