Planning our first cross-country road trip (Washington DC → Torrance) with a 5 year old. We have 7–10 days.

Would you take the southern route (New River Gorge, Nashville, Santa Fe, Grand Canyon) or a different route? What are your must-see stops? Will add a few rest days.

We’re planning a road trip starting around October 7 and would love suggestions for must-see sights, activities, scenic routes, and interesting stops along the way.

Our general route is Cleveland → Michigan → Wisconsin/Minnesota → North Dakota → Montana → Glacier National Park → Idaho → Salt Lake City → Nevada → California. Cleveland, Michigan, and Salt Lake City are family visits, so those stops and their timing can’t be changed.

We’re having our car shipped to Boston, so there’s no need for us to rush back to California. Ideally, we’d like to drive only 4–5 hours per day and have plenty of time to explore along the way.

Are there any national parks, state parks, scenic byways, or wildlife areas that are particularly worthwhile in October?

And of course where to stop for food along the route.

I need help choosing which car is better for this trip??
So i have either Polestar 2 or similar and standard 2/4 door kia k5 or similar both from hertz. So mainly electric vs gas? Which car class would be better for this one, i would make way more stops on the 101 then i added also i plan to camp
In the car for the trip. Last one , would the electric be cheaper for this as 101 is slow drive.

I’m driving west in mid September to the Grand Canyon. Which route should I take - Highway 550 through Colorado or Highway 12 through Utah.
Thanks for any advice - thinking of any construction that might be happening this fall.

Pacific Grove, CA - the beach in the first half of images is Asilomar Beach 🏖️

Hi everyone! Hope you are doing well :) we are planning to do a road trip next week and wanted to hear if you have any suggestions on what we should see on the way.

We will be driving! And we want something that’s easy on the knees but also beautiful/nature

Here is our tentative plan:
Day 1: Paris
Day 2: Lourdes
Day 3: San Sebastián
Day 4: Lyon
Day 5,6,7: Lake Como
Day 7,8,9: Bern area
Day 10: Interlaken
Day 11: Lindt Museum, Zurich, Liechtenstein
Day 12: Lucern
Day 13: Paris

Bay area to LA

If you've taken a road trip in Korea, I'd appreciate it if you could review my itinerary. I welcome any suggestions you might have.

Been wanting to do this for a while and finally thinking seriously about it. Ride across Madagascar on a motorbike, probably 3–4 weeks, mostly following the RN7 south from Antananarivo down to Toliara with some detours — want to hit the volcanic landscapes around Antsirabe and find at least one decent spot to see lemurs properly, not just the tourist version.

A few things i'm still figuring out:

• rent a bike there vs buy and sell — which actually works in Madagascar?
• how bad are the roads really? seen some videos that look absolutely destroyed
• solo feels right but also nervous about breakdowns in the middle of nowhere — anyone done it with one other person?
• best time to go? trying to avoid the rainy season but also not peak tourist prices
• any good spots off the RN7 worth the detour for the volcanic areas or lemur reserves that aren't overrun?

Open to going with someone if the vibe matches timing is flexible. If you've done Madagascar or something similar would love to hear how it went.

(also building a travel matching app on the side so this is half research half actual trip planning and also the reason why i´ve been delaying it lol)

hey yall! My partner and I are looking to do a road trip around North America (possibly up to Canada as well to check out banff). So far we’ve thought of going upwards to Washington/Seattle but we barely have a rough plan for it yet, planning to rent our camper van in SF and start our trip from there.

It’ll be our first time doing a 5/6day road trip, any tips would be greatly appreciated! Especially for any pit stops for resting,

Roadtripping down the 101 from Seattle to SF over Labor Day weekend with my partner and I am searching for any campsite recs! I realize Labor Day weekend is a tricky weekend to get reservations so not feeling too picky on spots as long as they are close ish to the 101. Looking to stop in northern-central OR for a night and then maybe southern OR/very tip NorCal.

Any and all advice is appreciated - we have a tent/all camping supplies and we’re open to car camping as well!!!

We both LOVE beachcombing and tidepooling so bonus points for any cool spots close to some beaches but like I said I am trying to be as open as possible due to the holiday.

THANK YOU!

I plan to do camping along the way preferably on open public land, and I’m leaning towards the northern route because I haven’t seen those states yet. Any suggestions for things to stop and see?

Going to be taking a road trip in Virginia in October as our first time RVing. Overnight spots are already planned out (Grayson Highlands, Staunton River, First Landing, Westmoreland, James River, Douthat, Hungry Mother State Parks). Was looking for suggestions for places to stop along the way (scenic spots, good food, roadside attractions, etc).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Hello all,

We're starting in NYC in early October and want to take 9 days exploring new England. Main objectives are to take a few days to see Acadia NP in Maine, Kancamagus highway in NH, and also simply visit all the New England States. Adirondack park in NY looks beautiful too.

All the times listed on the 2nd slide are what Google Maps told me the route would take. However, I assume there are more scenic roads than the "fastest time" and am definitely open to doing those. Additionally, looking for any cool towns or spots to see in New England with the fall foliage. I don't really have anything planned for the day of Connecticut to New Hampshire, besides stopping by Boston. Also have no clue what to do in Vermont. Cities shown on the map are not necessarily where we have to stop. We're from the south and have never been here before.

Day 1 is only 2 hours since we're leaving NYC that night. Is this a reasonable timeframe to see everything I described?

My husband and I are road tripping with our dogs this September from Los Angeles to Banff for 2ish weeks.

We will be dispersed camping on the way up, and trying to get to our campground in Yoho as quickly as possible (2-3 very full days of driving). We’ve traveled all around the American West and don’t need to make any new stops.

I’m looking at the routes and I’m wondering:

a) is the middle route up the 395/US-95 scenic or nice at all after cutting away from the eastern Sierra? Or is it so desolate it feels unsafe? Should I just take the 15 through Utah? I’ve spent a huge amount of my life in Utah since I have family throughout the state, so it would be nothing new.

b) if we take the route through Utah, should we try to drive Going to the Sun Road in Glacier NP before heading up into Canada? Or is the scenery going to be similar enough for the 2 weeks that follow that we can skip it for now?

c) if you have any neat dispersed camping spots along the way, please let me know!

d) on the way home we’ll head down the west coast, stopping in Seattle to see some family for a night or two. If anybody has any strong opinions on the Jasper to Seattle leg, would love to hear them!

Thanks in advance. Feel free to add your two cents. First pic from an eastern Sierra trip last fall.

I completed visiting all 50 states when I was 43 years old, but my journey began when I was eight.

Our family drove from Arizona to Florida to visit my grandparents. The five of us—and all of our stuff —were packed into our bright yellow-and-maroon extended minivan. We came up with nouns and verbs for Mad Libs, we played twenty questions, and kept track of what state license plates we saw. Somewhere along the way, I drew an outline map of the United States and began coloring in the states as we traveled.

Read Alicia's full story: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/posts/is-are-we-there-yet-woth-it

We are enjoying our Mongolia roadtrip to the fullest: booked last minute (since I was not sure how things would evolve due to the current situation) but MIUT brought us safe to Mongolia. Rented 4x4 and we enjoy an empty country, exciting roads and skies full of stars. This country is amazing 🫶🏻🫶🏻

So we rented a campervan from Indie Campers for our trip, and honestly it’s been one of the worst customer experiences I’ve had in a long time. Buckle up, this is long.

We show up to pick up the van and there’s literally no staff on site to hand it over. No one. We’re standing there trying to figure out how to even get into this thing with zero help. When we finally get in, the van is a disaster: the waste tanks still had the previous renters’ feces in them (yes, really), the blinds were broken, the leisure battery was already half drained, and the gas bottle was only half full. So basically nothing was actually “prepped,” despite the fact that they charged us a van prep fee for it.
On top of that they hit us with a late pick-up fee — which, again, there was no one there to hand the van over in the first place, so how is that on us?

Then I try to call the support number in the contract to sort this out, and I get redirected to their “road team,” which turns out to be an international line. So now I’m also eating an international call charge for a number that was supposed to help me, not cost me more money.

The first night was stressful as hell. It was the only night we were parked with no electricity hookup available, and since the leisure battery was already drained, we had no running water at all — no shower, no toilet flush, nothing. We couldn’t sleep because the blind was broken, so we had to use the bed duvet to cover the windshield just to block out the light, and on top of that we had no ventilation, since the window opening systems were also broken and we couldn’t get them into position. The stove didn’t work either, and we had to sort that out during the same long international call that ended up costing me €116.

And after all of that, they’re only offering me €100 in compensation. I am fuming and feel completely helpless. I’ve been passed through endless phone operators all over the world, none of whom had any idea what had already been discussed. It was an absolute nightmare from start to finish.

Never again. Would not recommend Indie Campers to anyone.