American road trip

[pren]

Hi guys.

Me and the lady have been wanting to 'do' America for a while and have decided to go next summer. We've got some friends living in Cleveland, OH so we're going to stay with them for a bit.

We want to have a bit of a tour round the states seeings as domestic air/rail travel is pretty cheap (compared to the UK anyway). We're after a bit of everything, really. Cities, nightlife, scenery, tourist traps...

So far the vague plan goes: Ohio > Toronto, Canada (Niagra Falls) > New York > Chicago > Washington > San Fransisco (Alcatraz, Mythbusters, GreenDay) > New Mexico (stay with my cousin) > Florida > Ohio.

Basically a circuit of the 'perimeter'.

We're looking for things to do in each of these places or nearby so if anyone's done this or has any suggestions, they'd be gratefully recieved!

We don't have a huge amount of cash, so we're on a medium sized shoestring :lol:

 

[Ironballs]

How are you planning to get from SF to NM? There are some of the best National Parks in the US in that south western corner and you could probably take most of them in.

Oh and if it comes down to a choice of one or the other, choose Yosemite over Grand Canyon. Every time

 

[TrimTheKing]

How are you planning to get from SF to NM? There are some of the best National Parks in the US in that south western corner and you could probably take most of them in.

Oh and if it comes down to a choice of one or the other, choose Yosemite over Grand Canyon. Every time

Absolutely agree with this, we had our honeymoon driving from LA up the 101 to SF, taking in Yosemite on the way. If you like walking I don't think I have ever walked anywhere as fantastic as Yosemite, and Big Sur is amazing too, driving along miles of coast road with redwoods to one side and rocks & ocean to the other, magnificent.

Yosemite can be (relatively) cheap too if you stay outside the park in one of the towns and drive in each day. Probably adds an hours drive each way but will probably halve the accommodation costs if not more.

 

[wizer]

How odd, only a couple of evenings ago the missus and I were looking at USA fly drive holidays. I'd love to do it one day.

Can't offer any advice, as I've never been, but I insist one some photos

I can't believe you haven't asked about tool shops yet :lol:

 

[pren]

hehe! Cheers for that! Tool shops was to be my next poser!

Think we're mainly flying or taking the train although SF to NM is only about 4" on google map so it could be driveable! Yosemite sounds great! Is that where 'old faithful' is? Love a bit of walking, so we may well hit that.

I've just had to endure a mate of mine ranting and raving about how I have to spend practically all of the 2 weeks in NYC!! Top of his list was to take the 3hr boat tour around Manhattan. Not too pricey but well worth it, apparently.

washington DC is also another must-do according to friends who've been there. Beautiful architecture and all that.

I think before we go, I'd better brush up on my US geography. I couldn;t work out why a flight from Chicago to washington would take me via New Jersey.




You'd think they'd put Washington DC in Washington State, wouldn't you?!! :roll: :lol: Flamin' Yanks! :lol:

 

[Ironballs]

Old Faithful is in Yellowstone, which is in Wyoming which is almost in the middle of the country. Yellowstone is on the list for the next time I'm over there.

If it helps with the logistics we had 3 weeks starting in SF touring almost all of the parks in the south west, did a big loop around the Grand Canyon through Arizona and up into Utah and flew back from Vegas - which was an awful place. Stayed in places like SF, Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon for a few days each. Total mileage was about 2600 miles and one of the driving high points was drifting the hire car around the dirt road through Monument Valley

 

[Mike.C]

If you want to tour the states you are really are going to miss out if you don't at least hire a car (a winnebago/RV would be better). Of course it all depends how long you are going for, but the US is so vast that you will only see a very small fraction of it if you only travel by air and train.

For instance you want to go to Alcatraz, and if you then take Trim's advice and go to Big Sur (which is an absolute must, see links), you are going to have to travel around 160 miles from San Fransisco, and then nipping over to Yosemite is another 200 miles.

http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/

http://jrabold.net/bigsur/

http://visitcalifornia.co.uk/12-regions ... 4woduDbkpQ

Traveling down highway 1 (or PCH, Pacific Coast Highway as they call it) to Big Sur is a must in itself, some of the sites are breathtaking.

You could always fly to the main city or state your visiting, hire a car for a day or two, and then do the same in the next part of your tour.

Have a great time.

Cheers

Mike

 

[pren]

Ooh! Big Sur (PCH) has just made it onto the list!

I like the idea of flying in then driving around. I think the north east will be done by plane/train and then the west/SW will be driven. We've only really started seriously looking into this trip today so everything's in the 'sketch-on-fag packet' stage.

Hmm, wonder if SketchUp has a 'Travel itinerary' plug-in? :lol:

I think the biggest thing we're going to have to get our heads around is the sheer scale of the US. Over here, living in N Wales, we're used to being a day's drive from anywhere in the mainland UK. Just looking at Googlemap of the US, we're like 'Oh, we can drive over to Chicago for the day (like it's a trip over to Chester) oh wait, It's 400miles!!' :lol:

I think if we're going to try and do a bit of everything, then we're seriously going to miss out on a lot. If we aim to concentrate on a few specific targets, then the trip should be a lot better. Might even make it an annual thing! Year 1: Cities and tourist spots. Year 2: Middle America, national parks etc..

Can't wait!!

 

[TrimTheKing]

If your'e going to head down the way towards LA then Monteray is worth a trip too and do 17 mile drive which takes you round the Pebble Beach golf course and all the Eco houses set underground beneath the golf course.

The Monteray Bay Aquarium is very good too.

Santa Barbara is worth a look too, and we stayed in a fantastic guest house called The Cheshire Cat. Ironic that we live in Cheshire, go all the way to the US and stay in a guest house run by a bloke who used to run our villages local boozer

 

[pren]

Last time we went to Cyprus, we went to a pub owned by the bloke we bought our house off! Small world sometimes!

I have to say, the whole of California is looking more and more attractive. Think we might spend week one in OH, NYC, Washington DC and maybe Chicago. Week 2 might be spent on the West coast in SF and down the PCH to NM.

 

[TrimTheKing]

I have to say, the whole of California is looking more and more attractive. Think we might spend week one in OH, NYC, Washington DC and maybe Chicago. Week 2 might be spent on the West coast in SF and down the PCH to NM.

That's the way I would do it TBH. I love the US and have been to many areas, but the East and West coasts are two very different types of holiday.

NYC is fantastic, but obviously a Metropolis and all that comes with that. California is very much history with the Spanish influences, El Camino Real, the missions etc, not to mention the scenery is awesome.

 

[Shultzy]

Pren, the best way to start planning your holiday is to open a "my maps" in Google . Mark all the places you would like to visit and then you will be able to see the best way to navigate between locations. We did this for our trip to New England, centred around Boston, and it proved invaluable (especially the tools shops :lol: ).

 

[Grinding One]

You'd think they'd put Washington DC in Washington State, wouldn't you?!! :roll: :lol: Flamin' Yanks! :lol:[/quote]



They named our Capital (Washington D.C.)after our first president!D.C. Means District of Columbia,which is not a state..No voting rights.
Washington state became a state much much later....
If you think you can see all of what you want to see your sadly mistaken
The UK could be dropped into one of our states and still have room to spare...
For instance,Driving in California :lol: :lol: your going to need 2 weeks to go up the coast,I drove just thru Sacramento (4 Hours on a freeway 6 lanes each direction)Oh Sacramento is the Capital of California...Talk about traffic tie ups :roll: My inlaws walk to work 1 mile just because the traffic is almost stopped....crawl would be better name to use.
Now as for Yosimite,your going to need more time if your hiking there :?
Old faithful you can drive to as in right to it.Well to the fence,ok 50 ft away.
But that park is big,you`ll not be seeing much if you just drive in see old faithful and leave,even that will take better part of a day.That park has a lot of tourist so plan on waiting in line awhile to get in,then its a 20 mph limit driving in it...more time lost well you can see a lot of trees and animals.
Big Sur :?: Wow you do want to tire yourself out driving,like I said traffic traffic traffic,sites yep there are,but your not out there seeing them by yourself.
New York? Now there is a town with all of UK in it...population and tourist,Driving there you will get lost...people everywhere,cars ,buses,taxies,trains(subway)it is really big would take me ,and did 2 days to get out of it.That was in a rental car,kept getting turned around.The mileage cost me too big time when returning that car.
2 weeks?? I would concentrate on seeing one thing and enjoy myself,not run about the country like a mad hatter.
I took my kids on what they still call the vacation from hell,I just tried to see Federal State Parks,10 States in Ten Days(a little loop)They hated it,and out of that I got told never again will you do that to us...like I said driving all day to see one park for maybe 2 hours and driving on....Nope never again.
This was mostly out West,doing the Eastern thing would have taken twice as long because of traffic.
Good Luck on your trip.I only have lived 64 years and I haven`t seen my state yet....Illinois (Which is in the center of the country)You could spend 2 weeks and never see all of Chicago.The city is jumping everywhere a real melting pot of people from everywhere.You guys wonder why we are so happy to help out in all cases of need?Because we have relatives everywhere in other countrys ...So come and see why we are happy here.

 

[Harbo]

Pren - I have to agree with Grinding One - there's no way can you do all that in a few weeks!! The country and distances are enormous.

I have visited most of the areas on your itinerary, but over many visits and spread over many years. You can probably scratch the surface of each city in 3, 4 or 5 days but to go touring is completely another matter and will take weeks.

We have just come back from our third visit to NYC and still not seen or done everything we would have liked? The Circle Line boat trip is very relaxing and costs $34/Adult. The Staten Island Ferry is very good and it's free and you get a good look at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island thrown in . You will probably do the Empire State but it's worth paying the Express Fare as last week it took us 3hrs of queuing to get up and down! Do not be mislead by the short queue outside!!
The "Rock" is much quieter and nearly as good - in fact I much prefer it.
As for tool shops there is only Tools For Working Wood which is situated in a rather intimidating area of Brooklyn. I could not persuade my better half to visit it again this time!

In Toronto you have Lee Valley Tools (LV) situated in Kings Street. The falls at Niagara are impressive but the town is very tacky and commercialised.

Rod

 

[pren]

Never thought of using 'My Maps'! I'll make use of that!

G1: You know, the more we look at this trip, the more time we think we're going to need. Unfortunately we're stuck at 2 weeks so 'Road-trip 2.0' is going to be a bit slimmer.

Will probably 'just' limit it to the NW coast (OH, NYC, DC and maybe Philadelphia).

Just been chatting to some friends who took a week long rail trip from NYC to DC stopping off in Phili and a few other places. They've got some cracking pics of their Segway tour around DC, so that's on the list! They reccomended keeping it limited to a few closely grouped destinations so as to not waste time and money traveling.

We're hoping to keep things fairly flexible so if we do decide we want to change plans at the last minute (stay longer in one place, cut out another) we can do.

 

[Grinding One]

I hate to be a sour pill but both coast East and West are highly populated,hence Traffic...so whenever you move it takes time.Tires you out and stops being enjoyable.I view vacations as relaxing now and While I like to drive I do not want to wait for everyone else to move to just drive,you really do not see much when you drive in a big city.People step out in front of you and do not care that your driving,they will just sue you later...
You want to see America ,get out into the country your eyes will be opened wide.Stay out of the big cities and the mad rush those people do everyday.Do not travel from 6:00 to 9:00am in the cities ...thats rush hour.Or 3:00 to 6:00pm thats going back home time around big cities....now if you do travel then you will meet up with a real strange bunch of nutty people.They have mass transit but they would rather drive and get mad at everyone else on the road.
I have traveled in Europes mainland and I have to tell you that everything you have over there is the same as it is here ,only opened up (less crowded people wise)We have the different eateries of nations,all the faiths churches,and cultures.Beautiful open zoos where the animals have room to run,and you could spent days there.Museums that are like 4 stories high,things from everywhere.You could spend days there as well...
If you drive a car half of your time will be getting from here to there so really you have at the most one week of looking walking around...opps no you don`t,you have to eat and sleep,ok you have 3 days to look...you need more time.
This is why I say pick one place to see....oh you say your going to fly?Well be prepared to hurry up and wait...homeland security say 2 hours before the flight you have to be at the airport or your staying where you currently are...they have to check bags and terrioust you know.And because you want to go from here to there the airlines want to maximise the profits so not many straight flights from here to there without big money.Then they lose your bags on top of it.So buy insurance for that.Driving a rental car get insurance for that too as much as you can afford and check the car good for damage before you take it out because you`ll be paying for that when its returned.
My best advise is to get a turn by turn GPS unit so you know where you are and you can program it to where you want to go.Do not put it in luggage,see lost luggage above.... :lol: .
Have a safe trip,and if it were me....I told my wife they sell clothes everywhere.I would just bring what i had on my back,dress like a tourist and in big cities you stand out,robbery comes to mind.Be aware of everyone around you,take two wallets,in different pockets.(Big cities only)yes there is a lot of crime and police are only 60 minutes away along with your cash.I try to move in the daylight hours and I live here...a lot of folks out of work and crimes go up.Sad to say but to be warned is good too.