From Miami to Siattle

[in1t]

Hi Everyone!

My friend and I are planning a huge road trip from Miami to Seattle next summer (Aug/Sep). Neither of us have ever been in a road trip like this before and we need some guidelines. Here is the plan:

Miami > New Orleans > Houston > Albuquerque > Grand Canyon National Park > Page > Bryce Canyon National Park > Zion National Park > Las Vegas > San Diego > Los Angeles > Yosemite National Park > San Francisco > Redwood National Park > Crater Lake > Portland > Mt.Hood > Mount Rainier National Park > Seattle



In our plan it should be approximately 5200mi long and will take about 30 days with every city exploring (~7500mi in total).

We are 2 male and 2 female non-US residents from 25-30. We are planing to rent a car for 4 people (full-size sedan or standard SUV) to make this trip.

Any driving suggestions or must see places would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to help.

[Southwest Dave]

That is quite an adventure, Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Whereas you certainly have time to complete your journey you should also be aware that your trip will keep you on the move and won't afford you the luxury of multi day stops exploring the City's. To cover 7500 miles in 30 day's is equivalent to roughly 4.5 hours a day travelling, before any sight seeing. That's not so bad, but just a single day in Miami, NO, GC, Bryce, Zion, LV, SD, LA, Yosemite, SF will mean 6 to 7 hours of driving per day, plus a quick visit/overnight stop at all the others you mention. Again, not a bad thing as long as you are prepared for it and understand that you won't be able to explore places in depth, more just to get an overview.

As for the car, a full size sedan will be more budget friendly than an SUV, more comfortable and will do the same job.

We don't really do "must See's", as not only would there be pages and pages of possibles, one individuals idea of a "must see" would be an other's nightmare. There are certainly some tweaks you could make, such as possibly heading to the Four corners region from Albu and driving through Monument valley to the Grand canyon, hugging the coast and driving along the amazing PCH around Big Sur between LA and SF before heading inland to Yosemite, but that will all come to you as you continue to research. [If it hasn't already]

Take a look around the forums and RTA site [look in the tool bars above] where you will find everything you need to know about road tripping and routes etc and when you have more specific questions just ask, we are a willing bunch !! ;-)

[in1t]

Thanks for great response!

Initially we planed this trip as an overview, to look around and to find places we would like to visit again to explore them in depth.

For now, our plan looks like this:

• Stay in Miami for 2 days, 1 day drive to New Orleans
• Stay 1 day in New Orleans, drive half a day to Houston
• Stay in Houston for 3 days, drive to Albuquerque for 1 day, with overnight, drive to Grand Canyon for half a day
• Stay in Grand Canyon / Page / Bryce / Zion for 3 days, then drive to Las Vegas for half a day
• Stay 2 days in Las Vegas, then drive to San Diego for half a day
• Stay in San Diego for 2 days, drive to Los Angeles for few hours
• Stay in Los Angeles for 2 days, drive half a day to Yosemite NP
• Stay for 2 days in Yosemite NP, then drive to San Francisco for few hours
• Stay in San Francisco for 2 days, drive to Redwood NP for half a day
• Stay in Redwood NP for half a day, with overnight, drive to Crater Lake for half a day
• Stay in Crater Lake for end of day, with overnight, drive to Portland for half a day
• Stay in Portland for 2 days, go to Mt.Hood for 1 day explore, overnight in Portland, drive to Mount Rainier NP
• Stay Mount Rainier NP for half a day, drive to Seattle
• Stay in Seattle for 2 days. Fly away.

Of course, it's not final yet, and we are open for changes. Also, we have few more extra days as a backup just in case.

We will check the possibility to drive thought Monument Valley and most likely will drive thought Big Sur on our way to Yosemite NP, as you suggest. It looks amazing!

[Midwest Michael]

You've got a few days where you're trying to do far too much driving. For example, Miami to New Orleans is nearly 900 miles, which in real world conditions is going to take you at least 16 hours. Houston to Albquerque is basically the same distance.

Trying to cover that much distance in a day is going to make for a miserable slog of a trip, and its going to leave you too exhausted to really enjoy your next destination once you get there. Planning to limit your long driving days to a maximum of 500-600 miles is going to make for a much more enjoyable journey.

[in1t]

Will do, thanks. We also plan to get some helicopter tour from Page. Can somebody recommend any air service for it?

[Southwest Dave]

It's just sometimes better to research what is available, compare prices and double check exactly what you are getting for your money, and then go with your own gut instincts, as different people report different feedback about the same company. All I can say is that we have used Papillon tours from the Grand canyon airport in Tusayan and had a great experience with a knowledgeable and informative pilot and they offer 2 tours from Page.