Ways to explore
Wildlife & nature
Safaris, sanctuaries, whales, birds and wild places. 760 picks across 299 destinations.
The best of the best
AlaskaKenai Fjords National Park Cruise from Seward
A full-day boat trip from Seward through Resurrection Bay into Kenai Fjords National Park, where tidewater glaciers calve into the sea and humpbacks, orcas, sea otters and puffins feed in cold, productive water.
Arches & Canyonlands (Moab)Arches National Park
The park that put Moab on the map: a scenic drive past fins, balanced rocks and the greatest concentration of natural sandstone arches on earth.
AtlantaGeorgia Aquarium
One of the largest aquariums in the world, built around a vast ocean habitat with a 100-foot underwater tunnel, whale sharks gliding overhead, beluga whales, a dolphin show and a 1.2-million-gallon shark gallery.
AustinCongress Avenue Bridge Bats
The largest urban bat colony in the world lifts off from under a downtown bridge at dusk — a smoky ribbon of Mexican free-tailed bats streaming east over Lady Bird Lake.
Badlands National Park & WallBadlands National Park
A landscape of striped spires, buttes and prairie in southwestern South Dakota, with a scenic loop road, short boardwalk walks, bison and bighorn sheep, and some of the darkest night skies on the interstate corridor.
BaltimoreNational Aquarium
Baltimore’s headline attraction on the Inner Harbor piers, with sharks, rays, jellies, a rooftop rainforest and dolphins, timed admission that can sell out and late opening on Friday evenings.
BostonNew England Aquarium
On Central Wharf at the downtown waterfront — built around a four-story Giant Ocean Tank you spiral up and around, with sea turtles, sharks, rays, a beloved penguin colony, and harbor seals out front.
CharlestonMagnolia Plantation & Gardens
America's oldest public gardens, founded in 1676 — 464 acres of formal gardens, swamp boardwalks, and historic structures along the Ashley River, just 20 minutes from downtown Charleston.