The station wagon packed to the gills with coolers, road maps collected from your local AAA, and restless kids eating way too many snacks is how my family traveled when I was young. The Great American Road Trip has always held a special place in the domestic travel landscape, but things have come a long way over the years, and the DIY vacation in your own car is no longer the only way to do it.
Epic driving adventures have become as sought after by luxury travelers as they are by van lifers and backpackers. And a handful of companies are helping to elevate the experience far beyond what the average traveler would be able to execute on their own, offering high-touch itineraries that trade roadside motel pit stops and fast-food fueling for five-star accommodations, private guided tours, and choice dining. Travel companies are catering to discerning travelers who want the independence of the open road with some luxury touches along the way.
Add to that the fact that domestic travel is on the rise, thanks in part to softening international air demand amid global uncertainty, and a concern among some travelers over anti-American sentiment abroad, road trips hold new appeal. Although clients of such companies as Black Tomato, All Roads North, Untamed Travelling, and HunterMoss (the latter of which is debuting its U.S. road trip itineraries in early 2026 after years of planning) aren’t likely deterred by the rising costs of international travel, Sam Highley, CEO of All Roads North, said the company has seen a changing travel pattern—fewer international visitors coming to the USA, and an uptick in domestic travelers, many attracted to the Wild West.
Road-tripping through Yellowstone National Park with a private naturalist guide is the kind of added service you can expect on luxury driving itineraries.
Courtesy of Ivana Sluneckova/Unsplash
These days, “everybody wants to be a cowboy,” said Highley. All Roads North, which specializes in custom road trips starting at $15,000, has recently been designing itineraries that take visitors to Yellowstone National Park where “they might be getting picked up from their hotel by a private naturalist and taken into the park,” for an exclusive outing. The tours are self-driving, but enhanced by insiders who take guests deeper into a place.
“What we’re trying to do is maintain the best way to travel in the U.S., the freedom and serendipity that makes it great,” said Highley, who began discovering the country’s wonders more than 15 years ago when he moved to California from the United Kingdom.
Untamed Travelling, which launched in 2001 as a safari specialist and has since expanded into more than 150 destinations, has also seen the United States rise to the top of its client wish lists. Between 2022 and 2024, the USA ranked among the operator’s top five destinations worldwide, with nearly every trip booked to the States designed as a road trip.
Travel expert Mary Cropper at Black Tomato, who has been designing domestic trips for nine years, has recently been planning a lot of luxury road trips in New England (fall foliage season is a big draw for road-trippers) and in the Southwest.
The trips, which average around $40,000, but can go way up from there, are fully customizable. Many of Black Tomato’s clientele place importance on being put up at five-star hotels with top-notch amenities, though “maybe there’ll be a night or two in a national park hotel, which tends to be a little bit more bare bones,” Cropper explained, adding that she always discusses these details with clients, gaining an understanding of their “priorities to arrange the appropriate routing.”
On HunterMoss itineraries, the classic roadside motel stop has been elevated with stays at luxury resorts like Solage, an Auberge Collection property in Napa Valley.
Courtesy of HunterMoss
As for the type of vehicle (many of these are fly-and-drive itineraries where clients fly to a nearby airport then rent a car for the road trip), well, it really depends on what you want. “If you’re in the Southwest, that’s more desert terrain, a bit more rocky, you might want a larger car. If you’re going up and down the coast of New England, a convertible could be really cool,” said Cropper.
All Roads North customers, said Highley, tend not to be car geeks in search of lining up the perfect Lamborghini for a week. Rather, they’re vacationers in it for meaningful travel experiences that result from connecting with locals who know the land. All of the pieces—trip length, daily driving thresholds, type of accommodation, dining reservations for every meal, or merely food and drink suggestions along the route—are discussed and put into motion in advance.
“My very first question is: How much time are you willing to spend in the car? Do you have a couple of days that you’re willing to go up to five or six hours?” Cropper said. The answers to these questions dictate the entire trip.
For those who want all the road trip atmosphere but less time behind the wheel, there’s HunterMoss, whose itineraries prioritize luxury cars and immersive destination excursions.
The company’s U.S. road trips, ranging from a four-day Santa Ynez Valley Weekend Getaway ($10,490 per car/couple) to four days in Napa Wine Country ($11,490 per car/couple) where “every single aspect from the moment guests arrive until the moment they depart is all managed,” explained cofounder Julie Hunter, cover less ground than other companies, but aim to fully connect travelers to the destination. Arriving in style is key.
Unlike the customized trips created by Black Tomato, All Roads North, and the all-budgets-welcome Crush Global, HunterMoss’s new supercar adventures take place on set dates and involve a small group of about 12. Individual parties self-drive the fleet—Aston Martins, Lamborghinis, Ferraris—but no prior exposure to elite cars costing a quarter of a million dollars is required.
High-end road trips are frequently fly-and-drive itineraries where clients are flying into a nearby airport then setting out by car, so companies often offer a thrilling roster of luxe vehicles to rent.
Photo by Daniel Maurer for Daimler AG/Mercedes-Benz
It’s not just about the cars though, said Hunter. “It’s really about incorporating the unique aspects of the chosen destination, whether that’s the big food and wine focus of Napa Valley or the very strong art focus in Santa Fe and really trying to build in a nice and balanced experience that isn’t just for drivers.”
“It’s kind of like taking the road trip to the next level,” said cofounder Anthony Moss. “Everything’s curated. Everything’s planned—lunches, coffee stops . . . people can come and enjoy and not have to think too much [about the details],” Moss added.
Other companies deliver a creative take on the road trip vacation. That’s true of EXP Journeys, a tour operator specializing in national parks and immersive luxury travel.
Kevin Jackson, co-founder of EXP Journeys, said they’ve been “seeing more guided and curated road trip experiences,” including one where travelers get behind the wheel of classic cars like Porsches, Thunderbirds, and Corvettes, and drive down the coast along Hwy 1 to Big Sur, all for $1,500 per person per day.
Today, as domestic travelers increasingly look to explore farther-flung corners of the U.S., they’re flying into the region (sometimes via private aviation) and getting behind the wheel of a vehicle of their choice (or putting themselves in the capable hands of a private driver and experienced guides), to embark on a logistically sound travel adventure with exclusive perks (and prearranged car snacks, natch).
