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I live in Germany now and have taken the opportunity to visit other European nations. I've also done a coast to coast road trip of the US.
Overall Europe has way better smaller cities and villages. They are actually liveable and have their own charm and feel. The largest cities are comparable to the largest US cities. They offer different things to those that live their and visit, but overall comparable.
Although the suburban sprawl of the US is an absolute hellscape and is just about the ugliest type of community imaginable.
Once you get outside of the suburbs though. The US natural landscapes wins hands down. There's a reason people from across the world visit Yellowstone. Not to mention the amount of empty space especially out west is something I truly miss. At least in Germany the greatest distance between any two buildings is 10km. That's the most remote you can get in the entire country. True wilderness is definitely something I miss
Our national parks are our redeeming factor, but the current admin is trying to destroy even those.
Also, remote wilderness isn't really a thing here anymore either. Yeah there's a lot of open space in the west but most of it is owned by corporate conglomerates or utility companies, fenced off and signed "no trespassing." If you want to spend time in the wilderness it pretty much has to be in a park or on private property that either you own or have permission from the owner.
There's no real "commons" or "wilderness," every square foot is owned and/or managed by someone or some company or organization. Public lands are few and far between and those generally have rules about occupancy like "no camping" or "vacate before sunset."
That romantic vision of the "american wilderness" isn't really a thing anymore...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_lands_in_the_United_States
Most BLM and National forests lands are opened to dispersed camping. Of course there are still rules, but that's not wilderness meant in the sense of my comment. These are places you are allowed to be and truly be alone. You can hike into these areas and not have another human for 25+ miles if you pick the right spot.
Anyway your idea of rules for public lands doesn't reflect the reality of the majority of lands. National parks of course have the strictest use laws since their goal is complete preservation.
Ah yeah, most on that map is from the Rockies westward. I'm from the east coast so my perspective was informed by what I've observed around me.
And I didn't mean to imply that public lands shouldn't have rules for preservation, but it's more than just that. Most parks have designated camping areas and if you want to be there overnight you need to book a spot there. You can't just wander aimlessly and build a lean-to like you're John Muir or Henry Thoreau.
There are exceptions of course, for instance along the Appalachian trail you can just show up to a shelter area and if it's not full you can pitch a tent there.
But if you want to find a spot that you can't see or hear a road from, you're going to be hard-pressed to find one anywhere east of the Rockies.
Yes you can do that in almost all western BLM land.
Dispersed camping is free in most National forests in both the east and west. Although due to smaller lands there are fewer that are open.
Regardless you can just walk into most national forests and go as deep as you want. I highly recommend reading up on the rules more, there's a lot more recreation than you seem to think. The Northeast is probably the region with the least, but Maine and upstate New York do have some forests where dispersed camping is permitted
We do get a lot of German tourists coming to visit the northwest of Scotland - quite often a queue of campervans with their fancy license plates queuing up in Inverness. You can be stood on top of a mountain in the northern highlands, and not see any evidence of another human being from horizon to horizon. Which is also terrifying in a way - the traditional "Land's End to John O'Groats" cycle does include quite a long way away from civilisation if your bike decides to have a mechanical.
German tourists always most welcome here, ofc. Even more welcome if you bring some konigsberger klopse and some robust dunkelbiers with you; will swap you for whisky, we've got loads.
Absolutely agree with the wonders of the natural beauty in the US.
Only thing I would disagree with is that the European cities are quite a bit different than US cities. They largely have more historical charm, more methods of transportation, and on the whole somewhat distinct from one another.
Kept saying the only real reason for me to visit the USA are national parks. They are the only places us whites haven't ruined there yet but alas, conservatives rolled out big plans to destroy those ancient forests too.
The national parks are not being logged. National forests are being opened up to more logging though, but national forests have always been logged. Of course they are opening up more wilderness area that's never been logged and it's a huge loss for the entire country.
So places like Yellowstone, the Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite, etc. are still preserved*.
*In terms of logging. There is other fuckery going on. I worked for the NPS before I left and there are some major issues going on harming the regulatory side of park management but not full scale logging.