NYC to San Fransisco in 62 days

Hi there! I’ve just found this absolute gem of a website and have been reading on here about some of the awesome experiences people have had in the USA.

A friend and I (we will be 27) are planning on driving from NYC to San Francisco via New Orleans and the Southwest from 26th July – 26th September, so my questions are: what is good to see on the way and what are the highlights?!!

Just kidding... we’ve planned a (fairly easy going) itinerary, which I’ve outlined below. We are happy to be flexible and have read that a too-rigid itinerary could be a hindrance. We’ll be driving the whole way and sharing the driving. I just had a couple of questions that I couldn’t find the answer to in the forums.

Just to be specific, we’re interested in checking out out a few small towns as well as cities, meeting fellow travellers along the way, we both love music (looking forward to seeing Jazz, Blues and Hip Hop on the trip), seeing the countryside/national parks, and seeing some great American sport (basketball, baseball, American football, ice hockey)

So, the broad itinerary is:

- New York
- Philadelphia
- Washington DC
- Roanoke
- Nashville
- Birmingham (stop over)
- New Orleans
- Houston
- Austin
- El Paso
- Alburquerque
- Flag Staff (to see the Grand Canyon)
- Las Vegas – (we need to be here by 30th August)
- San Diego
- LA
- San Fransisco

The questions I had were:

Is Roanoke a particularly spectacular part of the Appalachian Trail or are there alternative places we could stop at instead? It’s a place that’s been recommended to us because of its beauty.

Instead of passing through Birmingham we could take the longer route to Memphis – it looks a significant detour, so if we’ve been to Nashville, is it worth seeing Memphis instead of seeing Birmingham?

Big Bend or Carlsbad – we’ve heard their pretty special, is one generally better during August? (I suspect it will be hot!) and would a full day be long enough to explore one of them (i.e. stopping over for a night)?

Any thoughts would be massively appreciated – good or bad!

I hope that makes sense and that I’ve been specific enough with what we want to get tout of our trip, thanks very much in advance for your help!

Matt

Big Bend vs. Carlsbad -- would be like comparing apples to green beans. They aren't in the same family! Both are gorgeous in their own way. Carlsbad Caverns are spectacular caves, Big Bend is magnificent scenery. (My parents have been to both, and raved about them. Both are on my Bucket List of places to see.)

Between Las Vegas and LA or San Diego, you could stop at Joshua Tree National Park. Between Albuquerque and Flagstaff, there's Petrified Forest National Park. In Tennessee, there is Great Smoky National Park.

Houston has the Johnson Space Center, if you are interested in space exploration history.


Donna

Hi we stayed in Rodeway Inn Roanoke see todays post "just returned from 4week road trip" and can recommend anywhere on Blue Ridge parkway the whole 496 miles are fabulous.PS used Rodeways and Motel6's all the way around and most were good value on our limited budget also found that Rodeways were cheaper just turning up rather than booking ahead through website as all are privately owned and only operate under the choice banner.Also petrified forest suggested in previous post is amazing don't miss it.Memphis is a terrific city we absolutely loved it...take the guided bus tour worth every penny.

A choice between Birmingham and Memphis? Memphis in a heartbeat! It only adds 75 miles to the trip from Nashville to Nola, which is just over 1 hour.