RV trip California-Chicago-NYC-Florida in 40 days

[angelika82]

Hey,

We are two families with two kids each and we are planning on renting a RV. We want to start off in San Diego and end up in Key West.

We are planning to seestop in San Fransisco, Los Angeles, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Mount Rushmore, Las Vegas, Chicago, Niagara Falls, New York, Washington DC, Myrtle beach NC, Orlando.

Where can I plan my trip and find camping places etc. We have never had a RV vacation. Our kids are used to drivng, we've done roadtrips (in Europe) before.

We are planning on going next summer 2013, when is the best time to go. Which month is more expensive to rent a RV, and also prices and suggestions on different camping grounds. Kids fiendly =)

I am very thankful for recommendations of where to rent a RV suitable for 4 adut and 4 young kids.

Thank you for all tips and recommendatons!!

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

RV'ing can be a lot of fun. But right off the bat, I can say that finding one to sleep 8 (especially with 4 of them adults) is going to be difficult on the rental market. You might call around to some of the big companies like Cruise America and see what they have to say. They will also tell you what the expensive months are from the departure area. I will pretty well guess that June, July and August are going to be expensive. Count on $1000/week (that's what I got when we priced renting one from Cruise America in San Diego for THIS summer for 4 weeks). Also add a LOT for a one-way drop off if you are not bringing the unit back to SDiego after the Keys.

Forty days is not unreasonable with your plans. We are planning similar only in an opposite direction for this summer. Watch the Road Trip Reports forum later this month for ours -- we are heading out for Dallas, Orlando, up the Atlantic Coast to Myrtle Beach, Norfolk, New Jersey, up to Maine, then across NY to Cleveland and down to Dayton before heading to Missouri. Perhaps a stop at Arches NP in UT on the way home. Just plan carefully so that you won't be constantly driving, like we did!


Donna

[glc]

To rent a RV that can legally carry 8 people, you may need to get something like a 40 foot class A motorhome (it's basically a diesel bus), which will cost about $4000 a week. I checked Cruise America, and their largest rental is a 30 foot cabover class C, which only seats 7.

It's not the sleeping arrangements that limit you, it's the number of seats with seat belts.

It may be better and more economical to rent 2 smaller RV's that can each handle 4 people - or even rent a large van and stay in hotels.