2025 road trip trends that are changing how America travels

Time is money, so it’s no surprise that micro-tripping is one of the top trends in road trips this year. Whether it’s a long weekend for a quick getaway out of the city, or an experience within travelers’ own states, or a neighboring one, that has lived on the bucket list for a while, more and more travelers are opting for shorter 2 to 4 day getaways. This is an especially ideal option for those in major cities that need a quick reset. Properties like Omni Las Colinas Hotel in Irving are seeing demand from cities within driving distance, like Austin or Oklahoma City, and New Jersey luxe properties like Pendry Natirar have a major draw for the city folks of New York.

Food and travel go hand-in-hand. Destinations like Corinth, Mississippi, home to the famous “Slugburger,” made with potato flakes, flour and ground beef, are incentivizing travelers with events like their Annual Slugburger Festival. On South Carolina’s I-77, The Olde English District is home to the Carolina Reaper pepper, and visitors frequently make pitstops at Puckerbutt Pepper Company in Fort Mill to test its scorch.

Regional chains like Kwik Trip and Buc-ee’s aren’t to be missed either. According to a Vontier survey, nearly 80% of drivers are willing to go out of their way to visit their favorite c-stores.

Whether it’s regional food, reconnecting with one’s roots or niche interests, travelers have an agenda to live out their personal passions. So, it’s no surprise that passion-tripping is on the rise.

"I'd say that the majority of leisure travelers coming to the 901 are here to explore a passion,” says Rowland Cheeks, Director of Sales, Marketing & Events at Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis. “With passion-led travel, there's a genuine excitement that radiates from the traveler that you just can't emulate.”

The proof is in the pudding. According to new hotel booking data from HotelPlanner, 4th of July getaways are morphing into something more personal, with more than half of the top 25 cities booked this year, like Rochester, New York and Madison, Wisconsin, not even on travelers’ radars in 2024, suggesting road trippers are swapping the usual big-name cities for offbeat locales.

Pics or it didn’t happen, and nothing is more social-media friendly than a quirky roadside attraction. The U.S. is chock full of ‘em, and travelers are going out of their way to see them. One example is Rex, The Orange Dinosaur in Jacksonville, Florida, who originally lived on a miniature golf course but now stands tall on Beach Blvd. Dublin, Ohio is home to the world’s largest field of corn, a public art installation consisting of 109 sculptured ears of corn. For the USA’s oldest surviving roadside attraction, head to Atlantic City to see Lucy the Elephant, a 65-foot tall wooden elephant built in 1882. The 1922-built teapot-shaped gas station, Zillah Teapot Dome in Yakima Valley, Washington, was built as a response to President Warren Harding’s “Teapot Dome Scandal.”

Whether it’s noctourism, where travelers visit destinations for after-dark experiences, or spending time with animals, nature escapes are on the rise. According to data from HomeToGo, nature’s wonders are on the itinerary for 37% of U.S. travelers.

In Fort Worth, visitors can stop by the world’s only daily-twice cattle drive to see 1,500-pound Texas Longhorns marching through the streets of the city’s National Historic Stockyards District. Hoof It Goat Treks in Galena, Illinois provides the opportunity to hike through native prairies with a herd of goats.

It’s not just animal experiences that road trippers seek. More travelers are driving to destinations specifically for dark sky tourism. Places like Moab draw attraction for stargazing, and with the northern lights predicted to be visible more than ever this year, Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park is another hotspot for noctourism.

Road-tripping to see a live show is not a new phenomenon by any means, but it’s a phenomenon that’s here to stay. HomeToGo’s 2025 Travel Forecast found that 42% of U.S. travelers are planning trips centered around live music performances and gigs. Major music events that are driving travelers include Mississippi’s Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, the Cincinnati Music Festival with headliners LL Cool J and Toni Braxton (which coincides with the Black Music Walk of Fame induction), World of Bluegrass in Chattanooga, and simply visiting landmarks like San Antonio’s Stable Hall.

Whether it’s exploring popular spots like Joshua Tree National Park in California, or learning about Indigenous History at Etowah Indian Mounds, a National Historic Landmark in Georgia, if there’s a consistent trend in American road trips, it’s that road trippers love the great outdoors. These spaces are often best explored with an RV. According to a recent study by Pitchup.com, there’s been a 22% increase for retro RV bookings in May compared to last year. Companies like AutoCamp are meshing RV travel with elevated comfort, offering premium Airstreams in locations such as Yosemite National Park, the Catskills and more.

Travelers aren’t only attracted to “green” green spaces, but blue ones, too. Take The ReefLine, for example, a seven-mile underwater sculpture park and hybrid reef off the coast of Miami Beach, a snorkeling and coral reef conservation experience.

In this economy and fragile environment, a good deal and a sustainable way to shop feels like a gift, so it’s no surprise that road trippers are making an effort to antique and thrift. With Gen Zers showing an interest in Y2K fashion, and elder millennials concerned about the environmental impacts of fast fashion, this trend is especially appealing to multi-generational travelers. A city that’s really feeling this uptick is Cleveland, Ohio, home to shops like Paradise Galleria, All Things For You, and Manic Pixie Dream Market.

"In the 8 months we’ve been open, our minds have been blown by how many people we have seen traveling from hours away or even from out of state just to visit,” says Cassie Trainer, co-owner of Cleveland’s Paradise Galleria.

Despite trends ever changing, some things are concrete when it comes to road trippers’ desires, and Route 66 is a prime example.

The Texas Panhandle is one of the most popular options along the route, being home to Adrian, the exact midpoint of Route 66, at 1,139 miles from both Santa Monica and Chicago.

Tulsa is the Capital of Route 66, and subsequently, home to open-air museum Route 66 Historical Village. With Route 66 approaching its 100th anniversary in 2026, St. Louis will be throwing a Route 66 100th Anniversary Festival at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, featuring everything from documentary screenings to car displays.

Some motels along the route are upping the ante while still leaning into nostalgia. High Country Motor Lodge in Flagstaff, Arizona, for example, is a roadside motel that offers craft cocktails and Nordic-inspired wellness.

Many road-trippers want to offset their carbon footprint, and staying at eco-friendly lodges is one of the many ways they can do so. New eco-friendly lodges have been popping up around the country, like Laguna Surf Lodge in Laguna Beach, California, a 41-room hotel with sustainable design and wellness-focused amenities. Some eco-friendly lodges are getting recognition for their efforts, like Dunton Hot Springs in Dunton, Colorado, who became the first existing hotel in Colorado to earn LEED Gold certification under the v4.1 standards, recognizing its water efficiency, minimal energy use, indoor environmental quality, and overall sustainability.

Eco-friendly sleeping spaces go beyond standard hotels and lodges: Streeter Mountain Farm in Dorchester, New Hampshire is a dog-friendly treehouse with solar-powered showers, composting toilets, and weekend farm-to-table meals from the on-site restaurant, Nourish.