2016 summer Roadtrip

Hi!

We are a couple from Sweden, and we want to make a roadtrip in the USA next summer 2016, and we want som advice.

We have about 4 weeks, we will fly to San Francisco, and we will end in New York, or maybe Miami, back to Sweden.

We were thinking about seeing LA, Disney Land, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Chicago, Detroit, Niagara Falls, (any zoo), Washington, Maybe visit a friend in Ucoon University, New York, and we were hoping to see Miami also, if i we can, without hurry throw it all.

Dos anyone have a good Rute, or tips, maybe som places we not should visit or maybe som places we have to visit. We are open for everything!

Thank you so much,
Best regards Kristian & Martina from Sweden.

Welcome to RTA!

Do you have a good paper map, or perhaps a USA road atlas? That's the best item you can get right now, to start your planning. With a paper map, it's so easy to see some of the points of interest. Take a pencil and circle them, or a sticky note and flag them. Pretty soon, you'll see a route starting to form. This is just not easy to do, no matter what anyone says, with a 15" screen and an electronic mapping program or website. It's much easier with paper! Use the electronics to find other things along the way, figure distances between places (though you can do some adding and get the same thing), and decide where you can possibly stay overnight.

Most bigger cities in the US have a zoo. Some of the better ones are in San Diego, St Louis, Chicago, and Washington DC. (though I was told just recently that Brookfield Zoo in Chicago has become very run-down, which if true would be a shame).

As you plan, you can make note that you probably don't want to drive more than about 500-550 miles in one day, less if you possibly can. Leave at least a full day for Grand Canyon. Disneyland is probably 2-days unless you've been to any of the Disney properties before (but LA is the original, and just had its' 60th birthday yesterday!). How long you want to stay in the cities would be up to you. As for "some places we have to visit", you will note that there are many national parks in the US, and most of them have beautiful scenery or nature at its best, for their claims-to-fame.

Have fun with the planning! We are always here for "what's the next step" and "what else" and any more questions you may want to ask!


Donna

As Donna mentioned, spending some quality time looking at maps and getting an idea of the many many options you've got in front of you is probably the best place to start. You're very city focused at this point, but the US is filled with so many amazing natural features, beyond the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, that it would be a shame to miss out on them.

For Zoos, one of the best zoos in the country is a place you probably wouldn't think to look: Omaha, Nebraska. The Henry Doorly Zoo is always ranked among the best in the US, and even tops several of those lists.

Following on from the advice above, if you are not able to get good detailed maps locally, you would be best off ordering a Rand McNally road atlas from the RTA store on the blue bar at the bottom of this page. If you order it now, you will have it in a couple of weeks. The Rand McNally is probably the most used road atlas in the US. You will be surprised how much information it has, including which routes are scenic, virtually all natural attractions, historical, and touristy (though I have never seen the zoos marked on them). They also show you all the options of routes from the high speed interstates to local back roads, and all the towns and cities along the route.

It also has semi-detailed maps of most of the large towns and cities.

Lifey

As has been said, doing a little research yourself both using this site [which is packed full of ideas and planning tips] and paper maps you will get a better idea of what is available to you and which of those appeal. Once you have a few more stops laid out and we have an idea of how much of your time you might like to spend in the various places you have listed, we can help fill in the blanks. One area I would point you towards is the National parks of Southern Utah and Colorado which will give you a great taste of scenic wonders, mountain towns, scenic drives and the diversity that nature offers. It should also help balance your trip which seems heavily biased towards the City. Even at the start of your journey you could visit one of my favourites in Yosemite NP by first heading north and then across the mountains and through Death valley to Vegas. Maybe first driving the coast to San Fran, it would certainly be an option and one that I would consider over going from NY to Miami.

From San Francisco to LA, I would take the breathtaking Pacific Coast Highway. It is a destination in itself. Rather than seeing Disneyland, consider Florida's gigantic Disney World (if Florida is your final destination). It would be a nice way to unwind after weeks of travel and you might be able to fly from Orlando.

I live in Michigan and cannot imagine why you would want to visit Detroit! There are miles of burnt down homes as you enter the city. I've lived in the Suburbs for over 60 years and seldom head downtown except for the casinos or theaters. On the other hand, Michigan does have some wonderful attractions and parks. Mackinaw Island is a fantastic vacation destination if you don't mind walking, riding bikes or horses because vehicles are banned there! For more natural beauty, head to the Upper Peninsula.

Hi!
We are going from LA to New York next summer, and want to visit a ranch. When we google it, we find hotels, and big ranch. We want to visit a real ranch, where we can ride horses and stuff like that. Maybe where a family lives, where we can stay for on night or just visit for a day.

We are a couple from Sweden, Kristian (24) and Martina (25)

Hope you can help me!! :-) You can contact me in private message.

Moderator Note: Please keep all questions about the same trip in the same thread.

Thanks for your reply.
We will try to find a MAP over USA, right now we are using www.roadtrippers.com and im not impressed. Do you know anything about visiting a family or a place/network where we can ask about something like that. Could be fun to meet an American family and hear about them. We are also looking for a ranch, to visit.

Have a nice day!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kristianandmartina

Could be fun to meet an American family and hear about them.

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On almost each one of my seven trips I have met families who invited me into their home. Total strangers who wanted to meet a visitor. There are two ways to go about this. Firstly interact with the locals wherever you are. There is nothing like an outstretched hand and... 'Hi, I'm Kristian/Martina'. This can be done almost anywhere where you meet people. Sometimes it is just the person parked next to you, other times it is the folk at the next table, or in a store check out queue.

The other way is to join Couchsurfing, and even if you do not use it for accommodation, look for folk who are willing to take you around the place where they live.

It all depends on how much you want to meet them, most folk are very friendly. And don't worry about safety, I have never had a concern with any of the folk whom I have met. Many have kept in touch over the years.

Sorry, do not know anything about ranches.

Lifey

Okay! Nice to hear, and thanks for your respond.

If you want to visit a real ranch, you might try looking for Bed & Breakfast lodging. I'm sure that some of those are ranches, and it is also a great way to interact with the people along the way.

I agree Midwest Michael about the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. I lived in Omaha for 6 years and have been many times. The Oklahoma City Zoo is also quite nice if you are anywhere near there on your trip.

http://www.duderanches.com/
This is a link to ranches where you can get a variety of experiences.

St. Louis Missouri Zoo http://www.stlzoo.org/
It is a free zoo, with several paid extra events. It is in the Forest Park area, with several other venues close by.

As seen in the above post -- there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of dude ranches and semi-private inns that are located on ranching properties. I drove past several of such establishments this month. A more likely search terms would be ranching holidays -- a quick search on Google pulled up dozens of such places in 8-9 western states -- this site is the type of result you can find.

In addition, I am from a ranching family with dozens of ranches in Montana and Wyoming. And I might be able to make some inquires for you.

Mark

Hi everybody!

We were first planning a road-trip from west to east USA. But after thinking about it, we rather be about 3 weeks in the west part of USA.
My first question about this trip is about how much we can see. Because i want to go through the national parks, death walley, and my girlfriend mostly wants to go through the coast way. I have made this daily program, and we want to hear if this is possible and after that we have many more questions. We are planning to go there in july 2016.

Day 1.
Traveling day

Day 2.
San Francisco

Day 3.
San Francisco

Day 4.
San Francisco -> Las Vegas..Through Gennem Yosemite, Sierre Nevada, Death Valley

Sleep somewhere between San Francisco and Las vegas.

Day 5.
From? -> Las Vegas..Through Gennem Yosemite, Sierre Nevada, Death Valley

Day 6.
Las Vegas

Day 7.
Las Vegas

Day 8.
Las Vegas to grand Canyon,

Day 9.
Grand Canyon to Los Angels. 7 hours drive

Day 10.
Los Angeles

Day 11.
Los Angeles

Day 12.
Los Angeles

Day 13.
Los Angeles til San Diego 2 hours

Day 14.
San diego

Day 15.
San diego to Santa Barbara

Day 16.
Santa Barbara

Day 17.
1 night somewhere along the coast, highway one.

Day 18.
Monterrey

Day 19.
Day extra somewhere!???
Day 20.
Traveling day

We haven't decided witch roads or something, but i have made a map what i had in mind.. Se attachment.
Maybe we will start in L.A Instead. (Cheaper fligths)

What do you think about this?


Moderator Note: Again, please keep all questions about this trip in the same thread. This is the second time we've had to merge your threads back together.

You really are selling Yosemite short as you will do little but drive through it on route to Vegas, this a true wonder and you have so much time in the city's. The same could be said of the Grand canyon where you have a half a day to see all the various viewpoints and rock formations. Of course it is your choice but I would give up time for these places any day.

On a loop trip it doesn't matter from where you start so going with the cheapest place makes sense and LA usually is the cheapest. You should then reverse the order of your trip so that the Ocea is on your side of the road when heading south.

You should consider heading directly from GC to San Diego [or vice versa if you change direction]rather than go up and down from LA and all it's jammed up traffic.

You don't say from where it is that you are flying in, but wherever, I suggest you could do with a good set of maps, to get a better overview of this area..... and just how large some of those cities are. Traffic can be quite congested even in the suburbs of some of the larger cities.

If good maps are not available locally, I suggest you purchase a Rand McNally road atlas from the RTA store via the link at the bottom of this page. These maps have much more than just roads and towns. You can see where the natural attractions are, the beach attractions, the scenic routes and much much more. Good maps are invaluable while planning a trip. You won't see all that detail within the confines of a little screen. And of course, they are essential when on the road.

I'd agree with Dave's comments above. You can be more economical with your miles by following his suggestions. I too would reverse the trip and spend more time along the beach and in the stunning national parks. Half a day won't do Yosemite or the Grand Canyon justice.

Lifey

Thanks for your replies! We have changed the route a little bit, so we will start and end in L.A.
And to Lifey, i have found the book here in Sweden, so we will order it soon. :-)

So it's like this now.

Day 1.
Traveling day. Arrival Los Angeles

Day 2.
Los Angeles
Shopping
Hollywood
Walk of fame

Day 3.
Los Angeles
Long beach
Universel studios

Day 4.
Los Angeles to Flagstaff/Grand Canyon

Day 5.
Grand Canyon. Late afternoon -> Las Vegas
South Rim

Day 6.
Las vegas

Day 7.
Las vegas

Day 8.
Las Vegas day -> Mod Yosemite through Death Walley

Day 9.
? -> Yosemite National Park

Day 10.
National Yosemite Park -> In the evening to San Francisco 3 hours drive
Yosemite falls
Tunnel View
Glacier Point
Vernal Fall
Yosemite Valley

Day 11.
San Francisco
Golden Gate
Alcatraz

Day 12.
San Francisco
Fishermans wharf
Twin Peaks

Day 13.
Stop langs highway 1
Big sur

Day 14.
Santa Barbara

Day 15.
San Diego
(relax)
Day 16.
San Diego
(Relax)
Day 17.
San Diego

Day 18.
Extra day somewhere
Day 19.
Extra day somewhere
Day 20.
Traveling home Departure from Los Angeles

As you are flying home from LA why not go to San Diego at the start of your trip to save going all the way through LA to get there and then back again. From SD to GC you could break the journey with an overnight stop and perhaps go through Joshua Tree NP. You could use up that other day in the Grand canyon area, perhaps visit Monument valley and enter the canyon via the east entrance of the park.

Bishop is in a good location between Death Valley and Yosemite giving you a bit of time in Death valley. I would consider staying a night near Yosemite and driving to SF the next morning, you might be underestimating how big Yosemite is.

Thank you again for your reply. We were looking for a quite cheap place to stay near Yosemite, can anyone recommend a hotel or a nice town?
It seems like it's expensive to stay in the national park if you don't want to sleep in a tent.

There are hotels in El Portal, Mariposa, Groveland and you would find cheaper accommodation in Oakhurst, but that is further away. Do a search for the Yosemite Bug, if you don't mind 'rustic' lodgings it gets a lot of good reviews.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kristianandmartina

We were looking for a quite cheap place to stay near Yosemite, can anyone recommend a hotel or a nice town?
It seems like it's expensive to stay in the national park if you don't want to sleep in a tent.

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When you are talking about close to one of the most popular tourist attractions, at the height of the tourist season 'quite cheap' is not what you are going to find. The closer you get the more you pay. That is why so many choose to camp.

Lifey

The tents in Curry Village are actually tent cabins with wooden frames, wooden doors, and raised wooden floors. They have beds, bedding, and an electric light.

Hi, we have booked the tickets now, and are now into the final planning and booking hotels.
We will have one night in Flagstaff, and then drive to Grand Canyon next morning, and have a overnight there. What should we do there? We want to see the views points with the shuttelbuss. But what ells? Any ideas/experience.

From Flagstaff you can take US89 and enter through the east entry kiosk where your first stop and views will be from the Watchtower. This is the best way to enter the canyon as you follow the path of the Colorado river into the main canyon. There are many other viewpoints along Desertview drive as you make your way to the village area and then you can get the shuttle bus up to Hermits rest. There will be lots to see and time will fly by but it will all become apparent once there. You can take a mule ride or if you want to splash out, a helicopter ride over the canyon from Grand canyon airport in Tusayan, but you won't have to do any extras to have fun and be amazed.

Hi again, and thanks!
I think we are going to sleep at a hotel in "Valle"? We can't find others, maybe someons has a suggestion to something nearby.

Everything is full att hotels.com from the 3th august and one night.

Have you searched the RTA 'Road trip Motels' link to the right of each page ? The Cameron Trading post is a pretty neat place to stay as well.