Our Guide to the Top USA Road Trips

USA is made for road trips. Its wide, straight highways, huge, sprawling vistas and endless beautiful towns and cities to stop in are heaven for driving holidays. There’s something romantic about the idea of a road trip, where the opportunities are endless, and you travel on your own time. They allow you to meet locals and see places you wouldn’t otherwise. There’s the iconic Route 66, and then there are the lesser-known delights of the San Juan Skyway and drives through national parks. Cruising along the open road makes for a memorable family holiday, a fabulous experience for groups of friends or a bucket list adventure for retirees. Read on for inspiration for where to go on a road trip in the USA.

Best USA Road Trips

In a country like America, where road trips are limitless, it can be hard to know where to start. To help narrow down your options, Scott Dunn’s travel experts have rounded up their favourite routes and where to stay along the way. Use this USA road trip planner to kick-start the inspiration for your next holiday.

Pacific Coast Highway

Length: 1-2 weeks

Whizzing along the Pacific Coast Highway, past the impossibly beautiful Californian coast —ideally in a convertible, with your favourite songs belting out — is one of the greatest USA road trip experiences you can have. Start with a few days in Los Angeles or San Francisco and head north or south towards Big Sur, which follows 123 miles of exhilarating, cliff-hugging road. Stay at the Post Ranch Inn perched high on a cliff with incredible views over the Pacific, where you can gaze at the stars from your own private deck. Along the way, stop for sea otters, secret beaches, and redwood trees in Monterey and Carmel. Eat fresh seafood at chic crab shacks, go hiking among the dense forests and take a photo of the iconic Bixby Bridge. This USA West Coast road trip works brilliantly for families with older kids, honeymooners and friends or couples travelling together.

Route 66

Length: Chicago to Oklahoma is a 12-hour drive, you’d want about a week to do it slowly and stop along the way. Grand Canyon to LA is about 8 hours, again, allow a week to 10 days to go at a leisurely pace.

Route 66 might be one of the most well-known USA road trip holidays but when it comes to accommodation to stop at on the way, the majority are motels. If this doesn’t appeal to you, we suggest starting in Chicago, staying at the Four Seasons, and then driving through Illinois and Missouri to Oklahoma. This route will open you up to a wonderful mix of both Native American and African American culture and history, plus a blend of Midwestern and Southern charm. On route, you’ll also catch sight of the weird and wonderful gigantic sculptures that line the roads, such as the world’s biggest ketchup bottle and super-sized guitars. Another option is to join Route 66 near the Grand Canyon making your way to LA via Las Vegas. Take a slight detour to stop at the incredible Amangiri design hotel near Lake Powell and finish with a relaxing stay at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. If you’d like to see a mix of incredible landscapes, learn about US culture, and soak up some buzzy city life, then this is the road trip for you. It’s better suited to adults than children.

San Juan Skyway

Length: 1 day

This 235-mile loop takes you past old mining towns, towering mountain peaks, thundering waterfalls and through exhilarating twists and turns as you drive the San Juan Mountains. Fly into Denver and then either make your way by car to the city of Durango (a 6-hour drive), which is the starting point for your journey, or take an internal flight to Telluride where you can base yourself at one of the nearby dude ranches, such as Dunton Hot Springs. From there, the San Juan Skyway can be explored in a day. While you’re in the area, take a steam train up into the mountains, walk past old coal miners' cabins and learn about the history of the area. There are many fantastic photo opportunities for keen photographers too; the scenery here is out of this world. Nature lovers and history buffs alike will love this USA road trip.

Yellowstone Loop

Length: 1 day

To see all the standout sights in Yellowstone, take the 198-mile loop from its South Entrance, up past the amazing geyser Old Faithful, Gibbon Falls, and the fabulously colourful Grand Prismatic Spring. Along with the stunning scenery, Yellowstone is home to exciting wildlife, such as wolves, bears, elk, bison, moose, and coyote. This USA road trip can be done in about 5-6 hours, making it a great day out from Jackson Hole. Stay at the Four Seasons for alpine adventures like white-water rafting, horse riding and fishing. A trip to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole is brilliant for active families, particularly those with teenagers.

Utah National Parks

Length: 10 days

Collectively, Utah’s five national parks occupy about 3 million acres of the state’s land. Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion National Parks are known as the Mighty 5 and make up some of the most unique landscapes in the world. This is red rock country, filled with natural arches and sandstone spires. For a true bucket-list road trip, fly into Las Vegas and start the route, which will take you past all five of the parks, beginning with Zion, where you can hike the iconic Angel's Landing or the Narrows trails. Stay at Cliffrose Lodge for a night or two, then it’s on to Bryce Canyon to witness the otherworldly hoodoos at sunrise or sunset. Followed by Capitol Reef National Park, where you’ll find the Waterpocket Fold, a unique geological wrinkle in the earth that makes this park so majestic. Continue your journey southeast to Moab and make Hoodoo Moab your base for exploring Arches and Canyonlands. Finally, head towards Salt Lake City to fly home and enjoy a night or two at the lovely Lodge at Blue Sky. Allow one to two weeks for this USA road trip to have time to explore all the sights and take in the parks’ beauty at a leisurely pace.

New England

Length: 1-2 weeks

New England’s enchanting towns, forests and mountains have been luring visitors from far and wide forever. Its states combine nature, culture, and food wrapped up in one aesthetically pleasing package. Start in arty, intellectual Boston with its museums and universities, then drive to Cape Cod for wide open beaches decorated with sand dunes, whitewashed houses, charming antique shops, whale watching, and decadent seafood. Take the car ferry over to Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard, where you’ll feel like you’ve gone back in time. Spend a few peaceful days soaking up salty sea life; beaches by day and cocktails by night, before heading back to the mainland to stop in Rhode Island. From here you could either head back to Boston or travel on north to Maine to continue your USA road trip holiday. There you will spend your days hiking the unspoilt conservation areas, spotting historic lighthouses, and devouring lobster rolls. Driving through New England is a beautiful road trip any time of year, autumn brings with it the incredible orange and red hues of the leaves, while spring and summer are ideal for beach life. It’s a perfect trip for those who want to slow down.

Is a road trip in America worth it? 

Yes! A road trip in the USA is worth it. There is no other way to see the country’s incredible scenery, towns, and villages so up close as a local might, and to experience off-the-beaten-track adventures. For first-timers, it introduces you to the USA in all its technicolour glory, allowing you to see multiple stops on one holiday, while those who know the country well, will see it in a different light from the seat of a car.

How much time do you need for a road trip across the US?

You need 10 days to 2 weeks for a road trip in the USA. Of course, this depends on which route you’re taking. Some are doable in just a day such as the Yellowstone Loop or San Juan Skyway, however, you’re likely to be tagging them onto other stops and given the long-haul flight and time difference, the longer you can take the better.

The Best Time to Go on a USA Road Trip

USA is in the northern hemisphere and follows the same seasonal patterns as the UK. In general, spring, summer and autumn are the best times to go on a road trip in the USA. New England in the fall is famously beautiful thanks to the autumnal colours. California has the most sunshine and least rain between April and October, while Utah and Colorado can get very hot in July and August so is best in spring (April to June) and autumn (October and November). But as the weather changes a lot between states, have a look at our USA climate guide for more details.

Visit the USA

To start planning your USA road trip, get in touch with one of our travel experts by filling out our online enquiry form. We’ll arrange your wheels – whether open-top Mustang, rugged Cherokee, or growling Harley – and recommend superb lunch spots, the best photo opportunities and the detours that are worthwhile (and not). In short, everything you need for an unforgettable adventure.