2 clueless Brits going from LA to Miami

[easyriderken]

In March '09 me and my mate are planning to either rent or buy a car from LA, then drive to Miami.

We won't have much of a timelimit, but 2 weeks sounds about right.

We want to stop in Vegas, San Diego and New Orleans and would be grateful if anyone had any suggestions of places to stop off in the middle?

Any advice on route, price of renting or buying a car etc would be great

Cheers, Ben

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the R.T.A forums.

There is a lot of red tape involved in trying to buy a car in the States, which would also require an address for all the documentation, but it just isn't feasible for a short trip.

If you are over 25 then a rental will be straight forward enough with a one way drop off fee, if you are 21-25 yrs old expect to pay a premium for young drivers, under 21 and it's pretty much impossible to do.

As for your trip, it's a little over 2800 miles the most direct route, add to that any diversions along the way [such as Vegas] and you will be looking at 6 or 7 days of driving, leaving only 7 or so for sight seeing e.t.c. which isn't many if you had a couple of days in L/A, L/V and New Orleans.
There are many things to see and do along the way, and it might be an idea for you to search the forums and Internet to see what appeals to you. You will be passing lots of interesting National Parks [Grand canyon for one] towns and cities. The most direct would to be to head for Phoenix and get on I-10 from Vegas [Grand canyon].

Have a look around the forums and pop back with some more info such as your interests, and we can help you piece it together.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Two weeks is a fair amount of time for the trip, but it's really too short a time to justify buying a car. That task, difficult enough for someone here, becomes extremely difficult for a foreign national with no local address. Besides, the cost of taxes, title, licenses, and insurance add up quickly and the time spent searching for a car and trying to sell it at the end would eat into your trip time. On the other hand renting a car one-way will not be cheap either. You should be prepared to pay in the neighborhood of $200/week for the rental, $300 for the one-way drop-off charge, and $350/driver surcharge if you and/or your mate are under 25 years old.

Your basic route across the southern tier of states would be I-10, but you would have some time to wander off the main road if you so desired. Highlights would be Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon if you want to head up that way; the deserts and Indian cultures of the Southwest; San Antonio, Austin and New Orleans; the bayous of the lower Mississippi and the Gulf Coast; and of course all the attractions of Florida including Disney World or the Kennedy Space Center.

AZBuck

[easyriderken]

cheers for the tips guys, very helpful

i reckon we'll allow 3 weeks including stops to get across then. assuming things dont go tits up in vegas and we have to fly home! we'll be 23 and 24 years old, looking for a cheap car or if the price is right an rv (to rent)

we'll head to new orleans, grand canyon, vegas as well as some other places. cant wait.

one more thing, if you're in the states over a month do you need a visa?
and can you get to cuba direct from miami or is it still not possible? (i dont want to swim lol)

[Midwest Michael]

I doubt you'll find an cheap RV option. When you factor in additional expenses, RVs generally costs quite a bit more than renting a car and getting motels. Being under 25 will mean that you have to pay more to rent a car (figure $20 a day for average), but most places will not even rent an RV to a driver under age 25. If you find one that will, the underage fee will likely be rather significant.

If you are a British Citizen, then you would not need a visa for a one month visit as a Tourist.

The US still has an embargo with Cuba, essentially banning travel between the two countries. If you want to go to Cuba, you'd have to go through Canada or Mexico.

[Southwest Dave]

i reckon we'll allow 3 weeks including stops to get across then. assuming things dont go tits up in vegas and we have to fly home! we'll be 23 and 24 years old, looking for a cheap car or if the price is right an rv (to rent)

As Michael said, an R.V. will be your dearest option and with 2 of you under 25 there is no chance of getting a good deal compared to hiring a car and motels. Even with 4 people sharing an R.V. [over 25] the figures barely break even.
I'm not sure what you mean about things going wrong in Vegas but if you mean arriving and not being able to get a rental, I would strongly recommend booking a car prior to flying out there rather than leaving it to chance.