The United States is too big for a “top ten attractions” list to hold — but narrow it to Hawaii and the West Coast and volcano, ocean, hill city and Silicon Valley fit onto two lines. Both are built the same way: two bases joined by a single move. Honolulu to Kona is about 50 minutes by domestic flight; San Francisco to Santa Cruz is about 1.5 hours over the hills on CA-17.
This article covers ten spots across those two areas, five in Hawaii and five on the West Coast (New York and the Grand Canyon are not included). ⚠ESTA costs $40.27 (revised January 2026, valid two years) and applications go only through the official esta.cbp.dhs.gov — beware the middleman sites that add a fee. Entry conditions depend on your passport; see the USA Travel Guide (prices and rules as researched in July 2026).
Get the geography first — two areas, two bases each
In Hawaii, four days on Oahu plus four on the Big Island is the golden ratio. ⚠The Big Island is large and the distances between sights are long, so Kona in the west and the volcano park in the south-east belong to different days even though they share an island. The West Coast is built as three days of city plus three of coast.
Five in Hawaii — the beach island, and the volcano island
⚠Adding the Big Island as your second island is this article’s main suggestion. Honolulu to Kona is about 50 minutes on frequent domestic flights, so the cost of moving is surprisingly low — and it adds a living planet to an island of beaches and shopping.
Waikiki breakfast — nothing works better on a jet-lagged body
Nothing works on a jet-lagged body like Waikiki’s breakfast culture. The acai bowl piled with fruit and honey; the malasada from Leonard’s Bakery, in business since 1952 — a fried doughnut brought over by Portuguese immigrants; loco moco and garlic shrimp. Hawaiian food is its own evolution, where plate-lunch culture and immigrant history are mixed together, and grazing alone can dissolve half a day. Give the first morning to it and your body clock resets without a fight (What to Eat in Honolulu).
The Oahu loop drive — the North Shore and the water at Kailua
Day two on Oahu is a loop of the island by rental car. Garlic shrimp on the North Shore, and on the east coast at Kailua, white sand and a water gradient that stay first-class even under cloud. ⚠Green sea turtles haul out at Laniakea Beach in the afternoon, but Hawaii’s turtles are a protected species — keep about 3 m (10 feet) away, and touching or feeding them is illegal.
The manta night snorkel — only off Kona, anywhere on earth
You can do it the same night you land in Kona, about 50 minutes from Honolulu by air. You float on the sea after sunset, and as the underwater lights gather plankton, mantas with a 3–4 m wingspan pass in front of you with their mouths open, turning somersaults — a world-class site with encounter rates said to top 90%. Figure $120–150, and ⚠the popular dates fill early. Most trips include a wetsuit, and there are swimming-ability and age limits, so check when you book. Being able to slot it into your arrival night is efficient as well as remarkable.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park — watching a living planet
The Big Island’s headline act is the World Heritage Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (entry $30 per car, valid 7 days). Steam rises from all over a plain of black lava. ⚠Kilauea has been running intermittent eruption episodes at Halemaumau crater since December 2024, and while activity is on, the glow off the crater can read red at night. ⚠You cannot go up close to the lava; you look down into the caldera from the overlooks. ⚠Activity changes day to day — check the National Park Service site for current eruption status and closures before you visit.
Kona and the lava plains — a sea of black rock that keeps going
The west side of the Big Island is “another planet”: lava plain that does not end however long you drive. Both sides of the highway are a sea of black rock out to the horizon, and a west-facing coastline makes every evening a sunset show. It is also the country of Kona coffee, one of the world’s three great coffees, with farms in the hills you can tour and roast at — the place where you realise the volcano island and the coffee island are the same island. At night, stargaze from the 2,000-metre-class high country: the slopes below Mauna Kea offer some of the finest night skies on Earth, with the Milky Way crisp to the naked eye (Hawaii Two-Island Itinerary).
Five on the West Coast — from a hill city, over the ridge to the sea
Build it as three days of city plus three of coast. San Francisco first, then a rental car to Santa Cruz — about 1.5 hours over the hills on CA-17 — and you arrive in a surf town with a cliff coastline and a vintage amusement park.
Lombard Street and the cable cars — the ride is the sightseeing
Lombard Street, “the world’s crookedest street”, is a brick roadway dropping a 27% gradient through eight hairpin bends. Visiting is free, and from the top Coit Tower and the bay line up in front of you. The thing that turns transport itself into sightseeing is the cable car, running since 1873 — $9 per ride, any distance, and ⚠if you plan to hop on and off, the Visitor Passport ($15 a day via the MuniMobile app) is far better value. ⚠This is the residential neighbourhood of Russian Hill, so keep the residents in mind.
Alcatraz and Fisherman’s Wharf — book it the moment your dates are fixed
Floating beyond the hills is Alcatraz. Getting onto the former federal prison means the official tour from Pier 33 (Alcatraz City Cruises, day tour about $47.95, audio guide included). ⚠Sailings weeks out sell out as a matter of routine, so book the moment your dates are fixed. At Fisherman’s Wharf, where the ferry pier is, do not miss the clam chowder bread bowl at Boudin Bakery, founded in 1849 — the time either side of the island crossing simply becomes the time you eat, so nothing in the route is wasted. At Pier 39 you also get a mass of California sea lions occupying the docks.
Apple Park Visitor Center — visits are now in one place
Heading south to Santa Cruz, if your route passes Cupertino you can fold in a Silicon Valley pilgrimage. ⚠Apple’s old headquarters store at Infinite Loop closed in January 2024, and visits are now consolidated at the Apple Park Visitor Center beside the spaceship campus (free to visit, with store, café and rooftop terrace). Plenty of the merchandise is sold nowhere else, and it drops into a travel day for free, which makes it exactly the right size of detour.
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk — California’s oldest amusement park
Cross the Santa Cruz Mountains on CA-17 and the air changes — Monterey cypress, sandstone cliffs and turquoise water. The face of the town is the Beach Boardwalk, California’s oldest amusement park, opened in 1907: free entry, rides $3–5 each. ⚠Weekends only in the off-season, so depending on the date it may be shut. Along the shore, West Cliff Drive is an unbroken run of cliffs and coves to walk. To move your body, take a kayak out of the harbour — the view from just above the waterline is nothing like a tour boat’s.
Capitola — pastel colours ten minutes away
Ten minutes by car from Santa Cruz. One of the West Coast’s oldest beach resort towns, its pastel cottages lining the lagoon where the river meets the sea. A quiet town of colour right next to the noise of the amusement park — that gap is the argument for giving Santa Cruz a few days (San Francisco & Santa Cruz Itinerary).
By number of days — how far these ten spots go
- 4 days — Oahu only: Waikiki’s breakfast culture and the loop drive. The shape that closes with beaches and shopping
- 8 days — both Hawaiian islands: four days on Oahu plus four on the Big Island is the golden ratio. Mantas the night you land in Kona, the volcano park the following days is the efficient order (Hawaii Two-Island Itinerary)
- A week — the West Coast: three days of city plus three of coast. Cable cars and Alcatraz first, then the rental car south. Apple Park is the stop on the travel day
Three things to settle before you go
- Apply for ESTA officially — $40.27 (revised January 2026, valid two years) for Visa Waiver Program nationalities. ⚠Apply only at the official esta.cbp.dhs.gov, and beware the middleman sites that add a fee (they rank high in search results)
- Book the things that fill first — ⚠the manta night snorkel ($120–150) fills on the popular dates, and Alcatraz should be booked the moment your dates are fixed. Separating “buy later” from “buy now” is what makes the itinerary hold
- Tipping and payment — 15–20% is standard in restaurants, and 10–15% for guides on tours. City transit is cable car $9 a ride, or the Muni Visitor Passport at $15 a day (MuniMobile); you do not need a car in the city. ⚠Guard against smash-and-grab theft from rental cars — never leave anything in the vehicle, and pick your areas after dark
Prices and rules change — ESTA’s fee and Kilauea’s activity in particular. Check officially before you visit. Hawaii is close to best all year, with December to April the humpback whale season; San Francisco stays cool even at the height of summer (the fog is known as Karl), so dress in layers. The country as a whole is laid out in the USA Travel Guide.
