Kansas City

Kansas City was founded at the confluence of the historic Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails and other lesser-known ones that opened the U.S. to the west in the early 1800s. Now, 200 years later, the city is a world-class metropolis of 2 million residents with sweeping, tree-lined boulevards like those found in Paris, and grand, sparkling fountains reminiscent of Rome. The city features celebrated attractions, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, with a 2007 Steven Holl addition lauded by architecture and museum critics worldwide; the renowned National WWI Museum at Liberty Memorial; and the Country Club Plaza shopping district, one of 60 of the World’s Greatest Places by the Project for Public Places. Kansas City is known for its world-famous barbecue, but it’s also on the forefront of the locavore movement. You’ll see that dichotomy throughout the city’s culinary landscape. Restaurants can be as casual as tasty Mexican-style street tacos in an old gas station, to as formal as white-glove service in elegant, soaring spaces. Either way, this city has a robust, delicious foodie scene.