Anchorage Helicopter Tours

Soaring above the 26-mile-long Knik glacier is breathtaking enough, but the real kicker of this helicopter tour is what happens outside the helicopter: You'll land atop 1,000-foot-thick ice, strap on nonslip overboots, and stroll for up to 30 minutes. You can't do that on a cruise ship.

Other Anchorage tours: Turnagain Arm Tour ($94), Glacier & Wildlife Tour ($115)

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Cape Ann Whale Watching Tours

According to the World Wildlife Fund, Gloucester is one of the top five whale-watching destinations in the world. So between Cape Ann Whale Watch's prime location and its speedy 115-foot ship, there's not much risk you'll miss out on sighting humpbacks, blue whales, and other members of the order Cetacea.

Other Boston tours: CityView Trolley Tour ($19.50), Boston Duck Tours ($25)

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Carolina Polo and Carriage Company: Historic Tour

If there's a city you want to explore by carriage, it has to be Charleston. The antiquated transportation is a perfect fit for the city's Downtown Historic District, which is full of stately 18th and 19th Century mansions, historic churches, and gardens. City regulations mean your tour zone is randomly determined by bingo ball, so the exact route is always a surprise.

Other Charleston tours: Charleston History Walking Tour ($14), Charleston Harbor Motorboat Tour ($218)

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Weird Chicago Tours

You never know what theme Weird Chicago Tours is going to cook up next. Tours might explore the city's most infamous Prohibition speakeasies, most notorious gangster hangouts, or do the "Devil & the White City" tour, which covers both the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and H.H. Holmes’s infamous "murder castle” (surprisingly, there is no “murder moat”).

Other Chicago tours: Sunset Segway Tour ($39), Architecture Boat Tour ($29)

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Hawaii Turtle Tours: Oahu Snorkeling

Snorkeling with turtles on Oahu's North Shore is billed as the main attraction, but the journey there is just as memorable. On the ride from Honolulu, you'll stop at lookouts, secret beaches, and even a macadamia nut farm for snacks and coffee. It’s the most comprehensive way to get to know Oahu in a single day.

Other Honolulu tours: Circle Island Sightseeing Tour ($57), Pearl Harbor Tour ($38)

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Channel Islands Whale Watching Tour

An easy day trip from LA, the Channel Islands make up California’s most-underrated National Park. See numerous types of whales (including gray, blue, and humpbacks) plus dolphins, endangered seabirds, and other fascinating creatures on this boat tour.

Other Los Angeles tours: Hollywood Stars and Sights Tour ($21), Sightseeing Waterfront Harbor Tour ($13.50)

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Coopertown Airboats: Everglades Tour

This popular airboat tour on the edge of the Everglades has operated since 1945. After taking in the wildlife on the 9-mile trip, you can order up some of Coopertown Restaurant's famous frog legs, which the tour company was originally founded to produce.

Other Miami tours: Sightseeing Boat Cruise ($15), Double-decker Bus City Tour ($27)

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Cajun Pride Tours: Swamp Boat

One of New Orleans’s best tours is to take one of Cajun Pride's boats, which are the only vessels allowed in the protected Manchac Swamp. That means its swamp tours are a familiar sight to the animals residing there, and that gators aren't shy about swimming up to the boats to say hello. The tour was a big hit with some celebrity Groupon users in 2017.

Other New Orleans tours: French Quarter Cemetery Tours ($16), New Orleans City Bus Tour ($37)

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CitySightseeing NY: Double-Decker Night Tour

New York, New York — it’s a mighty swell town! (That’s how the song goes, right?) See why the city never sleeps during this double-decker bus night tour, so that you can see all of NYC’s best attractions when they turn on the lights, from Times Square to the Flatiron Building, plus a panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline from across the river in Brooklyn.

Other NYC tours: Panoramic Night Tour ($25), Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tour ($115)

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Philadelphia Trolley Works: Bus Tour

Take a seat on the top of this hop-on, hop-off trolley tour for an informative swing through the City of Brotherly Love. This tour stops at all the hits: Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the famous “Rocky Steps” scene (and the subsequent “Rocky takes a breather” scene) took place.

Other Philadelphia tours: Harbour Yacht Tour ($60), Philly by Segway Tour ($55)

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Sidewalk Food Tours of San Francisco: Chinatown

This three-hour tour of North America’s oldest Chinatown and the largest Chinese community outside of Asia includes five tastings, from barbecue pork buns to Peking duck to desserts, plus there's plenty of info about the neighborhood's history and culture from guides who earned high praise from users.

Other San Francisco tours: Blazing Saddles Golden Gate Bike Tours ($55), Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus Tour ($48)

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Seattle by Segway Tour

This blissful 90-minutes tour glides along Seattle’s Puget Sound waterfront, past the Olympic Sculpture Park and Space Needle, with a stop to smell the treats at Pike Place Market. If it’s your first time on a Segway, your guide can help you adjust quickly, so you’ll be smoothly speeding around the Emerald City.

Other Seattle tours: Private Seattle Helicopter Tour ($139), Spooked in Seattle Ghost Tour ($18)

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North Bay Winery Bus Tour

North Bay's buses stand out for one special feature: they have beer on tap, so it's easy to cleanse your palate after each tasting. And because of the buses' modest size, these 5-hour tours tend to visit more off-the-beaten-path spots that larger vehicles can't access.

Other Wine Country tours: Semi-Private Wine Tour ($167), Napa Valley Castle Trolley Tour ($139)

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Big Bus Tours

Few cities have more attractions than Washington, DC, and there may be no more efficient way to see it than a hop-on, hop-off Big Bus Tour. Snap pictures from the upper open-air deck en route to the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol Building, the Jefferson Memorial, the White House, and much more. Bonus: this deal includes a ticket to Madame Tussauds.

Other Washington, DC tours: Evening or Daytime Sightseeing Tours ($61.50), Trolley & Ducks Tour ($94)

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