This past week the family and I had the opportunity to roadtrip through Georgia’s stunning mountains while test driving the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser. Not only did we find some incredible gems for you to add to your bucket-list – but we also have the inside scoop on why this car is the ideal choice for fellow adventure lovers.
About the Vehicle
If you’re unfamiliar with the Toyota Land Cruiser, it’s a 4 wheel drive power house that is designed for both urban and off-roading exploration. It’s currently offered in 7 colors and the one we got to flaunt for the week was the Heritage Blue / Grayscape finish.
As travel enthusiasts with a knack for off-the-beaten path itineraries, this car couldn’t be a better fit for our lifestyle. Highlighted below are a few key features about the vehicle to help you understand what we mean.
Safety Tech:
As parents, safety is always the number one priority for our family. The Land Cruiser is packed with a great line up of tech that definitely provides a peace of mind. The safety features include integrated cameras for both backing up and front cross traffic alerts, as well as blind spot monitors that warn you when vehicles are approaching. If you decide to go off roading, there’s also a Multi-Terrain Monitor that provides warnings for potential obstacles including underneath the vehicle – I mean how cool is that?!
For children specifically, the vehicle also features child protection with controlled door & window locks, 3 point seatbelts and child-seat tethers.
Our Land Cruiser was also equipped with Toyota’s 3.0 Safety Sense that includes: Cruise Control, Driving Assist, Automatic High Beams and more you can learn about HERE.
Drive Modes:
There are 3 drive modes to choose from in the Land Cruiser that can easily be changed with the click of a button. Normal mode is a mixture of fuel economy and performance. Sport mode is for when you’re prioritizing acceleration and Eco mode helps you to fully maximize your efficiency and fuel by adjusting the throttle input.
For our drive we primarily stayed in Normal mode with a few occasional shifts to Eco when we had longer stretches on the highway. This paired with the Hybrid Engine helped us save an insane amount of fuel. For context, we explored around 250 miles and still had a quarter of a tank.
Interior & Favorite Features:
With the primary functions covered, let’s now get into some of our favorite features! There’s quite a few things we loved about this car, especially for road tripping! The first being the Console Cool Box that helped to keep our drinks and sandwiches cold throughout the day. There’s also no shortage of chargers between the multi ports in the front & rear along with a wireless charging pad up front. The amount of space in the second row is also super impressive – even for my 6′ 2″ husband!
The trunk also offers a generous amount of room leaving plenty of space for suitcases, camping gear or groceries. We also really appreciated the design for easy access to our gear via the rear window.
Where We Explored
With comfort checked off the list, it was time to explore a few hidden gems in the area! In our 4 day trip we managed to squeeze in quite a bit with these being our favorites:
- Mountain Coaster | Helen, Georgia
A self-controlled mountain coaster that’s a blast for all ages. The ride lasts about 5 minutes or so and the company offers 50% off for your second go around. We couldn’t resist going on twice!
2. Alpine German Town | Helen, Georgia
This Bavarian themed town is actually right across the street from the coaster so it’s a great day trip destination to spend a few hours at. The town is home to German themed restaurants, shops and even river tubing.
3. Consolidated Gold Mine | Dahlonega, Georgia
If you love history and adventure then this is the perfect activity for you! This gold mine is one of the oldest in the U.S and gives you the opportunity to explore 200 feet below ground plus pan for gold.
4. Chestatee Outlook | Lumpkin county, Georgia
The Chestatee Outlook is located in the Chestatee National Forest. The drive up outlook is easy to access from the main road with the option to park and explore trails as well. We parked the Land Cruiser here and caught some really great footage of the mountains.
5. Downtown | Dahlonega, Georgia
Last but not least we have Downtown Dahlonega that we especially recommend visiting as night during the holiday season. This quaint town is known for its charming holiday lights and was even used as a set location to film several Hallmark Movies.
A Huge Thanks
Big thank you to our friends at Toyota for sponsoring our road-trip with this fantastic Land Cruiser loan. If you’re interested in learning more about Toyota’s offerings, check out their site HERE or feel free to shoot us a comment about our experience!
til next time,
*This post is kindly sponsored by Toyota. All opinions are genuine and my own.
