Discover the USA with a camper

Anybody who has decided on a road trip in the United States of America will be spoilt for choice regarding destinations. Deciding where to visit will be a challenge, but our guide will give you a clearer idea of how to go about arranging the best road trip in the USA.

Road trip USA: choosing your destinations

Picking a location for your journey will depend on the destinations that appeal to you for the best road trip in the USA. Do you favour camping in the arid landscape of Texas or the lush forests of Delaware? Are you drawn to the sunny beaches of the West Coast or the chilly climes of Alaska? Length is another factor to take into account. A road trip through Red Rock Country in Arizona will not take long but will treat you to the sight of imposing cliffs and rock formations. You can visit the centuries-old Montezuma Castle National Monument, which is located near multiple campsites, including Clear Creek Campground, Lawrence Crossing Campground and Rancho Verde RV Park, the last of which will be particularly suitable for parking your camper overnight. At the other end of the scale, we find the Great River Road, which reaches from Northern Minnesota down to the Gulf of Mexico. The best road trip in the USA will take days but will allow you to visit a range of attractions. You could park your camper at one of the campsites among the limestone bluffs of Frontenac State Park — or, for something more urban, experience the modernist architecture of the Gateway Arch National Park.

Route 66: traditional road trip USA

For many travellers, the go-to location for the best road trip in the USA is Route 66, the highway leading between Chicago and Los Angeles. A journey down Route 66 will be a long haul, and you can expect it to take weeks, but it will encompass so many iconic destinations that it has found its way onto the bucket list of every road trip enthusiast in America. While the original Route 66 no longer exists, the road's history remains, connecting national parks, museums, heritage sites and restaurants that serve local cuisine. If you choose a one-way rental from motorhomebookers, you can experience a road trip taking you through Montana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. On your journey from Illinois to California, you will encounter a good cross-section of the destinations of America, whether you favour natural sights like the Petrified Forest National Park or man-made attractions like San Miguel Mission — the oldest church in the country. Here are some of the destinations that have earned Route 66 its reputation as the place for the best road trip in the USA:

The top five Attractions on Route 66

1. Williams & Flagstaff, Arizona: Grand Canyon National Park. One of the most majestic sights in America.
2. Foyil, Oklahoma: The World's Largest Totem Pole. See the area's Native American heritage.
3. Madison, Illinois: Chain of Rocks Bridge. A historic piece of engineering.
4. Galena, Kansas: Galena Historic Distict. Many beautiful, historic buildings still stand.
5. Santa Fe, New Mexico: De Vargas Street House. Called the oldest house in the USA, near the San Miguel Chapel.

A road trip down Route 66 need not encompass the whole route: you can still sample the best road trip in the USA and tick an item off your bucket list going only part-way along this vast road. For example, a truncated road trip from Albuquerque to Santa Monica will allow you to visit such destinations as the Owl Rock formation near Mesita or the Petrified Forest National Park, with good stopping-off points at Winslow's Meteor Crater RV Park and the free camping areas of Needles. This is a journey that can be completed in three days. It is also your choice as to whether you complete the road trip driving westward or eastward. The main deciding factor here will be which city you feel like relaxing in after carrying out the best road trip in the USA: some travellers swear by Chicago as the ideal place to kick back and rest, while others will prefer the West Coast atmosphere of Los Angeles as a good way to wrap up the most iconic trip USA tourism has to offer.

More options for the best road trip in the USA

This article's purpose is to give you a few early ideas for planning the best road trip in the USA. There are many other options that deserve a mention. For example, there is the Blue Ridge Parkway that connects the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, encompassing a stretch of Appalachian Mountains along the way: nearby locations to park your RV include Julian Price Campground, Crabtree Falls Campground and Otter Creek Campground. Then, another potential item to tick off your bucket list is a road trip along Florida's Overseas Highway, which takes you past picturesque white beaches and across stretches of unspoilt coral. What makes the best road trip in the USA for you will depend on the destinations you prefer. We hope that we have helped get you started on your plans for the ultimate road trip USA.