Have you ever gone on a road trip in the United States?
It. is. my. favorite. thing. in. this. world.
The U.S. feels like home to me for many reasons, traveling there is easy and convenient, the people are friendly and the nature is just stunning. Not to forget the gas price is cheap – what more does one want for a good road trip?
We chose this route for several reasons but mostly because our destination was clear: Walt Disney World. So we just needed to figure out where to start and the decision was made between driving down the East coast from NYC or starting down south in New Orleans. And as neither one of us had explored the southern states very much before, we opted for that route.
When to travel
Technically you can travel this route year round but if you want my advice: the summers in the south are very hot & veryyy humid – so you might want to choose a different time of year. We travelled in April and that turned out to be a great choice.
Where to stay
Especially in the U.S. I am a very big fan of Airbnb’s. It’s convenient, there are lots of options and you can find them absolutely everywhere, even in very remote areas.
We mostly paid around 40$-50$ a night for 2 persons, the most expensive airbnb being 80$ and I think this is really reasonable for a road trip.
Here are some general tips for booking through Airbnb:
✔Please read the ratings and comments thoroughly to avoid unfortunate surprises. Don’t risk booking an airbnb that looks sketchy on any level.
✔Make sure to double check whether you want to book a whole accommodation or a shared property with just a private room, depending on what you’re looking for.
✔If available, book with a Superhost as this means the host has a lot of experience and other guests were happy with this Airbnb.
✔Don’t put getting in contact with your host off until the last minute. Find the right balance: You don’t want to stress them out and contact them way to early and too often (you’re not their only guest) but try to get in touch with them before you’re trying to check in on your arrival day.
✔Especially if the host was super helpful in advance, I sometimes bring some sweets from home as a thank you gift. In the U.S. I left a bar of German chocolate for every host when we left and it’s always a nice gesture.
Booking the right car
Which car is the right one for you, will depend on your kind of road trip. This particular one is focused more on city trips and staying overnight in Airbnbs, so a small car was absolutely sufficient. If you’re going on a trip through the national parks of California, a camper van might be the better alternative of course. 🙂
✔Arrange the car booking in advance from your home country. This is not the kind of thing you want to figure out on the last minute.
✔Compare companies and prices. For example: You will most likely have to pay an extra fee, if you’re not doing a round trip but renting your car in one state and returning it in a different state. This fee will vary from offer to offer. We ended up getting a car through Budget and this worked out without problems.
✔Choose a good insurance that covers everything you need. Also definitely do this in advance when you’re booking. Be careful not to sign a second insurance when you’re getting your car (this is a typical scam) and show them that you’ve already paid for the insurance when you made the booking.
✔Bring print outs of all important booking documents with you.
✔Make sure you have a valid international drivers license.
How much time you’ll need for the trip & details on our route
Happiest kiddos when traveling together.
Tricky – because everyone travels differently. But we had 16 days for the whole route and I believe it was a good amount of time, but I will also give you some honest feedback below about what I would do differently the second time around.
Overview of our itinerary
Day 1-3: New Orleans, LA
Day 3: Travel to Marianna, FL (ca. 5h)
Day 4: Travel to Madison Blue Springs State Park (ca. 2h) then travel to Live Oak for the airbnb (30min)
Day 5: Travel to Sarasota, FL (ca. 4h)
Day 6 -7: Sarasota, FL
Day 7: Travel to Kissimmee, FL (ca. 2h)
Day 8 – 9: Disneyworld (2 Parks)
Day 10: Travel to Bradenton, FL (ca. 2h)
Day 11-13: Bradenton & Anna Maria Island
Day 14: Travel to Orlando, FL (ca. 2h)
Day 15: Universal Studios Orlando
Day 16: Travel back Home
As you can see straight away, some things don’t make sense: Why would we drive back and forth between Kissimmee/Orlando and Sarasota/Bradenton? There is an easy explanation: I wanted to spend my birthday at Disneyworld and that was the only option of making that possible. It is only about 2 hours away – so in “American” distance that is nothing anyway.
(Example: I once drove 4,5 h one way from Phoenix, AZ to the Grand Canyon and back. In one day. With my American family. American distances I tell you…)
In the map below, I added all our stops to give you an idea about the distances.
Detailed itinerary
Day 1-3: New Orleans, LA
We had never been to New Orleans before, so we were very excited about this city. We booked a really cute airbnb: It was a colorful, very typical southern guesthouse with about 5 guest rooms. It was on a long wide road with huge trees all along and it basically was the perfect image of a southern accommodation. The best part: It was also walking distance from the French Quarter and in a safe neighborhood.
For better orientation: it was on Esplanade Avenue, so I can recommend staying in that area close to the French Quarter.
New Orleans (or NOLA) is all about colors and music. It is a very lively city, music is being played absolutely everywhere and the Mardi Gras vibe is always present. The vibe is quite different compared to other US cities and it’s definitely an experience.
Some things to do:
▪️ Café du Monde, this is a must: try their delicious beignets!
▪️ Take a stroll through the french quarter and listen to music around every corner. We happened to be there during the French Quarter Festival, which meant the area was even more lively and filled with music than usual!
▪️ Experience the nightlife on Bourbon Street and surroundings
(❗But here’s the deal: Usually drinking on the street isn’t allowed in the US. In NOLA it is. And people will go crazy. Personally, it was a little much for me.)
▪️ Explore the Garden District with its beautiful houses
▪️ Take a swamp tour on the Bayous to see alligators in the wild
▪️ Visit historic plantations (we didn’t have enough time to do this, but it would for sure be worth a day trip!)
▪️ New Orleans is all about ghost stories/haunted cemeteries etc. so a Haunted History Tour at night is also very popular!
Day 3: Travel to Marianna, FL (ca. 5h)
This is literally just a random spot on the map that was convenient for an overnight stop. We originally wanted to spend a day exploring the Apalachicola National Forest, but it didn’t work out because of the timing of the swamp tour on our last day in New Orleans, so unfortunately we had to skip it.
Our original plan was seeing the wildflower fields in the national forest, so here is a good resource for that if you’d like to try squeezing it in: Florida Wildflower Foundation. This was a tip given to us by an airbnb host.
Day 4: Travel to Madison Blue Springs State Park (ca. 2h) then travel to Live Oak for the airbnb (30min)
In the morning we made our way to the Madison Blue Springs State Park to go for a swim in the crystal clear water and really relax for the first time on the trip. It was a little more crowded than we thought it would be, but still quite peaceful. And the water was beautifully clear and we even saw some turtles swimming alongside us.
What we didn’t expect at all, is that this stop would be one of our favorites on this trip. We booked a really special airbnb:
It was on a farm, run by a vegan couple who takes in rescue animals and they both just have so much love for this world. The farm itself is beautiful and we had such great talks with them throughout our stay! And if I had known this before, we would have loved to stay a few more nights. They made us vegan pizza in their stone oven on the grounds, served us homemade iced tea and we literally enjoyed every second of our stay.
(Remember how I said, I like to bring sweets for our airbnb hosts? I knew they were vegan in advance so I brought them vegan treats from Germany!)
Another bucket list experience was the “bed”, which was actually hanging from the ceiling on their front porch, so we slept outside overlooking the farm and looking at the stars.
Honestly, my favorite airbnb experience to this day & I am very thankful for it.
The hanging bed on the porch 
Waking up on the farm
Vegan stone oven pizza 
Day 5 – 7: Sarasota, FL
During lunchtime we left the farm to travel to our next destination, Sarasota on the gulf coast of Florida.
Unfortunately we had some issues with the weather this time, as there was a hurricane warning and the hurricane was supposed to hit Sarasota at the exact time we were supposed to arrive there…
We found out while we were driving and it was raining and suddenly the hurricane warning was broadcasted through the radio and everyone was supposed “to take shelter now”. It was really scary and it felt like an apocalypse as they listed all the thing we should avoid, like parking in wide open spaces.
So we decided to drive inland (where I fortunately have friends who we could have stayed with) instead of right towards the hurricane.
Fortunately for everyone the hurricane didn’t hit as hard and we were able to make it to Sarasota around midnight after all – just with a really big detour.
The next 2 days we explored Sarasota, attended the Sarasota film festival and just hung out, looking at the ocean.
Day 7 – 9: Travel to Kissimmee, FL & Walt Disney World Resort
We drove to Kissimmee/ Orlando early in the day and since it is only 2 hours away we still had the rest of the day to spend in Orlando and went to an Outlet Mall – things you gotta do in the states. 🙂
They city of Kissimmee is actually closer to the Disney Parks than Orlando, which is why we stayed here. We spent 2 full days at the parks and decided to visit Epcot and the Magic Kingdom – which was obviously pure magic.
I used to be a cast member at Disney World, so this place will forever hold a special place in my heart. If I talked in depth about Disney World now, this blog post would be so much longer than I intended it – Disney will have to be a separate post.
Day 10 – 13: Bradenton & Anna Maria Island
After two happy days at the happiest place on Earth, we drove back to the gulf coast and booked a lovely, summery airbnb in Bradenton, close to the beautiful beaches of Anna Maria Island.
What I love about the beaches here, is that they’re usually not crowded because the areas are quite big. It is just white sand & water, no palm trees for shade though, so you might want to bring your own umbrella. 🙂
✔A little hidden but cool looking beach around here is called Beer Can Island (for whatever reason haha) and it’s really nice with all the pale wood lying around.
We spent this time in Bradenton brunching at a different café every morning, soaking up the sun on the beach and relaxing for our time away at the end of this vacation.
❗Fact: As you know, alcohol isn’t allowed to be consumed publicly on streets and that also goes for beaches – you will be fined if you do. We had Ginger Ale at the beach and were stopped by an officer at the beach, because she thought we were drinking cans of Heineken Beer. Oops. She took it lightly and laughed it off though.
Anna Maria Island 
That “Heineken” incident. 
Beer Can Island
Day 14 – 15: Orlando & Universal Studios Orlando
We drove back to Orlando again, met friends for lunch and spent the rest of the day in the city, impatiently awaiting the next day because we sure saved one highlight for the end: Universal Studios Orlando! Oh my heart, this place is amazing, and yes the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the absolute best thing about it. I live for that kind of magic.
I think I am going to have to write another in detail post about it, because I can’t possible fit all the neediness in here at the end of the road trip. But know this: it exceeds all expectations.
Dressing up makes all the difference, I promise. 
And that is how to spend 16 fun-filled, happy road trip days in the southern part of the U.S.! ………WOW – thank you for reading this long post! It was so fun to write, as I was reliving it as if it was yesterday.
As always – if one had had more time, one could add hundreds of different things to the bucket list. Stops in Alabama and Mississippi that we mostly just drove through, the southern part of Florida including Key West (which is a lovely getaway as well!) and a million things in between.
But I do know this, I loved this trip, it was perfect for all the right reasons.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments or if you have been to any of these places yourself! I would love to hear from you.
Love & magic to you all,
Jules