A few years ago, we ticked off one of the most classic road trips covering the West Coast of the US. We started off from San Francisco, we then drove to the Sequoia National Park and Yosemite Park, followed by Las Vegas and Grand Canyon to end up in Los Angeles.
San Francisco
What I can’t forget about San Francisco is its incredible vistas (together with its endless uphills/downhills). A fun way to get around the city is using the cable cars which however are mainly for tourists judging by the ticket price and passengers. 
It is also amazing how friendly locals are. We stopped and chatted to many people who were willing to give us recommendations about what we should do and see next. This included the San Francisco’s Farmers Market for a good, cheap lunch and stopping to see the sea lions by Pier 39.
The next day, we rented bikes and we cycled through the Golden Gate Bridge to a seaside town called Sausalito. On our return, we took the ferry which offered us a great view of San Francisco whilst passing next to the Alcatraz prison.
Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks
Yosemite is one of the most popular national parks in the States, especially for its scenic views of the granite cliffs and hike trails. One of the reasons we planned our road trip during May was in order to see Yosemite’s waterfalls too. During spring, the snow from the mountains is melting, creating beautiful waterfalls which you can see and hear from almost everywhere in the park. There are endless walking routes and we would recommend to start early in the morning in order to avoid the crowds and to see how the view of the cliffs changes with the direction of the sunlight.
Whilst we saw some sequoia trees in the Yosemite National Park, we didn’t want to miss the largest and one of the oldest trees on earth, the General Sherman, found in the Sequoia National Park. This tree is massive with a height of 83.8m and 7.7m diameter (but it is not the highest or widest) and it is really impressive to think that it is approximately 2,500 years old. 
Las Vegas
Next stop was the city of gambling, Las Vegas. This city is a sensory overload. It feels like you are in a movie set but in real life. This was a ‘relaxation’ stop for us due to the long driving the days before. We stayed in Bellagio, an iconic hotel and casino, which also reflects the vibe of the city. We walked around the hotel and city centre during the day and visited the casino during the night where we thankfully managed not to loose any money (but we didn’t gain any either).
Grand Canyon
After a refreshing break, we hit the road again and headed to one of the nearest Grand Canyon parks, in the South Rim. There we parked our car and jumped on the shuttle bus that takes you across all viewpoints (cars are not permitted in the park).
Grand Canyon is breathtaking. Standing in front of this scenery really is a pinch me moment. The scale of this natural phenomenon is incredible and makes you feel like you are on a different planet. An unexpected surprise is that in the park, there are elks wandering around (elks look like a crossbreed of a moose and a deer) but we were warned not to get too close as they can be defensive if they have babies.
After Grand Canyon, we headed to our last stop, Los Angeles with an in between stop to Las Vegas. On our way to LA, we drove through Route 66 and the amazing Mojave dessert that was full of Joshua trees. Joshua trees are of the Yucca family and look like a tree and a cactus-they look pretty cool.
Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, we stayed in the Hollywood neighbourhood. Los Angeles is a very big city and driving around can take time so we decided to split our activities based on the areas we wanted to visit. The first day we walked around the Hollywood area and just before the sunset, we drove to the Griffith Observatory which has a great view of the city and the Hollywood sign.
The next day, we took a bus to the Venice neighbourhood. There we started with a coffee in one of the cool hipster cafes of the Abbot Kinney Boulevard (did you know coffee with lemon is a thing?) and we then walked across the peaceful canals to end up in the bustling Venice beach which was indeed full of people jogging, skating or on roller blades as in the movies. On our way back we stopped by Beverly Hills to check out the shops and take an obligatory photo in front of the Beverly Hills sign. This was also our last day as the next day we took our flight to return back home.
This road trip left us full of memories and whilst it was busy and the long driving hours could be tiring at times, it was definitely worth it. Whilst my anticipation to experience the big city life in San Francisco and LA was higher from visiting the national parks of Yosemite and Sequoia, these together with the Grand Canyon were definitely were my personal highlights of the trip.
