10 great US fly-drive deals
Alternative Texas: Austin-Marfa-El Paso
Austin is best known for its South by Southwest music festival but it's an enticingly off-beat city to hang out in any time for music, vintage stores and food (try the barbecue at Franklin and the Al Pastor taco trailer on East Riverside Drive). Head south out of the city to San Antonio where you can pick up highway 90 just before it sidles up alongside the Rio Grande. Stop off at the arty oasis Marfa (famed for its vast minimalist Donald Judd sculptures and film festival), Seminole canyon, Langtry cactus garden and Chinati hot springs before reaching metropolitan El Paso.
Fly into Austin and out of El Paso from £665 with Delta Airlines. Car hire for two weeks costs £257 with Avis, avoiding the usual one-way drop fee
California coastal cool: Los Angeles to San Francisco
The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco. Photograph: Getty

This is the drive to do in style, with the top down, so the Mustang convertible included in this seven-night jaunt is a big draw. It also offers thoughtful accommodation choices including the Queen Mary – a gleaming 1930s luxury cruise liner docked at Long Beach. As you head up rugged State Route 1 with the wind in your hair, leaving the condos and surfer dudes behind, look out for seals, whales and majestic condors. Breakfast in Big Sur then stroll up one of the many parkland trails, before joining the free-spirited bustle of San Francisco (where, incidentally, the pancakes at Dottie's are worth queuing for).
From £1,595pp, including Mustang convertible and accommodation, from bon-voyage.co.uk
Round the Great Lakes: Chicago and back again
Minneapolis. Photograph: Getty

Completing any road trip brings a sense of achievement, so imagine how proud you'd be after this epic, taking in four of the Great Lakes and seven states. This route [http://greatlakesnorthamerica.co.uk/article.asp?type=2&page=76] starts at Chicago, circles north via Minneapolis-St Paul, Grand Rapids and Mackinac Island (a car-free, time-capsule of a resort in Lake Huron), then south to Detroit (the Motown Museum is unimaginably moving), South Bend and back to Chicago.
A flight to Chicago on Delta and a fortnight's car hire with Dollar costs from £724pp
Mississippi river country: Minneapolis to New Orleans
New Orleans water canal. Photograph: Getty

Another geographical behemoth there for the conquering, the Mississippi river runs some 2,530 miles from Minneapolis, all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico, lapping at 10 states along the way. You could stick to the cities, which include St Louis, Hannibal (Mark Twain's hometown), Memphis and New Orleans, or concentrate on the flora and fauna – look out for the International Wolf Center in Minnesota and rare whooping cranes.
A flight into Minneapolis and out of New Orleans costs from £625 with Lufthansa and United Airlines. Economy car hire with National is £292 for two weeks plus a one-way drop fee of $250 (£163)
The South – where rock n roll began: Atlanta and back again
Memphis. Photograph: Corbis

First stop: Nashville, where you must eat "meat and three" at Arnold's Country Kitchen, swim in Old Hickory Lake just like Johnny Cash used to, and visit Jack White's Third Man Records. On to Memphis, home to one of the best dive bars (cockroaches and all) ever: the Lamplighter. Graceland is all very well but Graceland Too in Holly Springs, Mississippi is where the spirit of Elvis truly lives on. Next, find the crossroads where Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil in Clarksdale, Mississippi before rolling back east through Alabama.
Flights to Atlanta, Georgia on United Airlines plus two weeks' economy car hire with Dollar from £852
New York: city and state
Vermont in the fall. Photograph: Getty

You can't beat watching the world turn green as you leave Manhattan after a whirlwind of gallivanting. Drive north to legendary Woodstock, an American apple-pie of a town, with a twist. Brunch on fresh eggs and smoothies at Sunfrost farm shop, meet the locals over dinner at the bar of the Bear Cafe and sleep at the world's most picturesque B&B, the Woodstock Country Inn. Cross the Hudson river at Catskill, to venture into Massachusetts to visit the beautiful Berkshire Hills. If you visit in late September, you may even witness the first fall leaves turning colour.
Virgin flight to Newark airport, plus a week's car hire with Dollar from £560
The Pacific northwest: Seattle and back again
Seattle's famous skyline. Photograph: Getty

Start your trip by saying "hi" to the elk in Olympic national park before driving down the stunning Pacific coast to the giant redwood canopy in northern California. Browse the gargantuan Powell's book store in Portland, Oregon, before grabbing a drink at Noble Rot for great views of this idiosyncratically pretty city. Be hypnotised by the sheer blueness of the water in Crater Lake. And, finally, listen to Pearl Jam while gliding along the monorail in Seattle.
From £1,799 including flights, 13 nights three-star accommodation and car hire, from theamericanroadtripcompany.co.uk
The historic Carolinas: Charleston to Charlotte
Charleston. Photograph: Getty

North and South Carolina often get missed off classic Southern road trip routes, but no matter: they're worthy of a dedicated visit. This tour starts on the coast at Charleston. If you're into civil war history, lighthouses, beaches, antiques shops, antebellum architecture and plantations (that don't hide their dark, slave-owning past), this area will not disappoint. Then you wind your way north to Asheville – a bohemian city nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains which contrasts pleasingly with the primness of Charleston. This gentle trip, which ends in metropolitan Charlotte, would suit families.
£1,019 for selected departures on Virgin flights, mid-to-end-of August, including three-star hotels and five days Alamo car hire from trailfinders.com/usa
The wild west: Denver and back again
The Rockies near Denver. Photograph: Getty

A two-week ramble around Colorado presents yet more of the stark contrasts so typical of the US. After a full day in Denver, with its malls and museums, you drive out into the Rocky Mountains, along trails where stagecoaches ferried hopeful miners during the gold rush. The town of Durango will put you in mind of sheriffs and gunslingers, while the ancient Indian pueblo ruins in the San Juan Mountains, and the adobe dwellings on rock cliffs at Mesa Verde national park, are awe-inspiring.
From £1,549 including flights, car hire and accommodation (reductions for other room types available on request) from awwt.co.uk
The big one – cross the continent: New York to San Francisco
Defunct Route 66. Photograph: Getty

At a push, you could do this in a fortnight, but three weeks makes it less frantic. Head south from New York down through the Virginias and Appalachian Mountains, stopping off at yard sales and the Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg. Next, bear east through Tennessee, Arkansas (rest for a few days in a Lake Hamilton log cabin) and Oklahoma, where you first meet the now defunct route 66, with its beautiful motel-sign ruins. In New Mexico and Arizona, Navajo monuments, adobe dwellings and the Grand Canyon will blow your mind. Then to get to San Fran, either plough straight on to the Pacific and up the dramatic California coast, or take in Las Vegas then head through Death Valley and Yosemite national parks (book rooms in national parks in advance).
A non-stop flight on Iberia into New York and on British Airways out of San Francisco costs from £662. A three week car rental with Dollar is £578 plus a $750 (£489) one-way drop fee
For more information on holidays in the USA, visit DiscoverAmerica.com