Tour Activities

Museum full of exhibits of the strange, the unusual, the interesting, the odd, and the just plain weird.

Reconstruction of the inn where Lewis died in 1809 of gunshot wounds inflicted on himself. His grave and a symbolic broken obelisk are also here.

Series of 8 dome-shaped burial mounds made by the ancient Mound Border culture about 2,000 years ago. This is the most important archaeological site in northern Mississippi.

Visitor center, Civil War re-enactments, and a 16-mile walking/driving tour through the cemetary and memorials.

Miniature wood carved western town

Oldest church in North America and a beautiful example of Spanish mission churches

Old Spanish chapel in the remote mountain village of Chimayo. It is considered to be the "Lourdes of America" because of its legendary healing powers

Stroll the main street of the historic downtown -- historic buildings, fudge shops, horse-drawn carriages, etc.

Cabin used by Teddy Roosevelt in the 1880s when he was a cattle rancher here

Guided tour into the inner workings of the dam, the power plant and control rooms (unfortunately, because of security reasons, this tour is no longer offered)

1-hour open-air tram ride along the 7-mile Zion Canyon scenic drive, from the Zion Lodge to the Temple of Sinawava and back. The tram car stops at all the major view points along the way. You can leave the tram at any one of these stops and catch another tram later. The tour includes an informative commentary by the tram driver.

Ranger-led tour of the 45-room Balcony House, 700 feet above the canyon floor. During this tour you must climb 32- and 20-foot long ladders and crawl through a narrow 30-foot long space. Tickets must be purchased in advance at the Far View Visitior Center.

Exhibits and interpretive displays about the history of the Anasazi and their cliff dwellings

Exhibits, films, etc. on the remarkable creation of the monument by the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum.

Actual studio containing the original tools and the actual plaster model that Borglum used as a basis for carving the mountain. A 15-minute Studio Talk explains how he used this model

Blacksmith shop, Friends Meetinghouse, and Quaker schoolhouse typical of a Quaker Village in the late 1800s

Building which encloses a rock face containing more than 1,600 bones form 11 different species of dinosaurs.

Self-guided tour of the 502-foot high and 1,285-foot long concrete structure that dammed the Green River

Oklahoma's official showcase of its Route 66 heritage. Contains exhibits, displays, movie clips, photographs, and memorabilia related to America's first transcontinental highway.

Frontier fort and federal courthouse which served as one of the first U.S. military outposts in the Louisiana Territory. In addition to the visitor center with exhibits on frontier fort life, visitors can tour the recreated courtroom, jail, and gallows.

Exhibits, sound effects, video presentations, and live reenactments telling the story of pioneer life on the Oregon Trail.

1880 Mormon schoolhouse located right along Route 24.

Exhibits on history of shipwrecks and life-saving efforts in the waters off of Sleeping Bear. Each afternoon, the museum conducts a re-enactment of a life-saving service rescue.

Granite and brass marker delineating the four states that intersect at this point

14-by-20 foot two-room cottage that Hoover was born in in 1874. It contains most of the original furnishings.

Gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain where there is a restaurant with stunning panoramas of the area. For 2 adults and 2 kids it cost of $57 Canadian dollars.

A 90-minute excursion in buses with balloon tires onto the face of the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefields. The cost for 2 adults and 2 children was 161.80 Canadian dollars.

Restored habitat within the Land Between the Lakes NRA where you can drive your car and view elk and bison in a natural setting

Spanish church famous for its "Miraculous Spiral Staircase," which rises from the floor of the church to the choir loft in 360 degree spirals, with no visible means of support

Famous red-and-white, candy-striped lighthouse which is practically an emblem for Maine. Although the tower is no longer open, it has an imformative Visitor Center and Museum.

This 2.800-acre park, which is run jointly by the U.S. and Canada, was Franklin Delanor Roosevelt

Visitor Center at the end of the Fundy Trail Parkway overlooking the Big Salmon River. There are displays and films explaining the area's past history as a thriving lumber town.

Beautiful red sandstone cliffs and sea caves along the Fundy Coast. The caves are best explored at low tide when you can walk across a beach and wander into them.

Brand new visitor center featuring hands-on activities, interactive exhibits, and films describing the beauty and geology of the park.

Lighthouse that marks the entrance to Bonne Bay. The lighthouse keeper's house is open as a national park interpretive exhibit.

Small community museum in Cowhead with a rather eclectic assortment of artifacts, including an ax that was used to murder two people over 200 years ago.

Museum full of exhibits of the strange, the unusual, the interesting, the odd, and the just plain weird.

Isolated fishing settlement that has been restored by the national park service. The national park maintains a restored cabin and fish store where local interpreters explain what life was like for the Mudge family that lived and fished here from 1941 to 1975. The cabin is filled with some of the family’s original furniture and craftwork. In the fish store there are boats built by the Mudges, nets, traps, and other home-made fishing gear. The local interpreters provide information about what fishing was like in the past and the problems that fishermen are facing today

4-minute tram ride to the observation deck at the top of the 630-foot Gateway Arch, for magnificent panoramic views of the Mississippi River and the city of St. Louis. The cost of the tram ride is $10 for adults ($7 with a National Park Pass), $7 for youths 13-16, and $3 for children 12 and under.

Large collection of artifacts and exhibits exploring the life of the 19th century pioneers who helped shape the history of the American West.

This tour, which lasts approximately one hour, includes all of the major rooms of the house. Running dates: Tuesday through Sunday
Time: every half hour, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Weekdays: Adults $13.00, youth 6-18 $ 8.00
Weekends: Adults $15.00, youth 6-18 $10.00

George and Martha Washington's beloved home

Impressive collection of antique cars, carriages, and coaches dating from 1725. Included in the collection are Rudolph Valentino

45 acres of the estate are open to the public, including the house itself, four different gardens, a hiking trail, a 4-acre working farm, dozens of outbuildings, and the tomb of George and Martha Washington.

Lovely grounds of Thomas Jefferson's beloved Monticello--including Mulberry Row, the gardens, and the gravesite.

Site of the world's first successful powered airplane flight made by Wilbur and Orville Wright on December 17, 1903. Things to see include the airstrip where the brothers made their four flight attempts, a restored hangar and workshop, and a Visitor Center with exhibits depicting their lives - including a full-scale replica of the 1902 glider and the 1903 flying machine.

30-minute guided tour through 11 rooms of Jefferson's home.

Unique view from portals behind the falls. The Tour begins at the Table Rock House where you are provided with yellow ponchos (because you will get wet!). From there, you take an elevator down 150 feet to a series of tunnels and viewing portals from which you can watch and feel the falls crashing down over you.

Boat tour ($11.50 for adults and $6.75 for children $6 to 12), which takes you through the turbulent waters around the American falls right up to the foot of the Horseshoe Falls.

11-hour bus tour through the park from Teklanika River Campground to Wonder Lake and back with great wildlife viewing and hopefully a glimpse of Mt. McKinley. Reservations are recommended well in advance (www.nps.gov/dena).

Impressive, state-of-the art visitor center with many displays on glaciers, the award-winning film "Voices from the Ice", and a beautiful picture window looking out over Portage Lake.

A beautiful 1901 Russian Orthodox Church, which is still used by villagers today, sits atop a hill overlooking the sea and the old village. A footpath next to the old village store leads up to the church. The church is open to the public.

Marine aquarium and research center on the south edge of town

This museum brings you back in time to the witchcraft hysteria of Salem 1692. A series of dramatic stage sets with life-size figures are sequentially lit and narrated. The program lasts approximately 30 minutes

Re-creation of an early 19th century New England village consisting of 40 buildings on 200 acres. Authentically dressed interpreters perform the tasks of daily village life during that time, such as spinning, weaving, printing, blacksmithing, etc.

Famous bronze statue honoring the Gloucester fishermen that have lost their lives at sea. The Gloucester Fisherman Memorial, known as "The Man at the Wheel," bears an inscription that reads, "They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships 1623-1923."

The largest museum in America devoted to the history of the American whaling industry. Its seven buildings house the most extensive collection of art, artifacts, and manuscripts pertaining to the whaling era, which lasted from the late 1700s to the early 1900s.

The chapel immortalized as the "Whaleman's Chapel" in Moby Dick. Originally built in 1832 in an attempt to promote moral improvements among New Bedford's seamen, the church served as a traditional stop for men before going out to sea. The most notable feature of the chapel is the pulpit shaped like a ship's bow.

A recreation of a 17th century village, complete with smithery, print shop, and woodworker's shop

Garden displaying the types of crops the settlers tried to grow here in the 1600s - rice, indigo, and cotton

A 20-acre natural habitat zoo featuring animals that were indigenous to coastal South Carolina in 1670 (pumas, elk., wolves, bobcat, bison, black bear, and alligators)

Full-scale reproduction of a 17th century 53-foot trading vessel

60-acre cypress swamp, which is home to alligators, river otters, and more than 224 species of birds.

Horticultural maze whose 14 miles of pathways are a replica of the one designed by King Henry VIII at Hampton Court in England.

The only lighthouse in South Carolina open to the public. For a $2 fee, you can climb its 167 spiral steps for a tremendous view of the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding marshes.

Military fortress built by the Spanish in 1672 to protect themselves from the ever expanding British Empire.

Site where Ponce de Leon is said to have first landed in 1513. The Fountain of Youth is the legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks its waters. Though the fountain situated there is not "the" Fountain, this does not stop tourists from drinking its water. The park exhibits native and colonial artifacts to celebrate St. Augustine's Native American and Spanish heritage.

Guided ride past the stately mansions, historic sites, and gardens of the historic district of Charleston

252 ½ foot granite tower, commemorating the fact that Provincetown was the site of the Pilgrim's first landing. Visitors can climb to the top of the tower for a wonderful 360 degree view of the town and surrounding dunes and water.

Visitor Center housed in a brick mansion overlooking the Concord River and the Old North Bridge containing dioramas and exhibits of uniforms and weapons of the Continental and British armies.

Site of the "shot heard 'round the world," the opening shot of the American Revolution on April 19, 1775. On one side of the bridge is a plaque commemorating the British soldiers who died in the Revolution and on the other side is the famous Minute Man statue by Daniel Chester French

2 ½ hour cruise with breathtaking views along the pristine Western Brook Pond. This 10-mile, landlocked fjord is sandwiched between giant cliffs with hanging gardens and waterfalls cascading down to the lake. The views are breathtaking. Reservations are recommended for this highly popular tour. For reservations, call the Ocean View Motel in Rocky Harbour (709-458-2730). Fares are about $23 per adult and $6 for children under 16. Getting to the boat requires about a 45-minute hike from the Western Brook Pond parking lot to the boat dock. The hike, which goes along a boardwalk across a bog where moose are frequently spotted, is worth doing even without the boat trip at the end.

One of the premier museums focusing on the history and traditions of the Chesapeake Bay. Some of the things to see at this indoor/outdoor museum include: the largest collection of Chesapeake Bay watercraft in existence, an authentic 1879 screwpile lighthouse, a working boatyard, and an extensive waterfowl decoy collection,

338-acre Naval college campus along the Severn River and the Chesapeake. Among the many attractions on campus are the spectacular domed Navy Chapel and the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Preble Hall.

The oldest U.S. state capitol in continuous use and also the only one to serve as the U.S. capital. The Old Senate Chamber in this building is also the place where George Washington resigned his command of the Continental Army and where the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution, was ratified.

The only lighthouse in South Carolina open to the public. For a $2 fee, you can climb its 167 spiral steps for a tremendous view of the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding marshes.

Unique sculpture gardens and wildlife preserve on the grounds of a colonial rice plantation

Picturesque Moorish-style castle which was once the winter home of the sculptress Anna Hyatt Huntington and her husband Archer.

7-minute ‘moovie” and factory tour of Vermont’s favorite ice cream.

One of the best college cart museums in the country, with changing exhibitions as well as a permanent collection of 12,000 works spanning the history of art.

Home to the world’s larges collection of original Rockwell art

The only lighthouse in South Carolina open to the public. For a $2 fee, you can climb its 167 spiral steps for a tremendous view of the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding marshes.

The famous “Fighting Lady” of World War II. This ship fought in many historic battles during World War II and also patrolled the Pacific during the Cold War and Vietnam. The flight deck, hangar deck, and many working and living areas of the ship are open to visitors. Carrier aircraft, ranging from World War II fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes to modern day jets are on display.

World War II submarine that was a technological marvel in its day, capable of reaching depths of 400 feet. Visitors can go below into the cramped, narrow tube and explore the control room, berthing and mess areas, engine rooms, and maneuvering rooms.

5-minute simulated ride on an F/A-18 in flight

A true-to-scale replica of a Vietnam naval support base. On display is an original River Patrol Boat used to patrol the jungles and rivers of Vietnam, an ammunition bunker, a combat information center, an observation tower. An extraordinary aircraft collection includes two Army Huey helicopters and a Sea Cobra attack helicopter.

Located on an island in a very strategic position in Charleston Harbor, this fort is famous for being the site where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

One-hour tour of the castle led by rangers dressed in 1930s clothing that greet you as if you were Scotty’s guests. The one-hour guided tour is excellent, both for its inside look at this unusual mansion as well as for the stories about the eccentricities of the two men that built it. Tours depart every 20 minutes from 9 am to 5 pm. Plan to arrive early because they fill up quickly.

Gallery in Yosemite Village featuring prints and cards of photographs made by Ansel Adams. The shop also displays and sells works of current artisans.

25-acre island a stone's throw from the Manteo waterfront, which was the site of the original first English settlement in America. Today the island is home to the Roanoke Island Festival Park with a 16th century sailing ship, interactive Adventure Museum, nature trails, and an art gallery.

6,400-square-foot discovery center with replications of a variety of Florida key habitats, touch-screen computer displays, and live underwater cameras showing the coral reefs.

Unique sculpture gardens and wildlife preserve on the grounds of a colonial rice plantation

Picturesque Moorish-style castle which was once the winter home of the sculptress Anna Hyatt Huntington and her husband Archer.

Free, self-guided 30-minute tour of the world’s largest single-site brewery. The highlight for many is the sampling room at the end of the tour.

Civil War era fort that is now a National Historic Site and part of the Golden Gate national Recreation Area. Its vantage point will be familiar to Alfred Hitchcock fans, for it was from here that he filmed the bridge in Vertigo.

210-foot art deco, concrete tower atop Telegraph Hill, financed by Lillie Hitchcock Coit in 1934 as a monument to San Francisco firefighters. Visitors can pay $7 to ride the elevator to the top of the tower for fantastic 360 views of the city. The interior walls of the tower are embellished with Diego Rivera-style fresco murals, most of them depicting life in California during the Great Depression.

1,017 acre urban park with bike trails, two lakes, the De Young Museum, a Japanese Tea Garden, the San Francisco Botanical Garden, the conservatory of Flowers, a bison paddock, and much more.

This is one of the most visited attractions in Seattle. The locks provide passage for boats to and from Puget Sound and freshwater Lake Union and Lake Washington. An underwater fish-viewing window provides visitors with the opportunity to view salmon jump the fish ladders to make their way back upstream to spawn in freshwater.

This park was once the estate of a timber baron. Although the manor house is long gone, the gardener’s cottage and 5 acres of formal gardens remain for visitors to enjoy. We arrived too late for the visitor center, but we were able to enjoy a stroll through both an English garden and a Japanese garden with a lily pond.

Nation’s largest hydroelectric plant, where there was a visitor center with exhibits on the history of the dam

The hatchery raises 8 million Fall Chinook, 1.2 million Coho, 200 thousand Summer Steelhead, and 60 thousand Winter Steelhead. However, it's most famous resident is Herman, the 70-year-old, 10-foot long, 450 pound sturgeon.

Small, very eclectic art museum situated atop a remote bluff overlooking the Columbia River Gorge in the town of Maryhill, Washington

Full-size replica of Stonehenge in England, built in 1918 as a memorial to the soldiers of Klickitat County, Washington, who had died in World War I.

Beautiful three-story, Italianate-style Victorian mansion that was the home of John and Annie Bidwell from 1868 to 1918

Famous 165-room estate of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. This magnificent “castle” sits in solitary splendor atop a hill, which Hearst named la Cuesta Encantada, the Enchanted Hill.

Six square blocks on the site of San Diego’s original pueblo dedicated to recreating what life was like in the city during the era of Mexican influence, from 1821 to 1872.

Gallery in Yosemite Village featuring prints and cards of photographs made by Ansel Adams. The shop also displays and sells works of current artisans.

Unique structure atop a hill in Astoria modeled after Trajan’s Column in Rome. Similar to the murals that spiral up the Roman column, this one’s exterior wall depicts the history of the area. From the top there are wonderful views of the Columbia River and surrounding area.

Genuine California gold-mining ghost town that boomed in the late 1870s and was known for its wildness and lawlessness. Today visitors can walk the streets of this deserted town, which has been preserved in a state of “arrested decay.” The interiors of the buildings are maintained as they were left, still furnished and stocked with goods.

38-room mansion on the shores of Emerald Bay. The castle, which was built in 1929 by Mrs. Lora Knight, is one of the best examples of Scandinavian architecture in the world. Tours of the home are given every hour from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Tickets are $10 for an adult and $8 for children 7 - 17.

Originally opened as a train station in 1924, Kelso Depot now serves as the Preserve’s visitor center, with exhibits describing its cultural and natural history.

Adobe ruins and original twenty mule team wagon of an old borax refinery that operated from 1883 to 1888. There is a short, paved trail with interpretive signs telling the story of borax mining in Death Valley. It is located one mile north of Furnace Creek on Hwy 190 west.

Beautiful Mexican neoclassical style building atop a hill overlooking Santa Barbara. It was the tenth of the California missions to be founded by the Spanish Franciscans, and was established on the feast of Saint Barbara on December 4, 1786. Being the only mission escape Mexico’s policy of forced secularization, the mission still functions as a Franciscan friary and parish church. The mission offers both self- and docent-guided tours of the church, historic cemetery, and sacred garden.

Magnificent Spanish-Moorish Revival style building, completed in 1929 as part of a rebuilding process after an earthquake destroyed the smaller Greek-Revival one in 1925. Visitors can ride an elevator to the top of the 85-foot clock tower for magnificent, panoramic views of the city, coast, and mountains. The other main attraction is the second-floor Mural Room, with 6,400 square feet of paintings by Daniel Sayre Groesbeck, depicting scenes from Santa Barbara’s history.

One of San Francisco’s most popular attractions, featuring pagodas, an authentic teahouse, an arched drum bridge, stepping stone paths, plants from China and Japan, and a serene koi pond and zen garden. Admission is $8 for non-residents and $6 for residents. On Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays it if free if entered by 10:00 am.

55 acres of both landscaped gardens and open spaces, showcasing over 8,000 different kinds of plants from around the world

Houses memorabilia from the hundreds of films, commercials, and television shows that were filmed in the nearby Alabama Hills over the past 100 years. Although mostly known for the “westerns” filmed here, with such cowboy heroes as John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers, it has also been the site for early silent, post-war, and science fiction films. The museum has an 85-seat movie theater where visitors can watch an interesting 15-minute documentary, “Lone Pine: Where the Real West Becomes the Reel West.” Admission is $5 for adults.

Site of the former Manzanar Relocation Center, one of ten internment camps into which the U.S. government forcefully interned more than 110,000 Japanese American citizens during World War II. The Manzanar facility operated from March of 1942 through November of 1945, housing and holding without their will over 10,000 Japanese Americans. Today this site, which is preserved and operated by the National Park Service, informs visitors about the legacy of this shameful period in U.S. history. Inside the Visitor Center there are extensive exhibits as well as a 22-minute informative film. Adjacent to the Visitor Center are two reconstructed barracks and a mess hall, the only three original camp structures that remain. A 3.2 mile auto tour takes you past remnants of orchards, gardens, and building foundations, as well as the camp cemetery, located at the foot of the majestic Sierras. Admission is free.

One of San Francisco’s most popular attractions, featuring pagodas, an authentic teahouse, an arched drum bridge, stepping stone paths, plants from China and Japan, and a serene koi pond and zen garden. Admission is $8 for non-residents and $6 for residents. On Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays it if free if entered by 10:00 am.

55 acres of both landscaped gardens and open spaces, showcasing over 8,000 different kinds of plants from around the world

Small, volunteer operated museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Mt. Shasta area. It is on the same grounds as the oldest fish hatchery west of the Mississippi River.

Beautiful central plaza designed by Mexican Governor Mariano Vallejo. Today the plaza is a National Historic Landmark and still serves as the town’s focal point. The eight-acre park is surrounded by many historical buildings and sites, including: the Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma, the Sonoma Barracks (or Presidio of Sonoma), Site of the Bear Flag Revolt, and General Vallejo's home Lachryma Montis.

Interesting museum featuring compelling exhibits that tell the stories of the Emigrant Experience, the Donner Party, and the Chinese construction of the transcontinental railroad, as well as early motoring adventures over Donner Pass. There is also a short film about the Donner Party.

Free tour given by two young female missionaries from Europe. Although non-Mormons are not allowed in the Temple itself, we were able to enter the Tabernacle, home of the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the Chapel, where weekly Sunday services take place.

Site of the first gold rush on the slope of the Eastern Sierras. Today all that remains of this one thriving mining camp are a few stone foundations and a single gravesite

Originally built in 1924 out of petrified wood, this building served as a place for travelers along old Route 66 to stop for a meal. When purchased by the National Park Service in 1936, it was renovated in the pueblo style and its petrified wood walls were covered with stucco. Today it is a National Historic Landmark and houses the Painted Desert Inn Museum, which celebrates the area’s cultural heritage.

Tiny museum above a bookstore featuring books and exhibits by the legendary author

Dedicated to Danish culture, art, and the Danish-American experience, the museum is the former residence of one of Solvang’s most artistic families. Lovingly built, this hand-crafted structure, with its ornamental wrought ironwork, carved redwood door, and hand-painted panels is an excellent example of Scandinavian architecture.

The city’s main square since 1158. Highlights include Mary’s Column, the Neues Rathaus and its famous Glockenspiel, and the Altes Rathaus.

"Mad" King Ludwig II’s castle on Herreninsel. The castle is a replica of the Palace of Versaille, meant to be a sort of museum where Ludwig could transport himself in his imagination back to the court of Louis XIV of France, whom he rather obsessively admired. There is even a Hall of Mirrors modeled on the one in Versailles, but even larger.

Lovely idyllic island on Chiemsee. The island’s best-known attraction is Frauenworth, an 8th century Benedictine convent with a beautiful campanile that can be seen from far away across the lake.

Dominated by an English-style botanical garden with rare trees, exotic flowers, azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, and ancient wisteria from around the world. Also on the island is a 16th century villa, which served as a residence for members of the Borromeo family, and their family chapel.

Dominated by a sumptuous four-storey Baroque palace, along with a luxuriant Italian-style garden. Visitors can tour 30 of the richly furnished rooms of the palace, including six underground natural grottos, decorated with dark and light-colored shells and pebbles reflecting nautical themes. Equally impressive are the formal gardens, laid out on ten terraces ornamented with exotic plants, spectacular flowers, topiary, ponds, fountains, obelisks, reliefs, and statues. At the end, there is an amphitheater, on three levels, decorated with statues representing the triumphs of the Borromeo family. The upper terrace, which is 120-feet high, has a breathtaking view of the lake and its surrounding mountains.

Quaint fishing village of narrow Medieval lanes and simple two-storey fishermen’s homes, with long balconies for drying fish. The island’s many fine fish restaurants, where you can eat freshly caught fish, make it a popular destination.

The Lauterbrunnen Valley's most famous of its 72 waterfalls.

Trummelbach Falls, the most unique and powerful of the valley’s 72 waterfalls. Unlike a typical waterfall that cascades out in the open for all to see, Trummelbach is a subterranean watefall that flows inside the mountain. Trummelbach Falls single handedly drains the entire glacial melt of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau, at a rate of 20,000 liters per second. For 11 francs, visitors can take an elevator up inside the mountain to the uppermost falls for views of it tumbling through the narrow slot canyon.

This many-legged journey includes: a scenic, hour-long trip on a lake steamer from Lucerne to Alpnachstad, a 40 minute ride along the steepest cogwheel railway in the world to the summit of Mt. Pilatus, a cable car down to Kriens, and a bus ride back to Lucerne.

Gardens and chapel of Ludwig's boyhood home, a 19th-century, bright yellow, neo-Gothic palace.The garden has several fountains: the Swan fountain, the Lion Fountain, and one of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus in her lap. There is also a relatively austere royal family chapel on the grounds.

Beautiful rococo-style pilgrimage church located in a lovely alpine meadow on the slopes of the Ammergau Alps, about 18 miles northeast of Fussen. It is one of the most extravagant and flamboyant rococo buildings in the world.

The Monastery is not only famous for being the oldest pilgrimage church in Bavaria, but also for its beer, which the Benedictine monks have been brewing in this location since 1455. There are guided tours to the brewery. Besides several beer gardens, there is also traditional Bavarian food served in the monastery restaurant “Klostergasthof.”

Enjoy the NASA exhibits and talks, food carts, beer garden, and music at the Madras Solarfest

Walk along the runway where about 400 private planes were camping for the eclipse. Afterwards, we toured the Erickson Aircraft Collection ($9 admission). a small museum with a dozen or so American, German, and Japanese planes from the World War II era - many of which are still in flying condition.

Genuine California gold-mining ghost town that boomed in the late 1870s and was known for its wildness and lawlessness. Today visitors can walk the streets of this deserted town, which has been preserved in a state of “arrested decay.” The interiors of the buildings are maintained as they were left, still furnished and stocked with goods.

An ancient temple used for human sacrifice located at Napo’opo’o Beach. It is also the site where Captain Cook first landed in 1778. Today all that remains of Hikiau Heiau is a raised platform of stacked lava rock and a smaller stone platform is built on top of the main platform that is believed to have been the location of the lele (altar).

Also, called the Place of Refuge, this was a site in which violators of kapu could come to seek asylum from otherwise certain death. The Park includes a remarkable stone wall, called the Great Wall built in 1500. It is 1,000 feet long, 10 feet high, and 17 feet thick. Also, on the grounds are reconstructed Hawaiian houses and temples, as well as wood carvings of gods.

Self-guided tour of the gardens, which are set in a lovely, lush 40-acre valley above Onomea Bay. After crossing under the entrance gate, we followed a 500-foot elevated boardwalk down a steep ravine into a lush tropical rainforest, where we meandered along a series of nature trails, with over 2,500 species of exotic plants, a lovely waterfall, and vistas of Onomea Bay.

At its heart are the Kīlauea and Mauna Loa active volcanoes. The Crater Rim Drive passes steam vents and the Jaggar Museum, which features volcanology exhibits and a viewpoint overlooking Halema'uma'u Crater. Thick ferns mark the entrance to the Thurston Lava Tube (Nāhuku). The Chain of Craters Road weaves over lava.

600-foot, well-lit lava tube formed several hundred years ago during an eruption when low-viscosity lava flowed through this area. The upper layer of the flow cooled first, forming a hard crust, while the molten lava beneath continued to flow in tubular conduits beneath the surface. Because of the insulation of the upper crust, the liquid magma stayed heated enough to travel quite a distance before solidifying as well.

Boat cruise to beautiful Phang Nga Bay, which is home to over 100 islands, each more beautiful than the next. The day included kayaking through sea caves, a buffet lunch on board, a visit to James Bond Island (Khao Ping Kan), a major tourist attraction ever since it was featured in the 1974 Bond movie, “The Man with the Golden Gun,” and swimming off Koh Hong Island. The cost was about $90 per person.

3-hour, small group (less than 20), English speaking tour of the Alhambra, Generalife, Alcazaba and Nasrid Palaces.

Self-guided audio tour of this truly fascinating building, famous for the forest of red-ad-white Islamic pillars and arches inside the main hall. Fortunately for all of us today, the Christian conquerors did not destroy the Islamic features of the mosque, but simply built their own Renaissance cathedral inside it. As a result, the Mezquita is a remarkable example of both Moorish and Renaissance architecture.

12th-century Romanesque church adjoining the much larger and newer Gothic / Baroque “New Cathedral” begun in the 16th century and completed in the 18th century

Stunning pink granite, 19th century, neo-Romanesque basilica, set against the dramatic soaring mountains of the Picos de Europa

Hillside cave a short distance from the Basilica, where according to legend, the Virgin Mary appeared before a battle between the Christians and the Muslims in 722 AD. Her appearance spurred the Christian army on to victory and marked the beginning of the 800-year Reconquista. Today there is a beautiful chapel set inside the cave, which has now become a pilgrimage site.

Cave whose 14,000 year old prehistoric paintings are world famous and considered to be one of the best examples of prehistoric art in the world, with its walls and ceilings are filled with paintings of bison, horses, deer, and other animals. No longer open to the public in order to prevent deterioration of the art, there is now a museum and replica cave near the original site, allowing visitors to experience and appreciate these amazing examples of prehistoric art.

Museum with a replica cave of the 14,000 year old prehistoric cave paintings of bison, horses, deer, and other animals. It was first discovered in 1879 by the young daughter of a local archaeologist. It became a very popular tourist destination, so much so that in 2002, the cave was closed to the public in order to prevent deterioration of the art. Now a museum and replica cave sit near the original site, allowing visitors to experience and appreciate these amazing examples of prehistoric art.

Designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry and opened in 1997, this museum of modern and contemporary art is one of modern architecture’s most iconic buildings, with its gleaming titanium tiles that sheathe the exterior like giant herring scales, reflecting the colors that light projects onto it. It single-handedly has transformed the city of Bilbao from an industrial wasteland of gritty factories and shipyards into an international art and tourist destination

Museum in Figueres designed by Dali himself to showcase his life’s works. The museum itself is a work of art. The exterior of the building, which is painted pink, is studded with plaster-covered croissants, and the roof is topped with giant eggs and stylized Oscar-like figures. Inside there are 22 exhibit rooms to explore, each of them exuding his outrageous public persona. It’s an all-round sensory and surreal experience.

The Amfiteatre Roma, second century AD Roman amphitheater cut into a hillside above the beach, which was once used to stage gladiator contests and public executions, and the Pretori i Circ Romans, a first century Roman circus used to stage chariot races, theater, and circus.

One of Gaudi’s trademark works and a Modernisme icon. The building is considered to be the purest of Gaudi’s interiors and to have been designed at the height of his abilities. It was also the last civil engineering project he would undertake in his career. Highlights of the tour include the large open-to-the-sky courtyard (16 floors high), a replica of one of the apartments (there was one per floor), and the best of all rooftop covered with weirdly shaped chimneys, reminiscent of Star Wars figures, and rightly so, as it was these chimneys that inspired George Lucus’ stormtroopers’ masks. There are 36 chimneys in total, some of them decorated with mosaic, stones, marble, and glass. The 6 largest ones have staircases inside and 2 of them are ventilation shafts - always coming form and function. It's a very popular attraction, so it's a good idea to buy a timed-entry ticket in advance.

Public park designed by Gaudi, located atop Carmel hill. Most of the park is free, except for the very popular Monumental Zone, where most of Gauid’s iconic creations are. Only 400 visitors are allowed in each hour, so it’s a good idea to buy a timed-entry ticket in advance. Highlights include: two Hansel and Gretel gatehouses, a multicolored mosaic lizard named “El Drac” guarding a whimsical staircase, long serpentine wavy benches, and a panoramic view terrace supported by a forest of columns.

Antoni Gaudi’s magnum opus, a project which he devoted himself to for 43 years until his death in 1926. The building, which is a combination of Gothic, Catalan Modernism, and Art Nouveau styles, combines all of the elements that Gaudí used and experimented with in his earlier works - the predominance of wavy curves over straight lines, parabolas instead of circles, the use of vegetal and other organic motifs, intricate decoration and detail, and brightly colored glass and mosaics. Since it is the second most visited site in Spain (the Alhambra in Grenada is the first), you really have to buy timed-entry tickets well in advance

A structure built entirely of lava rock, perched on a giant mound of lava rock, in the middle of a field of lava rock. The windows of the observatory are situated in such a way to highlight all the prominent peaks that can be seen from the summit - well, not for us today as they skies were rainy and gray. The observatory is located along the Cascades Scenic Byway.

Paleontology Museum at the Visitor Center with informative exhibits, fossil displays, and a laboratory

The museum was actually much more impressive than we had expected, with works by El Greco, Caravaggio, Picasso, Monet, and Degas. We also really enjoyed looking at over a dozen depictions of the Monastery by various painters throughout the centuries.

Lovely Japanese Garden in Washington Park. The Gardens are actually five separate gardens linked by winding paths:a Tea Garden, a Strolling Pond Garden, a Natural Garden, a Flat Garden, and a Sand and Stone Garden. They were designed in the 1960s by Takuma Tono, a renowned Japanese landscape architect, and recognized by the Japanese ambassador to the United States as “the most beautiful and authentic Japanese garden in the world outside of Japan.”

4.5 acres of beautiful formal rose gardens with over 6,800 rose bushes representing 557 different varieties. It is one of 24 gardens in the U.S. that test new rose varieties for vigor, disease resistance, color, flower production, and fragrance.

This 64-acre zoo is the oldest zoo west of the Mississippi River. The zoo is arranged in five areas that range across different continents and ecosystems: Great Northwest, Elephant Lands, Africa, Primate Forest and Discovery Zone. Within each zone you’ll find animals and habitats such as Africa Savanna or Polar Passage that recreate the habitats of specific animals.

Replica of a formal garden built in the style of the Ming Dynasty, designed as a joint effort between craftspeople in Portland and its Chinese sister city. It is the largest traditional Chinese garden in the U.S.

Founded in late 1892, the Portland Art Museum is the seventh oldest museum in the United States and the oldest in the Pacific Northwest. The collection is distinguished for its holdings of art of the native peoples of North America, English silver, and the graphic arts.

Preserve with pine, cypress & eucalyptus trees sheltering thousands of monarch butterflies from October through March.

Built on the former site of the city's largest sardine cannery, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is now the biggest tourist attraction in the area. Known for its regional focus on the marine habitats of Monterey Bay, it Kelp Forest tank is what you would find on the Monterey Bay floor just outside the aquarium. Other popular exhibits include the Jellyfish as well as the Open Sea million-gallon tank. Admission is $49.95, but $39.95 for seniors

Second of the Alta (Upper) California Spanish missions. It was originally established in Monterey in 1770 by the Spanish priest Junipero Serra, but was moved the following year to Carmel, near the mouth of the Carmel River, because of lack of good agricultural land. Juniper Serra is interred in its chapel

Hands-on science museum with over 100 interactive exhibits. The Fleet is also home to Southern California’s only IMAX Dome Theater.

Features more than 80 historic autos and motorcycles, including Frank Sinatra’s 1967 Austin Petrol Hire Car and Louie Mattar’s Fabulous $75,000 Car, as well as early 1900 "motorized bicycles" manufactured by the Indian Motorcycle Company and Harley Davidson.

Houses a collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft from all over the world, including a working flying replica of Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the actual Apollo 9 Command Module spacecraft, and artifacts from the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and other aviation and space pioneers.

4-hour tour with a Navajo guide in an Austrian 6WD Pinzgauer army troop carrier in Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto with stops at Kokopelli Cave, Petroglyph Rock, First Ruin, Junction Ruin, Ceremonial Cave, Ledge Ruin, Antelope House Ruin in Canyon del Muerto, and White House Ruin in Canyon De Chelly

Site of one of the best preserved meteorite impact craters on earth. Around 50,000 years ago, a huge iron-nickel meteorite, approximately 150 feet wide and weighing several hundred thousand tons crashed into a rocky plain just east of what is now Flagstaff, Arizona.The result of this impact was the creation of a giant bowl-shaped cavity, measuring 550 feet deep and almost a mile across.

The Bottle Tree Ranch is literally a forest of large metal pipes with bottles of all different colors hanging from them, like branches from a tree. They are especially pretty when the light shines through them, lighting them up like odd-shaped Christmas lights. Elmer also seems to have had a thing for old typewriters and cash registers, because there are several of them scattered throughout the forest.

The Acropolis Museum is considered one of the finest museums in the world. Unlike other museums that display works of art from around the world, the Acropolis Museum houses artifacts from just one place - the Acropolis, which looms over it from atop the hill above. It is specifically designed to complete the experience of visiting the actual Acropolis.

Surprisingly, the museum iis an eye-catching, glassy postmodern building - sort of a modern temple to house a treasure of ancient artifacts from 3000 years ago. Actually, make that 6000 years ago, because the museum was built above a neighborhood from 4000 BCE, whose streets, houses, baths, and workshops visible through the glass floors below your feet as you enter the main building.

Cycladic Bronze Age settlement that was destroyed in a volcanic eruption sometime in the 16th century BCE. The ash which buried the city preserved the remains of frescoes and many objects and artworks. It’s like the Pompeii of Greece

Family owned business since 1870, when the Koutsogiannopoulos brothers wound up on Santorini island by mistake when trying to get to Syros because of strong winds. Apparently, they liked Santorini because 150 years later the descendants are still making olive oil and wine. There was a very informative museum, nestled in a 300-meter long cave 8 meters below ground, with life size dioramas of the family's history in winemaking. We also had a wine tasting.

This museum houses many of the artifacts uncovered at Akrotiri, including the frescoes that were painstakingly removed from the wall of the homes there and meticulously restored to their beautiful current condition

One of the best museums in the world for Minoan art. Many of the artifacts here, including the murals and the snake goddess, were moved here from the actual Palace site to better preserve them.

Naval museum which houses an extensive collection of model ships, nautical instruments, paintings, historical photographs and war relics, and an impressive model of the fortified town and port when it was under Venetian rule. The material is classified chronologically, starting from the Bronze Age right up to the present.

Museum in Athens, which is home to the world’s best collection of ancient Greek Art. The museum traces the history of Greece’s various civilizations: the Minoans, the Mycenaeans, Archaic Greece, the Classical Age, Alexander the Great, and the Romans. The exhibits are displayed chronologically so we started our journey in the early Bronze Age and proceeded through Roman times.

Established in 1959 with the mission of the preservation and conservation of the plants and animals of the Galapagos Islands. At the Visitor Center we saw large “saddleback” tortoises wandering among rock enclosures and the hatchlings and juvenile tortoises that are being cared for until they can be safely released into the wild

A privately owned Tortoise Reserve, located up in the Santa Cruz highlands, where we saw giant tortoises in their natural habitat, including some actually mating.

Museum devoted to the study and appreciation of mammalian penises, with 300 penises from almost all land and sea mammals in Iceland, from a tiny hamster member to a 6-foot-long specimen from a sperm whale.

One of the most unusual site in the entire city, this hidden gem was created by the locally renowned filmmaker Hrafn Gunnlaugsson, who initially purchased the house while he was looking for a workplace to create props for his Viking movies, but later transformed it into an unconventional medley of scrapped metal, timber, and other materials, all of which were incorporated as part of his now redesigned home. Creepy guardian bogeymen guard the house.

The museum, which is a tribute to the town’s glory days as the herring capital of the world, is made up of three separate buildings. The first is the Boathouse in which there is a recreation of the town’s once bustling port, complete with dock and 11 boats of various types and sizes, which we were allowed to board and clamber about.

The second building we went into was the Grana, a model of the original reduction factory that operated in Siglufjordur between 1919 and 1950. This is where men and machines transformed the herring into oil and fish-meal.

The last building we entered was the Roaldsbrakki, a former Norwegian salting station built in 1907. This was where the herring that did not go to the reduction factories went to be salted to become human food, especially for the hungry European countries during the two World Wars.

On the 3rd floor of the Roaldsbrakki (salting station building) were the living quarters for the “herring girls,” the women that came from all across Iceland and other Scandinavian countries to take jobs gutting, cleaning, and salting barrels of freshly caught fish.

Hour and a half “Stroll” tour, led by a naturalist through various parts of the 240-acre gardens, explaining the history of the gardens and the various plant life. Along the way we passed about a dozen of the 200 beautiful bronze sculptures created by George Lundeen of Colorado

The Kilauea Lighthouse stands atop a 180-foot-high bluff above the ocean at the very northernmost point of the Hawaiian Islands. A wildlife refuge was established on the bluff in 1985 to preserve seabird nesting colonies. It is a wonderful place to see seabirds rarely seen from land, such as the red-footed booby, the great frigate bird, the Laysan albatross, and the endangered nēnē.

Annual Halloween event where a tour guide in period costume holding a lantern takes us through the cemetery stopping at the grave sites of people that had been important to the history of Yosemite. When we stopped at a grave, its resident ghost would appear and talk to us about his or her experiences in and contributions to what is now Yosemite National Park.

Ten beehive-shaped masonry structures, about 25-feet high, which were built in 1877 to provide a source of fuel for nearby lead-silver smelters. It is thought that they were only in operation for 2 years

26 acres showcasing over 700 species of tropical and subtropical plants, including rare orchids, ret Ti plants, rainbow eucalyptus, a 100-year-old mango tree, and a bamboo forest. There are also two noteworthy viewpoints: Upper Puohokamoa Waterfall, and Keopuka Rock, famous for being in the opening scene of Jurassic Park.

The tour included a scenic cruise across Lake Te Anau to the western shores of the lake, where we were dropped off at the dock where the Te Anau Glowworm Caves are located. Upon disembarking, we line up in groups of 8 and entered the caves which were beautiful, with underground rock formations and even small waterfalls. After walking for a short distance, we climbed into a small boat which brought us into a dark grotto, where we were treated to a mesmerizing display of hundreds of glowworms hanging from the cave walls and ceiling, emitting their blue-green light, which they emit through a process called bioluminescence.

At the entrance to the Gardens is the beautiful and iconic Peacock Fountain. Made of bronze and marble. Standing 25-feet tall, this large circular fountain with a central column that sprays water in all directions, surrounded by a ring of smaller fountains. It is adorned with herons, playful dolphins, and large lily leaves. The 52-acre garden is known for its Historic Tree Walk where there are a wide variety of trees that were planted in the 19th century, including English oak, giant sequoia, monkey puzzle trees, royal purple beech trees, Lawson and Monterey cypresses, silver peppermint, lime trees, eucalyptus, maritime pines, cedar, cypress, fir, larch, juniper, pine, and spruce. There were also lovely, colorful gardens of rhododendrons, calla lilies, roses (Hybrid Tea, Heritage), tulips, primula, Iceland poppies, petunia, begonia, aster, geranium, daffodils, azaleas, and magnolias.