I wish I had a resource like our Visitors Guide for every city in the country.

In this issue, you’ll find Mark Houser’s thorough and fascinating investigation of the stories behind recognizable Pittsburgh landmarks. These are the details that a casual visitor would miss — the facts that color and shade what’s before your eyes. It’s part of our overall Visitors Guide package, an online portal featuring some of our best coverage of what there is to do and see in and around Pittsburgh.

I may be biased, but I think this resource — largely crafted by our director of digital media, Richard Cook, and written by an all-star team of our editors and freelance writers — is incredible. Never having been one for travel books, I’ve occasionally found myself in a new city, wondering what precisely I should do with my time. Sometimes, it’s easy to sort through Yelp and the local paper and find more than enough to fill your trip, but separating the worthy from the overhyped can be harder than you’d think. (You don’t want to guess wrong in Houston. Everything is an hour away from everything else.)

With a resource like the Visitors Guide, however, I know that travelers who find themselves in Pittsburgh will not be lacking for things to do and places to see. And, thanks to reporting like Mark’s, they’ll learn the stories behind the sights — no travel guide needed.

Just as importantly, the Visitors Guide is a valuable resource for those of us who have always called Pittsburgh home. Even dyed-in-the-wool ’Burghers have things they’ve missed or parts of town they’ve yet to explore. No matter how black-and-gold your wardrobe may be, I’m sure the Visitors Guide will offer new discoveries and destinations.

It’s done that for me — and I wrote some of it. There are places in our collection of must-visit attractions that I, somehow, still haven’t visited. (No, I won’t confess which ones.) Reading about them gives me new encouragement to correct my oversights and explore the region with the same curiosity I would in a place I was visiting for the first time.

All right, fine, I’ll make one confession: I’ve still never made the trip to Fallingwater. I know, it’s an unforgivable omission. I’ll get it on the calendar today.

Sean can be reached at scollier@pittsburghmagazine.com