As the US prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Route 66, the great American road trip is very much in the spotlight but with so many options it’s essential to plan each client’s trip carefully.
Brand USA has a wealth of resources with itineraries and lesser-known destinations to help you create unique holidays for your clients. These range from Road Trip itineraries that can be downloaded as an online PDF to share with clients to a collaborative trip planner tool that can help with putting together complex trips.
To give you a little extra inspiration, Danny Clifford, a sales consultant at US-specialist tour operator, American Affair who attended last year’s MegaFam, highlights road trips that are well suited to different client types.
First-time visitors
“A great first road trip is in California travelling from San Francisco down to Santa Monica. The cities are a big draw for first-time visitors – it’s what they’ve seen in the movies. In San Francisco I’d recommend using the hop-on hop-off bus to get around as parking fees are awful, then pick up a car from Downtown and head south to Yosemite and the Pacific Coast. Here the driving is amazing and the scenery is superb – they can stop off in Monterey, Pismo Beach, Morro Bay and Santa Barbara before finishing up in Santa Monica. It’s a great route for first timers and not as daunting as picking up a car on the East Coast.”
Families
“It depends on the family but a great option is a Florida fly drive. I’d suggest flying into Orlando and staying in a villa to do all the parks they want to. Then driving up to the Gulf Coast and hiring a condo or villa to use as a base in Clearwater or St Pete, or maybe Charlotte Harbor. There’s also Anna Maria Island. From these destinations it is just a few miles to the beach and they can visit different areas. For a family I’d suggest staying in a central place and exploring the region rather than lots of hotel stops.”
Active types
“For active clients I’d plan a nature-based itinerary. This is where the national parks come in. A great trip for first timers takes in the big five national parks where they can get stuck into activities such as hiking and white-water rafting. From here they could also drop into Vegas and take a helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon. Exploring Arizona and Utah they’ll take in Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion and if they have time they could add on Las Vegas and Yosemite and end in San Francisco.”
For repeat visitors other trips that incorporate lots of adventure include Washington or Oregon. Other great options include Montana, Wyoming and Tennessee or they could head over to New England where there is lots of hiking, mountain biking and some white water activities too. It’s a great nature area, especially in Fall with all the colours.”
Retirees
“For older travellers who perhaps have more time or want to travel at a slower pace I’d suggest New England in Fall. They can do a roundtrip from Boston and work around the full loop through all the New England states. They could head north up the coast through Kennebunkport to Arcadia National Park and the Bar Harbor area, then head west to the White Mountains. If they have time they can go up to Vermont and Cape Cod. If they are positioned well in Cape Cod they can explore a lot including Falmouth and take a ferry over to Martha’s Vineyard where Jaws was filmed, before heading back to Boston.”
High-end clients
“For a luxury trip the Pacific Coast is a great option as there is plenty of upscale accommodation. Clients can travel from San Francisco to San Diego taking in Yosemite where there’s lots of high-end product such as The Ahwahnee. Then on to Monterey where you’ll find the Marriott, Intercontinental and Portola, then Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara and Santa Monica where there are great hotels right on the front such as the Fairmont and Shutters on the Beach.
Florida and the Keys also have lots of beautiful properties and it works well going down into Key West, the Gulf Coast and Naples. They can fly into Miami and finish in Tampa or head back to Miami.”
