Long US road trip - where do I start?
Hi everyone!
My girlfriend and I are planning a long road trip in the US next summer for 2.5 - 3 months (June - August) long.
I've never been to the US before, and we want to see many things (of course not everything!!!)
Having such a long trip in such a vast country requires careful planning ahead of time. And we want to get it right!
The question is - WERE DO WE START? We want to take a top-down approach (first select total trip time, which areas to see, transport options etc. and then get to the details of places to go to in each area, roads, timetables etc.)
We are still planning the trip in the macro level, so we don't look at specific points of interest yet.
We have such debates about stuff like:
- Round-trip USA or coast to coast? skip the center by flight or travel through?
- Take a R.V. or sleep at motels? maybe do both on different areas
- rent a car or buy one and sell at the end?
- areas where public transportation is better than car/R.V.? (in terms of ease of use, costs, parking etc.)
- given 2.5 months total, how much time should be allotted to east coast vs. west coast? spare time for the center part of the US?
- what is a good percentage of time riding the car vs. traveling and site seeing (so it won't be just a through-the-window trip...)
A bit about us and our preferences:
- We like to travel! we love hiking!
- We want to balance between sightseeing and museums to treks and national parks
- We love off-the-beaten-road sights!
- We are not rich in any way! we are looking to make smart decisions which will balance our cost/fun in the trip.
- We like motels, but R.V. are fine and couchsurfing is great!
How would you approach the planning of such a long and complex trip? Tips at this stage will help us a lot to find our arms and legs...
A General Strategy the Might Work for You
What my wife and I have found that works for us as a travel style is to settle down in an area for a few days to a week, and then move on to another area. This has a couple of advantages. First of all, you're not unpacking/packing every day and you get a chance to actually explore an area in some depth and not just run around thinking "If it's Tuesday, this must be Buffalo." Second, you can often rent entire houses or apartments (for a week at a time) for less than you'd spend on motels, and the houses/apartments usually come with full kitchens and laundry facilities. Websites like VRBO, HomeAway, RedWeek and AirBnB are a good place to start looking, or just do a search on the name of the town you want to stay in and the phrase 'vacation rental'.
Such a strategy also limits the amount of driving you're doing and focuses your attention on the places you decide that you really want to see rather than 'wasting' time driving from site to site trying to see everything and remembering none of it. Even at such a relaxed pace it should be relatively easy to do two complete cross-country drives and return to wherever you start from. As Dave pointed out, your start/end point can be chosen solely on the basis of the best combination of plane fares and car rental charges.
Once you have picked a travel style that works for you, whether it be in an RV or a car, staying in motels, homes or couchsurfing; and once you have a few 'dots' on your travel map, be sure to come back and we can then help you with specifics such as some less-traveled roads, unusual attractions, and other tips - of which there are just far too many in the whole country to try to list now.
AZBuck
Help plan 100 day itinerary
Hi, I'm planning a 100-day (or less) hiking/sightseeing itinerary to the US west and east coasts. I need some help.
What's the problem?
Currently it is too long (107 days) and it's hard to pick the days to skip.
Why is it hard?
I have some constraints, such as:
- Starting after 1-Jun
- Ending before 20-Sep
- Prepare to solar eclipse at 20-Aug at Yellowstone NP
- Travel in Grand Canyon and Las Vegas area in June (otherwise too hot)
- Travel in Rockies in July-August (otherwise too cold)
- [not a must] try to be at 4-Jul in a big city
- try to have chilled days in the city after a long hike
In addition, I've never been to the US before so have no idea what's beautiful and what's amazing... I prefer amazing! :-P
What help do I need?
I need both:
- your general recommendations concerning tips for getting my schedule better
- most importantly suggestions on which days would you skip to get from current 107 days down to under 100 days.
Thanks a lot in advance!! :)
My itinerary:
#d start date what?
1......03-Jun Arrive to USA
2......04-Jun New York - overcome jet lag, get hiking gear @REI
4......06-Jun Washington D.C. - museums, white house, capitol etc.
1......10-Jun Baltimore
1......11-Jun Philadelphia
1......12-Jun FLY New York to SLC, rent car, drive to Arches NP
2......13-Jun Arches canyon - hiking
1......15-Jun Drive to Bryce Canyon, Fishlake forest
2......16-Jun Bryce Canyon - hiking
2......18-Jun Zion Canyon - hiking
1......20-Jun Zion to Grand Canyon NP
6......21-Jun Grand Canyon NP - long hike
1......27-Jun Drive to Las Vegas (via Rd89) , Sedona, Kaibab NF
2......28-Jun Las Vegas, Hoover Dam
3......30-Jun Death Vally NP - three 1d hikes
1.......03-Jul Drive to LA
4.......04-Jul Los Angeles
2.......08-Jul Sequoia national park
1.......10-Jul Way to Yosemite
7.......11-Jul Yosemite - long week hike
4.......18-Jul San Francisco
3.......22-Jul Travel along west coast up to Portland (medford, beach)
1.......25-Jul Portland
2.......26-Jul Seattle & Ferry to Victoria & Vancouver
11.....28-Jul Canadian Rockies
3.....08-Aug Glacier national park
2.....11-Aug way to Yellostone
7.....13-Aug Yellowstone NP
2.....20-Aug Solar Eclipse near Yellowstone + prep day, drive to salt lake city - Fixed dates (can't change those)
2.....22-Aug Salt lake city, return car & fly to New York
3.....24-Aug New York to Boston
3.....27-Aug Boston
3.....30-Aug Boston to Montreal
2.....02-Sep Montreal - visit family ( a must )
2.....04-Sep Montreal to Toronto
1.....06-Sep Niagra Falls / Toronto
1.....07-Sep Niagara Falls to New York
10....08-Sep New York, Long Island
.......18-Sep Fly home
Moderator Note: Please keep all questions about the same trip in the same thread.
Accept the weather for what it is, and enjoy it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Barak
Hi, I'm planning a 100-day (or less) hiking/sightseeing itinerary to the US west and east coasts. I need some help.
You are flying in from where? If you are coming of a long haul flight, don't forget to leave the first full day to adjust your body clock and get over the jet lag. That will not be a roadtrip day.
Despite your constraints, a 100 day trip will not be possible, unless you already have a special visa. The standard tourist visa is for 90 days. It is difficult, unless you have other reasons for travel, to get an extension on that.
So cut it back to fewer than 90 days. Your best way of doing that is putting your priorities in order. Some of the places you want to be at the times you State, may not be possible. June and July are fine for the Grand Canyon and LV. Not every year and not every day of each month in a given year will be too hot to go to those places. In the same way, June and September can be lovely weather in the Rockies. I have been to all of those places in those months, and whereas you can get very hot days in the south, it can also be quite nice. And even in July and August you can still get road closures by blizzards in the Rockies, particularly the Trail Ridge Road, which, at over 12000 feet, can have a blizzard any day of the year.
I would not allow those issues to dictate where you go and when. Take the trip as it comes. Your other constraints, such as the solar eclipse, are more specific, and not negotiable. Just design the rest of the trip around them. You might also like to consider spending the 4th of July in a smaller city, where ever you happen to be. There are often more local and (to my way of thinking) more meaningful celebrations.
But remember, it will be shorter than 90 days.
Lifey