Travelling East Coast and bit of Canada

[andy24stanley]

Hi there,

Myself and 3 mates are planning an east coast road trip next September lasting about a month. We will all be 21 and are from the UK. Essentially what I'd like to know is what would people recommend as the best way to travel, ie greyhound, buying a car, rental etc...Bearing in mind we'd like to visit some of Canada as well. Thanks very much,

Andy

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

What's the best flavor of ice cream, the best kind of pizza, the best team?

The problem with a "best" question with roadtrips is that there are no one size fits all answer. The "Best" will depend upon the specific goals and needs of the person doing the traveling.

Being 21 can have some problems renting a car. Typically, you'll be able to find places that will allow you to rent, but you will pay a premium for being underage, and you might not be allowed to take the car into Canada. However, a car will give you more freedom than any other transportation method.

Buying a car involves a lot of paperwork, time, and isn't that cheap. Its rarely a great option for trip that only last a month.

The bus would likely be cheap, but you're at the whim of schedules and space. It also takes very long to travel between places, because of frequent stops.

If you're planning to stick mainly to the east coast cities and maybe throwing in Toronto or Montreal, then you might look at Amtrak, which will be faster getting between those cities, and could be a lot easier than a car. Most of the eastern cities have reasonably good mass transit options, so it would make it less necessary to have a car.