America's East Coast

Few cities convey so intensely how a country wishes to see itself. The Capitol, the White House, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the museums, Arlington and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial do not simply stand alongside one another. Together they form a landscape of memory made up of axes, monuments, texts and symbols. Much is impressive, some of it grandiloquent, almost all of it deliberately staged. For us, Washington was more than a conventional city opening. From the outset, it raised questions that would accompany us throughout the journey: what stories does America tell about itself? Who appears in them? And why do some of those stories remain so powerful today? Despite all this, Washington felt surprisingly relaxed: the Mall as an enormous park, no urban canyons, broad paths and school groups everywhere engaging with their country's history and ideals.

Our base near Lancaster took us into the heart of Amish Country. The region feels like two parallel worlds meeting in open countryside: twenty-first-century America, and among it farms with silos, small roads, horse-drawn buggies and a way of life visibly set apart from mainstream society. Except that there are not really two separate sides. Both worlds intertwine in a shared present. At the same time, Amish Country has long been part of a tourist narrative too. Visitors come looking for simplicity, tradition and an America beyond big cities, technology and acceleration. It was precisely this mixture that made our stay interesting. Amish Country was not a picturesque interlude between two cities, but another answer to the question of how differently freedom, religion, community and progress can be understood — even within the same country.

Philadelphia concentrates America's founding history in a small area. Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross stand for historical events, people and stories that have long since become part of national memory. And then there is Rocky: a fictional character now just as firmly embedded in the city's identity. Not all of it is equally well documented, but that is precisely what makes the place interesting. History is not merely preserved here, but told, simplified, condensed into legend and perhaps sometimes invented too. For us, Philadelphia was therefore a short visit, but a densely thought-provoking one.

Thirty years ago, New York felt to us like a world on another level. This time, the feeling was more complicated. The city is still vast, dense, energetic and full of iconic places. The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, One Vanderbilt, Central Park, the urban canyons and the view from Weehawken are overwhelming. At the same time, much felt surprisingly familiar, sometimes aged and less forward-looking than we remembered. The most beautiful skyscraper is still the Empire State Building. While cities in Asia or the Gulf now give us a stronger sense of looking into the future, New York increasingly tells the story of its own great past too. It was precisely this tension between undiminished fascination and a lost sense of the future that made our return so interesting.

Newport tells the story of wealth without restraint. The great mansions of the Gilded Age are not villas in the usual sense, but demonstrations of fortune in built form. European styles, imported materials, enormous rooms and views of the Atlantic were intended to show that American industrial wealth could not only match the old European aristocracy, but surpass it. The Breakers and the other houses are impressive, sometimes absurd and illuminating for precisely that reason. Even today, new houses along the coast seem to be continuing that tradition. Alongside this is Newport as a lively harbour and coastal town that does not live by its mansions alone. The combination of sea, leisure and monumental displays of private property made the city a highly distinctive stop on the journey.

Boston connects a present-day metropolis with the history of the American Revolution in a particularly immediate way. The Freedom Trail does not lead through an enclosed museum district, but through streets, squares and neighbourhoods that remain part of everyday city life. Paul Revere, the Boston Tea Party, churches, cemeteries and meeting houses form a dense historical narrative. A tour with a guide in period costume makes it especially vivid. At the same time, Boston is a university city, a port and one of the most European cities in the USA.

Provincetown lies at the end of Cape Cod in more than a geographical sense. It also feels like a deliberately chosen margin: far out, open to the sea and long a refuge and home for artists, queer people and anyone wishing to live differently from the social mainstream. In summer, Provincetown is lively, touristy and colourful. Yet you can still sense that openness here is not merely marketing, but part of the place's history and identity. And then there are the whales. We went whale watching twice and had an experience both deeply moving and almost impossible to describe. Almost in passing, a small memorial stone reminded us that the story of the Mayflower began here too. Four nights in Provincetown gave us time for a small pause on the long journey, for the whales and for the particular rhythm at the very end of the peninsula.

As soon as we left the coast behind, the journey changed. Roads led through forest and small towns, distances grew longer and the rhythm quieter. A thought crept in: America is not shaped only by its great cities and economic centres. The vast spaces in between — whether forest, grassland or farmland — belong to the country at least as much. In Lee, we had a wonderful Airbnb and a host whose warmth made the stay special. After the densely packed days on the East Coast, the Berkshires were therefore not just another stop, but a genuine pause.

For us, the Finger Lakes were not a spectacular highlight, but a pleasant stop on the way to Niagara. Lakes, forests, fields, small towns and winding roads sometimes almost reminded us of a trip to the Bavarian Forest — and that is not meant dismissively at all. The region is pretty, quiet and particularly popular with American travellers. Around Keuka Lake, numerous wineries are part of the landscape too. At the same time, we encountered another America here: rusty pickups outside the supermarket and a driver openly carrying a gun. After Washington, New York and New England, this was not an entirely different country, but it was a distinctly different everyday world. For our route, the Finger Lakes served exactly the right purpose: slowing down for a day, driving along the lake and continuing to Niagara the next morning.

Niagara Falls is one of those destinations whose image you know long before the journey. Yet nothing quite prepares you for the scale, the noise, the spray and the ceaseless movement of those masses of water. Nor is the experience exhausted by one great view. From the American and Canadian sides, right at the edge, from the tunnels behind the falls, from a boat in the middle of the spray and finally from the hotel room, Niagara looked different every time — and was overwhelming every time. There is an enormous range of tourist attractions, and you probably do not need all of them. We did almost everything anyway and would leave out almost none of it. Only the trip to the whirlpool fell a little short of the other experiences. Even crossing to the Canadian side became a small travel anecdote: carrying our suitcases, we walked across the Rainbow Bridge from the USA to Canada.

At first, Toronto was mainly the logical endpoint of our journey. But we remember the city as much more than a logistical conclusion. The area around the CN Tower and the waterfront, the skyline from the lake, the view from the tower, the excellent aquarium, Casa Loma on the hill and the city's architecture made those three days surprisingly varied. Running along the waterfront in the morning was particularly lovely, letting us experience the city at a different pace once more. We liked the feel of life there too. After almost four weeks in the USA, it was noticeable that we were now in Canada, although after such a short stay we could not seriously explain exactly what the difference was. Nor did the question matter. Toronto was simply a very good final stop.