United States

Visa Waiver Program nationalities (the UK, most of the EU, Japan, South Korea, Australia and others) enter on an ESTA, which now costs about US$40 — up from the old US$21 after a 2025 overhaul — and is valid two years for multiple 90-day stays. Apply only at esta.cbp.dhs.gov; the lookalike reseller sites simply overcharge. Travellers from non-waiver countries instead need a B-2 visitor visa, which now carries a new US$250 Visa Integrity Fee — but that fee does not apply to ESTA travellers.

A factual note on the border: entry is always at the CBP officer’s discretion even with a valid ESTA or visa, and officers are legally permitted to search electronic devices at ports of entry. This is uncommon for ordinary tourists, but worth knowing.

The rough rule: at US$100 per person per park, the surcharge overtakes the US$250 nonresident pass at about the third marquee park, so a multi-park Southwest or Rockies trip usually comes out ahead on the pass — a single-park trip does not.

The 11 surcharge parks are Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Zion, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Bryce Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Acadia and Everglades. Hundreds of other national-park-system sites charge only the standard entry (or nothing), and US residents see no change. The exact interaction between the pass and the surcharge is the one piece still settling — confirm on nps.gov for the specific parks on your route.

Turning up without the right reservation can mean being turned away at the gate — but the list changes every year, so this is a 2026 snapshot to confirm on nps.gov, not a permanent rule.

In-park lodges (Yosemite’s Ahwahnee, the Grand Canyon rim lodges, Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn) book out 6–13 months ahead and are the hardest part of the whole trip to secure — reserve them before flights if a specific lodge matters to you.

Treat the US as several trips and pick one. A city week in New York needs no car and barely a plan. The Southwest loop out of Las Vegas is the standout road trip. California strings San Francisco, Big Sur and Yosemite together. The marquee parks deliver wilderness at a scale few countries match — but they’re scattered across a continent, so the one thing that doesn’t work is trying to see them all.

Car-free works in exactly five places: New York, Chicago, Washington, Boston and San Francisco, where transit is good enough to skip a car entirely. Everywhere else — the Southwest, Big Sur, nearly every national park — you need to drive. Amtrak exists but is slow and limited; the one genuinely useful rail is the Northeast Corridor (Acela: New York–Washington–Boston).

The best weather-and-crowd balance is the shoulder seasons — May and September–October — not high summer, when the big parks are mobbed and lots fill by mid-morning. But shoulder has a catch: the high-country roads open late. Yosemite’s Tioga Pass, the Going-to-the-Sun road in Glacier and the Trail Ridge road in Rocky Mountain are often still snow-closed well into June, so a late-spring trip can see the valleys but not the heights.

In the southeast and Florida, factor the hurricane season (June–November). And winter closes much of the high country entirely while opening its own season — ski country, and the desert parks (Death Valley, Joshua Tree) at their most comfortable.

The crowds concentrate on a handful of named sights, not the landscapes themselves — so the fix is the same as it is for a Sardinian beach in the wind: move a short distance and the pressure drops away. The state parks and the second-tier national parks are frequently the better day out in peak season.

• Grand Canyon South Rim is a scrumSkipthe South Rim in peak summerGothe North Rim — higher, cooler, far quieter (but seasonal, typically mid-May to mid-Oct)
• Zion is full and shuttle-queuedSkipmidday Zion CanyonGoCapitol Reef, or Snow Canyon State Park near St George — same red rock, little traffic
• Arches has a queue at the gateSkipArches mid-morningGoCanyonlands (Island in the Sky) and Dead Horse Point, minutes away
• Yosemite Valley is gridlockedSkipthe Valley floor middayGoSequoia & Kings Canyon, or Lassen — giant trees and granite without the crush

The currency is the US dollar, cards are accepted almost everywhere, and two cost habits catch visitors out. Tipping is high and still creeping: ~18–22% at full-service restaurants, plus touch-screen prompts (often preset at 18/20/25%) now appearing at counters and takeaways — check the preset and whether it’s on the pre-tax total. And sales tax is added at the register, varying by state and city (from zero to ~10%+), so the sticker price is never the final price; hotels add their own taxes and sometimes resort fees.

The one non-negotiable: travel/health insurance. US medical costs are extreme and there’s no safety net for visitors — an ER visit or an evacuation can run to tens of thousands of dollars — so proper cover is essential, not optional, for this trip.

Rough tipping map beyond restaurants: bars ~$1–2 a drink, taxis/rideshare ~15%, housekeeping a few dollars a night, and nothing expected at counter-service you’d tip on a card prompt — those are discretionary despite the screen.