Alaska comes billed as "The Last Frontier", and it is no hollow claim. It is a wild and vast land where roads are so rare that in many places light planes are the normal mode of transport.

Anchorage has a quarter of a million people (almost half the state population), but less than a dozen communities have more than 10,000 inhabitants.

A delectable slice of the Californian coast near Big Sur

An intoxicating cocktail of sunshine, surf, celluloid and silicon, America's Golden State has managed to get the whole world California dreamin'.

A gay pride flag flaps in the breeze over Provincetown in Cape Cod

While New England doesn't usually conjure up images of sand and sea, the region is actually quite blessed with hot-weather hangouts.

Colorado is known for its ski resorts

Colorado lies in the heart of the United States and is split by the majestic Rocky Mountains. A high-altitude adventure hub, outdoor types flock here from all over the world. Its eclectic cities and towns also have vibrant music and arts scenes.

Florida basks in 300 sunny days per year

As America's tropical seaside playground, Florida is where much of the country comes to play, party, relax or retire.

Swinging in the trees Key West-style

Whatever fabulous beatnik tales you might have heard about the Florida Keys, little on this hundred-mile chain of beautiful islands reminds of that hippie vibe or those frantic, 1980s cocaine-fuelled days.

A turtle enjoys the good life in Oahu

Hawaii's spectacular natural beauty and fateful place in history have made it one of the most famous vacation destinations in the United States.

Portland Head Lighthouse in Maine

Maine is the largest and northernmost state in the region of New England, in the northeast of the United States. Maine boasts hundreds of miles of dramatic coastline, studded with white sand beaches, lighthouses and fishing villages, plus thousands of tiny offshore islands.

Aquinnah Cliffs at Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard is a small island off the southern coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. With its beautiful sweeping beaches, Martha's Vineyard is a handy summer escape for city slickers from the East Coast mainland.

Cape Ann in Massachusetts

Massachusetts, one of the original 13 colonies that later became the United States of America, is a scenic and historic state.

Montana doesn't skimp on Rocky Mountain drama

With its ranching and gold mining heritage and legendary "big sky", no American state captures the essence of the Wild West better than Montana.

Montana delivers rugged wilderness in spades - from snow-capped mountains, glacial lakes and raging rivers to dense forests and vast prairies.

Red Rock Canyon in Nevada

A long-time nuclear testing ground, the uninhabited, dusty desert that stretches across much of the state of Nevada is only occasionally relieved by the neon lights of towns and cities that have become synonymous with gambling and prostitution.

New England is often described as "quaint", and here, among the rambling byways and quiet communities, you'll discover this much-used word rings true. Tucked into the snowy northeast corner of the United States, New England brims with colonial homes and old-school churches, tidy green lawns trimmed with white picket fences and comfort food like cranberries and maple syrup.

New England is also vintage Americana, tracing its origins to the staunch group of Puritan pilgrims who barely survived their first winter here in 1620.

The Wild West is still alive and well in America's Rocky Mountains. The lawlessness might have gone, and so have the grizzled miners, maverick mountain men and fleet-footed outlaws, but the pioneering spirit, the sense of freedom and the chance to commune with nature in its rawest, most rugged form, still endure.

The King is alive and gyrating in Tennessee

Home of Dollywood, Graceland and the Dukes of Hazard Museum - what more could you want from an American state?

Vermont has some of the New Englan's finest scenery

Vermont is one of the USA's smallest states, and is located in the region of New England in the country's far northeast. The state makes an ideal destination for an outdoor holiday and has some of New England's finest scenery and most picturesque villages.

Alaska's defining feature is the sheer magnitude of the wild areas, and by their very nature they are difficult to visit. Denali National Park comes into its own with a 90-mile road running right through the heart of its six million acres.

Everyone hopes to catch a glimpse of North America's loftiest peak, Mount McKinley. Known to locals simply as Denali, its 20,320-foot summit lords it over the low-lying tundra presenting a stunningly impressive 18,000-foot face.

A floatplane moored in Homer

Somehow everyone loves Homer. The setting is gorgeous with views across the water to the glaciers and mountains of Kachemak Bay State Park. It is a relaxed place too, with a well-developed arts community and something of a cafe society.

Sitka wears its Russian roots with pride

For almost a hundred years, Sitka was the capital of Alaska, initially under the Russians and later as part of the US after they bought the land for 2 cents an acre in 1867.

The two nations have jointly created one of Alaska's most beautiful towns, picturesquely set on the island-studded Sitka Sound with views out to the perfect volcanic cone of Mount Edgecumbe.

A bird's eye view of the Grand Canyon

Grand doesn't even come close to describing the sheer magnitude of this natural wonder.

Plaque at the entrance to Disneyland Photo: Wikipedia

The fantasy theme park that spawned a thousand and one imitations, Disneyland is located in Anaheim, 28 miles east of Los Angeles.

Sunset in Joshua Tree National Park

Morman pioneers named the haunting, gnarled trees that this 800,000-acre national park was established to protect after the prophet Joshua.

Kayaking on Lake Tahoe

Surrounded by dramatic granite peaks, the emerald waters of Lake Tahoe provide a year-round lure for outdoor types.

Some 22 miles long and more than a thousand feet deep, this frigid freshwater lake is nestled in the highest point of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and straddles the borders of the states of California and Nevada.

Cruising the streets in LA

Sprawled beneath a veil of smog, cosmopolitan Los Angeles is where American Dreams are made and then committed to celluloid.

Palm Springs has more than 80 manicured gold courses

The largest 'desert city' in southern California, Palm Springs is a year-round luxury resort destination.

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge

The coolest city in the known universe, San Francisco is stunning collection of hilly neighborhoods crammed onto the tip of a peninsula overlooking San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

Whitewater rafters brave the Merced River in Yosemite National Park

All plunging waterfalls, glistening lakes, fast-flowing streams, giant sequoia trees, snow-covered crags, towering cliffs and green meadows, Yosemite National Park is the United States' ultimate wilderness destination.

Artists capture the twin peaks of the Maroon Bells near Aspen, Colorado

Since the 1960s Aspen has been a world-famous playground of the rich: a mountain getaway for film stars, ex-presidents and business tycoons.

The city at night

Far and away the largest city in the Rockies, Denver is the most obvious gateway, with flights from all over North America and Europe touching down at its snazzy hi-tech Denver International Airport.

On top of the world in the Rocky Mountain National Park

To see the Rockies at their most spectacular and accessible, Rocky Mountain National Park is easily the best place to head. Unlike much of the range, which is bulky and broad-shouldered, the mountains here are characterized by steep peaks shooting skyward from valley floors.

Fort Lauderdale's idyllic beach strip

Though catapulted to prominence in the 1960s as the nation's top spring break venue, Fort Lauderdale no longer courts the thousands of frenzied college kids in their riotous annual late-Feb/early-March vacations.

The retiree Mecca of Fort Myers has no shortage of fine beaches

The sleepy palm-dotted city of Fort Myers is home to thousands of retirees and 'snowbirds' - who come south to overwinter - who together set the pace for the area.

Steamy Miami booms with pleasure-seekers

A steamy tropical climate and resident mix of immigrant Caribbean islanders laces southern Florida with a Caribbean flavor.

There's more to Orlando than Disney magic

Orlando's prominence is nowhere more evident than on a Florida road map. Here more-or-less all roads really do lead to Orlando - more so than the capital Tallahassee or the international gateway of Miami.

Tampa has a strong Cuban influence

Tampa is the upbeat business hub of Florida's west coast and has the skyscrapers, freeways and rush hours to prove it.

Watching the sun go down at Waikiki

Honolulu is located on the southeast shore of the island of Oahu, which is the most developed of the Hawaiin islands and home to more than 70% of the population. It is filled with shops, street markets, restaurants, nightclubs and the vibrant bustle of a thriving urban city.

The gambling capital of the United States, Las Vegas is located in the heart of the desert on the edge of the state of Nevada.

A glittering city of hotels, neon lights and entertainment, some 30 million visitors come here every year to gamble, get hitched or gawk at strippers. The city's ostentatious hotels and casinos have become tourist attractions in their own right.

The Empire State Building lords it over NYC

Everyone hearts New York City. From the gleaming skyscrapers of Manhattan to the chic boutiques of Madison Avenue, the fetish clubs of the Meatpacking District to the musicals of Broadway: whatever floats your boat, New York can deliver - 24 hours a day.

Downtown Portland in Oregon

The urban planning gods were in top form when they created Portland, a compact gem of a city that encapsulates all that is great about North America's West Coast - it has the liberalism of San Francisco, the cultural kudos of Seattle and the laid-back outdoor lifestyle of Vancouver in Canada.

Fall colors frame the US Capitol in Washington DC

It may be the headquarters of the Free World, but Washington D.C. has a distinctly Orwellian feel about it.

Geothermal activity comes in many colors in Yellowstone National Park

This spitting and gurgling zone of geological wonder in northwest Wyoming is the world's oldest national park.