Photos: Chor Tsang, Thom Milkovic, D. Lok, Adam Blank, Venti Views
Itinerary · United States
West Coast USA Van Road Trip: Seattle to San Diego
Pacific Coast Highway, national parks and American West deserts
The American West Coast is the world's best-known road trip. From Seattle to San Diego, the Pacific Coast Highway passes cliffs, redwood forests, three big cities and the Joshua Tree desert.
The route
Indicative route, in straight lines between the stops, in travel order.
View on Google Maps →The 9 stops
Good to know before you go
The real budget for 21 days
Allow around €4,350 to €6,150 for 21 days, for two. This budget covers three items only: rental, fuel and nights (one campsite night each evening). Flights, food, park entry and visits are extra. Prices checked in October 2026, converted at €1 = $1.1159 on 29/10/2026 (OFX).
- Van rental: €152 per day on average in 2026, and €195 per day in July and August, for a motorhome hired in the United States, based on prices from the Campstar comparison site (OpenVan.camp, 13/10/2026; promobil, 29/10/2026): €3,192 to €4,095 for 21 days. These are averages across all vehicle types: a small van can cost less. You pick the van up in Seattle and drop it off in San Diego: one-way fees and miles beyond the allowance are extra.
- Fuel: US rental vans mostly run on petrol. From $4.86 per gallon (3.785 litres) in Oregon to $6.00 in California ($5.29 in Washington State), averages for 27/10/2026 recorded by AAA (Energy Factbook), so €1.15 to €1.42 per litre. For 3,500 km at 12 to 15 litres per 100 km (our estimate for a petrol van): 420 to 525 litres, €483 to €746.
- Nights: $36 per night at national park campgrounds (Yosemite's 2026 rate, Gather Grounds, 12/10/2026) to $69.72 on average for an RV site at a private campground (Insider Perks, February 2026): $756 to $1,464 for 21 nights, €677 to €1,312.
- Total: €4,352 to €6,153, so around €4,350 to €6,150.
On the site, the "diesel" line of this budget stands for petrol here.
Where to sleep in your van
- Campgrounds: national park campgrounds are booked on recreation.gov, often months ahead for summer.
- BLM public land: most of it allows camping away from developed campgrounds, generally for up to 14 days within any 28-day period, unless a "Closed to Camping" sign says otherwise (Bureau of Land Management, read 30/10/2026).
- Walmart car parks: some stores allow an overnight stop, others don't. The store manager and local rules decide: ask the store first (Jalopnik, 19/10/2025).
- Park entry (not in the budget): since 1 January 2026 the America the Beautiful annual pass costs $250 for non-residents ($80 for residents). Non-residents aged 16 and over also pay an extra $100 per person at 11 parks, including Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Zion (none of them on this itinerary) (National Park Service, read 30/10/2026).
Updated 30 October 2026
When to go
April to October
- Jan : Outside the best time
- Feb : Outside the best time
- Mar : Outside the best time
- Apr : Best time
- May : Best time
- Jun : Best time
- Jul : Best time
- Aug : Best time
- Sep : Best time
- Oct : Best time
- Nov : Outside the best time
- Dec : Outside the best time
Keep exploring
