West Coast USA Family Roadtrip Route

Thinking of taking your family to tour the west coast of the USA? Here’s the route we took for an absolutely fantastic fly-drive holiday.

The idea of this trip was to show the kids a bit of the USA, things that they wouldn’t have experienced before, as well as take in some sights Mum and Dad wanted to see too.

Things to see on our combined list was:

One of the great things about visiting California is that there are a lot of very different things to see.

The Pacific Coast Highway – North to South, or South to North?

The much-photographed Bixby Bridge on the Pacific Coast Highway.

The Pacific Coast Highway, also known as the PCH, is Highway 1 that twists and turns around the dramatic coastline on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Although you can take the freeway when travelling between North and South California, the slower Highway 1 is much more scenic and was definitely going to be part of our route.

The important thing to consider though is which way you are going to travel. Are you going to start in the South and head North, or start North and head South? This will determine which airports you fly in and out of.

For us the answer was simple: travelling from the North to the South would give you better views as you’ll be on the right-hand side of the road, right next to the Pacific Ocean.

San Francisco and Yosemite

We took this picture of the Golden Gate Bridget from the rec yard on Alcatraz

It’s certainly possible to fly to San Francisco, hire a car, drive out to Yosemite, and then double back to the PCH. This was an option we considered, but rejected.

There’s a lot of driving between the city and Yosemite, and you would have to retrace your steps if you wanted to start the PCH from San Francisco.

Instead, there’s a much better option, and that’s not to fly to San Francisco at all…

Viva the Dessert

What a scorcher! Death Valley certainly was HOT!

There’s plenty to see on the eastern side of the Sierra Mountains.

Travel a bit further south-east and you’re into the California desert and Death Valley. Travel a bit further SE again (avoiding Area 51!) and you’re in Vegas.

Remember that a big part of this trip was to let the kids see some very different aspects to the USA, and by starting in Las Vegas, we certainly were going to do that!

The Route

West Coast USA Roadtrip Route (via Google Maps)

We had 16 days off work to fit it all in, and we saw a lot more things than that list above. In fact, the trip far exceeded our expectations.