La Guida Turistica del Pianeta Terra: un'esilarante avventura dalla Namibia alla Liguria!

La Guida Turistica del Pianeta Terra, di Simone Boragno

La Guida Turistica del Pianeta Terra: un'esilarante avventura dalla Namibia alla Liguria!

La Guida Turistica del Pianeta Terra, di Simone Boragno

UNITED STATES

5000 km through California and the great parks: lots of freedom and even more attractions
Travel itineraries, hiking, kayaking and sailing in Italy and in the world
On this page, complete information, photos and travel diary on the grandiosi, exaggerated United States of America!

Information and travel tips for the United States

Why go? It will perhaps be for the brain washing perpetrated by hundreds of Hollywood films, but the spectacular US destinations also have a "mythical" aura. Thus, the details of the dreams entered the details entered into the collective imagination, from the country music in the pubs to the bordered roads, passing through the fat-rotten hot dogs and smoking tombini. A route by car in the south-western United States (California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona) offers everything you can want from a journey: freedom, impressive landscapes, bounded beaches with beach volleyball and "Baywatch" style lifeguards , lively and rich in charm. It is a comfortable and relatively economical journey.

Monument Valley
Monument Valley
When to go? The summer is the best time. For those who suffer the heat, it is a vacation for which the half seasons are also very well (even if there are no more, they say!).
How to move? rental car! The USA is the home of the journey "On the Road".
To rent a car here at the best prices for your travel itinerary I absolutely recommend by Search And book this link .
How much does it cost? A return flight from the Eastern coast (for example for New York or Boston) part of 500 euros. For the west coast, instead, you can spend about 800 euros, with the hope of finding even better offers. Car rental and fuel are convenient. In the motels, conveniently arranged along the roads, a room for 4 can come 40 euros, if you look for the saving holiday. Fast-food and pubs offer more or less good food (and very fat) for a few dollars.
Keep in mind that in what it costs I take into account all the journey ... from the middle for the airport of departure to the soft drink Passing to meals and souvenirs.
For an idea on hotel prices in United_States Click here to compare hotels and find the most convenient accommodation.

Where to go? A rich travel itinerary in the Western United States, almost circular, can include the beautiful cities of San Francisco and San Diego; The megalopolis of Los Angeles, with its VIP districts and its beaches; The large national parks: Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Yosemite, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Death Valley; The Californian coast.
Other destinations? In addition to those already mentioned, there are other magnificent national parks, starting with Yellowstone, not counting those near the US journey itinerary proposed above. Interesting cities are scattered throughout the country, from New Orleans to Miami to New York. In short, the reasons for leaving (unfortunately there are more and more good reasons for traveling that occasions to do it!).

Mappa itinerario di viaggio negli Stati Uniti
Travel itinerary map in the United States, along panoramic roads between deserts, canyons and fascinating cities

Travel diary in the United States of America

Our journey began from San Francisco airport, where extremely kindness the Dollar car rental attendant celebrated a spacious SUV. We were in magical California and we wanted to start our itinerary from the great American parks.
La Guida Turistica del Pianeta Terra, di Simone Boragno
was night, so that evening we settled with driving for half an hour before stopping in a motel.
The next morning, under a blue sky, we left enthusiastically towards the first goal of our itinerary of Travel to the United States, the park of
Yosemite . The typical 8-lane road knew of America, but it wasn't attractive. When we deviated to the mountains, 6 lanes disappeared and the landscape became more pleasant.

Yosemite
Yosemite - This park has beautiful mountain scenery and is a paradise for trekking and climbing lovers.
The SUV obviously had the automatic transmission, as almost always in the USA. The fame of Yosemite (pronounced "Iosèmiti" and not "iosemàit") derives from its impressive rocky mountains, with mythical walls for the most daring mountaineers , and from its beautiful mountain landscapes.
Yosemite
Yosemite
By climbing up, the road is lying in a dense forest. We parked and we ventured into the vegetation on comfortable trails. There were gigantic trees, including the enormous centenary sequeie . We were enhanced as children at the Luna Park as we explored what was the first exciting destination of our travel itinerary among the great parks of the majestic United States of America. Hopping cheerful, we admired these senseless trees, high over one hundred meters and with so wide trunks that you could dig a road gallery . It is not a random example: at the end of the 800s, a tunnel was really excavated in the Wawona sequoia Wawona.
Yosemite
Yosemite
Sequoie giganti nello Yosemite
Giant redwoods in Yosemite - These trees can exceed one hundred meters high and the thousand years of life.
We immediately realized that the US is a great, exaggerated country, in some ways of crazy.
Yosemite
Yosemite
We continued to SUV up to a full panoramic point of squirrels, the Glacier Point. From here he sampled a boundless view of mountains, valleys and forests. Continuing by car (practically a part of us for that vacation) and stopped occasionally in the various panoramic points or for short walks, we got into rivers, waterfalls and frightening granite walls (including the famous El Capitan). I stress that some of the mountain passes that crossed reached 3000 meters of altitude, so not all the streets are passable in winter. In particular, the Glacier Point and the Tioga Pass (which leads to the interior of the United States) are closed from November to May.
Yosemite
Yosemite
We decided to sleep in a tent in a campsite on a tree-lined peak. It is true that in the day he was very well in shorts and shirt. In the evening, however, the temperature dropped to 4-5 degrees below zero. We were at 2700 meters of altitude, after all. Thus, at 4 am we all stayed in the car with heating on. We had a virtue needed and we went to enjoy the dawn from several panoramic points, on lakes and mountain passes. It was spectacular. We thanked the frost.
Yosemite
Yosemite
On that campsite in Yosemite the payment was made through the cash store in a wooden box. No one controlled: it was a system based on trust. This exemplifies the correctness and social sense of Americans in general, as well as their great passion for the outdoor, at least among those who are not satisfied with breaking up with hot dogs.
After some morning wandering, through the aforementioned thieves pass. The beautiful mountain landscapes and descended to the deserted flats that fit between California and Nevada for the next stop of our vacation.

Death Valley
Death Valley - an arid, hot, hospitable, but spectacular region.
We improvised, but we also had an idea of travel itinerary in mind. We ate a burger in a bar that seemed to come out of a western movie. After lunch, the outdoor temperature rose to 45 degrees: for us, an absurd thermal excursion.
Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley
We met the Death Valley , with its extreme landscapes: dunes, salt lakes, canyons, rocky peaks. Being the valley of death, the vegetation was practically non-existent, while the water was present only in the form of a puddle in a salt flat one hundred meters below sea level. One of the most remarkable panoramic points was the Zabriskie Point, with its strange striated waves of the land of sedimentation and erosion. We slept in a convenient motel found along the road, like almost every night.
Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley
After an American breakfast with eggs and bacon, our travel itinerary through the American nature resumed. The Zion Canyon, the Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands ... All extraordinary places, with an amazing variety of landscapes united however, as well as the intact presence of the canyons, from the rockiness of the ground, from the scarcity of vegetation and from the 'Atmosphere from adventure films.
Zion National Park
Zion National Park - a particular place to jog.
We were in paradise of the photography of photography, with the continuous varying of shapes and colors and with sunrises and sunsets to be missing the breath . On the end of the holiday we found ourselves with about 1000 pictures taken on a path of 5000 kilometers, a crazy thing, but justified by the grandeur of the landscapes, which was not possible to contain in a few images.
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon - These pinnacles are even more strange.
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon
Of the places named earlier, the Bryce Canyon is the one who surprised us more, with his unlikely red rocky spilies. The visit is simple: a comfortable street tires on a mountain, exceeding the 2000 meters of altitude and providing numerous panoramic points.
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon - Pinnacles that make Bryce Canyon one of the most strange national parks in the United States and the world.
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon
Canyonlands is instead a large wilderness, perhaps less flashy, but whose visit is much more adventurous: you can follow several virtually deserted dirt roads that run canyons and rocky land.
Canyonlands
Canyonlands - a wilderness with great views and roads where driving is a hoot.
These zones are paradise for trekking and climbing, but also for canoe itineraries along rivers and lakes: all excellent and economical solutions to enjoy that immense freedom. We had also heard of more expensive and complicated possibilities, such as three-day rafting in the Grand Canyon.
Canyonlands
Canyonlands
Canyonlands
Canyonlands
Ma mi sto portando too far ahead. After the Canyonlands region we met the Lake Powell , where the Americans of the region go to the weekends with their SUVs with towing motorboat. Flat and hot water makes it the ideal place for wakeboarding, wakesurfing and bare-foot water-skiing. This American is not widespread with us, and it is a matter of practicing water skiing without skiing, barefoot, as well as stunts: they are needed flat water and high speed of motorboat.
Lake Powell
Lake Powell
We didn't feel those sports, but we enjoyed the water and secluded beaches, before leaving, this time to the Monument Valley , with its famous rock cathedrals in the desert. At sunset he was an exceptional show. "Splenge" a bit of the 1000 photos of the holiday.
Monument Valley
Monument Valley - Another great American national park so impressive as famous.
Monument Valley
Monument Valley at Sunset
Monument Valley
Monument Valley
The Monument Valley area is part of the Navajo Reserve and Native Americans manage all the activities within the valley: in particular, there are Indian guides that lead to visiting the paths that cannot be accessed independently with the car.
Monument Valley
Monument Valley
It was then the turn of the Grand Canyon , a must for every travel itinerary in the western United States. We only visited him from the main tourist viewpoints. It was enough to stay stunned by the impressive of the landscape, although a good trek would help us appreciate and understand that unique place more. In English "Grand" means "grandiose", more than "big", and in fact the name makes sense ... "big canyon" would certainly be diminished the place.
Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon - It takes time, to spend in quiet contemplation, before understanding the immensity of these spaces.
Grand Canyon
Grand canyon
On our way we met the crazy Las Vegas . The hotels and casinos of her, skyscrapers with mirabular architectures, are a continuous source of amazement and chief shaking. While we noticed the replica of the Eiffel Tower or Bellagio laughed with American manias. It was a city dedicated to exaggeration and fun.
Las Vegas
Las Vegas - a crazy city and full of entertainment possibilities, in line with the madness of the natural landscapes that surround it.
There were in fact entertainment for all tastes and all budgets. The hotel rooms cost little, in casinos there were tables and roulette where fortunes could be spent but also those where to focus a few cents, and buffet restaurants provided good food at a few dollars. It was a vacation spot studied to perfection to entertain and plug out tourists.
The outdoor temperature was 40 degrees, while in the hotel-casinos the air conditioning was very fresh, and it was said that the oxygen concentration was higher, for Inebriate the players. The evenings could never finish, between shows and bars.
Las Vegas
Las Vegas
At night, we then traveled to San Diego , then passing from the Nevado to California. After five hours of cars, we arrived on the Pacific coast (a few kilometers from the border with Mexico and Tijuana), and we fell asleep on the beach.
San Diego
San Diego - a beautiful and livable city on the Pacific Ocean, a stone's throw from Mexico.
San Diego
San Diego
At the awakening he wandered for the long sandy coasts, frequented by families and surfers and protected by the typical "baywatches" with red life buoy. San Diego fascinated us for its modernity and liveability, as well as the ideal climate: sun and warm was the norm, but it never made too hot, not even in summer, because it was refreshed by the water of the Pacific Ocean, here from a cold current.
After a night in the motel, we reach north, up to Los Angeles and to its famous neighborhoods of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Santa Monica, Malibu . As we crossed Los Angeles Downtown (the center consisting of skyscrapers and offices, frequented by day but desert in the evening) We came up in a guerrilla scene with lots of spilled cars, flames and shots . It was actually a scene of a film, the Transformers, according to a policeman.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles - at the beginning we thought about terrorism and war, but it was only the scene of a film turned in the center of Los Angeles.
In Santa Monica, we challenged Californian players at Beach Volley, with alternate results. There was a really excessive amount of free fields! On the contrary, in the European centers, Los Angeles Downtown in the evening was spectral. In fact, there were numerous centers in Los Angeles, one for "neighborhood" (inappropriate term to indicate for example Santa Monica who has almost 100,000 inhabitants).
Malibu
Malibu
At Long Island we participated in a Whale Watching trip. Unfortunately it was not the right season to meet whales (they told him after we paid the ticket); It was still fun because we saw hundreds of dolphins.
From Los Angeles Our travel itinerary in the western United States continued north. We stopped in Santa Barbara, then continued along the beautiful coast to Monterey. The morning after gray sky and another thrust of whale watching, this time crowned by success. The Monterey Bay offers ample guarantees in whale sighting, not to mention seals and dolphins.
From Monterey we continued north to San Francisco, the last goal of our travel itinerary. The sky returned to be blue, which is not at all granted in this area of ​​California, unlike the lucky south where it is summer almost all year. "The worst winter I've ever spent was a summer in San Francisco," said Woody Allen.
San Francisco
San Francisco - a fascinating city full of attractions.
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco, with the Golden Gate Bridge, the hills on which the trams, well-kept palaces, the wide and windy bay in which is located the island of Alcatraz, is unique, beautiful and livable . We spent the last two days of the holiday, living a fun adventure on the last evening, before taking the flight to Italy.
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco - The Golden Gate Bridge was the last mythical and remarkable monument of our vacation.
We were admiring the night skyline of San Francisco, with its illuminated skyscrapers and a bridge pathway from traffic, when they absently closed the door of the SUV. The firefighters arrived, with the red truck of ordinance, that of the films with the fire staircase on the roof.
The return flight made a stop to Philadelphia, where we stopped twenty-four hours: we would have time to go up to New York, but we settled in Philadelphia, a non-flashy city that the most know about the staircase on which "Rocky" urlava Adrianaaaaaaaaaa in the famous film. I slept at the station, wake up at 4 am from a policeman with two torch shots on the bench . We and the other tramps we had to leave the building.
We returned to the airport and the holiday really ended up. A spectacular and easy journey, where "On the Road" means freedom, but not uncomfortable (really, if you feel uncomfortable, you have to try the island of Java in Indonesia!). An absolutely advisable journey, indeed mandatory, fundamental and necessary. Places where you could also come back, performing a longer itinerary among national parks and adding adventurous, fun and highly unlikely activities. If you like these wild trips or if you want to find more photos of this and other destinations, as well as advice and new itineraries, visit our FB page and put like:
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