How much does a 2-week trip to the USA cost from the UK? A realistic budget covering flights, hotels, car hire, food, ESTA, insurance and activities.
How much does a 2-week trip to the USA cost from the UK? A realistic 2026 budget covering flights, hotels, car hire, food, ESTA, insurance and activities.
NORTH AMERICABUDGET
4/21/20269 min read
If you’re planning a family trip and asking “how much does a 2‑week holiday to the USA actually cost from the UK?”, this is one of the biggest questions to get clear before you commit.
This guide is for UK families trying to understand the real cost of travelling to America, including flights, hotels, car hire, food, ESTA, insurance and activities — not just the headline prices.
Quick Answer: What Does a 2-Week USA Trip Cost?
From our experience and current 2026 prices, a realistic budget for a 2‑week trip to the USA from the UK is around £1,800–£3,500+ per person.
Most families won’t land at the very low end — a mid-range trip is far more typical once everything is factored in. The biggest mistake is thinking it’s just about flights and hotels. In reality, it’s a full cost breakdown, where things like food, tipping, activities and transport build up day by day.
Our estimates are based on real family trips across very different parts of the USA, which gives a more accurate picture of what to expect.
In summer 2024, we:
flew into Denver
road-tripped through the Colorado Rockies
continued to Mount Rushmore
then finished in New York City
In Easter 2026, we:
road-tripped through the Everglades and Florida Keys
spent time in Miami
and then moved into Universal Orlando, Volcano Bay and Discovery Cove
These are very different trips, but together they show what families should realistically budget for when planning a two-week USA holiday from the UK, whether you’re doing a road trip, theme parks, or a mix of both.
If you’re still deciding if the USA is the right destination, Is the USA Good for School-Aged Children? explains why it works so well for families.
In this guide, we break down:
the real cost of travelling to the USA from the UK
where the biggest costs come from
and how to plan your budget without underestimating what you’ll actually spend
Some of the links in this guide are affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you book through them — at no extra cost to you. We only recommend experiences, tools and services we’ve personally used and genuinely found useful when planning our own trips.
The Big Cost: Flights
Flights are usually the single biggest cost for a US trip. Prices vary widely depending on destination, airline and time of year, but as a general guide for return economy flights from London:
New York: £400 – £700 per person
Florida (Orlando / Tampa): £450 – £800 per person
Denver : £500 – £900 per person
California: £500 – £950 per person
School holidays and direct flights can drive cost, so families travelling during peak periods should expect to sit towards the upper end of the range. One way to reduce costs is to consider nearby airports rather than the most obvious destination.
For example, on our Florida trip we flew into Tampa, which was significantly cheaper than flying directly into Orlando, and then drove the rest of the way. A short additional drive can sometimes lead to noticeable savings on flights.
Our best advice to keep costs down is book early, compare airports and use a price comparison site like Trip to find the best prices.
Car Rental (essential in the USA)
For many US trips, particularly road trips, car rental is essential. We normally do a price comparison through Trip, which allows you to compare multiple rental companies in one place.
Typical daily rental costs are roughly:
Compact car: £35 – £55 per day
Mid-size SUV: £50 – £80 per day
Large SUV / family vehicle: £80 – £140+ per day
For a two-week trip this usually means £500 – £1,100 total, depending on the vehicle size and insurance package.
For more information on driving in the US, and importantly relating to cost how to manage tolls, see our guide to Driving in the USA: What Europeans Need to Know Before a Road Trip.
Hotels and Accommodation
Accommodation costs vary dramatically depending on location.
A rough guide for current prices:
Roadside motels: £70 – £120 per night
Mid-range hotels: £140 – £250 per night
Major cities like NYC: £250 – £450+ per night
Theme park hotel with fast passes £600 - £800 a night
One option that can work very well for families is renting a house.
During our Florida trip we stayed in a large private home booked through Hotels.com, which is quite common in the Orlando area.
We paid £1,355 for one week for a family of three, sharing a 10-bedroom home with three families. The property included a pool, games room and full kitchen, which made it excellent value compared with booking several hotel rooms.
Activities and Tours
Activity costs vary widely depending on the type of trip but can take up a significant chunk of the trip budget.
Typical activity prices might include:
Airboat tours in the Everglades: £40 – £60 per person
Rafting or zip lining: £60 – £70 per person
Snorkelling in the Florida Keys £50 – 60 per person
Helicopter tour of Mount Rushmore: £100 – £150+ per person
US sky scraper £30 – 50 per person
Theme parks are a major cost in Florida. Typical ticket budgets are roughly:
Universal Studios / Islands of Adventure: £300 – £600 per person depending on ticket type, if you want fast passes that is around £100 extra a day per person.
Discovery Cove: £180 – £260+ per person depending on experienced included
For families visiting several parks, theme park tickets can easily reach £700 – £1,200 per person. Prices vary dramatically across the year, one piece of advice is trying to tag tickets on to Black Friday deals in November can levy some savings.
How much spending money do you need when in America?
If you assume you have pre paid for your activities and tours before you go the main expenses left are food costs and perhaps some souvenirs and outlet shopping. We spent around £250 at the outlets during our recent visit to Florida, we did not spend much on souvenirs.
This will vary between families so I recommend you set a budget before you go, it helps to give the kids their own budget to spend on souvenirs ($30 - 50 works well) and let them be in charge (then when its gone, its gone!).
Food Costs
Food costs depend heavily on how often you eat out. Typical daily food budgets might look like this:
Eating out regularly
Adults: £40 – £70 per day
Children: £20 – £35 per day
Mix of restaurants and self-catering
Adults: £20 – £35 per day
Children: £10 – £20 per day
Self-catering can be easy in the US. Many places we have stayed offered BBQ facilities, which was a fun and surprisingly authentic way to cook meals during a road trip. Alcohol can significantly increase food spending, so it is worth budgeting separately.
How much cash do you need for 2 weeks in America?
Although most places accept cards, it is still useful to carry some cash for tips and small purchases. Tipping is expected in many situations in the US, particularly in restaurants, which we explain in more detail in Tipping in America Explained for British Families.
We noticed tipping culture was especially strong in New York City, where it often felt expected even when the service was not particularly good. Outside major cities it felt less noticeable.
On our recent trip to the Florida we used less than £100 in cash across the whole 2 week trip, all that was used on tipping.
It’s also sensible to think about how you protect your money when travelling. After experiencing card fraud ourselves during a trip, we now take extra precautions, which we explain in Credit Card Safety Abroad: How Mine Was Cloned
Essential Extras
There are several costs families often forget when budgeting for a US trip.
ESTA
All UK travellers must apply for an ESTA travel authorisation before entering the United States. This currently costs around $40 per person and is required for adults and children. Our full guide explains this in more detail in ESTA, Visas & Entry Rules for UK Families Visiting the USA.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is essential when visiting the US because healthcare costs are extremely high. We recommend Just Travel Cover, which compares multiple insurers so you can choose the policy that best fits your trip.
A two-week worldwide family policy typically costs £80 – £250+, depending on ages and medical history. You can read more in Travel Insurance for the USA: What Families Should Know Before Travelling.
eSIM or Mobile Data
Many families now use an eSIM for mobile data. Expect to pay around £20–£25 for two weeks of data. Without an eSIM, UK roaming charges can reach £5 per day, so this is often a worthwhile saving.
Airport Parking
Airport parking can vary significantly depending on the airport and time of year. Booking early can make a noticeable difference.
For example:
Gatwick Easter 2026: £77 (long stay)
Heathrow Summer 2024: £250 (long stay)
So How Much Should You Budget?
Based on our trips and typical travel costs in 2026, a rough guide for a two-week US trip from the UK would be:
Budget trip:
£1,800 – £2,400 per person
Mid-range family trip:
£2,500 – £3,500 per person
Theme park or big city trip:
£3,500 – £4,500+ per person
Final Thoughts for budgeting a 2 week family trip to the United States of America
A two-week trip to the United States is rarely a cheap holiday, but it offers an incredible variety of experiences for families.
Whether you are road-tripping through national parks, exploring major cities like New York, or visiting the theme parks of Florida, the key is planning your budget carefully and allowing for the extra costs such as ESTA fees, insurance and activities. With realistic expectations, the USA can deliver one of the most memorable family trips you will ever take.
FAQs: Cost of a 2‑Week USA Trip from the UK
How much does a 2‑week trip to the USA cost from the UK for a family?
From our experience, a realistic mid-range budget is around £3,000–£3,500 per person, depending on destination and travel style.
For a family, this usually means:
£9,000–£14,000+ total
The largest costs are flights, accommodation and activities — but day-to-day spending adds up quickly.
For the exact costs of our Florida trip, see: How Much Does 2 Weeks in Florida REALLY Cost for UK Families?
How much spending money do you need for 2 weeks in the USA?
A typical guideline is £20–£40 per person per day, depending on how you travel.
This covers:
food
tipping
small activities and extras
You can reduce this by cooking more or staying in a villa, or increase it if you eat out regularly.
For an overview of the cost of tipping as part of a US trip, see: Tipping in America Explained for British Families
Is the USA expensive compared to other family holidays?
Yes — especially from the UK.
The USA tends to be:
more expensive than European holidays
similar to other long-haul destinations
but higher once you include tipping, activities and transport
What makes the difference is how much you choose to include.
What makes the biggest difference to the cost of a USA trip?
From our experience, the biggest factors are:
how many paid activities (e.g. theme parks, tours) you include
your accommodation choice (hotel vs villa)
and how often you eat out
The base trip is expensive — but those decisions are what move it up or down significantly.
For a more detailed overview of budgeting accommodation in the US you can see:
Is it cheaper to do a road trip or stay in one place?
It depends.
A road trip adds:
car hire, fuel, and tolls
multiple accommodation stops
But it can also reduce:
theme park spending
and give more variety
For us, combining both worked best.
For a specific breakdown of our US road trip to Mount Rushmore, see: How much does it cost to visit Mount Rushmore from the UK?
verses our City break to NYC: How Much Does a Family Trip to New York Cost from the UK?
What’s the biggest budgeting mistake UK families make?
Underestimating the smaller costs.
Flights and hotels are easy to plan, but things like:
tipping
snacks
parking
add-on activities
quickly add up over two weeks.
plan your next us FAMILY road trip
If you’re planning a US family road trip, these are the key guides that will help you pull everything together.
About Plan Family Escapes
We’re a UK-based family sharing real, experience-led travel guides based on trips we’ve taken with our school-age son Joshua across destinations like Lapland, Turkey and India.
Everything we share is based on what we’ve personally experienced — with honest advice on what actually works when travelling with kids, focusing on making family travel easier, more comfortable and genuinely enjoyable.
