In Search of Nature: USA Road Trip by Two Italian Guys in September

[Mattia&Martina]

Hello everyone!
We are Mattia and Martina, and we live in northern Italy. We are planning a road trip in the United States in September 2024 and would like your help.
We have decided on a 3-week itinerary. We love mountains, mountain lakes, animals, and clean air. However, we are also open to exploring deserts and canyons.

Our questions are as follows:

- We would like to base our road trip around nature, visiting national parks and avoiding big cities as much as possible. Since we will be using the same airport, is it better to land in New York or Los Angeles? (According to you, is it better to visit the western or eastern part of the United States?)
- What type of vehicle do you recommend? I was thinking of a mid-sized SUV or a truck (Ford F-150 etc)
- Do you suggest booking various Airbnb accommodations in advance, or should we book them as we go?
- Based on the characteristics described above, do you have any pre-planned road trips to recommend?

This will be our first trip to the United States, and we can't wait!
Thank you for your valuable advice!

[DonnaR57]

To answer some of the questions you raise:

Where to base your trip - if you are looking for majestic mountains, beautiful scenic drives, you may wish to "go west". Los Angeles is just one place to center, another one would be Las Vegas, or even Denver. It really depends on what you want to see. If you want history, lower mountains, and even "leaf peeping", then east coast it would be and NYC would make a good central city to start. However, you said not a lot of cities, and the eastern US has more of them, or so it seems like. I used to live in the western US, and my hubby and I did a lot of traveling on that side of the country.

No, we don't have lists of pre-planned trips. Our purpose here at RTA is to encourage people to plan their own trips based on what YOU want to see, not a list of places we think you should see. My suggestion, in that regard, is to get an atlas of the USA - Rand McNally makes good ones - and start searching it for places that sound interesting to you. Pretty soon, obvious routes will start to come. We can always help you fine tune. Another thought is to read some of the forum posts in the "Road Trip Reports" forum. You may find some that interest you that would make a good base to start.

Road trip vehicle - for renting, you'll probably find it difficult to rent a pick-up for long distance usage. SUV's are more common, but more expensive. A sedan would be comfortable, too. That will depend on your budget. Bear in mind that sedans get better fuel mileage than SUV's.

Lodging - I can't answer about airbnb or VRBO since my husband and I stick to regular hotels and motels. A general rule of thumb is, though - if you are trying to stay near a popular tourist venue like a national park or beach area, reserve ahead! My husband and I like the thought that at the end of a driving or sightseeing day, we know we have a clean room to go to, and don't have to try to find something on the fly, so we reserve it all ahead - even if it's only 24 or 48 hours ahead.

Hope this helps.


Donna

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums!

Donna has answered your questions and I, from a personal point of view, would recommend the West, there is so much amazing and diverse scenery and many National parks to enjoy! Whether to book lodgings in advance or not is a personal matter. Some like the freedom of not being tied down to time and places and others, like me, prefer to know where they are sleeping at night so I can just maximise every moment of the day enjoying my surroundings, especially on a limited timescale with much to see!

One thing you haven't mentioned is how much time you have available for the trip and if you prefer to travel at a sedate pace and enjoy a few places or whether you prefer to keep on the go and get a good overview of more places.

You will find lots of info by searching around the RTA site, there are links at the top and bottom of each page, we have mapping programs and Field reports to help with your planning and just by scrolling down this page you will see 'Similar threads' which will repeat as many times as you wish. As Donna mentioned, we don't offer pre-planned trips as we believe in individual choice, but if you engage us with questions and ideas we would love to help you build your own personal 'Dream' road trip!

Enjoy the planning!

Dave

[Mattia&Martina]

Good morning everyone!

Sorry for the delay, but over the past few months, I’ve been planning and finalizing the stages of our road trip in the States. The next step is to check the routes we’ll take. Attached below, I've prepared a Google map with the decided stops. Do you think the routes proposed by Google are correct? Do you have any recommendations for scenic routes that we absolutely must take?

Thank you all!

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...0c&usp=sharing

[Southwest Dave]

Hi.

Google maps is a good tool for distances, but really needs to be worked to avoid it just taking you by the quickest route. It is also inaccurate when it comes to travel times, in the real world it'll take longer to cover the miles. Your Google map has you passing by some amazing National parks, Bryce canyon, Zion, Death valley and Yosemite are some that would be the highlight of any trip! You could go from Las Vegas across Death Valley and head into Yosemite on CA120 (Tioga pass) and onto San Francisco. Those I would look to include without a doubt, but it's your trip and if you have decided to head to Lake Tahoe, then fair enough. What I am suggesting is, to not leave routing to Google maps, but to create your own route.

We can help with that if you would like, so feel free to ask any questions. Just remember how large the USA really is and consider how much time you want to spend behind the wheel.

[Midwest Michael]

What exactly is your plan for California?

Your initial post indicated you want to avoid big cities and explore nature, but your map seems like you'll be spending a lot of time in San Diego, San Francisco, and LA - while missing a few of the most famous/popular natural wonders of California - Particularly Yosemite National Park or the California Coast.

A pretty common way to hit both of those would be to go from Lake Tahoe, across Tioga Pass into Yosemite. From there, continue to San Francisco, and then follow the coast to LA.

Having said all that, you might also want to post a rough itinerary. The distances in the American West can be underestimated, and it looks like you've already got a pretty busy plan for a 3 week trip.

[Mattia&Martina]

Hi.

Google maps is a good tool for distances, but really needs to be worked to avoid it just taking you by the quickest route. It is also inaccurate when it comes to travel times, in the real world it'll take longer to cover the miles. Your Google map has you passing by some amazing National parks, Bryce canyon, Zion, Death valley and Yosemite are some that would be the highlight of any trip! You could go from Las Vegas across Death Valley and head into Yosemite on CA120 (Tioga pass) and onto San Francisco. Those I would look to include without a doubt, but it's your trip and if you have decided to head to Lake Tahoe, then fair enough. What I am suggesting is, to not leave routing to Google maps, but to create your own route.

We can help with that if you would like, so feel free to ask any questions. Just remember how large the USA really is and consider how much time you want to spend behind the wheel.

from October 2 to October 5 -> San Diego
from October 5 to October 7 -> Joshua Tree
from October 7 to October 9 -> Grand Canyon
from October 9 to October 11 -> Monument Valley
from October 11 to October 14 -> Duck Creek Village
from October 14 to October 15 -> Las Vegas
from October 15 to October 17 -> Lake Tahoe
from October 17 to October 19 -> San Francisco
from October 19 to October 20 -> Sequoia
from October 20 to October 23 -> Los Angeles

Can I skip Las Vegas and still visit Yosemite? Do you think it's feasible?

Leave from Duck Creek Village, stop for one night at Tioga Pass, and visit Yosemite before heading to Lake Tahoe.

[Mattia&Martina]

What exactly is your plan for California?

Your initial post indicated you want to avoid big cities and explore nature, but your map seems like you'll be spending a lot of time in San Diego, San Francisco, and LA - while missing a few of the most famous/popular natural wonders of California - Particularly Yosemite National Park or the California Coast.

A pretty common way to hit both of those would be to go from Lake Tahoe, across Tioga Pass into Yosemite. From there, continue to San Francisco, and then follow the coast to LA.

Having said all that, you might also want to post a rough itinerary. The distances in the American West can be underestimated, and it looks like you've already got a pretty busy plan for a 3 week trip.

See the answer written above.

[Midwest Michael]

Leave from Duck Creek Village, stop for one night at Tioga Pass, and visit Yosemite before heading to Lake Tahoe.

That really wouldn't work. Tioga Pass is the road that goes over the Sierra Nevada mountains through Yosemite National Park, to the Yosemite Valley on the West side of the mountains. You wouldn't want to build a plan where you have to go over the mountains 3 times - once into Yosemite, then back again to Tahoe, and crossing a 3rd time to get to San Francisco.

You could go from Utah to Lake Tahoe in a day if you skipped Vegas - it would be a long 10 hour day on the road, but it would be a unique drive through the very empty Nevada deserts. US-50 through the state is nicknamed the Loneliest Road in America.