Road Trip America

Caked Karen

Hey All

Just looking for some info from ye

Few of us looking at some point to do road trip across America and just looking to see if any one has done it.

Plan is [well kinda] to spend a couple of weeks on East Coast going up/down it and then basically zig zag our way up and down the country taking in pretty much everything we can before spending a couple of weeks on the West Coast then

Just looking to get info on it. Looking to rent car, stay in motels etc and just take in the states

Any details would be well appreciated

Thanks
CK

Ponster

Your question is kinda vague. I think that almost everyone and his horse seems to have done the 'ol US road trip at some stage in their lives based on past threads

What exactly would you like to know?

A quick search pulls up lots of threads concerning US trips...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055239119
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055243075
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055221392
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055126728

Caked Karen

Thanks for the links Ponster - i guess i was a little vague alright - i just started typing

Just wondering mainly about motels/accommodation really? also would it cost a fortune to rent a car for all that time [if i did decide to do the 3 months]? would it be better to rent a different one every so often?

Bar the obvious attractions, is there little hidden gems along the route that has to be seen?

Ponster

I think what you need to see is this site


3 months car rental will IMHO cost more than actually buying a car and paying for full insurance. Though buying a car will add a LOT of extra hassle and worry to your trip.

But it will cost you about €700 per month for car hire and that's driving the smallest car available. Your best best is to buy a big, big map of the USA. Lay it out flat and put pins in the places that you want to visit. When you get to a city that you want to spend a few nights in then return the car as opposed to paying for it for the whole time.

With 12 weeks to burn I'd spend 1 week in NYC, 4 days in San Francisco, 4 in Chicago and 4 in New Orleans. I'd easily spend 2 of those weeks in National Parks. So once you figure out this bit you can work out when you'll need to hire a car as it'll probably be cheaper/faster/more interesting to fly between certain locations.



As for hidden gems....You'll have to figure out your route first It's really, really impossible to tell you where to go considering the place but with 12 weeks I'd visit :

Boston
New England
NYC
St. Louis
Chicago
Atlanta
Dallas
Colorado
Vegas
San Diego
San Fran
Washington State
Grand Canyon
Yosemite
Rocky Mountains
.....

rossie1977

i would agree with previous poster, america is a huge country you really need to do research about where you want to go and what you want to see, you will not get it all done in 3 months or see everything you want to see and trust me on this

are you into beaches and hot weather or maybe theme parks, then florida and particular orlando/daytona beach are a must.

if you like the excitement of big cities then NY and Chicago is for you

Washington is a lovely city but one day or maybe two max is long enough.

you could spend the best part of a month treking the back country of national parks like grand canyon, arches, zion, yellowstone, yosemite and bryce

i would include utah (the southern part contains some of americas best scenery and salt lake city and surrounding area is really nice), wyoming and montana

keefg

Ponsters idea is a good one to save you money on car hire, just rent one way.

For example, hire a car in New York to get you to Boston. When you get to Boston you can use public transport, tour buses etc to get around or make sure you stay somewhere close to the action.

The you hire another car to take you to your next city and do it all over again.

Don't forget to include parking costs into your trip if you do decide to keep a car, this can add a huge amount onto the cost of your trip. I have stayed in hotels before (city centre one's) where I was charged 30 bucks a night just to park my car.

Another option is to use the Amtrak network to get you around the country, a much nicer option than flying around the country in a metal tube in my opinion.

The only place I would say you will defo need a car for the entire duration of your stay is when you hit California.


Edit: Oh, and bring a decent SatNav with you

RATM

If you're looking to save money and thinking of hiring a car for 3 months then you'd probably be better off just buying a campervan. The states has loads of RV sites you can stay in and you'll meet some interesting characters there.

Im thinking of doing likewise myself in 2009 and combining it with doing a ski season. Ive seen campervans on ebay for a little as $2000.

Black Swan

Roughly the 48 state continental USA is about 2,800 miles across (not counting another 2,000 miles to Hawaii, and leaving out Alaska) and about 1,800 miles deep, so the idea of rent-a-car or lease one would be very expensive indeed, and a huge time waster! First time visitors from the EU tend to greatly underestimate how large a land area it is, or how long it takes to drive from one place to another. For example, the UK can fit inside the boundaries of California, but few Brits conceive of this.

And fuel prices are going up and up and up, thanks to Bush and his never ending war. I would fly to event-driven places, then rent a car for the immediate vicinity, but no long hauls across country. Return the car to the airport and fly again. The east coast has trains that are not bad, and cheaper than cars or planes. The middle country trains and buses are terrible, as are most of them in California.

There are parts to see that are picturesque, but most of the territory can be pretty boring. For example, the State of Nebraska is roughly 400 miles long and 200 miles wide, and it's pretty much all corn fields during planting and harvesting season, or a snowy tundra during the long winter. Many of the bread basket states are the same, mostly found in the flood plains of the Mississippi River or other mid-country states. Such areas are better seen by day flying over them than driving forever and forever.

As someone mentioned earlier, I would get a map of the USA, a tour book, and target potential attractions that are event-driven. For example, Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota is impressive to see, but by itself, a long distance to travel, and it's in the middle of nowhere. But what if you scheduled the trip to where you could also attend a Lakota Sioux pow-pow nearby, visit a buffalo ranch and eat buffalo burgers, go by the Rosebud Indian Reservation and chat with tribal elders about what it was like during the "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" Native American uprising, smoke a peace pipe with them, and hunt coyote on the Great Plains? You could fly one-way to Rapid City, South Dakota, on Southwest Airlines (or another discounted carrier), rent an airport car for 3, 4, or 5 days, and discover the wild west, before catching another flight to another event-driven location?

Someone earlier mentioned New Orleans? After Katrina, most of the state is trashed, and what is not trashed, is crime infested and impoverished. I wouldn't go there as a tourist, only as a relief worker.

Orlando, Florida, has a lot of theme parks clustered near each other, but really has nothing else to offer. It's very hot and humid during summer months, too... whew! Southern California also has a lot of theme parks, but also the beaches, Hollywood, animal parks, zoos, museums, etc., etc., all within a 120 mile corridor. It also has Catalina Island and the Channel Islands off the coast, and some of the best surfing, sail surfing, and sailing spots in the continental states, like The Wedge near Newport and Balboa beaches. They say you are never more than 2 hours away from the beaches, 13,000 foot mountains, or the desert (but look out for rush hours on workdays!).

Nashville, Tennessee, would be interesting, if you are into country western music, but if not, a big bore... You could book a concert and go see Elvis, too, but don't ask me along for the ride (cause he is very dead!).

St. Louis has this curved arch that's impressive, but that's it folks! Nothing much else there, unless you like looking at miles and miles of farms, so I would give it a pass.

Now, the Hawaiian Islands have real promise, especially if you get off to the ones that don't see many tourists. The surfing is awesome and easy to learn, the beaches are clean, the active Diamond Head volcano is a gas to visit and is safe, unless you happen to own a house in it's path when it slowly flows that way. You can horseback ride, hike, sunbathe, surf, swim, party day-and-night, veg out, you name it! You could leave me there for weeks, and I would still have fun! (if I had money...ha!)

New York and DC are cool, but Chicago is more of the same, unless you are there on St Pat's day near the river (they dye green) and the Miracle Mile (parade), and Rush Street at night to party from sundown to sun-up. By day you can get around Chicago using the "L", which is a train of sorts, but by night it is no longer safe. You can ride if from the airport to the city, and about the city, so no car rentals are necessary (or expensive taxis).

If you go to see Old Faithful or El Capitan, be sure to check way ahead with the US Park Service for availability. In-season can get so crowded that they block new visitors from coming in. Oh, and don't feed the bears. They just might eat you!

San Francisco is a must! Tour the city, do the Golden Gate, check out Ashberry Street, eat at Fisherman's Wharf, go visit Alcatrez Prison Island, then do a tour on a bus of wine country, and taste all the way! Once through there, you might scoot down by train or car rental to Carmel and eat at Clint Eastwood's Hog's Breath Inn (Have a Misty Burger for me please, and "Make my day!"). If you are lucky, you might get to see "Birds" at an old revival cinema too.:eek:

Enough babble! If you have questions, PM me. I'm in So Cal, but have gotten around in the past couple of years.

Ponster

Everything he ^ said but avoid the cess-pitt that is LA

Gegerty

Motels are expensive. $80 a night but are of a very high standard. You'll also need to be very careful and obey the rules of the road, including stopping fully at a stop sign. B@stard cops will pull you over at every oportunity, I'm convinced they check your plates to see you are a rental and enjoy flexing their muscles.