Ever since I visited the USA for the first time in 2009, I knew I absolutely had to go again. I remembered how L.A. impressed me back then with its background of film and television, how I enjoyed the vastness of nature and spent hours looking out of the window on the drive, feeling like I was in a film myself.
So it was time to feel that again. This time it was my round to organise a surprise trip that my boyfriend and I take turns organising. Once we had finalised the budget, I started planning. He, on the other hand, only found out where he was going at the airport.
The Plan
A direct flight to L.A., where we spent a few days before hiring a car and exploring the national parks of the southwest - Joshua Tree, Valley of Fire, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley. Of course with a stopover in Las Vegas to try our luck at gambling. We had 2 weeks for this programme. To be honest, this was pretty tight and we were travelling a lot. Nevertheless, the experiences were unique and we were able to enjoy this trip to the full!
Some travelhacks
To start with, let me just note down some helpful things I learnt on this trip that could help you if you're planning an US roadtrip as well:
- Buy a US park pass: If you're planning to visit several National Parks, it's helpful to buy a US park annual pass. For 80 USD (for 1 car), you can visit more than 2'000 sites with it and skip long waiting lines. For us, the card was worth it after just 3 parks. Good thing: It is valid for a whole year. The easiest way to get it is at one of the entrances of the parks.
- Read the NP maps! Always when entering a National Park, you get a free park map with clearly marked roads and highlights. Those parks are biiiig, so it is quite helpful to follow the marked roads for not getting lost. And not to starve...
- Explore by car! When planning the trip, I had the good intention of doing without a hire car at the beginning and exploring L.A. by public transport instead. This worked out and was definitely interesting, but also very time-consuming. Next time I would hire a car as soon as I arrive. Definitely the more time-saving option! Uber is also a good idea, but also not very cheap.
- Travelling on a budget: It's not cheap to travel in the US. We tried to safe money by staying in rather cheap motels and often bought lunch in the grocerie stores rather than eating out in a restaurant.
- Prepare your Spotify! When doing a roadtrip in the US, you'll sit in the car for hours. Yes, the landscape is amazing, but to be honest, even the most beautiful landscapes can get boring after 5h looking at it. So make sure you prepare a good music list and download it in advance. This makes your drive much more fun - and you'll probably feel like in a movie sometimes!
- Google Maps is king! To probably avoid a lot of navigation discussions when using a map, we used Google maps for navigation. You can download the maps you need in advance and then use it offline. This really helps!
- Stay overnight in the National Parks. We had most of our hotels pre-booked and therefore sometimes weren't too flexible in changing our hotel plans. Next time I would either hire a campervan from the start (and then enjoy the full flexibility of staying wherever we want), or book hotels that are located directly in the national park. That way you avoid having to drive a long way back after a nice, exhausting day. We've also seen some really great accommodation and campsites in the parks!
- And the best plan: Don't plan too much! I quickly realised that you can also "plan yourself out" in the USA. There is so much to see and I would have loved to cram even more into our travel programme (that was already quite packed). In addition to many wonderful experiences, this would have meant a lot of stress and, above all, countless more hours to spend in the car. Sometimes less really is more - and you should safe some ideas for your next trip.
A (not so) little report
Los Angeles - City of stars
We had some days to discover L.A., a city that we remember with somewhat mixed feelings. It really isn't a beauty and we experienced a lot of poverty on the streets which made us think. And yet it somehow cast a spell over me - the connection to the music and film industry fascinates me, I immersed myself in this world and would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in one of the film or music studios. L.A. has a lot to offer - shops, museums, sights. And yet we were glad to escape the noisy and exhausting city again after a few days.
Hippie vibes at Venice Beach
One of my absolute highlights in L.A. wasn't actually L.A. at all, but nearby Venice - a city that is famous for its lively and hippie-esque atmosphere and the . At Venice Beach, everyone seems to be allowed to be who they are. You can meet street artists, skateboarders, surfers, countless shops and cafés, hire a bike and cycle along the coast. I really liked this chilled, open and inspiring atmosphere.
Another highlight: the Griffith Observatory with a view over the whole of L.A. The view is truly unique!
Universal Studios Hollywood
Another highlight: The Universal Studios Hollywood. Here, you can easily spend a whole day (or 2!) and exploring the different theme parks, film sets and rollercoasters. My favourite: The Harry Potter world. Oh, and the film tour during which you explore different film sets and learn fascinating things about film making. I loved it!
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| A replica of Hogsmeade (Harry Potter) |
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| Discovering film sets on the Studio Tour |
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... and off course: a stunt showCactuses and stars - Joshua Tree National ParkAfter a few days in LA, we were happy to say goodbye and set off on our journey into nature. Our first park: Joshua Tree National Park in southern California. We were impressed: barren desert landscapes, countless rock formations, cacti and the strangely shaped Joshua trees offered a unique picture. What I particularly liked was that there were hardly any other people on the road. Nature (almost) just for us. How good that felt! We were so impressed and therefore travelled for so long that it was already getting dark. So we looked for a hilltop, spread out the picnic blanket and waited for the stars. They appeared in large numbers and shone brighter than we ever see at home. It was incredibly beautiful! |
Viva Las Vegas!
After a short break to relax in nature, we soon set off on our next adventure. Off to Sin City, to Las Vegas! Phew, what can I say. Vegas is a must-see and difficult to describe. Absolutely crazy, fascinating and shocking at the same time. I'd better let the pictures speak for themselves. As they say: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Just this much: we didn't come back rich.
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| Fremont Street Experience, Las Vegas |
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| Probably one of the best views over town from the top of the Stratosphere Tower. |
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| Another highlight: The Sphere, a newly built concert hall |
Tears in the Valley of fire
We left Vegas with a lot of great, funny and maybe also a bit confusing memories and headed off to the Valley of fire State Park in Nevada, probably one of the biggest highlights on this trip. I'll never forget the moment when we rounded a bend on a lonely road, the film music from "Django unchained" playing on the radio (which couldn't have been more fitting!), and suddenly had an incredible panorama of glowing red rocks in front of us. We both had tears in our eyes at the sight. The road in the park is well signposted and leads you from highlight to highlight. This park is famous for it's bright red rocks and good hiking trails. We also did a short hike and ended up in a sand dune. Quite a lot to explore as you see!
Abra Kanabra!
We decided to stay some days in Kanab, a funny little city in Nevada that is very proud to have served as setting in a lot of western movies. Sorry for the next photos, which are a bit clichéd. But the pub was really cool! :-)
Meet the hoodoos - Bryce Canyon National Park
Our next destination took us across the border into the state of Utah. There we visited Bryce Canyon National Park, known for its "hoodoos", orange-coloured rock pyramids. The national park is at a higher altitude than its neighbours (Grand Canyon and Zion NP), which we definitely noticed in the temperature. For the first time, we were glad to have stocked up on new winter jackets at an outlet in Vegas! Also here, we enjoyed breathtaking views. Bryce Canyon NP should definitely not be missed!
Sandboarding on Coral Pink Sand Dunes
From one highlight to the next: the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. How amazing it was: whereas the day before we had been in a park dominated by red rocks, here we were in the middle of a sandy desert! The diversity was simply incredible! And of course we had to explore the dunes, so we hired a sandboard and tried our luck. What fun! And luckily we survived without breaking a single bone.
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A lake, a horseshoe and an antelopeThere would have been many more parks to discover... And yet we had to move on. Our next stop was Lake Powell reservoir on the border between Utah and Arizona. It was created in the 1960s when the Colorado River was dammed. |
A highlight at Lake Powell: Horseshoe Bend, a loop in the Colorado river. Quite touristy, but a fantastic view indeed!
Most tourists at Lake Powell visit Antelope Canyon. However, as it can only be visited with a guide and we were a little late, we decided to explore the canyon by boat rather than on foot. That was a good decision, the rock formations were impressive!
We spent the evening at a little beach at Lake Powell and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
Monument Valley - where dreams are made
You probably feel like you've had enough of parks and nature, don't you? Far from it! The next highlight followed immediately: Monument Valley. The place that has long been on my bucket list. Probably the place that many people associate with the USA and know from films. I was happy to finally be here - and the x hours of travelling were worth it. The drive along the dusty roads really was like something out of a movie.
We didn't necessarily have the nicest hotels on our trip so far. This was because we had set ourselves a budget and stayed in motels rather than hotels. Some of the rooms were correspondingly shabby. When we entered our hotel in Monument Valley (called Goulding's lodge), we shouted for joy! A wonderful lodge and a view over the valley from our balcony. Woooow! That was balm for our travelling souls!
Grande finale at the Grand Canyon
And then the day did come: we visited the last national park on our trip - the Grand Canyon. While the park had left me speechless on my first trip to the USA in 2009, I was a little less impressed this time. It was probably because we had already seen too many fantastic parks and were starting to look forward to the warmth and the sea again. Nevertheless, the Grand Canyon is well worth a visit, the views are simply amazing!
Williams - the town where the time stood still
Slowly but steadily, we started our return journey towards LA. Of course, we couldn't miss a few towns along the legendary Route 66 on our programme and so we spent a night in Williams, a town that somehow seemed to have stood still in time. Itis a sleepy village that only comes to life in the evening, when the neon signs twinkle in the darkness and the bars slowly fill up. We spent most of our evening in the legendary "Sultana Bar" (it calls itself "world famous" and I believe it just by seeing the interior and its "inhabitants"), playing darts and watching the exciting bar patrons. Here, too, I sometimes felt like I was in a film. "Easy Rider" perhaps.
Gold diggin' in Oatman
We followed the Route 66 (or the "mother road" as it is still called) for a bit and crossed the impressive Sitgreaves pass, before we arrived in Oatman, a former gold mining town in the Black Mountains of Arizona. Today, the town of around 100 inhabitants is a highlight for tourists as it still looks like something out of a western. The little shops, donkeys on the street and fake Wild West-style shootouts are quite entertaining! But to be honest, I was quite glad that this time, I was not kidnapped in a mock stagecoach robbery as I was in 2009! :-)
Lake Havasu
We spent the last night before L.A. at Lake Havasu. Unfortunately, it was so windy and cold that swimming was out of the question. In the evening, we explored Lake Havasu City, a town known for its London Bridge. Yes, you read that right! The London Bridge was moved from London to Lake Havasu in 1831 as it had reached the limits of its capacity in London. Even today, there are still many reminders of England in this city. Weird, but after Las Vegas it hardly shocked us any more...
Back in Venice
From Lake Havasu, we tackled the last few kilometres back to L.A. and made ourselves comfortable on Venice Beach for the last night. On an extended bike ride along the coast to Santa Monica, we had time to process our journey and mentally prepare for the nasty November weather at home.
Last but not least...
The two weeks in the USA were a full holiday: Impressive, sometimes relaxing, sometimes exhausting, exciting, sometimes funny, sometimes hair-raising. The USA has an incredible amount to offer - exciting cities, miles of unspoilt nature. We experienced different time zones, states and temperatures (from 0 - 25 degrees) in a fortnight. There was no shortage of variety. And that's exactly why I liked it so much. It certainly wasn't my last time there. After all, there are still a few more square kilometres to discover, right?
