BUDGET FOR A TRIP TO THE US WEST COAST

If you wonderHow much does a trip to the West Coast of the United States cost There is no excessive good news: you may have to save a few months before, but we can guarantee it will be worth it. However, if you are a forecaster and plan the trip well, you do not have to go to the organ market to sell your kidney. Here we bring you a detailed post with the budget of a trip to the West Coast of the United States, of a duration 3 weeks,divided into sections: flights, car rental, gasoline, accommodation, food and other expenses.

But let's start with a basic itinerary along the West Coast. A route Basic to see the most important could be the following:

• Days 1, 2 and 3: San Francisco
• Day 4: Yosemite (sleep near Yosemite)
• Day 5: Sequoia and Kings Canyon (sleep in Bakersfield)
• Day 6: Death Valley (sleep in Las Vegas)
• Days 7 and 8: Las Vegas
• Day 9: Grand Canyon (sleep in Page)
• Day 10: Horseshoe Bend and Bryce Canyon (sleep in Green River)
• Day 11: The Wave, Antelope Canyon and Zion National Park
• Day 12: Arches National Park (sleep in Moab)
• Day 13: Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point (sleep in Monument Valley)
• Day 14: Monument Valley (sleep in Flagstaff or Sedona)
• Day 15: Route 66, Flagstaff - Kingman
• Day 16: Route 66, Kingman - Barstow
• Day 17: Route 66, Barstow - Los Angeles
• Days 18, 19 and 20: The Angels

To explore the West Coast of the United States you will have to reach San Francisco or Los Angeles. There are direct flights with the company LEVEL (Iberia subsidiary) from Barcelona to Oakland (San Francisco) and from Barcelona to Los Angeles very cheap! Also with Norwegian. The prices of the flights vary greatly depending on the season, the advance of the reservation and the company. Take a look and compare the prices:

• Flights from Spain to San Francisco / Flights from Spain to Oakland
• Flights from Spain to Los Angeles

Although to optimize the route, it is best to arrive in San Francisco and leave from Los Angeles (or vice versa). In this case you have the option of a single multi-destination reservation: You can check the prices of one-way flights and then play with the dates in the multi-destination option.

With some advance and for trips from Barcelona, ​​the price starts from € 250 round trip! The multi-destination usually comes out somewhat more expensive, but always check it out. We put a base price of about € 500 per person round trip.

If you decide to travel the West Coast of the United States by car we advise you to use a search engine like AutoEurope (we use this website for our road trip through Texas and for the trip to the West Coast and everything was great). These search engines are the best way to find competitive prices.

To consider:

• “One Way” Rate: It usually comes included for rentals between these two cities, however it is not too much to leave doubts before making the reservation.
• If it includes the “extended cover”: that is, all-risk insurance, without excess. Some companies include it in the rental price and others offer it separately on the web or when picking up the car (in this case it is usually about 6-8 $ per day). You can see if it is included or not in the "rate details" before making the reservation.
• If it includes roadside assistance. It is usually called “Breakdown Cover” and includes expenses in case of breakdown and need to be towed. Companies usually include other coverage such as lost keys, etc. in this extension. It can be included in the online reservation or extended coverage in the collection.

The total rental price of a normal car for 14 days is around the 350€ (€ 175 per person if you travel as a couple). We rented the Ford Fiesta and made the first part 4 people and without problems, it did not heat up in the Death Valley to more than 50 degrees!

Good news, gasoline is very cheap in the United States! And if you rent a small car you will be able to travel huge distances paying a pittance. The base route that we proposed in the first point has approximately 5,000 km. If we assume that the car consumes about 6 liters / 100 km and that the price of gasoline is about $ 3 a gallon (or about € 0.64 / liter), the total price to spend on gasoline would be about 200€  (€ 100 per person if you travel as a couple).

To know the price of gasoline in different areas of the country check out this website.

For the days in San Francisco Y The Angels, it is best to stay in hostels in shared rooms. They are two of the most expensive cities in the United States so beware of this! Anyway looking in advance and out of high season, prices are around € 25-35 per person.

In Las Vegas Very good offers can be found as long as it does not coincide with the weekend, there are hotels of category for about 50-70 € per night in a double room (beware of the resort fee!).

The rest of the trip we recommend pulling motels. Contrary to what is usually thought, motels are usually quite well maintained, clean and with spacious and very complete rooms. Many of them also offer breakfast. There are two chains that we use the most: Super 8 Y Motel 6. The former are somewhat more expensive but better, the latter are more normal and, being clean and decent, have very good prices. We booked from one day to another through booking.com and it worked out better than booking them there directly. The price per night is around 40-60€ per night the double room.

Another option is to search with Airbnb, we do not see that it is the best solution but it can get you out of trouble at some other time. Here we leave you a € 25 discount for your first reservation.

Therefore the expenses would look like this:

• 3 nights in a hostel in San Francisco: € 100
• 3 nights in a hostel in Los Angeles: € 75
• 2 nights in Las Vegas: € 70
• 12 nights in motels (€ 50 per night): € 300
• TOTAL per person: € 545

* Taking into account that the trip is made as a couple and the costs of the double room can be divided.

This is the departure of the most variable budget of the trip and you can spend on food everything you want. There is very cheap options: pull fast food with their menu offers for about $ 5, buy ready-made dishes in supermarkets, fill the belly with hotdogs at $ 1.50 from gas stations ...

In addition, as we have told you, many motels include breakfast, so it is a meal less to consider in the budget.

The menus of diners and restaurants hardly going to be less than about $ 10-15 per person. On average we spent between $ 25 each time (tips of 18-20% included).

Tip: the water is free so if you want to save avoid drinking smoothies or drinks.

Therefore, an estimated price of food per day and person can be between 20€, being able to be lowered a little (or be much older, if you want to give yourself a few whims). In total for 20 days: 400€. 

→ Entrance to the parks

It is an expense that you cannot get rid of. You have to keep in mind that there are National parks and State parks. For the first there is a annual pass, the "America the Beautiful", which will allow you to enter all of them. The price is 80$ and it serves for the travelers of a whole car (up to 4 people). You can buy it in the first state park you visit, in some it is possible to pay by credit card.

What parks are not included in this pass and will you have to pay separately? The following:

• Dead horse point: $ 20 per car
• Antelope Canyon: between $ 45 and $ 60 (it is necessary to hire an excursion to visit it)
• The wave: $ 5 (under draw)
• Monument Valley: $ 20 (admission per car, up to 6 people)
• TOTAL per person: € 45 (not including parks that are out of the pass)

→ Travel insurance

It is essential to carry a good travel insurance, as you know with health you do not joke and less in a country like the United States! Insurance Iati Premium, which covers up to € 200,000 costs about € 101 per person for 21 days Including 5% discount if you hire from this link.

→ THIS

In order to enter the United States you will have to apply for Esta, an online permit that costs  14€ , easy and cheap. Here we tell you how to request it.

→ Miscellaneous expenses

As with each trip you have to have a set of miscellaneous expenses, where we will include tickets to museums and other attractions, souvenirs, parking lots, etc. It is usually the tailor's drawer and the least one can be calculated a priori, but we put a total of € 50 per person.

Total miscellaneous expenses per person: € 210

After breaking down all types of expenses to consider, we can answer the question of How much does a trip to the West Coast of the United States cost?. Here we summarize thebudget per total person base based on a trip for two people of 3 weeks.

We hope we have helped you with these indicative prices, as always keep in mind that at the moment of truth ... it is you who decides how and how much to spend, but we believe that this budget can guide you a lot!

Video: How To Road Trip California, Be Cheap, And Still Have A Good Time (April 2024).