March 2007 trip itinerary

Hi,

Me and three of my friends are planning a roadtrip accross America next year and i was hoping i could get some advice!
We we all be 21 or 22, all from the Uk, and are thinking of going between March 1st and June 1st 2007.
This is a list of the main places we were thinking of visiting following our general route:
Boston
New York
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Washington D.C.
Cleveland
Chicago
Minneapolis
Gettysburg
Mt Rushmore
Cody
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Monterey
Santa Barbara
Los Angeles
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon
Aspen
Roswell
Dallas
San Antonio
Houston
New Orleans
Memphis
Nashville
Lynchburg
Atlanta
Tallahasee

I was wondering what people thought of this route, if you think there is anything we are missing that we should see, and whether we have enough time to see all of this.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

You'll need to change the order in which you see a few things. For example, Gettysburg should really fall between Philadelphia and Baltimore. Then if you'll be returning to the UK from Miami, your southeastern itinerary makes sense, but if you're returning from Boston, then from Roswell, it should probably go more like Roswell, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, Tallahassee, Atlanta, Lynchburg, Boston. Three months leaves you ample time to see as much of America as you like, but I'm curious. Your itinerary seems to be heavily invested in cities. Is there a reason you've listed almost no National Parks or scenic venues? What is the purpose or reason behind the trip? Finally, you haven't addressed what may be your biggest problem. the difficulties and/or high cost that you'll encounter in trying to hire a car since you are all younger than 25? Have you looked into how you'll handle this?

AZBuck

Thanks for the advice, i will have a look at those route changes you suggets.
We are planning to go back from Miami so hopefully that part is ok.
I should have been more specific, we will not only be visiting those cities, that is just the general rout we are taking, we hope to see as many national parks and other things as possible.
Any tips on the best ones to see along that route would be much appreciated.
Yes we are aware that hiring a car for under 25's will only be possible from certain companies and will be alot more expensive, we are still lokking into that and might buy a car instead.

Thanks again.

Well, with 3 months you certainly can see a lot. Among the places I'd recommend as absolute must sees along your general route are the Mall in Washington, DC, Badlands National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, Virginia City in Nevada, Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, Mesa Verde National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Big Bend National Park, Vicksburg in Mississippi, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Kennedy Space Center in Titusville Florida. If you hit all those (and you can, I think, in three months) you will have seen more of America than most Americans.

Best of luck!

AZBuck

Thats great thanks.
We were also wondering if it was worth changing the route slightly and going up to the North west, going through glacier national park, then Washington state and Oregon and then down the west coast? Is it worth going so far out of the way to visit this area?
Finally, we were wondering if anyone has any experience of doing a road trip from the UK and is under 25? Did you hire a car or buy one, and what would you suggest is easier and/or more cost effective.

Thanks

With three months, it would be a real shame to miss the Pacific Northwest. Just some ideas of things to see:

Washington:
* Grand Coulee Dam - the largest concrete structure in the world with a cool laser light show
* Dry Falls - the dry bedrock of the waterfall that was created when the inland sea during the last ice age broke through creating the coulees of Eastern WA
* North Cascades Highway - beautiful drive through the mountains
* Mr. Rainier - one of the biggest mountains on earth in terms of mass with enough glaciers to rival Glacier NP
* Mt. St. Helens - see the devestation of the tremendous blast and nature's slow but sure recovery
* Olympia National Park - one of the only temperate rainforests on Earth, looks like something pre-historic with huge ferns, tons of large moss, amazingly big trees, etc.
* San Juan Islands - beautiful archipelago where you can see orca pods and other amazing sites
* Coast - numerous places with great sites....I could give you more details if you decide to come this way
* Seattle - Pike Place Market with the infamous flying fish, Ye Olde Curiousity Shoppe, Boeing plant factory tour, Museum of Flight, Space Needle

Oregon:
* The entire coast - it's all good (Depoe Bay, Sea Lion Caves, Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, and more)
* Crater Lake
* John Day Fossil Beds
* Columbia River Gorge & Mt. Hood

These are just a few must-sees, imho.

Hi, i have posted about this trip before but i have some updates and am in need of some more advice!
We are four 21 year olds from england who are planning a road trip all accross the usa starting around march 2007.
This is our itinerary of everywhere we plan to visit, how long we plan to stay there and journey times accross to the various places.
I would appreciate any comments on it, if anyone things there is anything we should really see that we have missed, or if anything is unrealistic etc.
Also i was wondering if anyone from england had any experiance in buying a car in the usa for a raod trip?

Start End Details
Day 1 UK Boston Flying
Day 2 Boston Boston
Day 3 Boston Boston
Day 4 Boston Boston
Day 5 Boston New York Travelling 4 hours
Day 6 New York New York
Day 7 New York New York
Day 8 New York New York
Day 9 New York New York
Day 10 New York Philadelphia Travelling 2 hours
Day 11 Philadelphia Baltimore Travelling 2 hours
Day 12 Baltimore Washington Travelling 1 hour
Day 13 Washington Washington
Day 14 Washington Washington
Day 15 Washington Cleveland Travelling 6 hours
Day 16 Cleveland Indianapolis Travelling 5 hours
Day 17 Indianapolis Indianapolis
Day 18 Indianapolis Chicago Travelling 3 hours
Day 19 Chicago St Louis Travelling 5 hours
Day 20 St Louis St Louis
Day 21 St Louis Kansas City Travelling 5 hours
Day 22 Kansas City Kansas City
Day 23 Kansas City Sioux Falls Travelling 5 hours 30 mins
Day 24 Sioux Falls Rapid City Travelling 5 hours
Day 25 Rapid City Rapid City
Day 26 Rapid City Yellowstone Travelling 9 hours
Day 27 Yellowstone Yellowstone
Day 28 Yellowstone Yellowstone
Day 29 Yellowstone Seattle Travelling 12 hours
Day 30 Yellowstone Seattle With Stop
Day 31 Seattle Seattle
Day 32 Seattle Seattle
Day 33 Seattle Portland Travelling 3 hours
Day 34 Portland San Francisco Travelling 10 hours
Day 35 Portland San Francisco With Stop
Day 36 San Francisco San Francisco
Day 37 San Francisco San Francisco
Day 38 San Francisco San Francisco
Day 39 San Francisco Los Angeles Travelling 6 hours
Day 40 Los Angeles Los Angeles
Day 41 Los Angeles Los Angeles
Day 42 Los Angeles Los Angeles
Day 43 Los Angeles Los Angeles
Day 44 Los Angeles Los Angeles
Day 45 Los Angeles Death Valley Travelling 5 hours
Day 46 Death Valley Death Valley
Day 47 Death Valley Las Vegas Travelling 3 hours
Day 48 Las Vegas Las Vegas
Day 49 Las Vegas Las Vegas
Day 50 Las Vegas Las Vegas
Day 51 Las Vegas Las Vegas
Day 52 Las Vegas Phoenix Travelling 5 hours 30 mins
Day 53 Phoenix Phoenix
Day 54 Phoenix El Paso Travelling 6 hours
Day 55 El Paso El Paso
Day 56 El Paso Dallas Travelling 9 hours 30 mins
Day 57 Dallas Dallas
Day 58 Dallas Austin Travelling 3 hours
Day 59 Austin Austin
Day 60 Austin San Antonio Travelling 1 hour 30 mins
Day 61 San Antonio San Antonio
Day 62 San Antonio Houston Travelling 3 hours
Day 63 Houston Houston
Day 64 Houston New Orleans Travelling 6 hours
Day 65 New Orleans New Orleans
Day 66 New Orleans New Orleans
Day 67 New Orleans New Orleans
Day 68 New Orleans Memphis Travelling 6 hours
Day 69 Memphis Memphis
Day 70 Memphis Memphis
Day 71 Memphis Memphis
Day 72 Memphis Nashville Travelling 3 hours 30 mins
Day 73 Nashville Nashville
Day 74 Nashville Nashville
Day 75 Nashville Birmingham Travelling 3 hours
Day 76 Birmingham Atlanta Travelling 2 hours 30 mins
Day 77 Atlanta Atlanta
Day 78 Atlanta Tallahassee Travelling 4 hours 30 mins
Day 79 Tallahassee St Petersburg Travelling 4 hours 30 mins
Day 80 St Petersburg St Petersburg
Day 81 St Petersburg St Petersburg
Day 82 St Petersburg Orlando Travelling 2 hours
Day 83 Orlando Orlando
Day 84 Orlando Orlando Travelling 3 hours 30 mins
Day 85 Orlando Miami
Day 86 Miami Miami
Day 87 Miami Key West Travelling 3 hours 30 mins
Day 88 Key West Key West
Day 89 Key West Miami Travelling 3 hours 30 mins
Day 90 Miami UK

Any help would be much appreciated.

Tom.

Sorry i did seperate all that out when i wrote it, but it keeps posting like that!

Day 15 - is there a particular reason to go to Chicago via Cleveland & Indianapolis?

If not, I suggest Washington DC to Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada (8-9 hours driving time). Spend the night in Niagara Falls (Canadian side - better view, more to see & do).

Then continue on to Toronto, Ontario Canada (2 hrs drive). Spend a day there - go up the world's tallest tower - the C.N. Tower (Canadian National Tower). Many things to see & do in Toronto.

From Toronto, go across the border at Sarnia Ontario / Port Huron Michigan (3-1/2 hrs drive to the border from Toronto).

Then Toronto to Chicago is 9 hrs driving time.



Day 20 - include Gateway Arch while in St Louis

Day 24 - from Sioux Falls to Rapid City - go through Badlands National Park, SD on the way. It takes about two hours extra to drive the loop through the park - from east to west so that you do not have to backtrack at all. It is right on the highway, on your way.

Day 25 - in Rapid City area, see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park. All these can be done in the one day. Or you can see Mt Rushmore or Crazy Horse in the evening since they are open late during the summer I think.

Day 26 - on the way from Rapid City to Yellowstone:

- see Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming (about 1-1/2 to 2 hrs from Rapid City)
(from Devil's Tower to Cody is about 5-1/2 hrs drive)
You could stay overnight in Cody if you want to break up the journey.
- after Cody, WY - take highway 296 "Chief Joseph Scenic Highway" into Yellowstone. (about 2 hrs from Cody along scenic route into Yellowstone northeast entrance)

Day 34 - Portland to San Francisco

- see Redwood National Park (on the way - 6 hours drive from Portland)

From Redwood, you continue south on US-101 for 18 miles, then go to the coastal Highway 1 for the rest of the way to San Francisco (a slower but coastal scenic drive) - about 7 - 8 hours to San Francisco from Redwood


(to be continued... next post)

Day 46 - you probably do not need to stay overnight in Death Valley National Park

Day 48 - are you not going to the Grand Canyon? Instead of four days in Vegas, perhaps two days in Vegas, then drive over Hoover Dam to Grand Canyon Village (south rim). Stay overnight there (you need to book lodging NOW immediately inside Grand Canyon, or you will not find any). Then continue on to Phoenix from Grand Canyon.

Day 50 - to Grand Canyon (6-7 hours from Las Vegas)

Day 52 - Grand Canyon to Sedona, AZ (2-1/2 hrs drive - AZ-89 highway)
scenic route between Grand Canyon & Phoenix - taking you through Red Rock Country - a favourite place in the whole USA of many many people.

Sedona to Phoenix is then only another 2-1/2 hrs drive.


Day 54 - Phoenix to El Paso

- see Kartchner Caverns State Park, AZ (3 hrs drive from Phoenix, right on the way, just after Tucson - near Benson AZ). This is a recently discovered (7 years ago) cave & is absolutely spectacular. It impressed me far more than even Mammoth Cave & Carlsbad Caverns.

Hi,
Thanks for all the suggestions. The reason we are not going to canada is that we have all been to those places before so are trying to devote more time to other places. We were also planning to do the grand canyon as a day excursion from vegas, is this feasable, or would it be better to ammend the route and actually go to it?

Many thanks

Tom

You can do the Grand Canyon in a day, but it would be a very long day. Its about a 5 hour drive to the South Rim, each way, so you are looking at 10 hours on the road before you even factor in whatever time you plan to actually spend at the canyon.

If you are planning to do this as a one day trip, there are also bus tours from Vegas that would eliminate your need to do all the driving yourself, however, I would think you would have a better time simply doing an overnight trip, staying either at the canyon itself, or in nearby Williams or Flagstaff.

I'd head to the Canyon and camp- did that last month and you definately benefit from spending time to see a sunrise and a sunset, and hiking a couple of the trails. Williams is a great place to stay if you don't want to camp- it's got loads of character and has a real American feel to it.

We did Death Valley as a drive rather than stay, and we felt that we didn't miss much, but others might have good suggestions for things to do there.

I just got back a week ago and had an absolute ball in Death Valley but wasn't *that* taken with Grand Canyon. Go figure! Camping was good in GC though, we bought a bottle of JD and a load of goodies from the store in the GC village and spend a great evening huddled around a raging campfire after watching the sunset perched precariously on the side of a rock :) But still enjoyed Death Valley more - AWESOME place. Perhaps it was the lack of other people?

Hi Craig!

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I just got back a week ago and had an absolute ball in Death Valley but wasn't *that* taken with Grand Canyon. Go figure!

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I know what you mean, it was the same thing for me. Grand Canyon is always considered as THE ultimate attraction and is so popular that we have great expectations for it. Of course it is magnificient but I was much more taken by unusual places like Big Bend, or a little less popular like Bryce and Arches NP than the GC. The most impressive thing about the GC for me was its "grandeur", its width. I guess it also depends on where's your hometown. I live in the north east so we don't have sceneries such as Bryce Canyon's pink needles around here while we do have some golden rocks and pine trees like they have in Zion, a place I enjoyed but was not as impressive to me.

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and spend a great evening huddled around a raging campfire after watching the sunset perched precariously on the side of a rock :)

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Wish I was there. Those are precious moments. Where did you camp at the Grand Canyon exactly?

Gen

Didn't get to Bryce but I loved Arches and Canyonlands. I really think it was the number of people that ruined GC for me (as it did at Alcatraz - how you are supposed to get a feeling for what it was like when there are 15,000 people trying to get a good look I do not know! :)) hopefully visiting in March will remedy that.We stayed at the Mather Campground in GC village. Lovely big pitches and excellent facilities including HOT showers and a laundromat. Would recommend it to anyone planning on stopping there, but make sure you get to the campground EARLY to reserve your space. And don't go the wrong way when driving to your plot - the campground people don't like you ignoring the no entry signs. oops... :)

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Didn't get to Bryce

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Well, here's a good excuse for a detour:o)) Bryce can get pretty crowded at the top of the amphitheatre but as you get to the bottom and take longer trails, it gets more quiet.

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We stayed at the Mather Campground in GC village. Lovely big pitches and excellent facilities including HOT showers and a laundromat.

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Thanks for the tip Craig. I was planning on going to GC south rim on my next trip to AZ. I just don't know when that's going to happen:o(( Hopefully, there will be less people when I'll get there than the last time:o). I'm not a fan of crowded areas either except when attending concerts!

Cheers!
Gen

I'll say, I wasn't at all disappointed with the Grand Canyon. Although, I was there in March, when the crowds were relatively small. I also think doing a couple mile hike into the Canyon also helped to increase my appreciation of it. I am in total agreement that feeling overcrowded in a national park setting will really decrease my enjoyment of it.

My only problem at GC was with the NPS and its bus system used to reduce congestion in the park - but being left stranded for an hour after dark with about 40 other people will not do much to win customer service points.

Texas is a BIG state. Not sure why you are going South to North then back South.

You will save time if you change your trip so that you go:

El Paso to San Antonio (552 miles)
San Antonio to Austin (80 miles)
Austin to Dallas (200 miles)
Dallas to Houston (250 miles)

This way you will save about 100 miles, at least, and I also think it's more efficient/pleasant than the El Paso to Dallas drive.

I can help you also with Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Florida. Let me know what kind of places you are most interested in seeing (museums? attractions? wacky stuff?).

One question: why are you going to Tallahassee? < ...snip... > I'm going to give your Florida itinerary some thought and get back to you when I know what you want to see.

Hugs,

Trish