Only in America, land of cars, is driving still considered the best way to get around and see the sights. While British kids are flying off to backpack around Europe, American teens hop in their cars for glamorous road trips around the countryside. It is a rite of passage for Americans and a way of life for many who choose to live on road in RVs and camper vans, travelling the country on wheels.

Taking a road trip somewhere in or around America is a dream for many, with vast landscapes and open road as far as the eye can see. But seeing the entire country by car could take the better part of a year if you aren’t careful. Instead, try a chunk of driving in a scenic area, along one of these seven roadways offering the most beautiful scenery and classic Americana in the States.

Vegas to L.A.

There is pretty much only one way to get from Vegas to Los Angeles, and that is through the middle of the desert on I-15. This super scenic drive through the Mojave Desert is filled with amazing sights you’ve probably only experienced in music videos: soft-top convertibles, rusted out junker cars, ancient motels and the elusive Joshua Trees.

Florida Keys

Only Americans would take the trouble of building a 100-mile series of roads and bridges to an archipelago of islands rather than just going there by boat. US 1 connects the Florida Keys, which are a series of islands that stretch southwest off of the tip of the Florida coast. Driving from Key Largo to Key West takes about 2 hours, much of it over spectacular turquoise open ocean.

Pacific Coast Highway

There is probably not a more stunningly beautiful drive than the Pacific Coast Highway, which goes north-south along the coast of California, Oregon and Washington. Though most people drive the road between San Diego in the far south and Santa Barbara, just north of L.A., it is actually possible to follow Highway 101 all the way to Seattle, Washington where it ends not far from the Canadian border. The road is characterized with stark bluffs that overlook white tipped waves rolling into the coast, and it is the one place you really want to be driving a vintage, cherry red Mustang.

Blue Ridge Parkway

This mountainous roadway travels 470 miles between North Carolina and Virgina through the Great Smokey Mountains. Although arguably most beautiful during the autumn when fall foliage is in full colour, the Blue Ridge Parkway is the perfect place for a summer drive, for the lush trees, green mountains and forest are cooling and the road is less busy during the summer months than in autumn. Along the way, there are plenty of places to camp, hike and picnic, or simply stop and take in rolling vistas of the mountains.

Cape Cod

A drive through the instantly recognisable curled arm of Cape Cod on the south shore of Massachusetts is not so much a marathon road trip as a gentle one or two day country drive. The main thoroughfare through Cape Cod is US 6, which brings visitors to the outermost tip at Provincetown, but most of the roads through Cape Cod are tiny country lanes that barely tame the huge tufts of grass as they lumber along rocky coasts. Take time to have a picnic on the beach and explore the local lighthouses and seafood shacks that make Cape Cod great.

Four Corners

This drive is not confined to one specific road, so it usually isn’t included on most “Great American Roadtrip” lists, but that just makes it all the better. Remember the old Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons where the two chased one another through a series of oddly shaped lunar bluffs and mesas? That landscape actually exists in the Four Corners – the only place in the U.S. where four states touch in a perfect square at Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Driving the Four Corners loop means getting off on some pretty unknown 2-lane highways that seemingly lead to nowhere, and is best done from Durango Colorado, up and over to Monticello Utah, then down Highway 191 to Bluff Utah, across to the Four Corners Monument and back through Monument Valley in Arizona until heading east into New Mexico. It requires a bit of worthwhile backtracking and you should use every chance to fill up on petrol that you get, because they don’t come often.

Route 66 – Main Street USA

Route 66 is probably America’s most beloved and idolised road. Travelling from Chicago in the midwest to Los Angeles on the west coast, Route 66 is a historic road that was once the lifebread of American travel, which is why it is affectionately nicknamed “The Mother Road”. Though all but in pieces since the advent of the American interstate highway system, it is still possible to follow Route 66 along a series of motorways and smaller highways from beginning to end, catching a lot of dying Americana and kitsch along the way.