Travel Guide to the United States: The Great Route of National Parks and Dream Metropolises

Traveling to the United States means immersing yourself in the monumental landscapes of film and literature. On a continental scale, the country offers everything from the most spectacular canyons and geological formations on the planet to the dizzying skyscrapers of its great financial and cultural cities.

It is, quite simply, the home of the Road Trip: straight highways vanishing into the endless desert, classic motels at the edge of the asphalt and a network of National Parks protected with admirable organizational excellence.

1. The Great American West Road Trip (15 to 21 days)

The country’s most coveted circuit winds through the states of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona in a cinematic loop:

• Las Vegas (start or finish): The neon oasis in the middle of the Nevada desert, a key hub for renting a vehicle at competitive rates.
• Grand Canyon of the Colorado: A colossal geological rift carved over millions of years that defies the human perception of depth.
• Monument Valley and Page: The sacred territory of the Navajo Nation with its iconic reddish buttes, the curves of Horseshoe Bend and the overhead light beams of Antelope Canyon.
• Bryce Canyon and Zion: The amphitheaters of stone spires (hoodoos) at Bryce and the imposing reddish sandstone walls of Zion for hikers (Angels Landing or The Narrows).
• Death Valley and Yosemite: From the lowest and hottest point in North America to the giant sequoias and granite walls of El Capitan and Half Dome in the Sierra Nevada.
• San Francisco and the Pacific Coast: The Golden Gate Bridge, the cable cars and the scenic Big Sur highway winding down toward Los Angeles.

2. Car logistics and the annual parks pass

Renting a spacious sedan or an SUV with unlimited mileage is the foundation of the trip. To save hundreds of dollars on entry fees to the natural sites, buy the annual America the Beautiful pass (around $80 per vehicle), which covers access to all of the country’s National Parks for one driver and all their companions.

3. Unavoidable formalities: ESTA, medical insurance and tipping

Traveling to the U.S. requires meeting three fundamental conditions:

• Official ESTA authorization: Arrange the electronic permit in advance exclusively through the official U.S. government portal (avoid unauthorized third-party websites).
• Travel insurance with multimillion-dollar coverage: Private healthcare in the U.S. is extraordinarily expensive; a simple emergency room visit or an ambulance transfer can run into the thousands of dollars. Never travel without insurance that includes broad medical coverage (a minimum of €500,000 to €1,000,000).
• Tipping culture: In restaurants with table service, the tip makes up a substantial part of the servers’ wages; the customary and polite amount is to leave between 18% and 22% of the total before tax.

4. Practical summary and destination fact sheet

«Driving down a lonely Utah highway with music playing while the sun sets the reddish canyons ablaze is one of the purest experiences of freedom there is.»