This Map Shows The Quickest And Ultimate Road Trip Across America (2024)

FAQs

What's the best route to drive across America? ›

Google Maps is one of the best tools for planning a cohesive and successful road trip, because it allows you to create a highly customizable, visual representation of your trip (shoutout to all my fellow visual learners out there). And its FREE!

f you're looking to get to your destination quickly, you'll want to take Interstate 10 — the shortest cross-country drive at 2,460 miles from east coast to west coast, taking you from Jacksonville, FL to Santa Monica, CA. At 600 miles per day you could drive that in 4 days.

The shortest amount of time to drive from the West Coast to the East Coast (or vice versa) is between four and six days. This kind of road trip requires eight to 10 hours of driving each day — leaving you little time to make pit stops.

Overseas Highway

U.S. Highway 1 is the longest north-south road in America, running from Maine to Florida, but its most beautiful stretch connects Miami to the Florida Keys. The Overseas Highway is just that, a 110-mile drive over 42 bridges that connect the islands to America's mainland.

The best time to travel domestically in the US is either during spring (late March to late May) or autumn (late September to late October). Since these are the shoulder seasons before and after summer, these months have milder temperatures as well as fewer visitors in the most popular destinations.

“How much would it cost to travel by car across the United States from one side of the country to another?” with car rental, gas, motels, meals (you can do it in 4 days) about $4000.

As of October 2021, the overall record is 25 hours 39 minutes, with an average speed of 112 miles per hour (180 km/h), driven by Arne Toman and Doug Tabbutt.

Bus travel is usually the least expensive way to travel between states and routes reach almost every city and town in the United States. Traveling by bus can be slow, but it is comfortable and can get you to locations not available by air or train.

Interstate 90 has earned its nickname, America's Great Road, thanks to its impressive length of 3,102 miles from the West Coast to the East Coast. Like I-70 and I-40, I-90 transverses the nation, but this interstate is often less trafficked than the others because of its route far to the north of the country.

How expensive is it to drive across the US? ›

Total Trip Costs

Adding up the cost of gas, food, and lodging, a typical road trip from New York to Los Angeles has increased in price, from about $1,420 to about $1,695 between 2019 and 2024.

Route 66 may be the most iconic path for an east-to-west road trip. But the I-80 takes the crown as the best interstate travel route through the middle of the USA, passing 11 states and 2,902 miles.