Budget for tax and tip on top of prices
The price on the menu is not what you pay: sales tax is added at checkout and tipping 18-22% in restaurants is effectively mandatory. Mentally add about 30% to any restaurant price to avoid surprises.
ReisgidsLaatst bijgewerkt August 19, 2026
USA Travel Guide: Essentials, Local Tips & Mobile Data
Plan your USA trip: tipping culture, transport realities, when to visit, traveler tips, and how to get affordable mobile data with an eSIM.
The United States is less a single destination than fifty of them: the skyline of New York, the national parks of Utah and Arizona, the music cities of Nashville and New Orleans, the Pacific Coast Highway and everything in between.
Distances are the thing first-time visitors underestimate. Flying between regions is normal, cities outside the Northeast are built around cars, and a two-week trip is better spent on one or two regions than on a coast-to-coast sprint.
Food is regional in a way first-timers underestimate. New England clam shacks, Texas barbecue, New Orleans po'boys, California produce, and diner coffee at 6am are different countries that happen to share a currency. Eat what the place is famous for and skip the national chains you already know.
Build the trip around one story: a national-park road trip, a city-and-coast pairing, or a music-and-food crawl. The USA rewards depth. The visitors who leave exhausted are usually the ones who treated it like a continent-sized scavenger hunt.
Essentials
Reisessentials voor United States
- Valuta
- US Dollar (USD). Cards accepted everywhere; listed prices exclude sales tax.
- Talen
- English; Spanish widely spoken in many regions.
- Stekkertype
- Type A / B, 120V.
- Noodnummer
- 911
- Beste reistijd
- May to September for national parks; September to November for the big cities.
- Fooi
- Expected: 18-22% in restaurants, a dollar or two per drink at bars. It is a real part of workers' income.
- Tijdzone
- Spans UTC-5 (Eastern) to UTC-10 (Hawaii).
- Kraanwater
- Safe to drink nationwide; free refills are standard.
- Vervoer
- Rent a car outside major Northeast cities. Domestic flights are the practical way to cover long distances.
- Internet en dekking
- Good LTE/5G in cities and along interstates; expect dead zones in remote parks and deserts.
Reizigerstips
Tips van mede-reizigers
Echt advies van mensen die in United States zijn geweest, geselecteerd door ons team met links naar de oorspronkelijke bronnen.
Do not try to see it all
The distances are enormous - Los Angeles to New York is like Lisbon to Moscow. Pick one region per trip. A week in the Southwest parks or in New England beats three days each in four time zones.
Reserve national parks early
Popular parks like Yosemite, Zion and Glacier now use timed-entry reservations in peak season, and in-park lodges sell out close to a year ahead. Check recreation.gov as soon as your dates are set.
Free tap water and free refills are real
Ask for tap water and you get a full glass, then usually a refill, at no charge. Soft drinks work the same way. It is one of the few reliably generous things about American dining — use it.
City transit is excellent in a handful of places and optional everywhere else
New York, Chicago, Boston, DC and San Francisco have transit you can live on. Most other cities assume a car or a rideshare. Budget Uber as a line item, or rent a car the morning you leave the walkable core.
FAQ
Reisvragen over United States, beantwoord
Will my foreign phone work in the United States?
Almost certainly, if it is unlocked and supports eSIM - iPhone XS or newer, Pixel 3 or newer, or Galaxy S20 or newer. Modern phones handle the US LTE and 5G bands well, so an eSIM connects you to the same networks locals use.
How much data do I need for a US trip?
More than in most countries: rideshares, mobile boarding passes, park reservations and navigation across big distances add up fast. Budget 2-3 GB per day, or pick an unlimited plan for road trips where your phone doubles as the car's navigator.
Is there mobile coverage in the national parks?
Coverage is strong in cities and along interstates but genuinely absent in large parts of parks like Yosemite, Zion and Glacier, and across remote desert stretches. Download offline maps before you drive in and treat in-park signal as a bonus, not a given.
Should I buy a prepaid SIM in the US instead of an eSIM?
US prepaid SIMs are surprisingly expensive and usually require a store visit with ID. A travel eSIM costs less, is set up before you land, and skips the retail detour entirely - useful when your first hours are spent clearing immigration and finding transport.
Can I hotspot my laptop with a travel eSIM in the US?
Most travel eSIM plans allow tethering, which is handy for hotel rooms with weak Wi-Fi and long train or car rides. Check the plan details before buying if hotspot use is important to you, as a few unlimited plans throttle it.
eSIM-bundels
Blijf verbonden in United States
With rideshares, mobile boarding passes and park reservation apps, the US assumes you are online at all times. An eSIM with a generous data allowance costs far less than international roaming and works the moment you clear immigration.
Park timed-entry, airline apps and turn-by-turn driving through a state you have never seen all assume a working connection. Roaming from overseas plans is brutal here. An eSIM is the cheaper, calmer way to land and just go.
