City & Destination Guides

If you picture Maine and think lobster rolls and lighthouses, you're not wrong. But the state's coastline holds some of the best beaches in Maine, and most of them barely make it onto the typical New England road trip list.

You do not need a 10-hour flight to get your toes in warm, clear water. Some of the best tropical islands off the East Coast sit a short hop from cities like New York, Atlanta, and Miami. A few are close enough to reach by ferry with a car parked back on the mainland. Palm trees. Turquoise water. Sand so pale it almost hurts to look at. It is all out there, and it is closer than you think.

The East Coast is where America got its start, and a lot of that story is still standing. You can walk the same cobblestone streets the founders did, sleep in a 200-year-old inn, and eat dinner in a tavern older than the country itself. The best historic East Coast towns pack all of that into a few walkable blocks. Some sit right off the highway. Others hide down a quiet river you would never find by accident.

Summer on the East Coast is one long invitation. From the rocky coves of Maine down to the palm-lined streets of Key West, the whole Atlantic edge of the country fills up with warm sand, salty air, and small towns built for slow afternoons. The hard part isn't finding a good spot. It's choosing one. You've got cool New England harbors, busy mid-Atlantic boardwalks, and laid-back southern islands, all strung along the same coastline.

Your dog has never asked for much. A ball. A nap in the sun. A wave that keeps coming back so he can lose his mind over it again. The East Coast has a whole string of beaches that say yes to all of it. Some of these spots let your pup run free with no leash in sight. Others are quiet stretches of sand that only open up to dogs once the summer crowds head home. A few welcome wet, sandy paws all year long.

You don't have to fly across the country to find crisp mountain air and a Main Street that feels like a postcard. Some of the best East Coast mountain towns sit just a few hours from major cities, tucked into the same ridgelines you've probably zoomed past on the highway without a second look. These are the places where you slow down. You sip cider on a porch, hike to a waterfall before lunch, and end the day with a local beer while the sun slips behind the peaks.

You know that feeling when you finally kick off your shoes, dig your toes into warm sand, and let the waves do the talking? The right hotel can stretch that feeling across a whole vacation. The East Coast has a long, beautiful run of shoreline, and some of the best beach hotels on the East Coast sit right on top of it. They run from old New England grande dames to sleek Florida towers, with plenty of charm in between.

Out West gets all the magazine covers. But some of the coziest, most characterful winters in the country are hiding right on this side of the map, tucked into small mountain towns from Maine down to North Carolina. The skiing is only half the story. The other half is the town itself: the covered bridges, the maple-scented bakeries, the brewery where everyone shows up in ski boots at 4 p.m. The best East Coast ski towns give you a mountain to ride in the morning and a Main St

Image Source The East Coast is famous for its beaches and big cities, but it also hides some of the best roller coasters and boardwalk fun in the country. You can ride a wooden coaster that opened almost 100 years ago, then drive a few hours and find a brand-new launch coaster that throws you straight up into the sky. From chocolate-themed parks in Pennsylvania to giant resorts in Florida, the range is wild. These are the 13 best amusement parks on the East Coast, spread all

If you've ever stood on a tee box with the Atlantic crashing somewhere behind you, you already know why golfers keep coming back to this coast. The stretch from Maine to Florida is packed with courses that look like postcards and play like a dream. Some of these places host the pros every spring. Others are quiet favorites where you can grab a tee time, a great dinner, and a comfy bed all within a short walk. The best golf resorts on the East Coast hand you all of that in on

There's a certain magic to a wooden walkway by the sea. The smell of fried dough, the rattle of an old roller coaster, the glow of arcade lights against a dark ocean. The East Coast does this kind of thing better than just about anywhere, with a long string of boardwalks running from the cool beaches of Maine all the way down to the palm trees of South Florida.

Discover the best East Coast Florida beaches, from the quiet shores of Amelia Island to the iconic sands of South Beach. Find the top spots for surfing, family vacations, scenic road trips, and relaxing coastal escapes along Florida's Atlantic coast.

If you grew up thinking Georgia was all peaches and traffic on the way to Florida, the lakes will surprise you. Tucked into the Blue Ridge mountains up north and spread across the warm flatlands down south, the best lakes in Georgia range from cold, clear mountain water to sprawling reservoirs full of bass.

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the country, yet it tucks a surprising number of lakes and ponds inside its borders. You probably picture the ocean first, and that's fair. The coastline gets all the postcards. Head a few miles inland, though, and you'll find quiet water hidden in pine woods, old mill ponds with sandy beaches, and big open lakes where the fishing is good and the sunsets are even better.

Beach trips are great, right up until the sand gets into everything and the parking costs more than lunch. East Coast lakes ask for none of that. You get calm water, mountains in the background, and a little dock town where the hardest decision of the day is ice cream or pie. The thing most people miss is how far these lakes stretch. They run from the moose country of northern Maine all the way down to the wide, warm water of central Florida. Some are famous. Plenty are no

New Jersey gets teased for being all turnpike and tollbooths. Spend one quiet morning on a glassy lake up in the Highlands, though, and that joke falls apart fast. The Garden State is packed with water. Depending on how you count, there are well over a thousand lakes and ponds tucked between the ridges, pine forests, and rolling farm country. Some sit inside busy parks. Others hide down back roads you would never find by accident.

Everybody comes to Florida for the beaches. Then they get stuck in beach traffic, pay for parking, and fight the crowds for a patch of sand. The folks who really know Florida do something different. They head inland to the water that locals have loved for generations.

Delaware is flat, quick to cross, and easy to write off as the state you blow through on the way to the beach. The water tells a different story. Tucked behind old mill dams and pine woods, you'll find cypress swamps, sandy swim beaches, and quiet ponds where the loudest thing is a heron taking off.

You can spend a whole summer in Massachusetts chasing the ocean and still miss the quieter water inland. The best lakes in Massachusetts sit tucked into hill towns, state forests, and even a few city neighborhoods, and most of them come with a sandy beach and an easy place to park.

Connecticut is small enough to drive across in about two hours, yet it hides a surprising amount of water. You can swim under wooded hills in the morning and watch a bald eagle glide over a quiet reservoir by afternoon. Some of these lakes sit right off the highway. Others ask you to drive a little deeper into the hills, and they pay you back for the effort.