The Best Road Trips to Take in the USA
Are you ready to hit the road? There’s nothing like a wide-open highway to make you fall in love with road trips and traveling all over again. If you have never been on a USA road trip, there’s no better time than now!
To map out the perfect itinerary, I use Roadtrippers. I strongly suggest using an app to plan your itinerary, unless you want to play your trip by ear.
Ready to pack your bags, stack up on food and snacks for your adventure, and sing your heart out as you watch the world fly past your window. The United States has everything from snowy mountain peaks to tropical coastlines, and deserts. There’s no better place to take a road trip than in the USA.
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Explore All of the East Coast
Fact: On the East Coast – Highway 1 spans 2,450 miles from Maine to Florida. You could spend weeks exploring this road!
*For all my hikers here – the Appalachian Trail goes from Maine to Georgia. Just in case you would rather take that route.
Spring + Summer
Depending on the time of the year, Florida and its tropical weather can make your road trip more enjoyable! You could start in Orlando, stop at Disney World, and continue driving south to explore Miami and the Florida Keys. Are you thinking that the Keys won’t take you long to explore well think twice. The Keys will take you about 4 hours to complete and don’t think about rushing it, it’s beyond beautiful! If you haven’t seen yellow or blue colored crabs – you will here!
Exploring the Keys will make you want to rent a convertible, do so if you can! Be sure to go snorkeling at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.
Autumn + Winter
If you are road tripping in the fall, take the Northern route, New England is calling. Explore the beauty of New York City and enjoy seeing the leaves change color in Central Park. New York City is so magical, especially around this time! If you haven’t been to New York City in the winter, you must consider it! The Christmas decorations around the city are just out of this world!
Weather & Road conditions. . .
If you are taking a road trip during winter especially up north. Be aware that the road can have snow and you can run into icy roads. As I mentioned before, cities like New York can be so dreamy during the holidays, just be prepared for some cold weather! Don’t forget to pack warm clothes!
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Now on to the West Coast
The Ultimate California Road Trip
Are you ready to have a laid-back West Coast adventure? If you haven’t driven through the Pacific Coast Highway this is something you must do someday! Every pitstop has a picturesque background. I’m probably a bit biased but I loved the PCH the most between San Francisco and San Diego. Have you seen Big Little Lies? Well if you have there’s a stunning arch bridge featured in the show’s opening credits it’s located in Big Sur – 18 miles south of Monterrey called Bixby Bridge (shown in the picture above). You should stop here just north of the bridge to capture a memorable picture!
Don’t forget to check out the Golden Gate Bridge (shown behind me in the picture above) in San Francisco and continue exploring San Francisco. I would highly suggest exploring Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, if you haven’t seen the Redwoods up close, it’s surreal how the Redwood trees got to be that big. You cannot even capture the Redwood trees in a picture.
Go to Santa Monica Pier and kayak with the seals, sea lions, and otters. There are sea lions playing in the ocean near the end of the Santa Monica Pier. I’ve only seen them in captivity, so to see them up close was an amazing experience!
Don’t even get me started on all the national parks and the beauty of hiking in Yosemite!
You could spend days in San Diego exploring the San Diego Zoo which if you didn’t know it’s the most famous zoo in the world!
It’s impossible to get out of California without leaving a piece of your heart there.
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