Come to New England to mount spectacular summits and to swoosh down snow-covered slopes, to feel the ocean breeze and taste the salty air. Come to tantalize your taste buds, for succulent seafood and sweet maple syrup. Come for history and high culture, to follow the writers and revolutionaries who changed the world.

New England is big on outdoor adventure: you’ll find a sport for every season. Whether you’re hurdling over carriage roads on a mountain bike or swooping down a snowy slope on a snowboard, the rounded peaks of the region’s mountain ranges give everyone a rush. While you’re paddling the luxuriously languid inland lakes or rafting down a rippling river, her waterways awaken your senses. Whether you’re bird-watching or building sand castles, her windswept beaches are beguiling.

New England undulates with the rolling hills and rocky peaks of the ancient Appalachian Mountains, from the beautiful birch-covered Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, to the lush Green Mountains in Vermont, to the towering White Mountains that stretch across New Hampshire and Maine.

Nearly 5000 miles of coastline means that New Englanders are into water sports.  Souls that long for the sea will surely be satisfied, as opportunities for fishing, swimming, surfing, sailing and sunbathing are unlimited. So pack your sunglasses and your sunscreen and settle in for some quality time on the open ocean.

New England is at the cutting edge of culture. The region is home to two exciting, experimental contemporary art museums, as well as a slew of excellent more traditional art museums. Artists are painting the town red, while indie bands rock out in Boston, Portland, Providence and Burlington. The world-renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra takes its show on the road in summer, delighting audiences in the Berkshires. Around the region, concert series, film festivals and theater productions make for a cultural calendar that is jam-packed and jaw-dropping.

New England is delicious. Blessed with a burgeoning locavore movement and a wealth of international culinary influences, New England cuisine fuses the best of both worlds. A pile of pancakes drenched in maple syrup; fresh farm produce and sharp cheddar cheese; lobsters, oysters and shellfish straight from the sea; exotic dishes with influences of Portugal, Italy or Asia: this is just a sampling of the epicurean delights that travelers will find in New England.

New England is history. It’s the Pilgrims who came ashore at Plymouth Rock and the minutemen who fought for American independence. It's the ponderings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the protests of Harriet Beecher Stowe. It's hundreds of years of poets and philosophers, progressive thinkers who dared to dream and dared to do.

But it’s also contemporary. It’s the farmers and fishermen struggling for survival; students and immigrants, always adapting. New England oozes individuality and diversity; it’s colorful and controversial, free-thinking and forward-looking.