Travelling in USA

crackity_jones

Hi there,

I am at this moment starting to plan a world-trip of sorts.

Part of this trip will hopefully include a little tour across
the US of A. This tour will last as long as I'm allowed to stay
(3 months I assume) and I will most likely start on the East
coast and head west.

At this moment I am planning to travel west through the
southern states, travel north along the west coast and
maybe drop into Chicago and the surrounding regions on
the way back. Perhaps I might head north into Canada at
some stage.

I had a notion some time back about completing the trip
on the Amtrak but I've read in several places that air travel
can be as cheap as train travel and there are surely parts of
the country which are not ideal for crossing by train.

Has anyone ever taken a trip such as this before? Perhaps
part of it. Is it worth my while spending three months in the
country to start with?

These days most people seem to be flocking to Australia/New
Zealand and the Far East. Cost is surely a factor in this decision
but what with the euro/dollar exchange being what it is right
now and what with the US being the hot topic of conversation
in (most) debate I feel it's a good time to check the place out.

Thanks in advance for any pointers/advice.

CJ

Tom Dunne

While I have no experience of Amtrak, I have travelled to most of the western US (cars and planes only) . One pointer I would give is that there isn't too much in central US - the east/west/south are the places to see. Flights can be cheap, but another very important point is that the vast majority of airlines will not take a credit card issued outside the US, so you may not be able to book online (Alaska Airlines is one that springs to mind as taking Irish credit cards - they fly mostly the North Western US, as you would expect).

Sights I would recommend - The Grand Canyon (Arizona), Las Vegas (Nevada), San Francisco (can't miss it), actually, the whole of California is worth seeing. If you are heading up North West, check out Seattle and on into Vancouver in Canada.

There is certainly enough to keep you occupied for three months.

crackity_jones

Hey Tom,

It's quite interesting that American airlines won't take credit cards
issued outside the U.S. I take it you just get your ass into the travel
agent? It's something of a pain not being able to book online. I
guess my laptop is not going to get as much use as I thought.

I have been told that central America is not the most interesting
place in the world. I am rather interested in seeing Texas though.
And New Orleans is another must visit.

Another question would be what is the best time of the year to visit the
southern states? I would hope to land early next year (Feb/Mar).
Would the southern states be managable at that time? That is weather
wise.

Finally, I will be travelling solo. Is it practical to hire a car at some
stage of the trip. What are hire rates like? I know fuel prices are
lower than here but that's not much good if I'm going to spend a
packet on the car itself.

Thanks!

P.S. Love the show.

hussey

CJ - I'm pretty much doing the exact same as you :
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Simple_Copy_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1081442673945&ssid=296
you can buy tickets for unlimited 30 day train travel - you can buy this in trailfinders

also some routes are not very accessable via train - esp near mountains.
one example is Atlanta to nashville - Train is 10hrs, bus is 5!!!!

Flying can be cheap - depending on the city
but it's hard to book flights without a US credit card

Ruu_Old

take the amtrak, its plenty comfortable and reliable. Flying can be cheap at times but not very often.

Tom Dunne

crackity_jones wrote:

Finally, I will be travelling solo. Is it practical to hire a car at some
stage of the trip. What are hire rates like? I know fuel prices are
lower than here but that's not much good if I'm going to spend a
packet on the car itself.

Yes, car hire is fairly cheap, bear in mind if you are under 25, they may not give you a car or best case put a surcharge on the cost. I have driven quite a bit of western US, almost all of California, Arizona, some of New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and up into Canda - a car is certainly the way to see America.

crackity_jones wrote:

P.S. Love the show.

Why, thank you

por

If you are going to drive a good route would be south to Savannah, GA, across to New Orleans, up to Memphis (Graceland) then across Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico to the Grand Canyon and on to Cal.
Then up to Seattle and across the Rockies through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota on to Chicago area, wonderful scenery on that route and some interesting sites like yellow stone national park, the General Custer battleground and Mt Rushmore. Madison, WI is also a lovely town. If you are from Cork you might be interested in the old mining town of Butte, Montana, it’s now a bit of a dump but 100 years ago it had the largest concentration of Irish people in the US, most of them from West Cork.
If you are traveling on from Chicago to the east coast you will pass Sandusky, OH, which has the largest concentration of roller coasters in 1 park but I thing it only opens around May, Niagara Falls, (go to the Canadian side the US side is a dump) and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Weather wise that time (Feb/Mar) of year you could get anything in the south and east, they can have some bad snow storms in Jan, Feb time particularly in the mountainous areas of Virginia and Tennessee, the same is true across the top from Seattle.

Petrol is about a quarter the price it is here in Ireland. Car rental can be cheap but shop around, if it is long term you could get some deals

A good book to have a look at is Road Trip USA, it covers classic US routes, that don’t include highways, details are on Amazon

Enigma365

I travelled from Boston to San Francisco in Summer 2003 for eight weeks, with two friends. It was one of the best experiences in my life and I'd highly recommend travelling in the US.

We travelled by Amtrak which has the advantages of being cheap and very comfortable. The disadvantages are that Amtrak is very slow, infrequent and has a somewhat limited route map.

Greyhound Bus is only slightly cheaper, is much less comfortable and has a reputation for being rough.

My advice would be to get a car, if you can, but if not travel by train.

Travelling by plane would mean you would miss out on all the great scenery between cities and I would not recommend doing that.

We travelled basically from Boston-NY-D.C.-Alabama-New Orleans-Missouri-New Mexico-Arizona-California. My recommendations would be the northeast(Boston/NY/DC), the South and especially California. Grand Canyon is cool too.

Oh and with regard to heat. We travelled in the South in July and it is pefectly bearable - (although it is one f***ing hot country). In fact the worst place for heat in the whole trip was New York City - that was the first week though so we prob got used to the heat after that.

crackity_jones

Hi Enigma,

I was sure this thread had run its course. Thanks for the tips.

One more question would be in relation to accommodation. What are
the options in the U.S. as regards availability and price? I'm not talking
camp sites, but not 5 star either. Dingy motels and hotels I guess.

Cheers.

Ruu_Old

the travelodge is fine, cheap and affordable. i think its around 35-50 dollars a night. at least thats what it is at this part of the country. Super 8 is a little bit better than that, probably similar in price. best of luck anyway

navymp3

Check out this site it may be some help in getting around the U.S.
http://www.usatourist.com/english/tips/

Just to note: cost in the U.S. varies when travelling. While Amtrak can be costly, there is bus service(Greyhound) as well, this of course takes a bit longer to get from place to place, but cheaper!

Enigma365

The 30 day unlimited nationwide amtrak pass is barely more expensive than the 30 day unlimited nationwide greyhound bus pass.

Accomodation in the US is not too expensive. Chain motels can be found in every town, big or small. Travelodge, Motel 6, Econolodge, Super 8, Days Inn Ramada are a few. They are all nationwide chains and thus have a guaranteed standard of clean and comfortable rooms(and a guarantee of absolutely no character).

Motels cost around $50 or $60 for a room in the Summer but are cheaper in Winter(check their websites). Motels usually only charge $5 extra per person so motels work out really cheap if you are travelling with 1-3 other people.

The stereotype of dingy privately owned motels with disgusting rooms, does not really exist. Like everything else in America, the motel market is dominated by large nationwide franchise-chains.

Final piece of advice is that motels are usually to be found on the highways in and our of town and can be difficult to get to when you don't have a car(never impossible though).

Ulita

I've travelled all over the USA in the summer of 2003, visited 25 states. The most spectacular ones are CA, AZ, NY, UT, FL, WA. You can buy a pass for like some period of a year on the Greyhound bus and travel wherever you like. It's several times cheaper than the airline ticket and it provides you with the possibility of seeing some small nice places that many people don't know of, for example: the Navago or some other nationalities. Amtrack is not a very good idea, though it has enormously big windows and you are having an idea that you are not on the train, but go by your foot. The tickets are high, many Americans don't like trains. As a result, Amtrack is getting red.
Have a good journey! America worths it!

irlirishkev

I'm just back from a trip to the States. I did Memphis/Nashville/Tupelo/New Orleans/New York.

I'd go back to Memphis in a shot. Not just because I'm an Elvis fan, but because it's a cool place.

I got the Amtrak to New Orleans from Memphis, and I have to say I would recommend it. It's comfortable, fast, quiet, and safe. Don't get the Greyhound, it's hell on wheels!
New Orleans is worth a visit aswell, although I wasn't impressed with Bourbon St. at all. In general it's a nice place though.

K.