Travel Lemming, an online guide with more than 10 million readers, released its picks for the 150 best things to do in the USA this summer. The list showcases the depth of America’s diversity, featuring a Bavarian Village in Washington, a tiger sanctuary in Colorado, the world’s largest musical instrument in Virginia, and a ghost town in the Nevada desert.

The list is an annual project by Travel Lemming, and this year’s guide directly confronts the rise of generative AI, highlighting that human creators handpicked every attraction on the list. By highlighting the diversity of experiences available in the USA, Travel Lemming hopes to inspire travelers to explore their own backyards and discover new places to visit.

The top ten entries on Travel Lemming’s list of things to do are:

1. The Wild Animal Sanctuary (Keenesburg, Colorado) – an open-air sanctuary home to rescued animals, including 39 tigers once owned by Tiger King‘s Joe Exotic and 9 lions airlifted from Ukraine.
2. Leavenworth (Washington) – a Bavarian-themed town offering a taste of Germany in the Cascade Mountains.
3. Valley of Fire State Park (Nevada) – a 46,000-acre crimson oasis of desert outcroppings, petroglyphs, and petrified forests.
4. Pilsen (Chicago, Illinois) – a culturally-rich Latino neighborhood featuring vibrant art, music, and mouthwatering food.
5. Luray Caverns (Virginia) – a 400-million-year-old network of caverns, home to the biggest musical instrument in the world.
6. Sensorio (Paso Robles, California) – a whimsical lightshow installation featuring 100,000 stemmed spheres.
7. New Jersey Lottery Festival of Ballooning (Readington, New Jersey) – a festival featuring 100 colorful hot air balloons from July 28-30.
8. Brewery Hopping (Asheville, North Carolina) – an everyday fun activity that takes in the best of America’s “Beer City.”
9. Dead Horse Point State Park (Utah) – an overlooked state park featuring 16.6 miles of singletrack mountain biking trails.
10. Olympia (Washington) – an underrated state capital home to a vibrant artistic community and nearby natural attractions.

This year’s list also explicitly addresses the rise of generative AI chatbot advisers, which have been recently touted by several big tech companies as a new way to plan travel. Travel Lemming argues that AI-generated suggestions can’t replace the authentic advice of locals who have experienced the destinations firsthand.

About Travel Lemming
Travel Lemming is an online guide with more than 10 million annual readers. It publishes detailed original guides written by dozens of local and expert travelers with firsthand experience.