7 incredible road trips that are not the Pacific Coast Highway

Road warriors that we are, we can handle a little inclement weather. Hailstorms across the Great Plains? We’ll wait it out at our favorite roadside diner. Icy roads in the Rockies? We can always stick to the interstate. But the quarter-mile mudslide that suddenly and unexpectedly dumped more than one million tons of dirt across California’s Pacific Coast Highway in Big Sur in May is a megawatt bummer to the tens of thousands of people planning on making the iconic coastal journey between San Francisco and Los Angeles this summer.

RELATED: The world’s 10 strangest roads

But instead of sulking, consider that there are more than 4 million amazing miles of navigable roads in the United States, so having to banana around one damaged stretched of coastal road is no reason to pout. Here a curated collection of our most favorite road trips ever.

Bodie, CA

California’s HWY 395
The Golden State is full of gorgeous state highways and this unforgettable inland route swoops through Wild West Bodie, stunning Yosemite and eerie Mono Lake en route to sunny Palm Springs.

Find the full itinerary here: California’s HWY 395

Niagara Falls

Chicago to Niagara Falls
Got kids? No problem, this Midwest adventure includes penguin encounters, iconic pizza and plenty of other family-friendly distractions with a boat ride on the Falls as the grand finale.

Find the full itinerary here: Chicago to Niagara Falls

Road to Hana

The perfect road trip for every season
From ditching winter for a coastal drive along the Road to Hana to cruising the Blue Ridge Highway in spring, this handy infographic imagines perfect itineraries for all four seasons.

Find the full itinerary here: Road trips for all seasons

Blue Ridge Parkway

Navigating the Blue Ridge Parkway
Perhaps the most famous of America’s Scenic Byways, here is the perfect itinerary for navigating all 469 miles of the timeless Blue Ridge Parkway.

Find the full itinerary here: Blue Ridge Parkway

Florida’s A1A

5 incredibly scenic Florida drives
Ditch poolside margaritas in favor of panoramic Caribbean waters, glitzy city skylines, roads shaded by moss-covered pines and so much more as you follow one of these Sunshine State routes.

Find the full itinerary here: Scenic Florida drives

ALSO: All roads lead to deep discounts when you join Orbitz Rewards!

Iceland’s Ring road | Flickr photo by Moyan Brenn

6 essential European road trips
The romance of the road is hardly the exclusive domain of the U.S. Between fairy tale castles, geothermal hot springs and hillsides draped in emerald green, these European itineraries have it all.

Find the full itinerary here: European road trips

Prada, Marfa | Photo by Compass + Twine

West Texas desert drives
Its cities may be shunned (tourists aren’t exactly clamoring to visit Lubbock), but the desert landscape of West Texas is vast, vivid and intoxicating. Think mountain ranges, artsy small towns and starry nights on this Lone Star road adventure.

Find the full itinerary here: West Texas drives

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Tagged: California, Chicago, Chicago, Europe, Florida, Germany, Hawaii, Ireland, Midwest, Texas