AmericaBridge

New York, N.Y.
37.6 million visitors

Las Vegas, Nev.
29.1 million visitors

Washington, D.C.
25 million visitors

Surrounded by nearly nine museums and bookended by the Capitol to the east and the Washington Monument to the west, the National Mall, a large rectangular green space, is visited by millions each year. The mile-long Mall hosts a number of large events like the Fourth of July celebration and the Cherry Blossom Festival, but its carousel and lawn are often filled with people playing Frisbee or even polo. The west end flows into a dense collection of monuments including the Vietnam, Korean and World War II Memorials.

Boston, Mass.
19 million visitors

Also known as Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall is a 250-year-old marketplace that offers shopping, dining and yearly events like the Holiday Tree Lighting and Fourth of July Harborfest. Its cast of street performers is so famous that the market has a programmed roster and annual Street Performer Festival.

Walt Disney World, Orlando, Fla.
17.1 million visitors

Over 80% of Walt Disney World visitors enter multiple areas of the park, whether Epcot or Hollywood Studios, according to the Journal of Travel Research. Since the Magic Kingdom receives the most attendees of any area, we consider its visitor number to represent the entire resort's visitor count. Upcoming attractions include the new Fantasyland expansion, Ariel’s Adventure and Star Tours II 3-DSan Francisco Bay Area, Calif.
17 million visitors

The National Park Service-administered recreation area spans three counties-- San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo--and spreads 60 miles along the Bay’s coastline. It also includes Alcatraz Island and four other National Historic Landmarks, historic military forts and installations, and even archaeological sites that are all kept up with vast, continuing preservation efforts.

Anaheim, Calif.
14.7 million visitors

Recently refurbished attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean and Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, and perennial favorites like Space Mountain and the Haunted Mansion, continue to draw millions of families to this theme park. The adjacent park, Disneyland’s California Adventure, is set to undergo a multimillion-dollar renovation overseen by Disney’s team of Imagineers, and will include new rides like Ariel’s Undersea Adventure to open in 2012

San Francisco, Calif.
10 million (tie)

With three cable car lines converging at Fisherman’s Wharf it’s no wonder that so many tourists find themselves in the bustling collection of bayside restaurants and attractions. Along with the famous Dungeness crab, the wharf’s draw is a handful of landmarks like the Aquarium of the Bay, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, and The Cannery’s and Pier 39’s shops and street shows.

Stretching 2.4 miles down Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, the Walk of Fame runs past other attractions like Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater, where the Oscars are held year after year. This sidewalk contains about 2,400 stars and the accompanying hand (or paw) prints, the most recently of which were provided by Russell Crowe and Alan Jackson. This year is the Walk’s 50th anniversary, to be commemorated by a street festival in July.

North Carolina and Tennessee
9.5 million visitors

The variety of activities available make the park popular for both adventurers and those looking for more casual fun, whether it's horseback riding, mountain biking, ranger-guided hikes or fishing. One of the only remaining natural habitats for black bears, the Smoky Mountains provide wildlife-watchers with glimpses of elk, white-tailed deer, wild turkey and various birds. The park’s views of the mountains and green valleys are paralleled only by the seven different falls and cascades accessible by hiking trails.