25-day road trip in the American West

The American West. A trip dreamed of and idealised by many, and one that came true for us this year! We didn’t think we would set foot in the United States again any time soon, but our lucky star pushed us there. Let us explain: at the end of August 2023, we got a private message on Instagram from the airline French Bee telling us that we had won their summer competition and that they were giving us tickets to the destination of our choice, between New York, Miami, Los Angeles or San Francisco! Incredible luck. So we decided to fly off to the west coast of the United States, a region we didn’t know at all.

Fairly late on, in July 2024 (work commitments oblige), we then chose to do a long road trip of almost a month, in September, arriving in Los Angeles and leaving from San Francisco. A 25-day route with four states crossed: California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada and lots of national parks visited. A legendary trip, planned (almost) at the last minute!

Now for our detailed itinerary, our tips and our favourite spots… Everything you need to organise your own perfect road trip in the American West! Because if there is one word to describe this trip, it is this one: perfect.

See our trip in pictures on our Instagram account!

Renting a car for a road trip in the American West

As usual, we went through the French comparison site BSP Auto* which we have trusted for years for our car rental bookings. Their negotiated prices mean you get good rates with international rental companies. We chose to book with Hertz, which was the best-rated company on the site. Everything went perfectly.
When we arrived at Los Angeles airport, we took a shuttle dedicated to the car rental companies which dropped us right in front of the Hertz desk. We were seen to quickly and we were even able to choose our SUV in the car park! The return to San Francisco airport was very smooth too: you just follow the “Car Rental Return” lane from the motorway and drive into the rental company’s car park. Once parked in the queue, a Hertz agent simply asked us our name and… that’s it! All that was left was to empty the car and take the Air Train to the terminal.
In total, we covered 5,752 kilometres on this 25-day route!

*Unpaid collaboration, discount offered on the car rental

The essentials to slip into your suitcase for the American West

We recommend taking a checked suitcase for this kind of long trip, so you can bring clothes for every season but also so you can bring back a few souvenirs.

Our essentials: factor 50 sun cream, a hat and sunglasses, insect repellent and soothing gel in case of bites (for the parks with water points in particular), microfibre towels (for swimming and picnics), a power bank (so you are never out of battery on your phones), adaptors (the sockets are not the same as ours), a warm jacket and a jumper (for the mornings at altitude and San Francisco)…

Our budget for a 25-day trip in the American West

💸 A total of €4,363 for 25 days for two (that is €2,182 per person).

• Flights: offered by French Bee (allow around €850 for the return trip in Bee Smart class with checked baggage and meals on board)
• Accommodation: €1,649.97 for 25 nights for 2, that is €66 a night on average
• Rental car: €679* for the Chevrolet SUV for 25 days with the basic insurance
  • Hertz rental via the BSP Auto comparison site: €804 for the 25 days (pick-up in Los Angeles and return at San Francisco airport)
  • Hertz assistance as an extra: €275
  • *What we paid as part of our collaboration with BSP Auto, once the discount offered was deducted
• Petrol: €354.37 for 25 days
• Car parks: €77.89
  • Car parks in Los Angeles: €10.40
  • Secure parking for 72h in San Francisco: €67.49 ($25 a day)
• Public transport: €18 for two days in San Francisco (€4.50 for the day pass per person)
• Visas: €37.66 for the two ESTAs
• Travel insurance*: €330.54 for 25 days for two with Heymondo (Voyage premium)
  • *Insurance offered as part of our collaboration with Heymondo
• Internet: €38 for 25 days with unlimited data on Holafly (by switching the site to roubles)
• Meals (groceries, restaurants and snacks): €985 for 25 days for 2, that is €39.40 a day for 2 (€19.70 per person)
• Visits and activities: €315.14 for 25 days for 2
  • Park entries: €133.82 for 2 (including €72.51 for the America The Beautiful Pass)
  • Grand Canyon helicopter: €770 for 2 (activity offered as part of our partnership with GetYourGuide as content creators)
  • Lower Antelope Canyon: €131.53 for 2 (activity offered by our parents for our birthdays)
  • Monument Valley horse ride: €181.32 for 2
• Souvenirs: €77.65 (magnets, local products, dreamcatchers…)
• Other (return taxi to Paris Orly airport, taxi in Los Angeles, fine…): €130.89

Our accommodation tip and our places to stay in the American West

The United States is known for being a very expensive country and you feel it with the accommodation, especially in the big cities (above all at the last minute). So we looked for a way to sleep cheaply in the American West!
Let us introduce HomeExchange here. It is a home swap and homestay platform, with real values of hospitality and welcome. How does it work? You pay an annual membership of €160 which lets you do as many exchanges as you want, free of charge and anywhere in the world. Membership of the platform also includes protection/insurance, 24/7 member service…

Contrary to what people think, exchanges are not necessarily reciprocal. On HomeExchange there are two types of exchange: reciprocal and non-reciprocal (you book with GuestPoints in exchange for hospitality). And we chose this second option for our trip!

✨ Our HomeExchange referral code, which gives you 250 points: marie-2e1c5 ✨

For 25 nights in the American West…

For this long road trip, we wanted to vary the types of accommodation to discover new ways of travelling and to spice up our trip! Mission accomplished, because we slept in 7 types of accommodation, booked on several platforms or directly with the owners. In total:

• 9 nights via HomeExchange
• 6 nights in an Airbnb private room
• 3 nights in a motel
• 2 nights in a guest house
• 2 nights in a tent at a camp
• 2 nights in a cabin at a campsite
• 1 night in an upmarket hotel

Our accommodation in the American West

💸 In total: €1,649.97 for 25 nights for 2, that is €66 a night on average

• Los Angeles – HomeExchange (4 nights, €0, 440GP): Heather’s flat is ideally located right in the heart of L.A.; artist’s loft style decor, air conditioning in the bedroom, free spaces in the adjoining street and a panoramic rooftop.
• Yucca Valley – HomeExchange (1 night, €0, 59GP): the private room offered by Kimberly is very well located for visiting Joshua Tree; spacious, with a king size bed, a desk area, a fridge…
• Kingman, Route 66 – Airbnb (1 night, €48): a private room in someone’s home, with self check-in; very spacious and clean, with a lovely view of the garden and a table for breakfast outside.
• Grand Canyon – tent (2 nights, €134): 40 minutes from the Grand Canyon Visitor Center, deep in the countryside, nice and quiet; it is a place meant for people who like the “roots” and camping side of things (dry toilets, no electricity etc.).
• Page, Lake Powell – Airbnb (1 night, €97): in the centre of Page, close to Lake Powell and Horseshoe Bend, the owners are adorable.
• Monument Valley – B&B Tear Drop Arch (2 nights, €149): a gem of a place at a small price with a breathtaking view of Monument Valley; Ilene offers two rooms in her home, with a shared bathroom and breakfast available, and cabins on her land.
• Moab – Apache Motel (3 nights, €474): a huge suite with a kitchen, on the courtyard side so nice and quiet, heated pool, shared outdoor areas. A great place near Arches.
• Bryce Canyon – cabin at Ruby’s Inn (2 nights, €156): a cosy wooden cabin (heated) in a lovely campsite, with shared showers (extremely clean); huge pool and jacuzzi area. Unbeatable value for money in Bryce Canyon.
• La Verkin, Zion – Airbnb (1 night, €76): a room in someone’s home, spacious, clean and quite enough for a stop on the road between Zion and Las Vegas.
• Las Vegas – Marriott Grand Château hotel (1 night, €128): one of the best accommodation deals of the trip! A suite with a kitchen on the 34th floor of a beautiful hotel, one street from the Strip so nice and quiet; two pools, one of them on the roof with a panoramic view. Affordable luxury!
• Pahrump, Death Valley – Airbnb -1 night, €73): a very clean room with access to the kitchen and breakfast available in the morning, an hour’s drive from Death Valley.
• Mammoth Lakes – HomeExchange (1 night, €0, 100GP): our favourite for this (far too short) stay deep in the forest at Old Mammoth, in a big, snug chalet.
• Mariposa, Yosemite – Airbnb (2 nights, €205): a very beautiful and large room with a private bathroom, an hour’s drive from Yosemite; the host is very warm and friendly.
• San Francisco – HomeExchange (3 nights, €0, 315GP): a souplex in a very good SF neighbourhood, Hayes Valley; a small downside on the noise from the road, as the bedroom looks onto the street, but apart from that, we felt good there.

Our tips for eating well and our favourite spots in the American West

Here is a round-up of all the places we tried and approved during our road trip! You will be well aware of the reputation of the limited and not very tasty “gastronomy” of the United States. So we went mainly for takeaway places (mostly sandwiches and salads) and we almost never went to a restaurant. It is a choice, but you will save an enormous amount on your overall budget if you limit sit-down restaurants. We sometimes did the shopping (in the WholeFoods and Trader’s Joe supermarkets) and cooked in our accommodation, when that was possible.

💲Remember that you have to add taxes (between 8 and 10%) and a tip (minimum 15-20% these days) to the price shown on the menu. So it adds up fast once you get to the till!

Our best find is a supermarket!

Yes really, it is in a supermarket that we ate the best! We are talking about the organic supermarket WholeFoods, which has a huuuuuuge counter of dishes and salads to put together yourself. There is everything: raw vegetables, cooked vegetables, proteins, cheeses, ready meals, sauces… for only $11.99/lb (the equivalent of a well-filled box). You will find WholeFoods stores in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco. An excellent way to keep eating your own way, healthily and without spending too much!

Our best buy for eating outdoors

If you were to buy only one thing when you arrive in the United States, it is a small cool box and the ice packs that go with it. It keeps the shopping and the takeaway meals cool all day long. We bought ours at Target in Los Angeles ($26 for the cool box and $3.49 for the pack of two ice packs). A little anecdote: we even brought it back to France, it went through security at San Francisco airport!

Los Angeles

• CAVA in Santa Monica: a good place for eating quickly and rather healthily in the centre of Santa Monica. Salads to put together yourself with vegetables, proteins, sauces etc. (€24 for 2 salads)
• HiHo Cheeseburger in Santa Monica: right next door to CAVA, uses 100% grass-fed, responsibly raised Wagyu beef (€10.50 for the HiHo Cheeseburger)
• Salt & Straw on Abbot Kinney Boulevard (Venice): one of the rare “good” ice cream shops during our stay, with generous portions and original flavours such as green apple/wasabi, strawberry/coconut, lavender/honey… ($8.50 for two scoops; €17.70 for the two tubs of two flavours)
• Jeni’s Icecreams in Beverly Hills: it is not the find of the year but it is refreshing! Offers rather (too) sweet flavours, based on cakes, or original ones such as saffron/rose/pistachio ($8.50 for two scoops; €8.32)

Route 66

• ❤️ Peggy Sue’s Diner in Yermo: a very good surprise for this legendary diner, the dishes are generous and very good, in a great atmosphere ($31 for 2 dishes; €27.90 for two)
• Olympus Diner in Kingman: excellent value for money for this diner which serves breakfast and Greek dishes (€41 for giant pancakes, a waffle and two gyros sandwiches to take away)

Lake Powell / Page

• ❤️ Miss B’s Bistro in Page: a good place for eating healthily, a salad and a chicken/avocado burger for example. Special mention for the excellent homemade fries. (€29 for a salad and a sandwich)

Near Monument Valley

• Amigo Café in Kayenta: a good Mexican restaurant on the road towards Monument Valley, friendly service and a pretty setting (€32 for 2 dishes)

Moab

• Wrap It Up Mediterranean Food in Moab: a food truck on a pretty square in Moab serving gyros and Greek salads, we even went two evenings in a row! ($13.95 for the gyros, €47.59 for the 3 sandwiches)

Capitol Reef National Park and around

• Gifford Homestead in Capitol Reef: this former Mormon farm sells homemade ice creams and pies (really delicious with the fruit from the orchard, $8.50 for the pie)
• El Charro Negro in Torrey: a good Mexican truck on the main road through Torrey (€21.80 for 2 dishes)

Between Bryce and Zion

• The Shop Coffee Co in Orderville: a hipster enclave next to a petrol station on the road! Pretty setting and tempting dishes, but you have to come before 11am to enjoy the sweet breakfast menu (€14.50 for a smoothie, a hot chocolate and a croissant)
• Blue Mule Cafe and Bakery in Orderville: a guest house which also sells pastries to take away, in a beautiful ranch-style setting (€7.80 for a carrot cake and a cinnamon donut)

Near Zion

• River Rock Roasting Compagny in La Verkin: a good place for eating with a superb view over the river, perfect at sunset (€38 for a burger, a salad and a big sandwich)

Near Yosemite

• Sticks Coffee in Mariposa: a little hipster café serving good dishes but not generous enough for the price to our taste (€33 for 2 toasts, a hot chocolate and a salad to take away)
• Pete’s Place in Oakhurst: a restaurant on the road to Yosemite which serves breakfast and rather generous sandwiches (€23 for 4 pancakes and a gyros to take away)

Between Yosemite and San Francisco

• ❤️ Pence Farm Sourdough in Sonora: a (real) bakery which makes special sourdough breads and generously filled sandwiches (€11.70 for the sandwich)
• Washington Street Sandwich Company in Sonora: a nice little place for well-filled sandwiches, without sourdough bread though (€21.50 for the two sandwiches).

San Francisco

• Souvla in Hayes Valley: a good Greek restaurant with pretty decor, the dishes were generous and well done (€35 for a gyros, a salad and fries)
• Loquat in Civic Center: a bakery/patisserie where you can give in to babkas with special flavours such as cardamom/ricotta (€11.40 for the two babkas)
• Hot Johnnie’s Smokehouse in Castro: a good place for eating enormous sandwiches with grilled meat or pastrami (€16.10 for the sandwich)
• Poesia in Castro: a pretty little Italian restaurant with fairly high prices all the same (€12.20 for the focaccia)
• Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in Chinatown: the fortune cookie shop par excellence in San Francisco ($10 for the big bag of cookies)
• Roam Artisan Burgers in Fillmore: a place to try sitting down inside, no doubt, because we found the takeaway portions too small and far too expensive (€29.50 for a burger and a salad)

What we thought of the American West

A road trip in the American West is definitely a trip to do at least once in your life! Today it leaves us with unforgettable memories and it goes straight into the top of the most beautiful trips we have done so far. Going for a long time (25 days) let us make the most of each place, without rushing, and not drive too much each day. For us it is the perfect length for our itinerary! Even if we would have liked to stay longer in some places (Los Angeles, Mammoth Lakes…), to keep exploring, we still saw the essentials of the west coast in just under a month. September is definitely the ideal time for a trip in the American West because we avoided the summer high season with its share of extreme heat and crowds. We were sometimes alone on the trails in the parks, or even in the big cities: bliss, when you know how much of a tourist magnet the United States is.
We really advise you to devote at least three weeks to the American West, the states are so huge and there is so much to discover. For a shorter time, you will have to make choices and cut some park visits from your itinerary, or not do the Los Angeles / San Francisco loop. You risk driving too much between each stop and being tired from the very start of the trip. Besides, we cannot recommend enough that you choose your travel dates carefully, avoiding if possible the beginning of summer (June is known for being grey in Los Angeles), July and August and the depths of winter, because many roads are closed because of the snow. But otherwise, go for it, you will not regret it because it is the trip of a lifetime! Unforgettable.

📚 A few extra resources for organising a road trip in the American West

• free e-book “Ouest américain” from Nos Curieux Voyageurs
• Complete and detailed articles on the 56-day trip by Oh Ma Route
• Various articles on the blogs of Best Jobers, On met les voiles or also Hello Travelers
• Routard guides “Parcs nationaux de l’Ouest américain” and “Los Angeles + Palm Springs”
• Simplissime guide “Ouest américain”
• Michelin green guide “Grands parcs de l’Ouest américain”