Viva Las Vegas! 10 must-see stops on a West Coast road trip

This June, Manchester will become the only city in the UK outside London to have direct flight to the West Coast of the US as Virgin Atlantic’s new service from Manchester Airport to Las Vegas gets underway.

Many visitors will be headed to Vegas to enjoy its casinos, sports and family attractions, but for others, the city will make the perfect springboard for an epic adventure across the states of Nevada, Arizona and California.

Here, we round up some of the essential pitstops on any West Coast itinerary. You could tick off all of these highlights, and more, on a two-week trip.

The Grand Canyon

277 miles long and more than a mile deep, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is one of the great natural wonders of the world – and only a two-hour drive from Las Vegas, making it a great starting point for a West Coast road trip. The Colorado River has eroded the canyon over the course of the last six million years, exposing over two billion years of the Earth’s geological history. The Grand Canyon sits at the heart of a National Park, brimming with great hikes and outdoor activities.

Hoover Dam

As it winds out of the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River meets the Hoover Dam – one of the world’s most impressive feats of engineering. Taking more than five years to build and opened in the late 1930s, the 725ft dam was first conceived as a way of controlling flooding but is now a major source of power for the states of Nevada and Arizona.

Death Valley

Heading towards California from the Hoover Dam, within three hours you’ll reach Death Valley – at almost 300ft below sea level, it’s the lowest point of elevation in North America, and has an extreme microclimate. In July 1913, a temperature of 56.7C was recorded here, which remains a world record. Temperatures regularly reach the high forties in the summer, so bring plenty of water and sunscreen if you plan on jumping out of your air-conditioned car for a selfie or two!

Sequoia National Forest

Just over a hundred miles the other side of Death Valley, you’ll hit the breathtaking Sequoia National Forest, filled with Giant Sequoias - the largest tree on Earth. The tallest specimen in the forest, General Sherman, is 275ft tall and thought to be between 2,500 and 3,000 years old.

Los Angeles

Journeying south from Sequoia, you’ll soon find yourself in America’s second-largest city. There’s a lot more to LA than the glitz and glamour of Hollywood – it has some of the country’s best beaches, several elite sports teams, and is a cultural melting pot with cuisines from all four corners of the world. The Griffith Observatory is a leading centre for space research and its giant Zeiss telescope is free for the public to use every evening – but make sure to book a slot.

Highway 1

Extending for almost 450 miles along California’s rugged Pacific coastline, Highway 1 links Los Angeles to San Francisco and is an essential part of any West Coast road trip. There’s about eight hours of driving involved, so if you’re travelling as a group and aiming to get through it in one day, make sure you take turns behind the wheel.

As you leave LA behind, you’ll pass through plush beachfront neighbourhoods like Malibu and Santa Barbara, the adoptive home of Harry and Meghan, before reaching ‘Big Sur’, a 100-mile stretch of wild and uninhabited mountain ranges that has been designated a State Park. Parts of the highway in this area are literally cut into cliff-faces overhanging the sea, offering dramatic views. At the other end, you’ll pass along the beachfront at Monterey Bay and cut through the redwood forests of Big Basin State Park before reaching San Francisco.

San Francisco

California’s second city has a unique character. Its grid system of streets is set on hilly terrain, so a simple stroll around town means trekking up some steep inclines – unless you catch the iconic tram that runs between Powell Street and Fisherman’s Wharf, and has changed little in over 100 years.

San Fran is packed with things to do. Top sights include the Golden Gate Bridge, the ‘Painted Ladies’ (a row of colourfully-painted Victorian houses) and the Transamerica Pyramid, a quirky skyscraper with an unusual design aimed to steady it against earthquakes. Just offshore is the notorious Alcatraz prison, which is now an open-air museum and can be reached by ferry from Pier 33 on the city’s seafront.

California’s Wine Country

Cross over the Golden Gate Bridge and head around an hour north, and you’ll find yourself in America’s answer to Tuscany. Napa Valley is California’s ‘Wine Country’, with over 1,700 vineyards and a burgeoning reputation for quality. Its climate and soils are ideal for cultivating grapes of many kinds, but the speciality here is in rich red wines. California produces more than 80 per cent of American wine, and the heart of that industry is right here. You can take it all in from a hot air balloon tour over the valley, if you’re not afraid of heights!

Yosemite National Park

Looping back towards Vegas, your next port of call is Yosemite National Park, a jaw dropping wilderness and the second-oldest National Park in the US after Yellowstone. Its steep-sided valleys, enormous waterfalls and forests are impressive at any time of year, but visitors in the Autumn will be treated to one of nature’s great spectacles as the leaves turn to various hues of gold, yellow and red.

…and finish off in Las Vegas

Before flying home, stay in Vegas for a few days and see what the self-styled ‘Entertainment Capital of the World’ has to offer. If casinos aren’t for you, why not visit one of the largest aquariums in North America, check out Vegas’ answer to the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and the Sphinx of Giza, and then take it all in from the top of the world’s largest observation wheel – which is particularly impressive after dark, as the city lights up.