Summer Vacation 2018 Ideas: 50 Must-Visit U.S. Travel Destinations

The summer vacation countdown begins right after Memorial Day. The kids will soon be off from school, the weather should be nice (fingers crossed) and all those vacation days you have been saving up can finally be used for some much-deserved R and R. But one question: Where should you go?

That's a question plaguing many a traveler. If you're on a tight budget—and let's be real, who isn't—traveling overseas is probably out of the question. But that's not a problem, because there are a ton of great places to visit in the United States.

Sure, there are the obvious, most popular places like the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty and the French Quarter in New Orleans, but there are also more obscure (and some might argue more exciting) places like Alabama's Civil Rights Trail, the Petrified Forest or even the Corn Palace.

Having a clear travel plan is more important than ever, considering that vacation days are becoming fewer and fewer. The U.S. Travel Association reports that Americans used 17.2 percent of their allotted vacation days in 2017, a dip compared to the 1990s, when Americans used an average of 20 of their allotted vacation days.

The U.S. Travel Association also found that more people are going on "workcation." This is partly due to the increasingly availability of working remotely, in addition to tagging on some vacation time to a work trip.

But the most glaring piece of data the U.S. Travel Association found is that 86 percent of Americans say they have not seen enough of the United States. Well, Newsweek is here to change that. We've sifted through hundreds of destinations highlighted by the travel website Frommers and have picked 50 U.S. vacation destinations you must visit this summer. You're welcome, and happy traveling.