NYC to ??? - First Road Trip from UK

Hi all,

I stumbled onto this site while looking for destinations and it is amazing to see how people have come together for such advice and suggestions!!

I just moved to New York City from the UK and am already loving the US. I have my parents coming over in late-October for a week and we would like to go somewhere on a roadtrip for 5/6 days. We were initially thinking of doing a slow trip to Boston with a few stops along the way but have no idea of where to stop and what to see. We would also be open to suggestions for any other destinations that may be worth seeing bearing in mind the driving conditions and weather in October and also don't mind flying out to the West Coast to do a trip out there! I would be very grateful to get suggestions and advice from the seasoned travellers on the forum.

My parents have already seen DC and been to Vegas for a weekend and love national parks, countryside and scenic routes, and dad is a keen photographer if that is helpful.

Looking forward to all your suggestions.

M

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Only you can really answer your initial question, based upon your interests and those of your parents. If you only have 5 or 6 days I'm not sure a trip out west would work, as wonderful as it is. You will spend almost 2 days in airports and picking up/dropping off a car rental. Depending on how long your parents are staying with you as well, as they might of had enough of airports and planes when they arrive. If you can make more time for the trip, then I'm sure they would love the contrasting scenery of the west. Perhaps you should look at creating a loop trip, you could include Boston and perhaps Niagara falls ?

Have a good look around the forums and other road trip planning resources in the tool bars above with a good map to hand. Once you have figured the basics out and have a couple of dots on the map, I'm sure other members will help fill in the gaps.

I think that your first instinct was correct, but didn't go quite far enough. Boston is only 4-5 hours from New York, while some of the truly great scenery and sites of New England is somewhat north of there in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. October is also the height of foliage season which is something I think they would really enjoy. However, that presents a slight problem in that is one the busiest tourist seasons in the area. So, you will have to plan ahead and make reservations before you head out. I would suggest a loop trip, maybe up along Long Island Sound to Boston and then on to the Maine coast and back across northern New Hampshire and Vermont, returning to New York down either the Green and Berkshire Mountains or the Lake George - Hudson River Valley. You can certainly do that at a fairly leisurely pace over 6 days with a strategic choice of overnight stays.

AZBuck