Nevada to Hawai‘i: 7 must-have cultural experiences across North America

Encompassing the US and Canada, North America is brimming with cultural experiences, just waiting to be discovered. Check out our top contenders.

1. Join a Native American cultural celebration

Travelling with: Susan Gough Henly

I’m transported to another America as high-pitched chants and the pounding of giant deerskin drums call hundreds of dancers in full ceremonial regalia into the Grand Entry of the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) International Powwow in Bismarck, North Dakota. “You’re listening to the heartbeat of a nation,” booms the announcer as coloured beads gleam, feathers fly and ankle bells jingle at the start of this thrilling Native American cultural celebration.

Feathers fly at the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) International Powwow. (Image: Cassie Theurer)

It’s among the largest of the many powwows that take place across the United States each year, where ancient values and spirituality are passed from generation to generation through dance, song, artisanal crafts and traditional food. The UTTC International Powwow takes place in September in Bismarck. Native America Travel offers information on a wide array of Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian experiences.

The UTTC International Powwow takes place in September in Bismarck. (Image: Alicia Ewen)

2. Admire the modernist architecture of Palm Springs

Travelling with: Jo Stewart

California’s cool desert city is paradise for architecture aficionados. It’s home to Elvis Presley’s eye-catching honeymoon hideaway, Frank Sinatra’s sprawling estate, Twin Palms, and many other masterful examples of mid-century modernism.

Step into mid-century modernist homes. (Image: Greater Palm Springs)

Whether you embark on a self-drive tour, engage a local guide or time your visit to coincide with Modernism Week, you’re guaranteed to see many asymmetrical, minimalist, modernist-style homes, hotels and civic buildings – even banks – exemplifying the striking style that emerged in the decades after the Second World War. The Hollywood stars of the 1950s that once kicked back here are long gone, but their glorious homes remain for all of us to swoon over.

Cool off at Twin Palms, the former estate of Frank Sinatra.

3. Explore New York City through its legendary piano bars

Travelling with: Quentin Long

Explore New York City through a bar crawl of its piano bars, from institutions like Café Carlyle to spots only New Yorkers know about. Thanks to Broadway, you’ll rub shoulders with the globe’s best pianists and entertainers, who are both rehearsing and doing what they love best. Make like a local and start your own piano bar crawl at Don’t Tell Mama in Hell’s Kitchen. Then take the 1 train to Christopher St-Stonewall, the LGBTQIA+ heartland of Manhattan, for Marie’s Crisis Cafe, a tiny singalong bar on Grove Street. While its history dates to 1800, it is most famous for a well-lubricated Jimmy Fallon taking over the piano in 2015. Once Marie’s becomes a little crowded, cross the road to West Village icon The Duplex for a cabaret and drag show.

Kick off your piano bar crawl at Café Carlyle. (Image: Durston Saylor)

4. Road trip Nevada’s art highway

Travelling with: Mary Cate McMillon

There is nothing quite so iconic in the collective American imagination as the wide-open road. You know the one – it stretches so far into the distance that it seems to be lifting off into the sky. Highway art plays off this powerful archetype, punctuating these liminal spaces with bold, abstract shapes.

Head south from Vegas to see Seven Magic Mountains by Ugo Rondinone. (Image: Unsplash/Elizabeth Villalta)

Nevada’s 804-kilometre Free-Range Art Highway is flecked with off-kilter yet mesmerising installation art, such as ghostly rendition of Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, and Lady Desert – The Venus of Nevada, a 7.6-metre-high pixelated sculpture that renders the form of the female nude. There are few audiences to be found out here, leaving plenty of room for solitary contemplation. Much like driving on the wide-open road.

Albert Szukalski’s The Last Supper haunts the desert landscape near the ghost town of Rhyolite. (Image: Alamy/Richard Ellis)

5. Experience the culture of Hawai‘i through its surf

Travelling with: Megan Arkinstall

Surfing was introduced to Hawai‘i by Polynesian seafarers who had been riding waves since the 12th century and considered it to be both a cultural and spiritual practice. The first written record of surfing was by naval officer Lieutenant James King, who described native Hawaiians riding wooden planks on the swells of Kealakekua Bay in 1779.

Hit the waves in Hawai’i. (Image: Tourism Hawai’i)

Some two centuries later, he‘e nalu (surfing) became popularised thanks to Duke Kahanamoku, who taught visitors how to surf on Waikiki Beach and even introduced the sport to Australia in the early 1900s.

Seek out the state’s top breaks. (Image: Tourism Hawai’i)

Lessons are hosted all along Waikiki Beach, while experienced boardriders flock to the legendary breaks of Oahu’s North Shore, where world-class surfing competitions are held.

Hawai’i has some of the best waves to surf in the world. (Image: Tourism Hawai’i)

6. Visit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Travelling with: Carla Grossetti

Winnipeg is a popular pit stop for those keen to spot polar bears in the wild and see the northern lights. But the capital of Manitoba is also rich in history and Indigenous culture, and contains one of the only museums in the world solely dedicated to the celebration of human rights.

Canadian Museum for Human Rights celebrates the evolution of human rights. (Image: CMHR/Aaron Cohen)

A visit to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is a profoundly moving experience, tracing some of the worst atrocities and horrors experienced by humankind. From the relocation of Indigenous children in Canada to the struggle and repression of Black South Africans during apartheid, the thought-provoking message is ultimately one of hope, encouraging visitors to reflect on how they can make a difference.

The sculpturally designed Canadian Museum for Human Rights elicits an emotional response from visitors. (Image: CMHR/Aaron Cohen)

7. Embark on a First Nations adventure in BC

Travelling with: Elizabeth Whitehead

British Columbia is the wild heart of the Americas, renowned for its wildlife and natural landscapes. There’s a sense of scale here that’s bound to challenge your sense of perspective, from the grizzly bears that roam the endless mountain ranges to orcas gliding through impossibly blue inlets. No one understands this sense of majesty better than the local First Nations people, who hold nature as a central tenet of their world view and philosophy. Sustainable, Indigenous-led Canadian tour company Sea Wolf Adventures continues the millennia-long Kwakwaka’wakw tradition of caring for the land through wildlife tours that bring the landscapes of Vancouver Island to life by revealing the powerful cultural stories steeped within them.

Grizzly bears roam the endless mountain ranges in BC.

This round-up of cultural experiences is part of our curated list of 100 Cultural Experiences, explore the full list here.