ignorant scottish guy needs 1st roadtrip advice

**rabyburns** · 08-11-2009, 01:01 AM

i'm planning on taking my wife & baby who will be almost 2 years old by the time (sep/oct 2010) on a road trip across the states.

Im from the UK so trying to find out whether this is realistic or not? Thanks in advance

originally i planned on east to west coast (NY to LA) in 2 weeks but i don't know if this is too ambitious. places i would like to see are (NY, washington, new orleans, grand canyon, las vegas, LA, SF & other places along the route. After reading SF is 9 hours to las vegas (from glasgow exeter for us brits) i figured 2 weeks may be too hard.

the alternative is a west or east coast trip.

West coast would be something like; SF, LA, Vegas, Grand Canyon, Area 51 etc)

East Coast would be something like; NY, Washington, Niagra falls, not sure where else?)

I really like the idea of going east to west but i wasn't sure if 2 weeks was enough to cover these places in that time, and was thinking if adding another week possibly but i doubt it.

finally my wife has mentioned flying to NY, doing a week road trip then flying to LA and doing a week there before flying home from LA.

please excuse my ignorance but everything is so near in the Uk and i after finding this site i thought maybe i was being really stupid. What do you think about these ideas?

thanks

**rabyburns** · 08-11-2009, 04:21 AM

sorry to flood this with another post but something else we're stuggling on is maybe booking a flydrive to new york. Does anyone know if there is a good itenirary for 2 weeks? I'd like to see Niagra falls, washington etc also wondered though if there was any good beaches and if the weather would be good enough in october?

**Midwest Michael** · 08-11-2009, 07:04 AM

Welcome to the RTA forum!

2 weeks would be rather brisk to do everything you're talking about. Figure its about a week long drive to go from NY to LA (driving 8 hours a day), so it could be done, with about a week extra to see things. However, it sounds like you've got a pretty big list of things you'd like to see, and I imagine you'd be pretty rushed. A 3rd week would likely be helpful, but I could see doing a fly and drive as a reasonable choice too.

October is often a near ideal month to travel, as the weather is not usually too cold, but it is past peak tourist season, plus you've got the potential of seeing the fall colors.

Really, you need to sit down and figure out what kind of trip you'd like based on how you like to travel. From there, sketch out a couple of rough outlines of how your trip might take place, and see what works based on how you like to travel.

**rabyburns** · 08-11-2009, 11:00 AM

sometimes us brits can be niave eh! I think east to west coast would be better over 4 weeks minimum otherwise it would just be a driving holiday with little sightseeing.

ill work out 2 itineries one based in NY and the other in LA or SF..

I'm not sure whether there is enough to go and see in NY area, i'm looking for the typical postcard stereotypical america, grand canyon etc.

the west coast seems like a good idea though, its still a lot of driving though from sf to the grand canyon and stuff..

the flydrive over 2 weeks is a lot cheaper for me but the problem is its almost exclusively florida, and i dont thin its that easy to get to many places from florida

Anyone have a view on whats best east or west? Another alternative could be to book a budget flight from ny to la or something if anyone knows a cheap airline in the states

**glc** · 08-11-2009, 11:22 AM

If you buy far enough in advance, a one way from NY to LA can be as low as $150.

**Lifemagician** · 08-11-2009, 05:41 PM

One thing you need to take into account, is that you cannot expect a two-year-old to spend 8 hours in a vehicle. Might work for one day, but I would be cutting the driving time to between eight and four, with a good break in the middle of the day. And then certainly not every day. There's nothing worse than being in a car with a cranky two-year-old who is strapped into a seat. And for very good reasons, child restraints are compulsory all across the US.

Lifey

**Southwest Dave** · 08-12-2009, 03:21 AM

Originally Posted by rabyburns

sometimes us brits can be niave eh! I think east to west coast would be better over 4 weeks minimum otherwise it would just be a driving holiday with little sightseeing.

An extra week [3 weeks] would be better suited but to drive across the country in 14 days would mean on average you would have to drive aprox 3.5 hours a day but for every day without the wheels turning will mean a 7 hour day to "catch up" on the average.

ill work out 2 itineries one based in NY and the other in LA or SF..

It's a good idea to look at your options and weigh up whats going to suit you and your family the best, but only you can answer that one

the west coast seems like a good idea though, its still a lot of driving though from sf to the grand canyon and stuff..

It's a very popular tour and there is a lot to see to break the journeys up into smaller segments.

Anyone have a view on whats best east or west?

Only you can decide what works best for you as every place has it's own rewards, but being a brit and loving the great outdoors I think the West is amazing with so much diversity and wonderful National parks. As you know for a lot of Brits New York is a must.

Good luck with your trip planning but there really are no wrong decisions. Let us know as you work it out and we can help you get the best from your choices.

**rabyburns** · 08-12-2009, 05:15 AM

thanks, i would prefer the west coast trip but i think they might be too much driving involved for the wee one, and the east coast lets me spend days in NYC without having to worry about a car cause i can just hire it when i need it.

I'll try and plan a decent itenery for the easy coast over 2 weeks

**rabyburns** · 08-12-2009, 06:01 AM

I noticed it's not on the planning section, i don't understand the Yahoo one and the AAA doesn't work, does the google one give accurate enough results that i can plan a trip with?

( i understand its not 100% accurate and journeys can be out because of traffic etc)

{Moderator Note: Please stop creating new threads to ask questions about this trip, or we will be forced to restrict your ability to post}

**Midwest Michael** · 08-12-2009, 06:31 AM

The Mileages provided by Google - or any of the other online mapping programs - will be very accurate. The driving times are much less-so. Over short distances they can be ok, but over a full day's drive, they tend to be wildly optimistic as they don't include any time for required food/fuel/rest stops.

You can use them for rough estimates, but assume they will be on the optimistic side, especially if you are going to be in the always traffic-heavy corridor between Boston-NY-DC.