Chicago

After the Great Fire of 1871, Chicago rebuilt itself as a laboratory of modern architecture, and in 1885 it built what is often called the first skyscraper. The best way to understand the skyline is the architecture river cruise, which glides past more than a century of towers in 90 minutes.

Downtown, Millennium Park is home to Cloud Gate, the giant mirrored sculpture everyone calls “the Bean”. Next door, the Art Institute of Chicago holds masterpieces such as Grant Wood’s American Gothic and Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. For a thrill, step out onto the glass ledges of the Willis Tower Skydeck, 412 meters above the street.

Chicago is also a lake city: the 29-kilometer Lakefront Trail links beaches and parks along Lake Michigan. Eat a deep-dish pizza and a Chicago-style hot dog (never with ketchup), and catch a baseball game at historic Wrigley Field.