Visit Atlanta, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, Charleston, Hilton Head & Savannah.
Explore the southeastern corner of the USA on our charming Southern Belle Loop road trip. This relatively compact route offers a nicely varied itinerary, including majestic blue mountains, pristine coastline and three of the Deep South’s best cities. Which city and landscape will be your favourite?
Key road trip highlights:
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All of our American road trips can be tailored to meet your requirements. Do you have more or less than 14 days for your road trip? No problem, we can bolt on extra nights to allow more time to explore or shorten the number of destinations as required.
Touch down at Atlanta Airport, collect your wheels, and head northeast briefly before resting up for the night in the serene green space of Stone Mountain Park on the eastern edge of Atlanta. Tomorrow, you’ll start your road trip by cruising up to America’s most visited National Park – the Great Smoky Mountains.
Ridge upon ridge of endless forest straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. This popular National Park is world-renowned for its plant and animal life diversity, its ancient mountains’ beauty, and the remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture. Incredible at any time of year, during the autumn, the Smoky Mountains put on an astounding show of colour for hikers and driving enthusiasts to enjoy.
A second day to explore the Smokies, watch out for incredible wildlife like white-tailed deer, elk, black bears, raccoons, turkeys, woodchucks, and other creatures as you explore. Had enough of the great outdoors? Then, consider heading to nearby Dollywood, the kitsch amusement park founded by the legendary country singer Dolly Parton.
Drive up the famous Blue Ridge Parkway, famed throughout the United States for its stunning scenery. The speed limit rarely exceeds 45 mph on this route, so you won’t get to Asheville quickly. Still, this way, you’ll be more able to easily enjoy the epic scenery as you climb above the clouds and into the Appalachian Mountains.
A full day to explore lovely Asheville. This fast-growing city has Americans moving here in droves, with new arrivals seeking the fabulous mix of a thriving food scene and a picturesque great outdoors. For tourists, highlights include exploring Downtown Asheville, the North Carolina Arboretum and the astounding Biltmore Estate.
It’s time for the fourth stop on this deep south road trip. Today, you’ll leave the Blue Ridge Mountains and head to the South Carolina coastal town of Charleston. Start the day by witnessing the expansive views on show from Chimney Rock; you’ll then use the speedy I-26 to drive down to the adorable and fashionable Charleston. Stop for lunch in Columbia, and if time allows, you can visit Congeree National Park en route too.
Charleston is steeped in Colonial and Civil War history and remains a perfectly preserved and friendly southern belle of a city. Visitors fall in love with the city’s grace, charm and history, which is usually enjoyed in the warmth of the South Carolina climate. The town is in a mini-renaissance, attracting new restaurants and culture into its southern melting pot. Charleston ranks as one of the best cities in America; it’s undoubtedly one of the prettiest, so visiting here is a must for any roadtripper.
Around 100 miles south of Charleston lies Hilton Head Island. A barrier Island filled with various ways to enjoy your holiday time. These joys include nature preserves, golf and beautifully white beaches, often appearing on “America’s Best Beach” lists.
Swimming pool, golf course or the beach – the choice is yours.
There is good news if you were struggling to decide between yesterday’s options. You have a third day to enjoy the golf courses, swimming pools, and gorgeous beaches that cover this 12-mile by 5-mile island.
You’ll return to Georgia today by cruising to Savannah in under an hour. This celebrated city was established in 1733, and thus, it’s packed with history and charm. Once you’ve arrived, you’ll have 48 hours to explore the city’s beautiful squares. As always, we’ll be happy to extend your stay here by an extra night or two if you wish, and that goes for anywhere else on the trip too. Just let us know when you request your personalised quote.
Over 2 square miles of lovingly restored colonial houses and commercial property expertly arranged around 21 of Savannah’s 1-acre squares. It’s a great city to walk around; warm sunshine is usually found here, no matter the time of year. Look out for Forrest Gump whilst you walk, he likes the park benches found here. Just don’t stay too long, otherwise you might become covered in Spanish Moss like the live oak trees that form atmospheric tunnels throughout the area.
Leafy Atlanta is arguably America’s most underrated city. ATL has fantastic visitor attractions and a great vibe, so you’ll want to get there quickly to see and do as much as possible. Your detailed road trip pack will list all the great visitor attractions – how many will tick off?
Atlanta is a fast-growing city that has exploded in size over the last two decades. However, friendly neighbourhoods still exist, and they are lovely to explore. Major shopping malls offer you a chance to hunt down the latest and greatest fashions and gadgets, whilst major visitor attractions provide unique experiences; these include the World of Coca-Cola, CNN Museum, the gigantic Georgia Aquarium and Piedmont Park (pictured).
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You’ll find answers to most of your questions right here. If you still need assistance, Feel free to get in touch, and we’ll be sure to get back to you promptly!
Not a problem. If you are lucky enough to have extra time to explore more places or add more rest days, then just let us know and we’ll adjust your trip to match your preferred timescale.
We strongly advise that you purchase travel insurance for your holiday to cover you against medical expenses, theft and other financial costs. Should you need to cancel before travelling, some insurance policies may pay out for any loss of funds that have been paid to us and which cannot be refunded under our cancellation policy.
Many of our trips have a different end destination than the starting point, so this is not a problem. Please note a fee sometimes applies for one-way rentals between other regions or states, which will be paid to the supplier directly when collecting the vehicle. We’ll endeavour to inform you of this charge within your quote.
No, far from it. We work with a range of properties from 3* to 5*, so we can adapt the trip to match most budgets. We have access to rooms in more than 800 hotels, motels, lodges and B&Bs across North America.
The minimum age to rent a car is 21 in the United States or Canada, although, in addition, any drivers under 25 years of age will generally incur a surcharge.
Please use the form below to request a quote from our team. Fields marked with an * are mandatory. Please note that we currently only serve customers based in the UK & The EU.
Not quite what you’re looking for? Get in touch to discuss your Bespoke Road Trip plans, or check out these similar road trip itineraries…
ARTCo customers can be confident that we only work with the very best service providers, such as Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Alamo. Any payments made to us are fully protected via the government’s ATOL scheme (Flight packages) or Financial Failure Insurance (Non-Flight Packages).
