USA West Coast road trip: 18-day itinerary

The American West packs Pacific cities, the granite walls of the Sierra Nevada, the hottest desert in North America, the lights of Las Vegas and the canyons of the Colorado Plateau into a single loop. This route starts and ends in San Francisco, so you fly in and out of the same city and avoid a one-way fee on the hire car^*. It takes 18 days; a 14-day version is further down.

The route at a glance

Driving times: route calculation based on OpenStreetMap, without breaks. With photo stops, Los Angeles traffic and the winding stretches of Highway 1, add about a third.

1. San Francisco
2. Yosemite Valley
3. Mammoth Lakes
4. Death Valley
5. Las Vegas
6. Grand Canyon
7. Page
8. Springdale (Zion)
9. Los Angeles
10. Santa Barbara
11. Cambria
12. Big Sur
13. Monterey

Base map: Natural Earth

Days 1–2: San Francisco

San Francisco is hilly, often foggy and easy to explore without a car. Ride a cable car over the hills, walk across the Golden Gate Bridge or view it from the beach at the Presidio, and take the boat to the former prison island of Alcatraz^* – tickets are often booked out well ahead. Pick up the hire car on the morning of day three; parking in the city is scarce.

Days 3–5: Yosemite and Tioga Pass

Through the Central Valley you climb into the Sierra Nevada. From Tunnel View you look over Yosemite Valley with the granite monolith of El Capitan, Bridalveil Fall and Half Dome in the background. In the valley, trails lead to Yosemite Falls, which carry the most water in spring. Check the National Park Service website beforehand to see whether your dates require an entry reservation.

On day five the Tioga Road takes you across the Sierra: past Tuolumne Meadows and Tenaya Lake and over Tioga Pass at just over 3,000 m. On the east side lies Mono Lake with its tufa towers, then you continue to Mammoth Lakes. Important: the Tioga Road is closed in winter, usually from November into May or June. Then the way to Death Valley runs south around the Sierra – 691 km, approx. 9:20 h via Fresno and Bakersfield, so two driving days.

Days 6–7: Death Valley and Las Vegas

Death Valley is the hottest and driest national park in the United States. At Badwater Basin, 86 m below sea level and the lowest point in North America, you walk across a white salt crust. Zabriskie Point looks out over folded badlands, and the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are best in the evening light. Fill up before you enter, carry plenty of water and in summer only hike early in the morning.

On day seven you reach Las Vegas. The Strip and its hotel palaces are most impressive at night. Las Vegas is also the place for a rest day to do laundry and restock.

Days 8–10: the Grand Canyon and Page

On the way to the Grand Canyon you pass the Hoover Dam. At the South Rim the canyon opens up suddenly in front of you at Mather Point – more than 1.5 km deep. The Rim Trail follows the edge to further viewpoints, and the stops along Hermit Road are good for sunset. Stay a night to see the canyon in the morning light.

On day nine leave the park via Desert View Drive and its watchtower and head for Page. Here you find the river bend of Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon, a narrow slot canyon you can only enter on a guided Navajo tour – book early. Arizona does not change its clocks in summer, but the Navajo Nation does, so check which time your tour is listed in.

Days 11–13: Zion National Park

Zion National Park in Utah is a deep canyon of red sandstone. For most of the year you can only enter the main canyon on the park shuttle, and the base is the small town of Springdale. Well-known hikes are the Riverside Walk, wading up the river into the Narrows and the climb to Angels Landing, which needs a permit allocated by lottery. On day 13 you return to Las Vegas.

Days 14–15: Los Angeles

From Las Vegas, Interstate 15 crosses the Mojave Desert to Los Angeles. The city is huge, so plan only a few sights per day: Griffith Observatory with its view of the Hollywood sign, Santa Monica Pier at the end of old Route 66, and the beach at Venice. Stay on the west side of the city so you get away quickly heading north the next morning.

Days 16–18: Highway 1 and Big Sur

Via Santa Barbara and its Spanish mission church you drive to Cambria. Just beyond lie Hearst Castle, the mansion of a newspaper magnate, and at Piedras Blancas a colony of elephant seals on the beach. Day 17 brings the most beautiful stretch: the coast road along Big Sur runs along steep cliffs, past McWay Falls and over the Bixby Creek Bridge. Via Carmel you reach Monterey, and on the last day it is just over two hours back to San Francisco.

Sections of Highway 1 along Big Sur are closed again and again after landslides, sometimes for months. Check the status with Caltrans before you go. If the coast is closed, take Highway 101 inland and visit Big Sur from the north as a detour from Monterey.

Shorter version: 14 days

Leave out Zion and the day in Los Angeles. From Page drive straight back to Las Vegas (438 km, approx. 5:20 h of pure driving), the next day to Los Angeles and the day after on to Cambria (357 km, approx. 4:35 h). That fits into 14 days, but you drive long distances several days in a row.

Best time for a West Coast road trip

This route links coast, high mountains and desert, so there is no perfect month. The best compromise is mid-September to mid-October: the Tioga Road is usually still open, Death Valley cools to around 31 to 38 °C, the Grand Canyon is pleasant and September is one of the warmest months in San Francisco. Second choice is June, when the Tioga Road has usually reopened – but Death Valley (42 °C on average) and Las Vegas are already very hot. In July and August average highs in Death Valley reach 43 to 44 °C; in winter snow falls at the Grand Canyon and the Tioga Road is closed.

Climate in Las Vegas: 2015–2024 averages from the ERA5 reanalysis (Open-Meteo), rounded. For comparison: San Francisco stays around 20 °C in summer, while at the Grand Canyon (South Rim, a good 2,000 m up) January averages 4 °C by day and -5 °C at night.

Good to know before you go

• Entry: Travellers from Visa Waiver Program countries, including the UK and most EU states, need an approved ESTA travel authorisation. Apply in good time before your flight and only on the official US government website – other sites often add surcharges.
• National parks: All parks on this route charge entry. The America the Beautiful annual pass covers entrance fees; current conditions for international visitors are on nps.gov.
• Driving: Speeds and distances in miles. Turning right on red is allowed after a full stop unless a sign says otherwise. At four-way stops, whoever stopped first goes first. When a school bus stops with flashing lights, traffic in both directions stops.
• Fuel and water: In Death Valley and between the Grand Canyon and Page, petrol stations are far apart. Fill up when the tank is half empty and always keep several litres of water in the car.
• Driving licence: Many rental companies accept a national licence. An International Driving Permit as a translation helps if you are stopped by police.
• Flight: A direct flight^* from London to San Francisco takes approx. 11 hours.

How YesTrip helps with this trip

Create a trip in YesTrip with the stops of this route: the app shows every place on the map, uses AI to plan your days in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles and shows the weather for your travel days – on this route a real difference between coastal fog and desert heat. The packing list suggests clothing to match the forecast and reminds you of the plug adapter for the US. The offline map helps in Death Valley, at the Grand Canyon and along Big Sur, where signal is often missing, and if you travel with friends you can share the trip and the expenses in the app.

* Ad – Partner link: if you book there, we earn a commission. Your price stays the same.