Arcturus is the brightest star north of the celestial equator. Near the handle of the Big Dipper, it's easy to find in spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
Our closest stellar neighbors are the 3 stars that are the Alpha Centauri system. They lie just over 4 light-years away (25 trillion miles or 38 trillion km).
The 6th-brightest star in the night sky, Capella, in the Northern Hemisphere constellation Auriga the Charioteer, is also a point of the Winter Hexagon.
Alpheratz, the brightest star in the constellation Andromeda, can guide you to the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest large spiral galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy.
Delta Scorpii, also known as Dschubba, is a variable star in the constellation Scorpius. With the eyes alone, you can check its brightness for yourself, and for science.