first time solo Road trip suggestions

what's up guys I need your help and suggestions. I really want to do a road trip for about 5-7 days in late august before I return to school and I don't know exactly where to go. I'm 21, from Toronto, I'm planning for a budget of about $2000, I'm really interested in seeing new places/cities and what they offer(history ,museums, parks, restaurants, places of fun) as the only place I've been to is New York so far.

I'm currently planning to go solo, my friend might join later on but I like planning with just me first then it will be easier to add them in after. I'm hoping for any suggestions from you guys that can be done and enjoyed in that time frame which once again is preferably 5 days to 1 week in late august. some where not too far. I had some ideas like Montreal, Winnipeg, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Philly, Washington, Chicago, Boston but I'm not sure if any other are viable and wanted to know any other options.

Thanks guys any suggestions or recommendations are welcomed

Hi, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

I am assuming that you will be taking your own car, and that your friends are all about your age.

What in particular are your interests? and those of your friends? No point sending you into the mountains, if you do not want to hike. So if you can give us a little more information, we may be able to target our advice directly at your interests.

Start of by getting yourself some really good maps, as are available at the CAA or a Rand McNally Road Atlas. Good maps have much more detail than you will ever see on a little screen. They are absolutely invaluable when planning a road trip.

Meanwhile: When you went to New York, did you go direct to the city, or did you spend time exploring the sights in between? the Adirondacks and the Maine Coast? or the Finger Lakes area? There is just so much to see and do in the northeast.

Lifey

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

With a week available, you probably want to keep yourself within a 2 day drive of Toronto, so you'll have a time to actually explore the cities you'll end up seeing. I think you've already done a pretty good job of listing your options. The only one you listed that I don't think you really could do is Winnipeg, as the drive would take you nearly 3 days, each way.

A few other possibilities that you might include would be St. Louis, Nashville, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, or Quebec City. On the outer edge of places you could reach, but would require 2 full days driving each way would also be Minneapolis, Kansas City, Memphis, and Atlanta.

But based on your interests of Museums, Parks, etc, I would look pretty strongly at Chicago. It's home to some of the best museums in the world, (Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Alder Planetarium, any many more smaller ones). It has some amazing parks, most notably Grand and Millennium Parks right along the Lakeshore downtown. And of course, it's a city that loves to eat, so finding great restaurants is not a challenge at all. Chicago is also pretty close to the ideal distance - as you can make the trip in one long day on the road, but you could easily break it up into a couple day drive by spending a day in Detroit one way, and perhaps checking out Cleveland the other way. Even if you want to change things up while you're in Chicago, you could do a daytrip up to Milwaukee and see some of the sites up there.

Of course, you can find great things in all of the places you mentioned. If you want to stick to Canada, I could see Montreal and Quebec City making a great weeklong trip as well. But based on the interests you mentioned, Chicago stood out to me as a really good option.

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Originally Posted by Lifemagician

Hi, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

I am assuming that you will be taking your own car, and that your friends are all about your age.

What in particular are your interests? and those of your friends? No point sending you into the mountains, if you do not want to hike. So if you can give us a little more information, we may be able to target our advice directly at your interests.

Start of by getting yourself some really good maps, as are available at the CAA or a Rand McNally Road Atlas. Good maps have much more detail than you will ever see on a little screen. They are absolutely invaluable when planning a road trip.

Meanwhile: When you went to New York, did you go direct to the city, or did you spend time exploring the sights in between? the Adirondacks and the Maine Coast? or the Finger Lakes area? There is just so much to see and do in the northeast.

Lifey

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Well I've never been hiking but I am open to maybe a day hike with good scenery if you have any recommendations for that? but I'm mainly more into exploring cities, sorry if this is a bit vague. I'm interested in sports, I like riding bikes around city parks or even trails, museums like space museums or history, local food is a big thing on my list like just trying food from different cities, I love driving on scenic routes

Thanks a lot for the great advice Midwest Michael I think Chicago is a great destination & a stop over in Cleveland or Detroit would be great as I could do a 2 for 1.

Any suggestions as to what are the best routes to take on this trip either the most scenic relaxed route Or maybe even the fastest if I ever have to haul it? Or route with stuff to do along the way

Sorry lifemagician I forgot to answer your last question in the reply, when I went to New York I was mainly in Manhattan, Brooklyn & NJ I didn't really get to see anywhere else apart from that due to the reason I was mainly there visiting family