road trip with kids

Ok...we've made the big decission to travel the US starting in So Cal and taking 6-8 weeks to see the USA. I'm just starting the planning for an Sept/Oct trip. starting north and heading east ...down the east coast and across the south to head home...oh and the trip is based around my 4 kids ages 13, 11.9 and 6. The only "must dos" are Washington DC, and civil war history stuff all around the east coast. So here is my question...what are the "must see" or "must do" in the US? We are up for anything and everything. I'm looking for fun/educational/adventure...What are your top 10/20 places you loved to go to? I started researching all the great places to go and I'm a little over-whelmed and would love some 1st hand advice.
thanks so much!

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

The great thing about roadtrips is that they are individual to every person and trip. We frequently get asked about "must sees" and it really is an impossible question. There are a million things to see, but which ones that will be best for your trip depend totally on you and your families interests, desires, and timetable.

What I would consider to be a must do, however, is to get your kids very actively involved in the planning. Your older kids especially are very much able to do some research of their own to find a couple places that would be must sees based on their own tastes. You'll have more of an idea of where to go and your kids will have a role that will make this trip be their trip too, not just a trip where they've been forced to come along for a ride.

I'm doing 2 months with my 8 year old son. We're starting in NY- going out of CA- and driving back. Try yearly passes at amusement parks, science museums, and national parks. My son has helped me with the planning, just like Michael suggested.

We're also hitting the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and visiting lots of family and friends along the way.

We were in DC on Wednesday- don't forget to ask your congressperson for passes for the Capitol. We got to sit in the gallery of the House of Rep. It was sooo cool.

I also used the website Trip Advisor to get information from other people. That was helpful. Also, get free travel guides from states via website. I got a bunch and my son and I cut pictures and made a binder. That way he can look at each state and know what's coming up.

Good luck

Kirby

Most states offer free smartly illustrated travel guides through their Chambers of Commerce, or Tourism Depts.
And even a few are finally putting this excellent info online.

Google states along your route, and sometimes even Counties,
and you'd be amazed what may pop up.

Historic sights, amusement parks, scenery, curiosities, it's all there to pick and choose.

thanks for the information. Another question..what program/site shoud I use to help me plan the trip?

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Originally Posted by crazy mama

Ok...we've made the big decission to travel the US starting in So Cal and taking 6-8 weeks to see the USA.

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Here are some time tested tips for planning a family road trip.

Mark

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Originally Posted by crazy mama

thanks for the information. Another question..what program/site shoud I use to help me plan the trip?

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There is no one best website for this as they all vary a bit. And none will give you all the best things to explore along the way. You will need to use other resources for that. For simple mapping, any of the major mapping/routing programs like Google, Yahoo, Mapquest, etc. are fine. I really like the one at AAA but you can't save your trips unless you're a member. So, if you're not, this might be frustrating for you. I really think the best thing to do is to play at the various websites that do this and see which ones you like the best. We're all different so we all like different ones.

This is a list of some of the more popular trip-planning websites with a short review of each. Here's some more discussion that might be helpful. These should give you tips to find the online planner that's best for you.