New York to Miami

[Suzy Damman]

Hi there!

Me and my friend are planning a road trip from New York to Miami. We arrive in NY on the 5th of July. On August 9th we're flying back to Brussels (from NY). So we have 5 week to spend but maybe by sharing our plans I can give you some suggestions...

Our plans:
* NY 4 nights
by train to Washington D.C.
* Washington D.C. 3 nights
on the road by rental car
* driving the Skyline Drive (170 km) = Shenandoah National Park
1 night
* driving the Blue Ridge Parkway (700 km) through the Blue Ridge Mountains
planning 2 overnight sleeps on the road
* arriving in Cherokee (Indian reservate)
3 nights there and taking some activities in the Great Smoky Mountains (rafting, horseriding, hiking, ...)
* Atlanta
3 nights
* Panama City Beach (I read these are the most beautiful beaches of the States)
2 nights
* Orlando (because I want to see the extravaganza of this "fairy tail world")
6 nights
* Key West and exploring the other keys
? nights
* Miami Beach
? nights
drop of car and taking a flight to NY

I've never been to the States before so I can't make any suggestions. :)
Did you already decide where to rent a car? The rental prices are quite expensive... I'm looking for a trustable, good rental company with good prices. We also considered a convertible but the prices are a lot higher than a normal car.

I already booked a hotel in Washington D.C.

Greetz,
Suzy

Moved your post to its own discussion. Also, new members may not link to off-site, commercial websites.

Mod

[Suzy Damman]

Hi edmonty...

Me and my friend planning a road trip from New York to Miami.

I'm curious which way you've taken and what about the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway because we are also considering driving them.

Our plans: NY - Washington D.C. - Skyline Drive - Blue Ridge Parkway - Great Smoky Mountains - Atlanta - Panama City Beach - Orlando - Key West - Miami Beach

Please, don't hesitate to give suggestions.

Any advice to rent a car?

Greetings,
Suzy

Moderator Note: Please keep all of your posts about this trip in the same thread.

[AZBuck]

Bienvenue sur les forums de RoadTrip Amérique. Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

And I apologize for the French greeting if your native tongue is Flemish, (How does one say welcome in Flemish? I assume it's something very close to: Welkom.)

In any event, your basic plan is quite sound. You correctly discerned that there was no need for a car in either New York or Washington, and it doesn't seem that you will pick one up until you are ready to leave Washington for your trip south. You have chosen one of the three main routes down the eastern coast, and have left plenty of time for it, so I don't see any problems there. So besides the hints in the link I gave you above, just a few notes. If you are going to head out to Key West, leave plenty of time. Days. It is much farther than people realize and there is only a single two lane 'highway' out and back that has to handle all the traffic, local and through, it will be very slow going.

As far as renting a car go, we generally recommend that our European visitors take a look at local (European) car consolidators such as Carhire 3000, Europcar and others. You can often save considerably by setting it all up over there before coming to America.

Good Luck on everything, and if you have any particular interests that you're having trouble satisfying with your present itinerary, let us know.

AZBuck

[SteveCavill]

Hi Suzy. We drove Blue Ridge parkway in December one year. Crossed over mountain between Cherokee and Gatlinburg. It was magnificent. Had no trouble with ice, but maybe it was a bit early in Winter to be a problem.
Steve.

[Suzy Damman]

Hi AZBuck!

I do understand the French greeting but my native tongue is Flemish! And then you say: welkom op het Roadtrip Amerika forum. :)
Thank you for the review on our trip and the link included. I'll take notice of your suggestions.

Greetz, Suzy