Our American Road Trip
One of the most asked questions on my Instagram is about our American Road Trip, and in all honestly, I’m not surprised! It really was one of the most incredible trips I have ever done - I’d do it again every single year if it wasn't for the many many other countries I am desperate to explore!
But, I get it, planning a road trip is daunting, with so many endless things to see and stop at, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Hopefully this blog will help to inspire you and you can learn a few tips along the way!
A QUICK SUMMARY:
Overall our road trip took around 2.5 weeks. Ideally 3 would have been better but I think we did a pretty good job getting everything in within 2.5 weeks without feeling too stretched for time. Our route is below, and then a more detailed summary of our trip, including hotels, restaurants and tips follows.
THE ROUTE:
A. San Francisco
We spent 2 days in San Francisco and then started our drive down the west coast on the morning of the third day.
B. Santa Cruz
We stopped for lunch here, so was here for around 2 hours. You could spend a bit longer, but this suited us fine.
C. Big Sur
We stayed in Big Sur for one night - arriving around 4pm and then we left at around 2pm the following day.
D. Monterey
We stayed in Monterey for one night again - we arrived quite late, at around 6:30pm, but headed to the beach for the evening and got a picnic. You could stay in Monterey for 2 nights, but I wouldn’t stay much longer, theres nothing too much to do there apart from a nice beach in Carmel and the aquarium. The whale watching tour goes from Monterey too so you may want to stay longer if you are doing that. We left Monterey at around 11am the day of check out.
E. San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach
We stopped at San Luis Obispo for some early dinner at around 6pm. Then we went on to Pismo Beach. We had planned to stay here but we arrived and realised it was a bit dead, and we both didn't feel too tired so we carried on driving. This was a long day of driving though, so if you tire easily, I would recommend staying in San Luis Obispo for a night.
F. Santa Barbara
We got to Santa Barbara super late, because it was a last minute decision, we arrived around 11pm and went straight to bed. We spent the morning here, went into town for breakfast and a wonder around. We left here at around 1pm. We stopped at a beach on the way to Malibu for around an hour or so.
G. Malibu
We arrived in Malibu at about 3pm - grabbed some lunch in Pier Cafe and sat on the beach for a bit, then headed to LA (around 45 mins).
H. Los Angeles
We stayed in LA for 5 days. I would have loved to stay longer as there was so much to do. We also met up with 6 friends, so if it was just the two of us 5 days probably would have been enough, but we spent a lot of time just hanging out with our friends, so that meant we didn't get to go and see everywhere. We left LA around 10am on our last day, we knew this was going to be a long drive so wanted to get off early.
I. Las Vegas
The drive to Vegas took about 5 hours. It’s a pretty boring drive too, be prepared. Not a lot to look at. Also, make sure you stop at Barstow on the way to fill up on fuel and get a snack, because past Barstow there is NOTHING for around 2 hours otherwise, so if you run out of fuel then you’re screwed haha!
We stayed in Vegas for 1 night only. We decided 1 night was enough - It depends what kinda trip you’re looking for. It also depends on the time of year, as when we went it was around 45 degrees and just far too hot. So after 1 day and 1 night, we left the following day at around 9am. I personally felt like that was enough time in Vegas.
J. Page, Arizona
We then drove to Arizona, and this was one of the best drives of the trip. We detoured slightly and drove to Zion National Park, which is actually in Utah (but on the border between Arizona and Utah). It was a detour but it was somewhere I really wanted to see so I’m glad we did it. The drive took us around 4 hours, with our detour too. We arrived at our hotel at around 1pm and spend the rest of the day at our hotel.
K. Grand Canyon
We left Page at around 8pm - in hindsight we should have left earlier but we just loved it so much at our hotel we didn’t want to leave. So this meant we were driving through the night, not entirely sensible especially around the Grand Canyon as there are a lot of wild animals that can run out into the road. We were fine and didn't see any, but if you aren't a confident driver I’d always drive in the light.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon hotel at around 11pm. Got up at 9am the next day, checked out the hotel, went to the grand canyon and then left there to head back to Vegas for our flight in the morning.
Back to London
HOW TO PLAN
Firstly, decide exactly which part of America you want to see. I’m assuming, seeing as you are reading this blog, that you have your heart set on California. So, then decide which places in California you have been dreaming about seeing from the car window of your soft top mustang (not necessary, although adds to the experience).
Is it the beaches and the atmosphere of Los Angeles? The food and the views of San Francisco? Do you want to go further in land and cross state borders to close by cities such as Las Vegas? After thinking about what we really wanted out of our trip, which was amazing food, good beaches, incredible views, and to experience one of the craziest cities in the desert, we settled for San Francisco, down to Los Angeles, and then across to Las Vegas (along the way we made a trip to Page in Arizona (not too far from Vegas - but you can read all about that later!)
So the first step of planning for me is ALWAYS Pinterest. Pinterest is incredible, the amount of road trip plans and reviews on there is mind blowing, and while it will take you a while to sift through it all, by the end you will have a pretty clear idea of where you want to go and what you want to see.
RENTING A CAR
Now, this was much more difficult than I had originally thought. With our hearts set on a convertible mustang, we contacted numerous car hire companies, to be told by every single one that they couldn't guarantee a mustang, and we might end up with something similar (e.g. a Camaro soft top- I mean don’t get me wrong, nice but not quite the mustang we had in mind.)
Not only this, but we also had an issue with our age - I was 22 and my boyfriend 23. Every company required us to pay a young driver surcharge. I think you’d be very lucky to find one that didn’t in the US. So, we decided to risk the chance of not getting a mustang, and booked the car through AVIS on their website. Note - if you plan to drop the car off in a different state then there will be extra charges for this!
OUR ROUTE
So, what better way to explain how to set off on an American Road Trip than by telling you step by step exactly where we went, where we stayed, what we did, where we ate, and everything in between.
FIRST STOP: SAN FRANCISCO
(Technically, not our first stop as we spent 4 days in NYC beforehand and then flew over to San Francisco - but that's for another blog post!).
We arrived in San Francisco via an internal flight with (insert airline) who were brilliant. No complaints at all. Headed straight to the AVIS desk, where after a big old queue, we were given the keys to our mustang…. which was bright yellow… but hey, beggars can't be choosers!
BRIEF FEW NOTES ABOUT A CONVERTIBLE MUSTANG:
Luggage - Now, these cars have very limited boot space (or trunk if you’re talking like a local). We were travelling with 3 large suitcases, so ended up with one in the boot, and the other two in the backseat poking out - I was terrified we were going to lose one on the highway but we didn’t! Another thing to note is obviously security, with leaving your luggage on the backseat, it is more likely to be stolen - we always made sure we parked the car in a safe looking place with lots of people around, not far from where we were going and we had no issues.
You look like a tourist. There’s absolutely no trying to fit in especially in a bright yellow one…
Sunburn. The tops of our heads were totally fried, so we were two bright red tourists in a yellow convertible mustang… But you know, as long as we had fun right?
BACK TO SAN FRANCISCO
So this is where I’m going to be totally honest - I didn’t think much of San Francisco. The city is cool, the golden gate bridge is impressive, and the beaches are nice, but personally I found the city to be quite dirty, with an obvious large homelessness problem which is sad to see. We stayed in Union Square (in a hotel I’m not even going to recommend because it was terrible), but I’m glad we stayed in Union Square. It was central, near lots of restaurants and shops, and not far to get down to the quay. A few people told us to stay in Fishermans Wharf, however I’m so glad I did my research and didn’t stay there. We went down there to catch the boat to Alcatraz and I thought it was really tacky - kinda like an American Blackpool.
THINGS TO DO IN SAN FRANCISCO:
RENT A BIKE AND CYCLE TO THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE (and over it too if you are feeling energetic): We rented a tandem by Fishermans wharf (my boyfriend hated me by the end of it) and cycled to the bridge, and then carried on to the beach further down.
ALCATRAZ: This was incredible - such an amazing eye opening experience and one that I would 100% recommend. I don’t like touristy things but it was done in a way that everyone was walking round at different times listening to different things, so you weren't all walking round like sardines. Book way in advance!
MRS DOUBTFIRES HOUSE AND LOMBARD STREET - Pretty cool to see, nothing groundbreaking but a nice one to visit!
GET ON A TRAM - There are so many trams all through the city, and its a cool experience to do in San Francisco!
GO TO A BASKETBALL GAME: We went and watched the Golden State Warriors (San Francisco’s team) vs the Cleveland Caveliers in the NBA playoffs. The atmosphere was incredible and I’d never seen a game of basketball before so that was such a cool experience.
GHIRADELLI for chocolate treats!
FOREIGN CINEMA - for dinner and drinks
Beginning Our Road Trip
So, we set off on the open road on our way down the coast, towards Big Sur. Our first night we had booked a hotel in Big Sur, called Post Ranch Inn, so we planned to get to there mid afternoon, so set off early.
We stopped at Santa Cruz along the way, for some lunch on the pier. We had mussels in a seafood shack at the end of the pier, which were incredible! Santa Cruz is a really cool town to see, fun to drive along the seafront, and nice to wonder around for an hour or so. The seals are pretty cool to watch too. I don’t think it’s worth staying here or spending more than a couple of hours here though.
BIG SUR
Big Sur is the name for the national park that covers most of the route down to Los Angeles. Unfortunately a few years back there was a landslide there, so currently you are only able to drive half way up to it, then you need to turn back round and drive around it. Kinda annoying but it’s not really a big deal, it’s worth it to see Big Sur, and you can stay the night too if you want to break up the journey.
All along the coast there are so many cool photo spots to stop off at, Rocky Creek Bridge being one of them. Just cruise along and pull over where you like, it’s a breathtaking place and probably one of my favourite parts of the whole trip.
POST RANCH INN:
After stopping for a few photos along the way at Big Sur, we stopped off at Post Ranch Inn. One of the few hotels in Big Sur. This hotel is expensive, but it is incredible. The rooms are like little cabins and they give you an incredible view over the Ocean. They have wood burning stoves in them, as well as showers with a view. The restaurant there is incredible, we watched the sunset whilst we ate dinner. The pools too have an incredible view over the ocean, and everything is very very peaceful there.
If you are looking for a cheaper option, then there is another hotel/lodge called Ventana Big Sur. You can either stay in accommodation or camp here which looked like a really cool experience too.
The following day we checked out of Post Ranch around midday and headed to Nepenthe for Lunch. I think this is one of the only places in Big Sur to get some food. Get there before it opens, just before 12 to get your name on the list. We had an incredible seat with an amazing view. The food wasn’t brilliant but I was willing to let that slide for the view. There is also a little gift shop there too - we had to pick up a cap to stop our heads burning anymore!
LEAVING BIG SUR AND HEADING TO MONTEREY
After leaving Big Sur, taking the long way round - we arrived at Monterey. This is one of two little towns positioned at an ideal overnight stop driving down the pacific coast. Carmel is the other - we chose Monterey as it is a little bigger with more going on, but they are within 10 minutes of each other.
We checked in to the Intercontinental in Monterey late afternoon, and then headed in the car to the beach in Carmel, which is absolutely beautiful. The sand is so clean and fine it squeaks as you walk on it. It was amazing to watch the sun go down there, and we picked up a pizza from up the road and ate it as the sunset.
We left Monterey early the next day, it’s a cool place and there is things to do, for example you can go whale watching from there, but we both get sea sick and also I feel it’s kinda cruel on the whales, so we left and headed to our next stop.
MORRO BAY
We stopped here briefly before we got to San Luis Obispo, it was a tiny but really cute little town with loads of surf shops and sweet shops as well as a few restaurants and bars. Worth a stop to wonder around definitely!
SAN LUIS OBISPO
So, our idea was to spend the night in San Luis Obispo, but we didn’t have anything booked. The best place to stay I’ve heard is Grenada Hotel. When we arrived in San Luis Obispo, it was a lovely town with nice looking restaurants, however we still had a lot of daylight hours left, and felt we could keep driving, so we carried on to Pismo Beach.
PISMO BEACH
Again, we were planning on staying here, but after we arrived, we realised there really wasn’t much there other than a load of motels, so we decided to keep going, but not before we drove along the beach.
Pismo Beach is one of the only places in the USA that lets you actually drive on the beach. You pay 5 dollars to get on it and off you go. The only issue is, if you get stuck, thats up to you to sort out. And did our yellow convertible mustang get stuck in the sand? Of course it did.
Luckily a very nice American with a 4x4 felt sorry for us and toed us out - thank god because the sun was going down and the sea was closing in on us!
So would I recommend doing it not in a 4x4 - to be honest, yes, it was a laugh and we had fun while it lasted, and there are a lot of 4x4’s around who hopefully will help you out if you do get stuck - but don’t hold me to that! Safest bet is to try and only drive on the wet hard sand!
SANTA BARBARA
So, we carried on to Santa Barbara, at this point absolutely knackered, so checked into the Hilton in Santa Barbara and ordered room service.
The next day we ventured out into Santa Barbara, got breakfast at Cajun Kitchen (amazing typical American breakfast diner) and explored the mall, and decided to head down to LA around 2pm.
DRIVING TO LOS ANGELES
I loved this drive, it is along a beautiful stretch of coast, we spotted loads of dolphins which was such a highlight, and stopped at a stunning hidden away beach called El Matador beach, which has an amazing archway formed from a rock there. After around an hour of driving, we stopped in Malibu for some lunch.
MALIBU
We ate at Malibu Farm Cafe which is on the pier in Malibu. The food was incredible - so much so we actually came back again later on from LA. We chilled out here for a bit, sitting on the beach watching the surfers (this is where some of the best surfers come to surf, its so much fun to watch - wouldn’t advise trying it unless you are pretty good though, the water is very shallow and rocky underneath.)
LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles is so much bigger than I ever expected. I’d been a few times but when I was younger, so we didn’t really know the best place to stay.
We decided to stay in Santa Monica, as we love being near the beach so it just seemed like the best thing to do. You can of course stay up near Hollywood/Beverley Hills way but the only issue with that is there is always traffic round there, no matter the time of day.
We stayed at the Viceroy in Santa Monica, which was lovely, I’d deffo recommend. Shutters is another incredible hotel right on Santa Monica beachfront. There’s loads of hotels round there for all different budgets. I would try and avoid staying in Venice Beach - I love Venice Beach for people watching but I don’t feel that safe there and it’s quite dirty and you get a lot of strange people wondering around there. The restaurant next to the Viceroy did amazing breakfast too!
As I mentioned earlier, we had 6 friends in LA at the time, so we spent a lot of time with them just hanging out at the beach or wondering around but here’s a list of the things we did that I would recommend doing. Also, just to note, we didn't go to the touristy places like Hollywood or the Walk of Fame as I’ve done it before and my boyfriend wasn’t too bothered.
Things to do in Los Angeles
SANTA MONICA PIER: Tacky, but so much fun. Myself and my boyfriend spent a whole night playing the games there and eating popcorn. A really fun cheap way to spend an evening.
SANTA MONICA BEACH: This is also known as ‘muscle beach’, we had loads of fun watching all the bodybuilders working out, but also has amazing gym equipment that we watched really talented people doing all kinds of tricks etc, like a massive tightrope etc. We also rented some surfboards and tried some surfing at the beach too!
RUNYON CANYON HIKE: We didn’t get a chance to do this, but I’ve heard its really good with amazing views.
RODEO DRIVE: Amazing shopping, got all the designer shops and has a Sak’s etc too. We had lunch at Il Fornaio which was lovely.
MELROSE AVENUE: Maybe one of my favourite places in LA. Home to so many cool shops, e.g. reformation, Kelly Wearstler, Revolve, and loads of cool vintage places too. If you are a sneaker head there are some great trainer shops too. It also has so many cool cafe’s, like the instagrammable Carrera Cafe where you can get your photo on top of your coffee. It’s also home to such cool street art and graffiti, the famous pink wall, etc.
GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY: This has one of the best views of LA. You can see the Hollywood sign from here and is beautiful at sunset. Parking is an absolute nightmare though - maybe get a taxi (make sure you pre book one home), or arrive early to get a good parking spot.
VENICE BEACH: I mentioned Venice Beach earlier, it’s so interesting for people watching. Worth a visit definitely. Also you could grab breakfast at Eggslut, another instagrammable breakfast spot in Venice Beach.
HUNTINGTON BEACH: We visited some of the other beaches too. Huntington beach was lovely, really big and clean. Another beach is Laguna, which we didn't get a chance to go to but that one is super famous.
FOOTBALL: We watched an LA Galaxy match - we had friends who are season ticket holders so we went with them. It was an amazing atmosphere and so different to an English football match. I’d definitely recommend going if you are into your sport.
DINNER AND DRINKS: We ate at a few really nice restaurants, one of them was Beauty and Essex and the other one was Catch. Both really nice, quite fancy but really good food. We also went out to One Oak, one of the bigger clubs in LA, which was really good, but it shut super early! It closed around 1, and we wanted to carry on but soon found out that pretty much everything in LA shuts really early due to curfew laws. We also went for drinks at a rooftop bar opposite which had some really good music and apparently George Clooney was there a few hours before us, so if you fancy some celeb spotting, then maybe try there!
There are sooo many more things you could do in LA, as well as just spending a whole day at the beach. It has the best shops, food, and atmosphere. I would definitely recommend heading to Pinterest and searching in the best things to do in LA, as there will be so many more than the ones I’ve mentioned.
DRIVING TO LAS VEGAS/ARIZONA
So, after deciding that the yellow mustang was not a good idea to take to Las Vegas and Arizona, (mostly because we had run out of luggage space, and fancied something a bit higher on the road) and opting for a 4x4 instead, we returned the mustang to LAX (this was already decided before we rented the car), and picked up a Jeep 4x4 from a local car rental firm in LA opposite the Viceroy Hotel. They were sooo much cheaper than Avis, and also didn’t have the young driver policy - our ages didn't seem to be an issue at all.
So, we started the loooong old journey to Las Vegas. This journey is around 4.5 hours long so prepare to be driving on very boring highways for a long time. Make sure you stop off at Barstow around half way as its the only place to get fuel before you get to Las Vegas, as after that you are mostly just driving through desert.
LAS VEGAS
We arrived in Vegas and checked in to the Mandarin Oriental - this is one of the only non smoking hotels in Vegas. Both of us hate cigarette smoke so this was important to us. It also doesn’t have a casino. Some may say a kinda boring choice for Vegas but in all honesty, Vegas was one of those places I just wanted to tick off the list, to go and see, but not to go and spend a long time there or party. We headed out to explore, walking down the main strip and obviously coming across all the main sites. We had some lunch at a diner (basically the first place we found with air conditioning) and ventured into the Bellagio where we had a bit of a gamble but nothing too crazy.
In all honesty, Las Vegas was pretty damn hot. It was around 45 degrees celsius, and after coming from the coast, we were struggling in the heat. That evening we got dressed up and headed for drinks overlooking the fountains of the Bellagio and then for some food at the steakhouse in the Aria hotel. The steaks were incredible.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I’ve seen Vegas, but would I go back? Nope. Not unless I was with a big group for a party where we planned to spend most of our time with a cocktail in hand at a pool party. Other than that I thought the atmosphere was kinda dead and it was just so hot and sweaty.
The following day we checked out of our hotel and began our drive to Arizona.
PAGE (Arizona)
Along the way to Page, we made a few detours as there was some things I wanted to see. We headed towards the very bottom of Utah, only just crossing the state line, to visit Zion National Park, which is incredible. I fully recommend doing this if you can. Incredible views, like nothing I had ever seen before. I would have loved to have driven to Bryce Canyon National Park too, but we were short on time.
After the detour, we arrived at AMANGIRI, which is a hotel pretty much on the Utah/Arizona border. It’s interesting because it follows Utah laws, e.g. no alcohol, but goes by Arizona time, which is an hour different to Utah.
Anyway, this was one of the biggest splurges to our whole trip. The hotel itself is nestled in the desert, with amazing ancient rocks surrounding it. It’s an expensive hotel, no doubt about it, but I was absolutely blown away by the incredible scenery and the way the hotel just fitted so seamlessly into the surroundings. I would have loved to have stayed for longer, but we could only afford one night.
The first day we were there we explored the grounds, ate lunch with the most incredible scenery, relaxed by the pool, went to the spa, and had dinner next to the 65 million year old rock that the pool was created around. Then, we sat outside on our terrace toasting marshmallows until late. It was probably one of the most magical experiences ever, and I would go back in a heartbeat.
The next day, I had organised through the hotel to visit the nearby canyons, notably Antelope Canyon and Rattlesnake Canyon. These are incredible rock formations formed by floods. You can see from the pictures just how incredible it was. Our guide was with our hotel, however you can organise tours yourself to go to Antelope Canyon - I don’t think it’s possible to visit without a guide. Try and get a very early slot as it does get really busy in there, and maybe ask in advance if you can visit one of the less busy canyons like rattlesnake canyon (don’t worry there aren't any snakes, it’s called this because of it’s shape).
That afternoon/evening we checked out of the hotel and got back in the car to head back to Las Vegas, where we were flying home from. On our way we stopped at Horseshoe Bend, which as you will see from the photo is an incredible rock formation with a reeeallly bloody long drop - my boyfriend actually managed to lose his flip flop down it and had to walk back with one flip flop and one bare foot! This was breathtaking though, especially at sunset.
If you wanted to stay in Page longer, you could stay near Lake Powell and go boating on the lake there - it looked incredible but we were short on time!
So, that evening we drove back to Las Vegas (this was a long old drive, in the dark as well, which I don't recommend as the drive back is very poorly lit and there can be lots of animals etc that run out into the road that you could easily hit, but our poor planning meant we had to drive back in the dark.)
We checked into a motel in the Grand Canyon National Park, we literally booked it about 30 mins before arriving - it was kinda weird, I wouldn’t really recommend, it was pretty dirty and a bit of a strange atmosphere, but it did the job. That morning, armed with a map, we headed off to the Grand Canyon. We followed signs and parked up super easily, got out our car and started to wonder along one of the rims of the canyon. Simple as that really. We only stayed for around 4 hours, just wondering around and taking photos. The Grand Canyon is incredible, and is just so vast, however I preferred the more intricate detail of Antelope Canyon and how you could physically walk within it. I know you can get helicopter tours into the Canyon from Las Vegas if that’s something that interests you!
After this, we drove back to Las Vegas, checked into a hotel for a night and then caught our flight home from Las Vegas Airport.
FAQs
How much did you spend?
I don’t really discuss money in too much detail on my social channels, but this was an expensive trip. There are definitely ways to do it cheaper, for example stay in motels or budget hotels, you can camp in Big Sur etc. Our car hire was more expensive because we were both under 23 and they add a surcharge for this which is pretty pricey (I can’t remember exactly how much and this may differ between companies). It will actually be cheaper to use a local car hire company, we found this when we drove to Vegas - however they may have restrictions on taking the car out of the state. I’d suggest speaking to your hotel and seeing what they recommend as the most affordable option.
What was driving like there?
Absolutely fine. I’m quite a confident driver anyway but we had no problems at all, we’ve driven in far worse places for example Italy. Everyone drives well in America we found. Only difference is you can turn left at a red light in America and the highways are slower than motorways.
Did you have everything booked before hand?
Nope! We had a few things booked but mostly we just did it as we went along, we used the hotels.com app a lot and trip advisor for recommendations!
Why didn’t you go to San Diego?
We just totally ran out of time! I’m dying to go back and go to San Diego because I’ve heard so many great things and you can also do it in a day from Los Angeles!
What was your favourite part?
So so hard to choose! I loved the drive in Big Sur as it was just so stunning. I also loved being in the desert in Arizona. The scenery was just breathtaking and I never realised America had so much natural beauty.
What would you not do if you did it again?
I wouldn’t go to San Francisco - bold statement, but I personally just didn’t really enjoy it. I’d spend more time in Los Angeles instead as it’s so big and there is so much to do there. Or I’d only go for one night just to see the bridge. Other than that, there really isn't anything I wouldn’t do again. I loved every single second of it and would repeat the trip again in a heartbeat.
