SoCal, So Vegas

Nineteen nights from San Diego to Las Vegas in a motorhome, up the California coast and back inland, with five hotel nights in it.

San Diego takes the first two nights, with forty-odd miles of beaches, then Los Angeles, with Rodeo Drive, the Walk of Fame and West Hollywood, before the route turns north onto Highway 1 through the wineries and the coastal towns. Monterey comes next, where blue whales can be seen from the shore in season, which is unusual anywhere.

San Francisco follows, then Yosemite, with the hiking trails and a night camping under the stars with a campfire, which is what the motorhome is for. Death Valley comes next, the hottest place in the United States and the lowest point in North America, then three nights in Las Vegas at the Luxor, with a helicopter flight over the Strip at night to close the trip.

Fourteen nights of motorhome hire from San Diego to Las Vegas with an eighteen-hundred-mile pack and a provisioning kit, five nights of hotel accommodation including the Luxor, and the helicopter flight are included; the one-way motorhome fee is payable locally, and campsites, personal kits and international flights are extra. Twenty days at this price is the cheapest American itinerary in the range. Spring and autumn are the seasons, since Death Valley in summer regularly passes fifty degrees and the Yosemite campsites book out months ahead. Highway 1 is the part of the route worth slowing down for, and it closes for landslips often enough to be worth checking.