CRA Motoring & Travel News – USA
Pack your mask, hand sanitizer, toilet paper and a folding map and head out on one of these popular U.S. road trips.
Americans are loving their road trips these days, especially since there aren’t many places they can go beyond the U.S. borders.
Sometimes being spontaneous is half the fun of a road trip, but traveling in a pandemic takes a little more planning, but planning is fun, too.
Whether you’re taking a trip to catch the fall color or planning one for next summer, pack wisely: some places may not have public restrooms and sights, restaurants and hotels could close, so you may need to fend for yourself. Consider getting travel insurance that covers coronavirus, and check your destinations for local Covid regulations and closures, which may vary between states and counties.
With that in mind, here is TripAdvisor’s list of the most popular road trips in America.
Route 66: Illinois to California
“America’s Mother Road,” or the Main Street of America, this well-traveled iconic highway wanders from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif. It’s more than 2,500 miles of nostalgic roadside motels, retro gas stations and open, undeveloped or even near-abandoned landscapes. Purists start at Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant, a Chicago diner, shown here.
Pacific Coast Highway – Route 1, California
Speaking of the Santa Monica Pier, it’s right on California’s Pacific Coast Highway, which rivals any road in the world for scenery and diversity, taking you from the USS Midway Museum in San Diego (and beautiful beaches) past Monarch butterfly migration sites, the famous Hearst Castle, across stunning bridges and views of rocky cliffs (and beautiful beaches) over the Golden Gate Bridge and through redwood forests. And, of course, there’s beautiful beaches.
Blue Ridge Parkway: Virginia to North Carolina
A 469-mile drive that connects Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway offers scenic beauty, lots of historic sites and is steeped in Appalachian culture and Native American traditions. It’s controlled by the U.S. National Parks System.
Overseas Highway: Florida
This is just 165 miles on Route 1 from Miami through the Florida Keys, so take time to savor it. Eat Key lime pie and fried conch, visit botanical gardens, stop at the alligator farms and the Dolphin Research Center on Key Largo.
Great River Road: Minnesota to Louisiana
This north-south route follows the course of the Mississippi River, from the delta to the headwaters, and travels through 10 states. It’s 1,968 miles of history and beauty of the Mississippi River rich in American folktales, music, scenery and great food.
Coastal Highway US 1: Massachusetts to Maine
California isn’t the only place with a No. 1 coastal highway. From the Boston Tea Party Museum to the lighthouses of the rocky shores of Maine, this road trip offers rich history and plenty of small-town charm, fall color ocean scenery and fresh lobster.
Great American Ballparks: Massachusetts to Illinois
You might want to save this one for the return of baseball, but you don’t have to, as there’s plenty of other things to see and do. This trip stretches from Boston to Chicago and TripAdvisor says if you plan on going to each stadium, allow for a 10-day trip. Visit famous parks like Fenway and Yankee Stadium, plus the birthplace of Babe Ruth in Baltimore.
Beaches along the Gulf of Mexico: Texas to Florida
Give yourself five to seven days to meander along this route between Galveston, Texas and Panama City Florida, savoring southern seafood like gumbo, shrimp, crawfish and soft-shelled crab and lazing on the beaches. There’s also lots of boat rides to islands, swamp tours, and dolphin watching to be done.
Discover the Great Northwest: Oregon to Wyoming
This journey from Portland, Ore., to Yellowstone (or take the opposite direction in the footsteps of the pioneers) has everything from waterfalls, gorges, peaked mountains, geysers and lava flows. It’s rich with Native American heritage and recalls the wagons of the Oregon Trail. Pictured is Oregon’s Oneonta Gorge.
Article Credit To The Street.
