Rupali Dean
01-May-2026
California isn’t just the birthplace of the road trip, it’s the ultimate stage for it.
With desert dunes, coastal curves, towering redwoods, and sunlit peaks, every twist of the wheel is a new act in California. Adventure spills out of the Golden State like a Californian sunrise, bold, bright, and boundless.
HIGHWAY 1 CLASSIC
(Image Credits: Visit California, Mason Trinca)
Hire the convertible, drop the roof, and let the California sun kiss your skin as you hit the Pacific Coast Highway, a road trip so iconic it feels like a rite of passage. On paper, it’s a 600-mile ribbon of asphalt unfurling from San Francisco to San Diego. In reality, it’s something altogether different, a journey of freedom, where ocean breezes mix with adventure to create memories as golden as the state itself. The classic California road trip isn’t just a journey, it’s an ode to the Pacific. Highway 1. Slicing the cliffs between Orange County and Mendocino, it feels like driving through a postcard that refuses to fade. Start with the art-soaked Getty Museum in LA, then hit the road where jagged cliffs kiss the ocean with theatrical flair. Big Sur steals the show, its raw beauty conjuring the ghosts of literary giants like Kerouac and Miller, whose creative fuel was undoubtedly the swirling fog and untamed waves below. You’ll stop, inevitably, at the Henry Miller Memorial Library, a shrine to creative rebellion tucked among towering redwoods. Further north, Hearst Castle rises like a misplaced European palace, it’s eccentric, unapologetically grand, and ridiculously photogenic. Monterey Bay Aquarium brings a touch of technicolour whimsy, its sea creatures putting on a show that rivals the coastal scenery itself. Golfers can detour onto Pebble Beach’s legendary greens, but for the rest of us, Carmel by the Sea awaits, a postcard perfect seaside haven where Clint Eastwood once called the shots as mayor. Pro tip? Drive North, a quirk of the road places ocean views on the passenger side, where they spill into the horizon like liquid silver. If your wanderlust is still hungry, push onward to the Oregon border via Highway 101, it’s a pilgrimage through rugged shores and sleepy coves. By the time you reach San Luis Obispo and the sprawl of Los Angeles and San Diego beyond, you’ll know this wasn’t just a trip, it was the open road whispering a little Californian magic into your soul... Buckle up, your postcard awaits.
ROUTE 66
(Image Credits: Visit California, DavidCollier)
Neon lights buzz along California’s Route 66 stretch, the iconic byway that threads Chicago to Santa Monica, blending together the soul of America. With its centennial set for 2026, this timeworn ribbon of nostalgia feels primed for its encore. Though officially retired in 1985, lovingly preserved segments remain, where vintage motel and diner signs glow like echoes of mid-century glory. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the country’s longest urban stretch shines with retro signage above taco joints and lowrider cruises. Missouri’s new Neon Park in St. Robert revives historic signs into a fluorescent Americana museum, while Springfield kicks off the centennial celebrations this April. Tulsa wants the world’s largest classic car parade, while Amarillo keeps the party going with a 10-day Texan festival in June. In California, Route 66 culminates in radiant Santa Monica beneath its famous pier, a spiritual ‘The End of the Trail’ moment, the Pacific shimmering like a well-earned exclamation point. Flagstaff still carries cinematic allure, with its Americana Motor Hotel, where ‘Easy Rider’ filmed, while Albuquerque’s Arrive blends retro vibes with modern comforts. Centennial festivities also include fresh reckonings with erased histories. In order to ensure that the story is genuine and inclusive, museums in Oklahoma and Albuquerque are reclaiming stories of the aboriginal nations whose territories Route 66 traversed. Follow those brown Historic Route 66 signs and let the Golden State be your glowing finale, then and now stitched seamlessly into one transcendent road trip.
VOLCANOES AND REDWOODS
(Image Credits: Visit California)
It’s not every day you drive through a landscape that feels straight out of the Earth’s fiery blueprint, but the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway isn’t just a road, it’s a love letter to the primal forces that shaped northern California and southern Oregon. Stretching 500 meandering miles, this epic route doesn’t do fast, but it delivers wonders in spades. Steaming hot springs hum like nature’s pressure cooker, while Crater Lake, so blue it might trick you into believing in magic, feels like a portal to the heavens. Then there’s the alien like terrain of Lava Beds National Monument, riddled with caves that beg to be explored. Enter the 2020 Prius, your modern chariot. With Apple CarPlay, you can curate your soundtrack on the fly, whether it’s Icelandic electronica to match the otherworldly vistas or classic Americana for those open-road stretches. Think of it as scoring your own adventure film, where bumper-to-bumper monotony is swapped for cascading waterfalls and stargazing pit stops perfect for the Prius’ ample cargo space. Every pause along the byway is a story waiting to be told, but don’t miss the Bumpass Hell Trail in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Yes, the name gets a chuckle, but the real showstopper is Big Boiler. This bubbling beast of a fumarole boasts temperatures hotter than your oven, up to 322°F, reminding you that you’re not just witnessing nature, you’re in its roaring, uncontainable belly.
WHERE OCEAN MEETS MAGIC
(Image Credits: Visit California)
The Mendocino Coastline feels like a secret California keeps to itself. It’s where the undulating vines of Sonoma give way to foggy cliffs and an expansive ocean that resembles an unfinished canvas. Start at Point Arena, where Manchester Beach, a hidden gem ideal for horseback rides at twilight with hoofbeats muted by the sand, is guarded by a sentinel like lighthouse. Next is Mendocino, the bohemian big sister known for its creative spirit, verdant gardens, and clapboard inns. The stunningly distinctive Glass Beach, a beach sparkling with sea glass washed smooth by the tides and a treasure commended by time itself, is located nearby in Fort Bragg. Pair that with a pint from North Coast Brewing and the coastline only grows more addictive. But Mendocino isn’t just an edge of the world escape, it’s a gateway to Anderson Valley, where wine and whimsy collide. Effervescent glasses of Roederer sparkling wine vanish almost too easily, while Pennyroyal Farm offers goat cheese so good it feels unfair. Stay at The Madrones, an inn with character in every hallway and a quiet kind of magic. The Mendocino Coast is a love letter to the untamed, with margins written in fog and sea spray.
DESERT CANYONS AND ALPINE SUMMITS
(Image Credits: Visit California)
For those who crave a road trip that feels like a journey through time and terrain, Highway 395 is California’s best kept secret. It’s a drive where the Sierra Nevada’s eastern flank takes centre stage, showcasing landscapes that seem plucked from a dream, raw, rugged, and endlessly cinematic. Starting near the crystalline waters of Lake Tahoe, Highway 395 snakes southward, tracing a route between towering granite peaks and open desert expanses. On one stretch, you’re skimming the shores of Mono Lake, where ancient tufa towers rise from the water like nature’s own Stonehenge. A short drive later, you’re dwarfed by the shadow of Mount Whitney, the tallest point in the contiguous U.S. This is a road for seekers, of solitude, of stories, or simply the reminder that California is a state where nature constantly rewrites the script. But it’s not all superlatives and grand vistas. Stop in Lone Pine for a slice of Americana with a side of rancher charm or in Bishop, where bakeries tempt road-weary travellers with irresistible hand-pulled bread. Ghost towns like Bodie, frozen in history, remind you that even here, the frontier spirit refuses to fade. At every turn, Highway 395 feels both intimate and infinite, a road that leads not just to a destination, but to moments you didn’t know you were searching for.
Cover Credits: Visit California, DavidCollier
