American Road Trips that you Should Do At Least Once in Your Life

A travel roundup highlights 10 “once-in-a-lifetime” American road trips meant to showcase the country’s variety of landscapes—from dramatic coastlines to desert canyons and mountain passes. The piece opens with the Pacific Coast Highway in California, suggesting a route from San Francisco to San Diego covering about 951 miles over 6–7 days, with stops including Big Sur, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego. It then features Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles (about 2,146 miles, 1–2 weeks), emphasizing classic Americana along the way. Other highlighted drives include the Blue Ridge Parkway (about 469 miles, 3–5 days) linking Virginia to North Carolina and Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park in Montana at roughly 50 miles for a one-day trip.