Boston
The setting of history's best-known 'tea party' - when aggrieved colonists dumped tea into the harbour in 1776, a landmark date in American independence. Today the welcome for UK visitors is far warmer in what is one of the USA's most pleasant cities, enjoyably human in scale.
Edging the Charles river, it's an appealing fusion of hi-tech skyscrapers and mellow Georgian buildings - where you can stroll the celebrated Freedom Trail, visit a tall ship, and discover the chic boutiques and seafood restaurants of Faneuil Hall, once Boston's oldest market.