Every year, the Visit USA Committee Ireland organises a FAM Trip to a different destination as part of its mission to promote the US as a travel destination. This year, we took in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, DC and Virginia from 22^nd – 26^th October. We travelled by Amtrak train between these east coast locations.

The group we brought out was made up of six representatives from some of Ireland’s top travel companies, including American Holidays, Click&Go, Bookabed, Shandon Travel and American Sky. We also hosted three travel journalists from Travel Extra, Travelbiz and Where Is Tara?.

The Visit USA FAM trip was kindly supported and facilitated by Aer Lingus, Discover Philadelphia and Capital Region USA.

Philadelphia

After a great flight with Aer Lingus, our first stop was Philadelphia. Here we experienced the incredible views from 57^th floor of the One Liberty Observation Deck, sampled the culinary delights at Reading Terminal Market, climbed the iconic Rocky Steps, saw world-class art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation, explored the intriguing history of the Eastern State Penitentiary and tried out some amazing craft beers at the Yards Brewery.

Philadelphia was in the fact the first capital of the United States and we also took an amazing walking tour of the city’s Revolutionary-era sights with Awfully Nice Tours.

During our time in Philadelphia, we stayed at the Hampton Inn Center City.

Baltimore

While we only spent a half-day in Baltimore, Charm City certainly made a big impression on us! After a leisurely stroll along the Baltimore Waterfront Promenade, we experienced the truly unique American Visionary Art Museum. This offbeat institution showcases the work of intuitive and self -taught artists.

We then took a scenic water taxi ride to the newly developed Inner Harbor area. This vibrant and modern city quarter has an excellent selection of bars, restaurants and shops. We dined at the upmarket Italian eatery, Tagliata, before savouring some deliciously innovative cocktails at the suave Elk Room speakeasy.

While in Baltimore, we overnighted at the Days Inn Inner Harbor.

Washington, DC

In Washington, we took an excellent Bike and Roll Tour, which took in the sights of the National Mall, such as the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Washington Monument and the White House.

We also explored the fascinating National Museum of African American History and Culture. This unique Museum opened in 2017 and is the latest addition to the Smithsonian’s impressive presence on the Mall.

We then headed out to the lively and urbane Georgetown area of Washington, DC and closed out the evening with ten-pin bowling and great eats at Pinstripes.

During our time in Washington, DC, we stayed at the Kimpton Carlysle Dupont Circle.

Virginia

On the last day of our trip, we headed out to the rolling hills of Virginia. We visited the incredible Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, which features thousands of aviation and space artefacts, including a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, a Concorde, and the Space Shuttle Discovery.

We then sampled the excellent local craft produce at Mount Defiance Cidery in Loudoun County and toured the National Sporting Library & Museum.