United States Itinerary: 10 Days in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas
Ten days, three Americas: New York’s vertical roar, San Francisco’s fog-wrapped hills on the Pacific, and the desert double bill of Las Vegas neon and the Grand Canyon’s mile-deep silence. One country, three different planets.
United States ranked #3 worldwide with 72.4 million international arrivals (2024, UN Tourism / NTTO). Last reviewed 2026-07-29.
United States · 10 days New York → San Francisco → Las Vegas
Best time: September–October is the sweet spot everywhere on this route: crisp in New York, fog lifting in San Francisco, bearable in the desert.
New York: Statue of Liberty and Ellis IslandDay 1
🏛️9:00 AMStatue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Take the ferry from Battery Park and stand in the great registry hall where twelve million arrivals were processed. Crown access exists but sells out months ahead — pedestal tickets are the realistic play.
🚗 ~26 min · 7.5 mi
🖼️1:30 PMThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Five thousand years under one roof on Fifth Avenue — the Temple of Dendur, arms and armor, and a rooftop over Central Park. Pick three wings; you cannot do it all.
🚗 ~13 min · 3.8 mi
🌆6:00 PMGreenwich Village and SoHo
Brownstone lanes that ignore the grid, jazz basements on MacDougal Street, and the cast-iron loft district next door — downtown at its most walkable.
New York: Brooklyn BridgeDay 2
🏛️9:00 AMBrooklyn Bridge
Walk it from Brooklyn toward Manhattan early in the morning — the skyline builds in front of you the whole way, and you beat the crowds that pack the boards by 10 AM.
🚗 ~17 min · 4.9 mi
🥾1:30 PMCentral Park
Eight hundred forty acres of designed wilderness in the middle of the grid — the Mall, Bethesda Terrace, and Bow Bridge cover the classics in one southern loop.
🚶 ~34 min · 🚗 ~4 min · 1.3 mi
🎟️6:00 PMBroadway show
The theater district is the reason half the world visits. Same-day rush and lottery tickets exist for most shows; otherwise book before you fly and build the evening around it.
New York: Empire State BuildingDay 3
🏛️9:00 AMEmpire State Building
The 1931 original is still the most New York of the observation decks. Go at opening or book the last slot and watch the grid light up.
🚶 ~27 min · 🚗 ~3 min · 1.0 mi
🖼️1:30 PMMoMA
Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Monet’s water lilies, and the century that invented the modern — dense enough that two hours here beats five anywhere else.
🚗 ~11 min · 3.1 mi
🌆6:00 PMLower East Side
The old immigrant gateway turned nightlife quarter — tenement blocks, hundred-year-old delis and pickle shops, and galleries in between.
New York: Grand Central TerminalDay 4
🏛️9:00 AMGrand Central Terminal
The 1913 Beaux-Arts cathedral of rail — the turquoise zodiac ceiling, the whispering gallery by the ramps on the lower dining concourse, and 750,000 people a day moving underneath it.
🚶 ~40 min · 🚗 ~5 min · 1.5 mi
🥾1:30 PMThe High Line
A freight rail viaduct reborn as an elevated garden walk through Chelsea — enter at Gansevoort Street and drift north to Hudson Yards.
🚗 ~8 min · 2.3 mi
🎟️6:00 PMDowntown food walk
A guided graze through the Lower East Side or Chinatown — dumplings, pastrami, and the immigrant history that explains why New York eats the way it does.
Arrive in San FranciscoDay 5
✈️8:30 AMFlight to San Francisco
New York (JFK or Newark) to San Francisco in about 6h30 nonstop. Fly morning and the three-hour time change lands you at midday; sit on the left for the Rockies and the Sierra.
✈️ ~6h30 · 2566 mi
🚋 Muni hop
🏛️2:00 PMGolden Gate Bridge
Walk or bike the east sidewalk from the Welcome Center toward Marin — the fog usually burns off by late morning. The classic photo is from Battery Spencer on the far side.
🚗 ~14 min · 4.0 mi
🌆6:00 PMNorth Beach
The old Italian quarter and Beat Generation home turf — espresso bars, Beat-era bookshops, and Coit Tower on the hill above.
San Francisco: Alcatraz IslandDay 6
🏛️9:00 AMAlcatraz Island
The island prison in the middle of the bay, run by the National Park Service. The cellhouse audio tour, narrated by former inmates and guards, is the best in the business — official ferries from Pier 33 sell out weeks ahead in summer.
🚗 ~11 min · 3.1 mi
🖼️1:30 PMSFMOMA
One of the largest modern art museums in the country — seven floors, a living wall, and deep Californian photography holdings.
🚶 ~19 min · 🚗 ~2 min · 0.7 mi
🎟️6:00 PMChinatown food walk
The oldest Chinatown in North America, best decoded with a guide — dim sum parlors, a fortune cookie workshop alley, and the temple balconies of Waverly Place.
San Francisco: Cable cars and Lombard StreetDay 7
🏛️9:00 AMCable cars and Lombard Street
Ride the Powell–Hyde line over Russian Hill and hop off at the top of the crooked block — a moving national landmark with a bay view from the running board.
🚗 ~18 min · 5.3 mi
🥾1:30 PMLands End
A wild coastal trail inside the city limits — cypress cliffs, shipwreck ruins at low tide, and the bridge appearing around the headland.
🚗 ~19 min · 5.5 mi
🌆6:00 PMMission District
The Latino heart of the city: hundreds of political murals in Balmy and Clarion alleys, Dolores Park’s skyline lawn, and the best burrito blocks in America.
Arrive in Las VegasDay 8
✈️8:30 AMFlight to Las Vegas
San Francisco to Las Vegas in about 1h30 — one of the busiest short hops in the country, with departures all day. A window seat gets you the Mojave and, on the right day, Death Valley.
✈️ ~1h30 · 417 mi
🚕 Short ride
🏛️2:00 PMHoover Dam
The 1935 concrete colossus that made the desert Southwest possible, 45 minutes from the Strip. Walk across the top and the Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman bridge for the full face-on view.
🚗 day trip · 25 mi
🌆6:00 PMThe Strip
Four miles of the most concentrated spectacle on the planet — dancing fountains, a half-scale Eiffel Tower, an Egyptian pyramid, and canals indoors. Walk it at night; it is free theater.
Las Vegas: Grand Canyon South RimDay 9
🏛️9:00 AMGrand Canyon South Rim
A mile deep, ten miles across, two billion years of rock on display. It is a 4.5-hour drive each way — leave before dawn, make it a full day, and walk the Rim Trail between Mather Point and Yavapai for the classic panoramas.
🚗 day trip · 169 mi
🖼️1:30 PMThe Neon Museum
The boneyard where old Vegas signs go to glow again — restored midcentury neon in the open air, each with the story of the casino it came from. If it hooks you by day, an after-dark return shows the signs lit.
🚗 ~17 min · 4.9 mi
🎟️6:00 PMEvening show on the Strip
Acrobatics, magic, or a residency — Las Vegas stages the biggest live productions in the world nightly. Book ahead for weekends and see at least one; it is the city’s true art form.
Las Vegas: Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas signDay 10
🏛️9:00 AMWelcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign
The 1959 googie-style sign at the south end of the Strip — a quick, cheerful pilgrimage with a dedicated parking lot and a permanent photo line.
🚗 ~51 min · 15 mi
🥾1:30 PMRed Rock Canyon
A 13-mile scenic drive through rust-red sandstone half an hour west of the Strip — short trails, desert bighorn sheep, and proof the Mojave was here first.
🚗 ~56 min · 16 mi
🌆6:00 PMFremont Street and Downtown
The original Vegas: vintage neon, a five-block LED canopy overhead, and the restored signs of the Neon Museum’s boneyard nearby — grittier and cheaper than the Strip.
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Best time to goSeptember–October is the sweet spot everywhere on this route: crisp in New York, fog lifting in San Francisco, bearable in the desert. April–May is the runner-up. July–August means Vegas at 40°C+ and peak crowds at the canyon.
Recommended splitNew York 4d · San Francisco 3d · Las Vegas 3d
Local tip: Distances here are not European — the Grand Canyon is a 4.5-hour drive from Las Vegas each way, so treat it as a full day. Book Alcatraz and Statue of Liberty crown tickets weeks ahead, and remember tipping is real: 18–20% at any sit-down meal.
New York — 4 days
New York is the world’s city — the skyline every other skyline is measured against, and the port where a quarter of Americans can trace an ancestor stepping off a boat. Four days covers the icons and still leaves you feeling you only started.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inGreenwich Village and SoHo. Brownstone lanes that ignore the grid, jazz basements on MacDougal Street, and the cast-iron loft district next door — downtown at its most walkable.Lower East Side. The old immigrant gateway turned nightlife quarter — tenement blocks, hundred-year-old delis and pickle shops, and galleries in between.Williamsburg, Brooklyn. One stop across the East River: waterfront parks with the full Manhattan panorama, vintage stores, and the borough’s best food streets.
LandmarksStatue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Take the ferry from Battery Park and stand in the great registry hall where twelve million arrivals were processed. Crown access exists but sells out months ahead — pedestal tickets are the realistic play.Brooklyn Bridge. Walk it from Brooklyn toward Manhattan early in the morning — the skyline builds in front of you the whole way, and you beat the crowds that pack the boards by 10 AM.Empire State Building. The 1931 original is still the most New York of the observation decks. Go at opening or book the last slot and watch the grid light up.Grand Central Terminal. The 1913 Beaux-Arts cathedral of rail — the turquoise zodiac ceiling, the whispering gallery by the ramps on the lower dining concourse, and 750,000 people a day moving underneath it.
Nature and outdoorsCentral Park. Eight hundred forty acres of designed wilderness in the middle of the grid — the Mall, Bethesda Terrace, and Bow Bridge cover the classics in one southern loop.The High Line. A freight rail viaduct reborn as an elevated garden walk through Chelsea — enter at Gansevoort Street and drift north to Hudson Yards.
MuseumsThe Metropolitan Museum of Art. Five thousand years under one roof on Fifth Avenue — the Temple of Dendur, arms and armor, and a rooftop over Central Park. Pick three wings; you cannot do it all.MoMA. Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Monet’s water lilies, and the century that invented the modern — dense enough that two hours here beats five anywhere else.9/11 Memorial and Museum. The twin reflecting voids on the tower footprints, and below them the most sobering museum in the country. Give it time and quiet.
Worth a guided tourBroadway show. The theater district is the reason half the world visits. Same-day rush and lottery tickets exist for most shows; otherwise book before you fly and build the evening around it.Downtown food walk. A guided graze through the Lower East Side or Chinatown — dumplings, pastrami, and the immigrant history that explains why New York eats the way it does.
Getting around New YorkThe subway runs 24 hours and tap-to-pay works at every turnstile — no card to buy. Walk anything under fifteen blocks; you will see more and often arrive faster.
San Francisco — 3 days
Getting here: Flight — New York (JFK or Newark) to San Francisco in about 6h30 nonstop. Fly morning and the three-hour time change lands you at midday; sit on the left for the Rockies and the Sierra.
San Francisco packs a gold-rush port, a countercultural revolution, and the tech capital of the world into seven miles by seven, wrapped in fog that rolls through the Golden Gate like a tide. No American city is more beautiful from a hilltop.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inNorth Beach. The old Italian quarter and Beat Generation home turf — espresso bars, Beat-era bookshops, and Coit Tower on the hill above.Mission District. The Latino heart of the city: hundreds of political murals in Balmy and Clarion alleys, Dolores Park’s skyline lawn, and the best burrito blocks in America.Haight-Ashbury. Ground zero of the 1967 Summer of Love, still in costume — Victorian painted ladies, vinyl and vintage shops, and Golden Gate Park at the end of the street.
LandmarksGolden Gate Bridge. Walk or bike the east sidewalk from the Welcome Center toward Marin — the fog usually burns off by late morning. The classic photo is from Battery Spencer on the far side.Alcatraz Island. The island prison in the middle of the bay, run by the National Park Service. The cellhouse audio tour, narrated by former inmates and guards, is the best in the business — official ferries from Pier 33 sell out weeks ahead in summer.Cable cars and Lombard Street. Ride the Powell–Hyde line over Russian Hill and hop off at the top of the crooked block — a moving national landmark with a bay view from the running board.Ferry Building. The 1898 clock-tower terminal reborn as a food hall of local producers, with a farmers market out front on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Nature and outdoorsLands End. A wild coastal trail inside the city limits — cypress cliffs, shipwreck ruins at low tide, and the bridge appearing around the headland.Golden Gate Park. Bigger than Central Park and stuffed with gardens — the Japanese Tea Garden, bison paddock, and windmills all the way to Ocean Beach.
MuseumsSFMOMA. One of the largest modern art museums in the country — seven floors, a living wall, and deep Californian photography holdings.California Academy of Sciences. An aquarium, planetarium, rainforest dome, and natural history museum under one living roof in Golden Gate Park — the rare museum that earns a half day.
Worth a guided tourChinatown food walk. The oldest Chinatown in North America, best decoded with a guide — dim sum parlors, a fortune cookie workshop alley, and the temple balconies of Waverly Place.Sunset bay cruise. Out under the Golden Gate as the light goes gold, past Alcatraz on the way back — the skyline-from-the-water view the postcards use.
Getting around San FranciscoMuni buses and light rail plus BART cover the city; cable cars are transport and attraction in one. The hills are serious — check the gradient before committing to a walk.
Las Vegas — 3 days
Getting here: Flight — San Francisco to Las Vegas in about 1h30 — one of the busiest short hops in the country, with departures all day. A window seat gets you the Mojave and, on the right day, Death Valley.
Las Vegas is America with the volume knob broken off — a neon city conjured out of the Mojave — and it doubles as the gateway to the Grand Canyon, the one sight on Earth that out-spectacles it. The whiplash between the two is the point.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inThe Strip. Four miles of the most concentrated spectacle on the planet — dancing fountains, a half-scale Eiffel Tower, an Egyptian pyramid, and canals indoors. Walk it at night; it is free theater.Fremont Street and Downtown. The original Vegas: vintage neon, a five-block LED canopy overhead, and the restored signs of the Neon Museum’s boneyard nearby — grittier and cheaper than the Strip.
LandmarksHoover Dam. The 1935 concrete colossus that made the desert Southwest possible, 45 minutes from the Strip. Walk across the top and the Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman bridge for the full face-on view.Grand Canyon South Rim. A mile deep, ten miles across, two billion years of rock on display. It is a 4.5-hour drive each way — leave before dawn, make it a full day, and walk the Rim Trail between Mather Point and Yavapai for the classic panoramas.Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. The 1959 googie-style sign at the south end of the Strip — a quick, cheerful pilgrimage with a dedicated parking lot and a permanent photo line.
Nature and outdoorsRed Rock Canyon. A 13-mile scenic drive through rust-red sandstone half an hour west of the Strip — short trails, desert bighorn sheep, and proof the Mojave was here first.
MuseumsThe Neon Museum. The boneyard where old Vegas signs go to glow again — restored midcentury neon in the open air, each with the story of the casino it came from. If it hooks you by day, an after-dark return shows the signs lit.
Worth a guided tourEvening show on the Strip. Acrobatics, magic, or a residency — Las Vegas stages the biggest live productions in the world nightly. Book ahead for weekends and see at least one; it is the city’s true art form.
Getting around Las VegasThe Strip is walkable but longer than it looks — the monorail and ride-hailing bridge the gaps. For Hoover Dam, Red Rock, and the Grand Canyon, rent a car; it beats any bus option.
The full plan as text
The same day-by-day plan, expandable day by day. Times are starting points, not homework.
Day 1: New York: Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
9:00 AMStatue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Take the ferry from Battery Park and stand in the great registry hall where twelve million arrivals were processed. Crown access exists but sells out months ahead — pedestal tickets are the realistic play.
1:30 PMThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Five thousand years under one roof on Fifth Avenue — the Temple of Dendur, arms and armor, and a rooftop over Central Park. Pick three wings; you cannot do it all.
6:00 PMGreenwich Village and SoHo
Brownstone lanes that ignore the grid, jazz basements on MacDougal Street, and the cast-iron loft district next door — downtown at its most walkable.
Day 2: New York: Brooklyn Bridge
9:00 AMBrooklyn Bridge
Walk it from Brooklyn toward Manhattan early in the morning — the skyline builds in front of you the whole way, and you beat the crowds that pack the boards by 10 AM.
1:30 PMCentral Park
Eight hundred forty acres of designed wilderness in the middle of the grid — the Mall, Bethesda Terrace, and Bow Bridge cover the classics in one southern loop.
6:00 PMBroadway show
The theater district is the reason half the world visits. Same-day rush and lottery tickets exist for most shows; otherwise book before you fly and build the evening around it.
Day 3: New York: Empire State Building
9:00 AMEmpire State Building
The 1931 original is still the most New York of the observation decks. Go at opening or book the last slot and watch the grid light up.
1:30 PMMoMA
Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Monet’s water lilies, and the century that invented the modern — dense enough that two hours here beats five anywhere else.
6:00 PMLower East Side
The old immigrant gateway turned nightlife quarter — tenement blocks, hundred-year-old delis and pickle shops, and galleries in between.
Day 4: New York: Grand Central Terminal
9:00 AMGrand Central Terminal
The 1913 Beaux-Arts cathedral of rail — the turquoise zodiac ceiling, the whispering gallery by the ramps on the lower dining concourse, and 750,000 people a day moving underneath it.
1:30 PMThe High Line
A freight rail viaduct reborn as an elevated garden walk through Chelsea — enter at Gansevoort Street and drift north to Hudson Yards.
6:00 PMDowntown food walk
A guided graze through the Lower East Side or Chinatown — dumplings, pastrami, and the immigrant history that explains why New York eats the way it does.
Day 5: Arrive in San Francisco
8:30 AMFlight to San Francisco
New York (JFK or Newark) to San Francisco in about 6h30 nonstop. Fly morning and the three-hour time change lands you at midday; sit on the left for the Rockies and the Sierra.
2:00 PMGolden Gate Bridge
Walk or bike the east sidewalk from the Welcome Center toward Marin — the fog usually burns off by late morning. The classic photo is from Battery Spencer on the far side.
6:00 PMNorth Beach
The old Italian quarter and Beat Generation home turf — espresso bars, Beat-era bookshops, and Coit Tower on the hill above.
Day 6: San Francisco: Alcatraz Island
9:00 AMAlcatraz Island
The island prison in the middle of the bay, run by the National Park Service. The cellhouse audio tour, narrated by former inmates and guards, is the best in the business — official ferries from Pier 33 sell out weeks ahead in summer.
1:30 PMSFMOMA
One of the largest modern art museums in the country — seven floors, a living wall, and deep Californian photography holdings.
6:00 PMChinatown food walk
The oldest Chinatown in North America, best decoded with a guide — dim sum parlors, a fortune cookie workshop alley, and the temple balconies of Waverly Place.
Day 7: San Francisco: Cable cars and Lombard Street
9:00 AMCable cars and Lombard Street
Ride the Powell–Hyde line over Russian Hill and hop off at the top of the crooked block — a moving national landmark with a bay view from the running board.
1:30 PMLands End
A wild coastal trail inside the city limits — cypress cliffs, shipwreck ruins at low tide, and the bridge appearing around the headland.
6:00 PMMission District
The Latino heart of the city: hundreds of political murals in Balmy and Clarion alleys, Dolores Park’s skyline lawn, and the best burrito blocks in America.
Day 8: Arrive in Las Vegas
8:30 AMFlight to Las Vegas
San Francisco to Las Vegas in about 1h30 — one of the busiest short hops in the country, with departures all day. A window seat gets you the Mojave and, on the right day, Death Valley.
2:00 PMHoover Dam
The 1935 concrete colossus that made the desert Southwest possible, 45 minutes from the Strip. Walk across the top and the Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman bridge for the full face-on view.
6:00 PMThe Strip
Four miles of the most concentrated spectacle on the planet — dancing fountains, a half-scale Eiffel Tower, an Egyptian pyramid, and canals indoors. Walk it at night; it is free theater.
Day 9: Las Vegas: Grand Canyon South Rim
9:00 AMGrand Canyon South Rim
A mile deep, ten miles across, two billion years of rock on display. It is a 4.5-hour drive each way — leave before dawn, make it a full day, and walk the Rim Trail between Mather Point and Yavapai for the classic panoramas.
1:30 PMThe Neon Museum
The boneyard where old Vegas signs go to glow again — restored midcentury neon in the open air, each with the story of the casino it came from. If it hooks you by day, an after-dark return shows the signs lit.
6:00 PMEvening show on the Strip
Acrobatics, magic, or a residency — Las Vegas stages the biggest live productions in the world nightly. Book ahead for weekends and see at least one; it is the city’s true art form.
Day 10: Las Vegas: Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign
9:00 AMWelcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign
The 1959 googie-style sign at the south end of the Strip — a quick, cheerful pilgrimage with a dedicated parking lot and a permanent photo line.
1:30 PMRed Rock Canyon
A 13-mile scenic drive through rust-red sandstone half an hour west of the Strip — short trails, desert bighorn sheep, and proof the Mojave was here first.
6:00 PMFremont Street and Downtown
The original Vegas: vintage neon, a five-block LED canopy overhead, and the restored signs of the Neon Museum’s boneyard nearby — grittier and cheaper than the Strip.
Make this United States trip yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.
Start your free tripFirst trip free. No account, no credit card.