How long will I need to get from San Francisco to New York?

[Nige65]

Hi

I'm from the UK, and thinking about planning an RV road trip for me, my wife and 2 teenagers. We can be a little bit flexible with time, but ideally it wouldn't be longer than 3 weeks.
Obviously we don't just want to be driving all the time so is this a unrealistic time span to drive almost 3,000 miles?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Nigel

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Just to cover the miles on a 1 way trip, across country in an RV, you need about a week. Beyond that, it really depends upon how much time you have available, what things you want to see, and what kind of pace you like to travel at. But, if 3 weeks is what you have available, you could certainly make an enjoyable trip out of it.

I will note, however, doing a 1 way trip typically ends up being quite a bit more expensive, so if costs are a concern, it might be worth considering just focusing on one area of the country and doing a loop in and out of the same airport.

[Lifemagician]

Three weeks would give you quite a bit of time to see the best wherever you travel. However, I have to agree that doing a one way trip is the most expensive way to plan a holiday. The one way drop fee on the RV could be as high as $1500. Flights too would be considerably cheaper in and out of the same airport.

Do you have any good detailed maps of the country to help in planning this trip? If not you might like to consider checking out the RTA store at the bottom of this page and ordering a Rand McNally road atlas. If you order it now, you will have it in a couple of weeks. Not only are good detailed maps invaluable during the planning, but they are essential when on the road.

On those maps you will see the myriad of routes/roads available to you from high speed interstates to scenic routes and local roads. they also show many if not most of the attractions along the way - historical, natural and touristy.

Enjoy the planning.

Lifey

[Southwest Dave]

On all but one of our trips we have RV'd in the west and it can be a great way to travel as a 'Lifestyle' choice if you are planning time among the natural wonders. For visiting city's and planning a budget friendly trip it's not so great. When planning to travel with an RV remember to look at the associated costs in using one. There are small incidentals like bedding and kitchen kits and generator use etc, but the extras that make a difference are typically mileage charges which are usually 35cents a mile x 3000 miles which is $1050, campground fees estimate 600-700 dollars and a fuel return of 9mpg, at least double that of a car. That's without any one way drop off charge. I am not trying to discourage you but just make sure it's what you want and know what to expect. You could look out for 'Specials' from the big companies like Cruise America, which some times includes one way specials when their fleet needs relocating, but the best deals are usually found before or after the main summer season begins and ends.