What are the best locations for an RV trip?

RVs are ideal for a range of different road trips — as you travel across the country (or even just a small section of the country), you can enjoy a personalized, targeted, and comfortable overnight experience, all while in the midst of the outdoors. Moreover, the mobility of RVs allows customers complete access to locations where an overnight stay would otherwise be prohibitively costly or complex.

Assume that you and your pals want to attend to a huge outdoor music event, such as Burning Man. If you take a road trip to Burning Man, you’ll notice that there aren’t many places to stay near the event. You will most likely have to camp out with a tent and sleeping bags, and you will have to share public bathroom and shower facilities with other festival attendees. If you set off on your road trip in an RV, however, you can retreat from an exhausting day at the festival to climate-controlled, well-furnished living quarters — and depending on the model of the vehicle, you may have access to private toilet, kitchen, and shower facilities.

With an RV, you don’t have to worry about a poor-quality hotel room or suffer from lack of privacy at a hostel, and because you’re not altering your living quarters as you shift from location-to-location, the experience of traveling in an RV feels much more grounded and consistent. Moreover, there are several excellent tools available to make your vacation as easy as possible. Use the RV Life app to locate a safe route to your location, or Campground Reviews to get trustworthy reviews that will assist you in making the best option for your stay.

Ready to go on an RV road trip? Let’s check through your possibilities!

The Top 10 Best RV Road Trips

While planning a road trip, you don’t have to plan out every detail, nor do you have to stick to it to the letter. If time (and budget!) allow, it can certainly be interesting to get sidetracked. Of course, you’ll likely want to have a rough idea of the road trip route before heading out on your journey. (See our RV trip planning guide for more information.)

Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway is an immensely popular driving route that snakes through nearly 500 miles of mountainous Appalachia. The route also has considerable RV support infrastructure, making it an excellent option for first-time RVers. During the summer months, the road may get congested in certain sections, but the breathtaking view is well worth the effort.

Big Sur Coastal Highway

The Big Sur Coastal Drive is a real treasure for anyone seeking panoramic ocean views. The route travels along the central coast of California, making it a great choice if you are interested in making a trip between tourist-friendly urban centers in Northern and Southern California.

Columbia River Highway

The Columbia River Highway is a fantastic RV road trip in the Pacific Northwest. The route starts in Portland, Oregon, and follows the famed Columbia River Gorge. Throughout the trip, you’ll find plenty of RV campgrounds and scenic points of interest, from dense forests to rocky waterfalls.

Route 66

Route 66 is the greatest cross-country highway, running from Illinois to Southern California. Route 66 has taken on a life of its own. It has featured heavily in popular Folk Americana fiction for over 60 years: movies, novels, and music. If you’re interested in tackling Route 66 in an RV, make sure to plan ahead somewhat — it’s a long trip!

Historic New England

An RV trip around New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, etc.) is a diverse experience that includes both natural wonders and historic sites. New England has a lot to offer RVers seeking for a unique experience. If you have time, try going north to Quebec and looping via Montreal and Quebec City, both of which offer outstanding food scenes and unique old-world architecture.

Yellowstone National Park and the Rockies

Yellowstone National Park in Montana is a must-see for every RV enthusiast. When making your way to Yellowstone, however, try to plan a scenic route that passes through other interesting points of interest in the Rocky Mountain region (i.e., Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Teton National Park).

The Great Lakes Region

Consider starting in Chicago and looping around the US side of the Great Lakes via the Upper Michigan peninsula. If you plan a Great Lakes road trip in an RV, do bring along some watersports equipment, such as surfboards or paddleboards — there are plenty of beaches in the region where you can make use of the equipment (some beaches in the Great Lakes region actually have great surf). You may even want to consider hiring a boat once you reach at your location!

Desert Southwest

The American Southwest is a breathtakingly beautiful environment that is well worth traveling by RV. Though the region contains famous parks like the Grand Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, don’t forget to explore thriving urban centers of the Southwest, such as Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is renowned for its pueblo-style Native American architecture and vibrant creative arts scene.

Southeastern Seaboard

The Southeastern Coast of the USA is in many ways the Southern analog of a New England RV trip — though perhaps not as popular among RVers as classic road trips to Yellowstone and along the Big Sur Highway, the diverse landscapes and cities of the Southeast certainly make it a memorable trip. Follow the coast from Virginia down to the Carolinas (stopping at Virginia and Myrtle Beaches) before arriving in Savannah to discover a city rich in Southern history and culture.

New Orleans and the Gulf Coast

During the last decade, New Orleans has seen a remarkable comeback. While not often thought of as an RV destination, a drive through the Gulf Coast area provides for a wonderful RV road trip. The Gulf Coast itself — and its beach tourism infrastructure — has seen a substantial and sustained tourism drop-off in recent years due to media coverage of oil spills, so it’s a good choice for RVers on a strict budget.

Unique & Out of the Box RV Road Trip Ideas

Not all RV road vacations must include camping, hiking, or other outdoor activities. RVers are taking their cars on atypical road excursions in greater numbers than ever before. Consider the following unconventional road trip ideas:

Arrange a vacation to one of the country’s famous battlefields.
Plan a trip to a multi-day festival.
Plan an “urban exploration” RV trip – just park in a campground outside the city and commute in! (Before planning this trip, see our information on urban camping in each state.)
Make a gastronomic road trip a priority. Make a list of the best restaurants across the country (or in certain regions of the country), and travel to each restaurant on the list.

In terms of interests, the RVing community has gotten more diversified. The next time you’re at an RV campground or convention, ask around and see what unique trips others have taken!

RV Vacations For The Whole Family

For good reason, RVs are usually linked with family vacations in popular culture. An RV trip is an excellent opportunity to bring the whole family together for a memorable vacation while enjoying the conveniences of home. Consider the following vacation ideas as you plan your next family RV trip:

Visit an amusement park, water park, or zoo.
Arrange a beach excursion and rent watersports equipment.
Arrange a vacation to a national park in a part of the country where your family is unfamiliar.
If your children have a strong interest in anything, organize a vacation to a conference related to that subject.

RV Vacation Packages

RV vacation packages include RV rental and campground stay options, which may save you money over the course of a lengthy trip. Yet, finding a bundle that meets your specific needs might be tough. Some RV rental companies and dealerships will offer vacation packages at network campgrounds, and if you’re a member of an RV association, then vacation packages may be offered at various times throughout the year — keep your eyes peeled!

These Are The Best RV Road Trip Tips

Try to keep the following guidelines in mind as you plan your next RV road trip:

Stock up on first aid and medical supplies, as well as any prescription medications you may need during the trip. You don’t want to run out of such supplies in a location where you do not have the ability to replenish your missing stores.
Carry some entertainment with you on the trip. There will very certainly be some downtime when you and your passengers are bored and too exhausted to accomplish anything active. Pack some board games, playing cards, favorite CDs, and DVDs for entertainment in those “lazy” periods when you may not have good wifi.
Consider storing some refrigerated and frozen food in the RV to save money. Eating out at restaurants every day of your vacation may become pricey. Preparing and storing meals ahead of time may significantly reduce the cost of your next vacation.
Consider bringing disposable dishware with you on your journey. There’ll be times when you may have to boondock your RV, or where you simply don’t have access to a clean water hookup, and you still need to be able to cook and serve food. Carry some disposable dishwater with you as a backup in such cases.

Top Rated RV Trips Planner

The RV Trip Wizard, which is offered as a yearly subscription, is one of the most popular and highest-rated RV Trip Planning software for passionate RVers. Though this initial cost might put off some RVers, it’s worth keeping in mind that the software can save you quite a bit of money in the long run.

RV Trip Wizard is an all-in-one program for organizing your next RV vacation. It is overlaid on the Google Maps API, making it top class for trip routing generally, but is also customized to filter out routes where certain barriers and low clearances would otherwise prevent passage. The UI is also intended to be user-friendly. You may reroute your journey by dragging places of interest on the map or by selecting a campground/park for your itinerary.

As you plan your trip on the RV Trip Wizard, the software will calculate your trip costs based on fuel estimates, campground stay expenses, and food and other expenses (such as the cost of a visitor pass to a park). Moreover, the Trip Wizard allows you to enter numerous RV Club memberships so that you may compare prices at different campsites and choose the one that best fits your budget.

The RV Trip Wizard offers many access points: you may use it on your browser or download it to your iOS or Android-based smartphone.

Looking For a Rental For Your RV Road Trip

If you want to hire an RV for your next road trip, instead of going to a typical rental dealership, try a peer-to-peer rental marketplace like RVshare. With our internet platform and app, RVshare connects RV owners with interested renters. Renters may utilize the site to look through owner listings, filter them according on their interests, and compare them.

Thousands of owners post new RV rental listings every day, so as a renter, you’re almost certain to find an RV configuration that suits your needs. Moreover, since owners are forced to compete on the open market, rental prices are often substantially cheaper than those given by conventional rental dealerships.

Bon voyage!