9. Lake George, New York
The so-called Queen of American Lakes was a playground for Gilded Age robber barons, many of whose original waterfront stone mansions still line a 16-kilometer (10-mile) stretch known as Millionaire’s Row – and where the grand Victorian-era Sagamore Resort welcomes guests to its own island. At The Narrows, the southern Adirondacks squeeze the spring-fed lake into a five-mile stretch dotted with hundreds of islands of all sizes, described by Thomas Jefferson as “the most beautiful water I ever saw.” No wonder it’s deemed one of the most magnificent lakes in North America
