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When we speak about United Arab Emirates, each of us first think about Dubai. A modern city on the Arabian Peninsula, which is visited by more than 15 million tourists every year, and the number is rising steadily every year. This is also reflected in the increasingly intense construction of hotels, shopping malls and other attractions that attract even more people to the city.
Our trip to the United Arab Emirates started in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates that is approximately two hours’ drive away from Dubai and three from Abu Dhabi. The city itself cannot yet compete with the above-mentioned neighbors, but nevertheless, it is developing very rapidly… hotels with private beaches, relatively large shopping centers are being built, and additional tourist offer is expanding → they can boast with longest zip-line in the world!
It’s finally time to check off United Arab Emirates from our bucket list! Modern cities, with of course, Dubai and Abu Dhabi at forefront, which are still filled with rich history and permeated with fragrances of perfumes and spices.
We thought about the Emirates for a good time now, but we always choose other destinations. A good year ago, we even bought ourselves a Lonely Planet, but until now it was only sitting on the shelf and served as an excellent dust catcher 😁
The United States are not just megalomaniac cities and concrete jungles, which we know from various films… There are also many beautiful national parks, deserts, small cozy villages and much more.
It may seem that America has become our place to be – in two years; we visited it for three times. However, this time was a bit different, we went on a 16-day American road trip: from San Francisco through Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Therefore, if you are one of those who enjoy being behind the wheel and drive on long, straight roads, then our itinerary through western part of North America will be perfect for you.
Why should we, on every sunny summer weekend escape to the beach? Do you really want to move in slow motion on the motorways to the south? Probably not! That is why we jumped to the north this time and served you with this great idea for a wonderful one-day trip, just 380 km from Ljubljana.
Vienna, 2 million Austrian capital, really impressed with summer vibes, really an opposite as a dark and rainy version around Christmas festivals.
From national parks and beautiful nature back to »civilization«, into the vast cities of the West. First things first, after the Grand Canyon tour, we drove to Williams, a small town known for the legendary Route 66 – a road that connects the whole America, from Chicago to Los Angeles, with a length of almost 4000 km! However, the new motorway sections are wiping out history, leaving only a few more parts of the original road, which, however, is becoming more and more popular this days. Williams is just one of the cities that has been able to use all of its history very well. Rock’n’roll, old American classic cars, beer and greasy grilled dishes… all these are the things that attract more and more tourists. Just a dozen miles away, in Seligman, we were lucky that »Fun Run« was on the same day of our visit – an event where, hundreds of legendary American cars drive down the Route 66 each year. Just the wet dreams for everyone who love sounds of the engines and smell of the petrol!
After we spent two nights in Las Vegas, we continued our roadtrip across the United States. First we made, one quick turn. We drove to Hoover Dam, a 200-meter high dam that stands on the border between the two states, Nevada and Arizona. For over 100 years, this huge technological creation has attracted thousands, and recently more than a million visitors per year! There are relatively many parking spaces near the dam, but you will have to deduct $ 10 per day for one of those spots. You can save yourself some money and drive up the hill about 100 meters further, where you can park your car for free.
We rented a car for the first time in our travel career. We booked it in advance through the website billiger-mietwagen.de. Special thanks goes to Google translate for the translation from German language, because in other word we very likely would not have a clue what kind of car would we get and even less what insurance is included and many other things. However, let us leave the details for some other time.
We made the first kilometers on the Highway 1, a winding road from San Francisco to Los Angeles right by the sea and offers wonderful views of the cliffs and beaches. We made a detour to Santa Cruz and continue our trip to Bakersfield, where we made our first stop – the city is great spot for driving to Las Vegas through Death Valley.
It is better to sit 15 hours on a plane than 8 hours at work, behind your worktable… do you agree? Well, let us first provide you one quick and useful information for everyone who will soon be heading to the city of North California. From airport in San Francisco, you can take a BART train. For a ticket, you will deduct around $ 10 and after 30 minutes, you will find yourself in the city center. Simple!
Regardless of the first impression, public transport is quite bad, so prepare yourself for a few kilometers climbing in the hills. Almost all streets in San Francisco are hellish, long and almost vertical slopes. Of course, you can overcome those hills with few minutes driving with an attractive cable car, but you will pay $ 7 for a one-way ticket, which is not that cheap.
What do you get if you mix holiday, transatlantic flight, national parks, apple pie, fast food and rent-a-car? Roadtrip along the west coast of the US! Yeah, we are going back to America again 😍