Explore American history: A presidential travel guide

The largest city in the state of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia served as the first official capital of the independent United States from 1790 to 1800. The Declaration of Independence was signed here in 1776, and in 1787, representatives from 13 states convened to decide on the structure of the newly formed country.

At 526 Market Street, the Liberty Bell symbolizes American independence and unity. Independence Hall, where the founding fathers discussed the future of the independent country in the 18th century and signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The museum is dedicated to the American Constitution, and Benjamin Franklin is also worth visiting.

A city constructed from scratch to serve as the capital of the newly proclaimed American state. In 1791, by the decision of George Washington, the first president of the USA, the independent District of Columbia was separated from the states of Maryland and Virginia, ensuring the capital would lie on neutral ground, not within any existing state.

Washington was designed by French architect Pierre Charles L’Enfant. Today, it is home to the White House, the residence of the US presidents; the Capitol, the seat of the American Congress; the Library of Congress, the oldest library in the USA; numerous museums; the Pentagon; and the National Archives.

The presidential sculpture in the Black Hills of South Dakota is one of the largest in the world. Overlooking the landscape are the granite-carved faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Each head is roughly 18 metres tall.

Historian Doane Robinson created the idea for these monumental images of US presidents as a major attraction, and sculptor Gutzon Borglum oversaw its execution. Hundreds of people worked on its completion from 1927 to 1941. Mount Rushmore is visited by 3 million people annually.

The sculpture has long been the subject of protests due to its location on lands formerly inhabited by Indigenous tribes.

New York was one of the largest and most important cities in the European-colonized North America. Before the Constitution of the independent United States was enacted, it served as the country's capital.

A small square in Lower Manhattan right next to the Charging Bull statue—Bowling Green—recalls those times. This site was once a marketplace where Dutch settlers traded with Indigenous inhabitants and among themselves. It is here that the infamous purchase of the island for a handful of beads allegedly took place and where sports and recreation were enjoyed (hence the square's name).

After the English took over New Amsterdam, a fence adorned with small royal crowns was erected around Bowling Green. On July 9, 1776, a crowd celebrating the formal reading of the Declaration of Independence sawed off the crowns. That same crowd destroyed the statue of King George III that stood in the square. The dismembered figure disappeared, but the 18th-century fence (without crowns) remains in its original location.

Without the birthplaces of the most famous US presidents, no presidential tourist attraction list would be complete. Their birthplaces or later residences are scattered throughout the country. Some presidents have their own tourist centres, like Jimmy Carter in Georgia, Abraham Lincoln in Illinois, or Harry Truman in Missouri.

Theodore Roosevelt even had a national park named after him in North Dakota. Places associated with the lives of American presidents provide insight into the conditions in which American leaders, coming from various parts of the country and social strata, grew up or aged. It's a valuable lesson in the famous American diversity and tolerance.