You can visit all 50 States in just 6 trips. These trips can be as short as 1-2.5 weeks long.
1. Hawaii (1 Week)
There’s 2 ways to visit Hawaii, By Plane or Boat. If flying, especially from the East Coast, you may want to stop in another state on the way out. When the kids were younger, we would stop at LAX, spent a few days at Disneyland and then head to Hawaii. We booked the return flight as a direct flight over night which we all easily slept through most of after a fun but exhausting trip. We have visited Hawaii for as little as 4 nights (combined with a California trip) and as long as 2 weeks.
2. Alaska (1 Week)
Driving to Alaska can easily take a week each way, flying is the fastest option and cruising is a very popular option. Most cruises leave from Seattle or Vancouver. Most Alaska Cruises are 7 nights or more and I would recommend nothing shorter than that for a visit.
3. New York to the Pacific Northwest (2.5 Weeks)
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Ohio
- Michigan
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Idaho
- Washington
- Oregon
- Wyoming
- Nebraska
- Iowa
You hit a ton of states during this trip. It’s a lot of driving but there’s stops built in to break up the drive. and you really can enjoy some great scenery and wildlife while you’re on the road. We completed this route in about 2.5 weeks. The Highlights were Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Teton National Park and Olympic National Park but there’s some really great smaller stops along the way.
The Routes are as follows:
- New York- to South Dakota This itinerary starts in Cleveland so make sure to plan a stop in Pennsylvania on your way out.
- North and South Dakota
- Wyoming-Nebraska-New York
4. New York to California through the West (2.5 Weeks)
- Indiana
- Ohio
- Missouri
- Kansas
- Colorado
- Utah
- Nevada
- California
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
This is another long itinerary. You could easily spend a month or more on this route. There is so much to see and do but it can also be done in about 2.5 weeks with a little less time in Utah and Arizona.
Route includes:
- New York to Denver
- Utah Mighty 5 National Parks – if time is limited, visit Arches or Canyonland National Parks.
- From here drive to Las Vegas. Take a day trip to Death Valley National Park in California From Las Vegas.
- From Las Vegas, head to the Grand Canyon and then Arizona. You can easily spend a week here visiting all the sites. Flagstaff is a wonderful home base for exploring Arizona and their National Park sites.
- New Mexico to New York
5. New York to the South (1.5 Weeks)
- Delaware
- Maryland
- West Virginia
- Virginia
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Georgia
- Tennessee
In order to hit all of the southern States, its recommended to stay in the panhandle of Florida. There’s a lot of options here but I absolutely love the East Coast Beaches, so I recommend doing some beach hopping.
Route includes:
6. New York, New England and the Northeast (1 Week)
New England is a great place to visit in the summer on a road trip. If you fly into the area and rent a car it will provide you with more time to visit all of New England, New York and Pennsylvania.
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- New Hampshire
- Maine
Route includes:
- New York to Maine
- There’s so much to do in New York if you aren’t from here make sure to add time in your itinerary
Visit All 50 States in Just 6 Trips
It’s possible to visit all 50 States in Just these 6 trip itineraries. Each trip is 1-2.5 weeks long. It’s possible to visit all 50 states with these itineraries in about 9.5 weeks (about 2 months), although I do not recommend it. Due to limited time off, these trips are pretty intense. When we return from these trips, we are exhausted. If more time is available there’s plenty of ways to extend these trips.