The greatest American road trips

Words: Zoey Goto

Few countries lend themselves to the sheer romance of the open road quite like the United States. Cinematic routes unwind across deserts, craggy mountains and oceanfront cliffs like an ever-changing kaleidoscope, while the country’s deep-rooted car culture means you’re never far from a freshly flipped burger or a welcoming place to rest your head.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons why Route 66 remains the headline act. This 2,448-mile route passes through eight gloriously diverse states, where roadside gems, from vintage motels to classic diners, have been spruced up ahead of its 2026 centennial.

Yet this is also a place where venturing onto the road less travelled rewards with equally storied drives. From New England’s scenic coastal lighthouse trail to Nevada’s far-out Extraterrestrial Highway, each of these lesser-known routes offers its own unique sense of place. Buckle up for the great American road trip, where the journey itself is every bit as interesting as the end destination.

Extraterrestrial Highway, Nevada

Just a couple of hours’ drive from Las Vegas’s high-rolling casinos lies a landscape so strange and otherworldly, it’s easy to believe local lore that it’s a hotspot for visitors from another planet. The Extraterrestrial Highway (aka Route 375) stretches 98 miles through America’s Alien Country, an expanse notorious for UFO sightings.

Two days is the sweet spot for an offbeat circular jaunt, lifting off from Las Vegas. Driving through the lonesome desert spiked with Joshua trees, you’ll roll into Tonopah. It’s home to The Clown Motel, a themed haunt next to a cemetery. Once you get past the circus of clown dolls in the lobby, rooms are comfortable, and nightfall brings awe-inspiring stargazing against a blanket of pitch-black skies.

Further along the ribbon of asphalt, which runs alongside lunar crater-like volcanic fields and bone-dry lakes, is the tiny community of Rachel. Don’t let sonic booms from nearby Area 51 distract you; it’s just a hush-hush military test site that some believe to be a top-secret laboratory for captured alien spacecraft. Make a pit stop at the Little A’Le’Inn diner, where juicy alien burgers fly out of the kitchen. The friendly server likes to recommend the homemade cherry pie, adding with a knowing smile that it’s the best in the galaxy.

Cruising back toward civilisation, passing lush marshes and geothermal springs, stop off at E.T. Fresh Jerky for alien-shaped snacks. Then head back towards Las Vegas, eyes scanning the heavens for flying saucers. Because, on the Extraterrestrial Highway, the truth is out there somewhere.

Fly to Las Vegas

New England Lighthouse Trail

Shine a beam on the East Coast’s dramatic coastline with a three-day deep dive through New England, home to almost 200 lighthouses. 

Your journey starts on Rose Island, just off Rhode Island’s coast, where guests can stay overnight in a cosy lighthouse apartment, tides lapping beneath the window as seagulls squawk overhead. From there, journey north to Boston Harbor by boarding the ferry to Little Brewster Island for a close-up of Boston Light, America’s first lighthouse.

Continue north along the jagged Maine coast to York, a breezy summer resort town of shingle beachfront homes and quaint coffee shops. Your next stop is Nubble Lighthouse, its red roof and white tower perched on a rocky islet since 1879. Snap photos from the cliffs, then make speed to Lobster Cove for buttery lobster rolls as the Atlantic Ocean roars below. 

Finally, drive south through sun-bleached seaside towns to Salem, Massachusetts, where tourists in pointy black hats jostle on the cobbled streets. Explore the history of the 1692 witch trials at the kitschy Salem Witch Museum, browse mysterious potions at the sorcery-themed mall, then embark on a cruise from the harbour to glimpse five working lighthouses fringed by clusters of private islands.

Fly to Boston

Pacific Coast Highway, California

Hugging California’s shoreline, the PCH, or Highway 1 (above), is widely considered one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Set aside four days to soak up the scenery, made familiar by Hollywood hits such as Point Break and the small-screen series Big Little Lies.

Set off from San Francisco, its Golden Gate Bridge shrouded in fog in the rearview mirror as you head towards Big Sur. This stretch of road reopened in early 2026, after three years of repairs following a landslide. A slight detour to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park provides the perfect spot to walk beneath cool canopies of towering 2,500-year-old redwood trees.

Further south is Piedras Blancas Rookery – a six-mile beach filled with barking elephant seals lounging in their natural habitat. From a natural wonder to a man-made one, nearby Hearst Castle is a maximalist mansion created by publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst that offers ticketed tours. Keep the more-is-more theme running with an overnight stay at Madonna Inn, a famous motel where every room is different.

Pull over at Santa Monica Pier for a selfie with the iconic Route 66 marker before rounding things off in San Diego. Watch the sun set from Ocean Beach as surfers ride the waves and locals practise yoga on the sands. It doesn’t get more Californian.

Fly to San Francisco; depart San Diego

The Lake Shores to the Gulf coast

Ideal for highway aficionados who already have a few epic road trips under their belt, this 1,500-mile trek from the Midwest to the Deep South captures many of the elements that make America, well, America: musical heritage, civil rights history, blockbuster landscapes and the nostalgic charms of small towns.

The north-to-south route crosses seven states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Allow around two weeks, starting in Chicago and initially following a stretch of Route 66.

For an only-in-America experience, swing by the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in Kentucky, where a staggering 1.8 million baseball bats are crafted yearly. In Tennessee, pay your respects at Elvis’s Graceland home in Memphis. In August, fans gather for a week of celebrations, marking 49 years since the King of Rock and Roll finally left the building.

Jackson’s Mississippi Civil Rights Museum offers a sobering look at the struggles and triumphs of the civil rights movement. Further south, the Mississippi Gulf Coast reveals a surprising slice of the tropics, with blond sandy beaches and swaying palm trees. By the time you reach New Orleans, you’ll have clocked up many miles on the dial. Celebrate with a well-earned sugar-dusted beignet at Café Du Monde, as a joyous jazz band plays on the street outside.

Fly to Chicago; depart New Orleans

The Crooked Road, Virginia

For anyone seeking an authentic slice of pure Americana, the Crooked Road provides a rootsy, musical heritage trip that winds 330 miles through the rolling hills and hollers of southwest Virginia. Set aside three days to follow the trail, listening to old-time, bluegrass and country music along the way. This drive begs for crowd participation, so pack an instrument or come prepared to join a boot-stomping barn dance.

To get a sense of how this rural pocket of the country helped shape the soundtrack of America, stop off at the Floyd Country Store. This former grocery shop has since turned into a music venue with gingham-clad tables, where the tiny stage has attracted big-name performers such as Gillian Welch. There’s never a dull moment here, with weekly songwriting circles, a Friday night jamboree and a music school offering guitar, banjo and flat-foot dance classes. 

Snaking back roads lead to Bristol, where the Smithsonian-affiliated Birthplace of Country Music Museum spotlights early recording sessions that sparked the country music boom. For an encore, on Saturday evenings the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons throws a riotous hoedown. Join the dancers in the rickety old barn, hot footing to a spirited soundtrack of furious fiddles and duelling banjos. 

Fly to Washington Dulles

Great Lakes Circle Tour

One of America’s most underrated road trips, this 1,000-mile, eight-day route curves from Detroit, Michigan, up through tranquil shorelines and lesser-visited national parks, before finishing in Chicago, Illinois. Witness Detroit’s recent renaissance with a visit to the expanded Motown Museum and a stroll along the revived riverfront. Cruising north through Michigan’s Wine Country brings you the tip of the Lower Peninsula, near car-free Mackinac Island. Park the rental and hop across on the chugging ferry to see horse-drawn carriages clip-clopping along streets, as if frozen in time. 

Continuing west past the island, the route hugs the dramatic, windswept dunes of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, where massive walls of sand plunge sinto the brilliant blue of Lake Michigan. Meandering further south, you will trace the scenic M-119 highway – known as the Tunnel of Trees – where a dense canopy of old-growth hardwoods frames views of the jagged coastline. The journey then winds through the beach towns of Grand Haven and Saugatuck, offering pristine shorelines and artisan boardwalks, before crossing the state line into Indiana Dunes National Park. Here, peaceful wetlands and rugged trails provide a final touch of wilderness before the dramatic skyscrapers of the Chicago skyline rise into view.

Fly to Detroit; depart Chicago

One-way car rentals from Avis (a British Airways Avios partner) include classic American muscle cars such as Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro convertibles.