Maybe in the old days the cowboys and cowgirls got around fine on horseback and in covered wagons but if you are visiting the western USA today, car hire will typically play an important role in helping make your dream holiday happen.

Built for cars

The first thing you notice when driving around most parts of the western USA, is just how much effort has been put in to making it easy to use your car on a day-to-day basis.

Okay, there may be a few exceptions such as the city centres of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Seattle, however, most other western towns and cities are not only easy to drive into but also to park in.

Many restaurants, diners, coffee shops and hotels/motels have excellent parking facilities and the motorist is typically regarded as an ordinary traveller rather than a nuisance.

The interstate highway system is excellent and although speed limits are typically lower than is the norm in many European countries, they will still speed you quickly between major locations.

It goes without saying that petrol/gas is still considerably more attractively priced than it is in much of the rest of the world and this makes driving a very cost-effective method of getting from A to B in the USA.

No longer all gas-guzzlers

The USA has undergone a quiet revolution over recent decades in terms of its attitude towards motor vehicles.

Although many American vehicles are still larger and contain bigger engines than their average European or Japanese counterparts, nevertheless, modern-day US car hire vehicles tend to have far more in common with vehicles elsewhere in the world than was the case even a few years back.

Of course, automatic transmission remains the norm and the column change may take a minute or two to get used to but there is no doubt that when cruising over the huge US distances, automatic transmission and cruise control does make things a lot easier.

Driving the dream

If you really want a classic experience, try the coastal route drive between San Francisco and Los Angeles and take in not only some stunning scenery but also be able to stop off in some truly beautiful little coastal towns that seem to have hardly changed from their Art Deco heyday.

Car hire in the USA may be surprisingly modestly priced when compared to some other parts of the world, so if your budget will stretch to it (which it may do if you find some of the best car hire deals around) a convertible may enable you to take in some of the true Californian atmosphere.

Inevitably, the best car hire deals for you may not be the same as the best for someone else, so shopping around and getting your car hire set up before you go, may be advisable.