Get your motor running, head out on the highway! Road tripping across the US is something many people dream about and is considered the adventure of a lifetime by those lucky enough to go. There are miles and miles of roads, but some boast magnificent views and are considered best for those who want to feel the wind in their hair and escape onto the open highways.
Take a look below:
Route 66
No road trip would be complete without getting your kicks on Route 66. Whether you consider yourself a hog riding, leather jacket-wearing bike rider, or perhaps the next Thelma and Louise, start looking into renting an RV and pack your bags for one of the top road trips in the US. You will find your starting point in Lake Michigan and head all the way out to LA. You want to give yourself at least two weeks to complete this journey, but if you can spare it, four is highly recommended.
There is so much see, including the world’s largest rocking chair, which can be found in Fanning, Missouri. Saint Joseph’s in Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico, which is the oldest church in America and at the Texas Cadillac Ranch as you might expect, houses a pretty fantastic collection of cool cars. You can recuperate with a burger and fries at some of the most classic diners, the likes of which you will have seen in the movies, and take a night drive using the stars to navigate. Route 66 is a genuinely iconic must-do journey.
Pacific Coast Highway
This is a real ‘wind in your hair’ road trip, and don’t forget your suncream because the roof can come down, and the shades can go on. This stunning route takes you from San Francisco to San Diego, and along the way, you will have the most fantastic ocean views used to keep you company. The whole journey takes about three days to complete, and you can take in such amazing sites as the Golden Gate Bridge and the slightly more eerie Alcatraz.
Take a hike in the Big Sur National Park or head over to Solvang, which is known as California’s Little Denmark for the best wine tasting in the area. If you pick the right weather, you’ll be accompanied by the brightest of blue skies, wispy white clouds, and an amazing vista to keep you company.
Great River Road
Mississippi is one of those words you probably learned to spell at school, where you had to work out how many “s’s” how many ”i’s” and how many “p’s” made up this unusual name. It is also home to the Great River Road, which runs parallel through 10 different states making this a mind-blowing road trip. It runs in a north-south direction and has a fantastic amount of wildlife reserves along the way, so be sure to plan plenty of time to stop and have a look around.
Highly recommended are the Theodore Roosevelt Refuge and the Yazoo Refuge. There are plenty of excellent places to spend the night and park up the RV, including Rosedale and Greenville, which are quaint towns along the river. The further south you go, you will discover the most amazing excellent fried food as the dish of the day, and there are plenty of places to stop and refuel and grab a bite to eat. Once you reach the end, you will be in Louisiana, taking in the jazz capital of the world in New Orleans. This is undoubtedly another route to put on your bucket list, so be sure to find the time to be able to tick it off.
Hill Country
Time to don your Stetson and cowboy boots and head to the country. This impressive route starts north of Austin in San Antonio and takes you right down into what is known as the Cowboy capital of the world, Bandera. Check out the Silver Dollar Saloon, where you can enjoy burgers and onion rings while line dancing to the iconic tones of Willie Nelson himself.
In the morning, you hit the road to the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, which is famed for having pink rocks. If you fancy an adventure that is water-based, why not head down to the Guadalupe River? You can take a tube trip and kick back with a beer. The rocks are a fantastic place to watch the sunset or sunrise, depending on whether you are a night owl or an early bird.