USA is so close to Canada and I have been to USA numerous times. A list my favourite cities and places to visit below:

Favourite City in Western USA: San Francisco
Favourite Cities in Eastern USA: Washington D.C. & New York City
Favourite States: Alaska & California
Favourite USA National Parks: Yellowstone & Glacier National Park
Favourite Theme Park: Disneyland & Universal Studio in California
Favourite Museum: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
Favourite Gallery: The Museum of Modern Art (New York City)
Favourite Cruise Route: Alaska
Favourite Restaurant: 100's Seafood Grill Buffet (San Diego)
Favourite Food Court: NY Flushing New World Mall
Favourite City Park: New York Central Park
Favourite University Campus: Stanford University
Favourite City with Rich Culture: San Diego
Favourite Tower/Observation Deck View: The Rock Observation (New York)

Must Do

1. Visit the unique Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park.

2. Visit New York City, Washington D.C. and San Francisco and Alaska State.

3. Take an Alaska cruise. I recommend tourist fly to either Vancouver (Canada) or Anchorage (USA) for one-way 7-day cruise to explore more places of beautiful Alaska. One-way cruise is way more cheaper than cruise departure and return to the same city.

4. Purchase The New York Pass when you visit New York City and Go San Diego Card when you visit San Diego (best deal)

5. If you are seniors visiting New York City, buy senior transit ticket at the subway service desk. You will get two tickets for one ticket price (50% off).

6. Apply a credit card without foreign transaction fees (save you 2.5% to 3%) prior to your US trips. Most places take credit card.

7. No high-speed train or good train network in USA. Air plane is more popular in the country. Use google flights to find the lowest price of domestic flights.

8. If you visit New York City with limited budget, you may stay in New Jersey for much cheaper price. Manhattan is just cross the bridge. Book Airbnb from the link below will save you $62 CAD/$43 USD/€41 instantly for your first stay anywhere around the world:

https://www.airbnb.ca/c/weic3807?currency=CAD
9. Safety is number one priority for tourists. I feel US is not as safe as Canada or Europe. Put your cash at secure spot on your body and have only small amount cash in your wallet.
10. US National Park only sell 7-day pass ($35 USD), so plan your trip accordingly. We just passed through Glacier National Park for 3 hours and had to pay $35.

Avoid

Search Results

Web resulAvoid

1. Avoid staying at hotels in Queen NY or close to JFK airport for personal security reason.

2. Avoid walking on the street in the evenings and nights.

3. Avoid arguing with local people. Call the police immediately when you are in dangerous situations.

4. Avoid smoking outside the hotel in evenings or nights. Numerous robberies were reported by tourists.

5. Avoid visiting or staying at certain parts of the city. Read google and hotel reviews before booking.

6. Avoid using US airport lounges if you are limited priority passes or MasterCard Lounge Passes. I visited numerous airport lounges in USA for the past few years and found the USA lounges (most snacks and cold foods) are not as good as the ones in Europe and Canada.

7. Avoid Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in NYC: I feel it is a big trap for tourists, very limited collections, small display floor area in the whole museum, poor customer service, it opened 10 mins late than the scheduled time on the day of my visit.

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USA Attraction Highlights

Calgary to San Diego by WestJet; Calgary to New York City by WestJet; Calgary to Newark by Air Canada; Calgary to Seattle by Alaska Airline; Calgary to Los Angeles by WestJet