2026 Travel Destinations: 52 Places to Go This Year

Celebrate the semiquincentennial with fireworks and themed balls

We hold these truths to be self-evident: Celebrations abound for the United States’ 250th birthday, and travelers across the Northeast have plenty of destinations to choose from. Philadelphia, the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence, will host a Red, White & Blue To-Do Pomp & Parade on July 2, two new galleries at the National Constitution Center, an expansive exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and a World Cup match on Independence Day. Massachusetts, Virginia and New York, among the colonies that became America’s first states, also have stacked calendars. Visitors can steep themselves in the past at battle re-enactments in New Jersey and New York; walk through a mock Revolutionary War encampment at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s Virginia estate; and party like it’s 1776 at themed balls and concerts. On July 4, rendezvous in Washington for a concert on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol and fireworks on the National Mall.

— Gabe Castro-Root and Christine Chung

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