Where to Go?? Coming from Australia - open to suggestions

[David Allen]

Hi

My wife and I are coming to America (Minneapolis) for a wedding in August, after the wedding we have about 10 days spare before returning home

We have decided the best thing to do is take a road trip!! :)

We have been thinking from Minneapolis to head up to Calvary then onto Vancouver
or
Some where else with the final destination being LA

We like outdoors stuff especially scenery

But never having traveled in the US and only having 10days and not being too fussed where we go, we are open to some suggestion on what the best road trip, places to visit and things to see would be

If anyone could help that would be great!!

David

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Without being "fussed", you literally have thousands upon thousands of options open to you and the best bit of advice I can offer at the moment is to have a look around the RTA pages with a good map to hand and see if anything "hits the spot" and mark it on the map.

I doubt you can drop your rental off in another country if you headed to Canada, but crossing the border and finishing in Seattle should be OK.

The first 2 options I would suggest is to head West towards Rapid City [Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Custer State park and Black hills] to Yellowstone. From here you could head North to Glacier NP, Calgary, Banff into the Rockies and then onto Vancouver and Seattle [full 5 days of driving] or head South through the Grand Tetons towards Utah and possibly the National parks of Zion and Bryce and the Grand canyon in Arizona before continuing to LA, this is similar miles to the above and also a full 5 days of driving.

Option 3 would be to head towards Denver with your destination being LA. Rocky mountain NP, Colorado NM, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce canyon, Zion and the Grand canyon Monument valley, Las Vegas, Death valley and I could go on ! these would be just a few of the places you could choose from on route, all spectacular and lots of diversity from Alpine to Red rock to Desert scenery. Slightly less miles but still the best part of 5 day's driving so you have time for some exploring and detours on each of those as well as to create your own route but each one will offer unforgettable scenery.

Enjoy the planning and when you have answered the most important question for yourself IE "Where to go ?" we can help you to make it a great trip to fuss about when you return.

[David Allen]

Thanks Dave!

Well we have made a decision we are going to go from Minniapoulis to calgary, Vancover and then drop the car of in Seattle (good tip on the car drop off)

If you could suggest a good route and some good stops to make that would be great. Also we have the option of getting and RV and staying wherever or a car and motels / hotels. What do you think is the easiest option.

Also how busy will it be this time of year, availability of places to stay etc.

Thanks for our last message was lots of help

David

[Southwest Dave]

You are welcome !

With the regards to the RV v's car question; it really should be a lifestyle choice and go with what you know, personally I like the RV option but it isn't for everyone. The 2 main things to take into consideration are the facts that you can't just "stay wherever" in an RV. You can use some truck stops and some Walmart stores will let you sleep in a quiet corner of the parking lot at the discretion of the manager, but even then you will not be able to "set up camp" and get your chairs etc out, it is just to sleep. Otherwise it is designated camping areas where most will have a fee and be the same as booking in advance or rolling up at a Motel.

The car and Motels will definitely be the cheaper option with just the 2 of you travelling and when it comes down to it, the "easier option".

Between Minneapolis and Calgary you have many options, [including the one in my earlier post] so now you have settled on your start and finish points I would continue to research, fill in some gaps, and then we can make suggestions based on the outline of the things you wish to see. Most certainly places in around the likes of Yellowstone will be busy and I think it wise to consider booking asap if you decide to visit such places.