Grand Canyon vs Pacific Coast Highway

The Grand Canyon is the one sight in the American Southwest that genuinely lives up to the hype: 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and about a mile deep, with layer upon layer of rock that changes color by the hour. Most visitors head to the South Rim, open year-round, where Mather Point, Yavapai Point, Hermit Road and Desert View Drive deliver the classic views and the Bright Angel Trail drops below the rim. It is very possible to see it as a long day trip from Las Vegas, about 4.5 hours each way, with a stop at Hoover Dam; the closer Grand Canyon West and its glass Skywalk, run by the Hualapai Tribe, is a shorter but very different alternative. Stay a night or two at the rim and you can add sunrise, a partial hike and the quieter eastern viewpoints. With more time, Northern Arizona fills a great road trip: Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon near Page, the red rocks of Sedona and a stretch of historic Route 66 through Williams, Seligman and Kingman. Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, but the Navajo Nation does, so watch the clock on tour days.

Driving the Pacific Coast Highway from Los Angeles to San Francisco is the classic American road trip, a roughly 450-mile ribbon of asphalt that clings to cliffs, dips into surf towns and threads some of the most dramatic coastline on Earth. Start with the beach cities of Santa Monica and Malibu, then roll north to Santa Barbara's red-tile roofs and its graceful Spanish mission. Next come the laid-back college town of San Luis Obispo and the wide sands of Pismo Beach, followed by the hilltop opulence of Hearst Castle and hundreds of elephant seals lounging on the beach at Piedras Blancas. The highlight is Big Sur, where Highway 1 winds high above the ocean past McWay Falls and the arching Bixby Creek Bridge before reaching storybook Carmel-by-the-Sea and the world-class Monterey Bay Aquarium. Five days is the sweet spot for the drive, with extra days for San Francisco, Napa Valley wine country and the coast south of the city. One important warning: landslides regularly close sections of Highway 1 in Big Sur, so check Caltrans QuickMap before you set out and be ready to detour inland on US-101 or do Big Sur as an out-and-back from Carmel.