Sometimes called "America's Main Street," Pennsylvania Avenue connects the corridors of power in the nation's capital. More accurately, it links the White House with the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland.
Connecting the north and south of Manhattan, Fifth Avenue is one of the most celebrated thoroughfares in the world. New York's main artery, the avenue constitutes one of the most luxurious stretches of retail in the United States.
A cultural icon, Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles. The famous Hollywood Walk of Fame with its near 3,000 five-pointed stars runs along 15 blocks of this major city thoroughfare.
Incorporated into Chicago's landmark Michigan Avenue is the city's Magnificent Mile—a segment known for its upscale shopping and lined with landmark skyscrapers, including the Wrigley Building and the iconic 875 North Michigan Avenue (formerly the John Hancock Center).
Raucous, nocturnal Bourbon Street is the beating heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Lined with bars and clubs, the historic street is also home to a thriving jazz music scene.
Eight-block-long Wall Street in Lower Manhattan is home to the world's two largest stock exchanges by total market capitalization, the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.
There is a section of the sober-sounding Las Vegas Boulevard that's better known as the Las Vegas Strip —one of the glitziest, neon-illuminated tourist destinations on the planet, and where some of the largest hotel, casino, and resort properties in the world are located.
Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is one of the world's most exclusive luxury destinations, and a favorite A-list hangout.
Broadway arrows through the heart of the American commercial theatrical industry, with Times Square at Seventh Avenue its vibrant 24/7 hub.
Distinguished by eight hairpin turns, Lombard Street, the steep one-way block on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Street, is often referred to as the "crookedest street in the world."
Affectionately known as the Mother Road, Route 66 was one of the first freeways in the US Highway System, established in 1926. Commencing in Chicago and running all the way to California, only portions of the original road still exist, communally designated a National Scenic Byway.
Ocean Drive is a promenade found in South Beach that is now a pedestrian thoroughfare. Lining the once vehicle-clogged street is some of Miami's best examples of Art Deco hotels and restaurants-bars, many of which have been prominently featured in numerous movies and media.
Associated with America's advertising industry since the 1920s, Madison Avenue is named for James Madison (1751–1836), the fourth president of the United States.
San Francisco's Castro District was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States, and Castro Street remains one of the most prominent LGBTQ hubs in the world.
One of LA's most famous streets, Sunset Boulevard links downtown Hollywood with Beverly Hills, and includes a portion known as the Sunset Strip, known for its boutiques, restaurants, rock clubs, and nightclubs.
Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Memphis Minnie, B. B. King, Rufus Thomas, Rosco Gordon, and other blues and jazz legends have played on Beale Street. A young Elvis Presley used to shop for clothes on this celebrated road, forever known as the center of the Memphis Blues sound.
Nashville's 16th Avenue is a street that eventually forms Music Row, widely considered the heart of the city's entertainment industry. It's here that historic sites such as RCA's famed Studio B and Studio A are located, where hundreds of notable and famous musicians have recorded.
Colorful Calle Ocho in Little Havana is the center of Cuban life in Miami. The vibrant enclave hosts the annual Calle Ocho Music Festival, the largest Hispanic street festival and block party in the southeastern United States.
Main Street in Utah's state capital is its lively commercial hub, and is often closed to cars and transformed into a pedestrian promenade. Downtown Salt Lake City is dominated by the huge Salt Lake Temple.
Market Street, one of Philadelphia's primary east-west thoroughfares, originated in the 1682 city plan devised by English Quaker William Penn (1644–1718). It was originally known as High Street—the familiar name of the principal street in nearly every English town at the time Philly was founded.
M-1, better known as Woodford Avenue, runs 43 km (27 mi) from Detroit to Pontiac. Declared an All-American Road by the Federal Highway Administration, the avenue was conceived as far back as 1805.
One of the most photographed roads in the nation, cobblestoned Acorn Street on Boston's Beacon Hill dates back to the late 1700s.
The Portland Observatory, a historic maritime signal tower built in 1807, is a key feature of Congress Street on Munjoy Hill in Portland, itself one of Maine's most recognized roadways.
East Bay Street is one of Charleston's most scenic and popular thoroughfares. The buildings on Rainbow Row number some of the most colorful and attractive in South Carolina.
Aptly named Worth Avenue in Florida's Palm Beach district is lined with a collection of luxury boutiques, exclusive bars, and fine-dining restaurants.
Scenic Church Street in Burlington, Vermont, is essentially an open-air mall, and dates back to the early 1800s. Interestingly, Burlington is America's first all-renewable-energy city.
Rhode Island's venerable Bellevue Avenue district is synonymous with staggering old money wealth. The huge mansions lining the street represent gilded age opulence. Its residents included the Astors, Vanderbilts, Morgans, and other members of "the Four Hundred" (New York's premier social list), who made Newport Rhode Island their summer home.
Solvang in California's Santa Barbara County was founded in 1911 by Danes. The original settlers built their town to resemble a typical Danish village, and it's along Mission Drive where the Scandinavian influence is most tangible.
Creek Street is a historic boardwalk perched on pilings along the banks of Ketchikan Creek in Ketchikan, Alaska. The street was actually once the center of the town's red-light district.
This Illinois town is named for the mineral galena, an ore of lead, which has been mined in the area for centuries. Galena's picture book Main Street is straight out of the 18th century, and the memorable retail experience is such that it has been nicknamed "Helluva Half Mile."
See also: Where to follow Roman roads
Step out on America's favorite streets, highways, and avenues
Follow these famous roads in the USA
TRAVEL Usa
Some of the most iconic roads in the world are found in the United States. Many of these streets, highways, avenues, and boulevards are as celebrated as the towns and cities they're located in, and often form the hub of entire districts or communities. So, where can you follow these famous thoroughfares?
Click through and step out on America's most recognized routes.