Summer road trip 2013

[matt_90]

hey everyone,

Me and my mates were thinking about going on a road trip across the US in 2013. We were thinking from San Fran to New York. Where is the best place to hire an RV and how long do you think it would take to get across, at a reasonable pace?

Cheers

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

To do a one way trip you will be looking at one of the major RV renters, the likes of Cruise America, El Monte and Roadbear, although there will also be plenty of agencies who act as the middle man around to price compare. There will be a one way drop fee and any drivers under 25 years of age will face daily young driver fees. [And must be over 21]

How long is a piece of string ? That's how long it'll take ! lol. I think you should work on your budget and time availability and then try and work out what you can do with it combined. You could drive across country in a week, but to begin to enjoy it you would need at least a couple of weeks and if you wanted to spend 2 or 3 days at either end of your trip exploring SF and NY, 3 weeks would be better. If you had 3 months you wouldn't be able to see it all so it's an impossible question to answer, but once your flights are payed and you're there, make the most of it as you can.

I would get a good map of the US and dig around the RTA site where you will find tons of info and start getting some dots on it. Once you have moved along with your plans we can help to fill in the blanks as you go.

I would also consider your interests and the goals for your trip and then decide if an RV is the most suitable mode of transport, they rarely work out to be the cheaper option, although if there are 4 to 6 of you who don't want to spend all their time in the City, it could work out well.

[matt_90]

Thanks for that, I'll keep them in mind.

We were thinking about 5 weeks, not including the flights there and home.

What are the best cities to visit on the way? We want to have pretty regular stops, and want to see some interesting smaller towns and a couple of national parks.

[Southwest Dave]

Five weeks will certainly give you time for a relaxed pace and to explore along the way. A common theme here is we don't do best' as that really comes down to personal taste and there are literally thousands of route and route attractions.

That's why I suggest you get some of your 'must see's' marked up on a map and then build a route between them by joining the dots. It will soon take shape and you can see what there is in between that appeals and then you are at the stage where we can make some meaningful suggestions.

For example it could be that you want to head to LA and Denver which means you could go south on the famous and scenic coastal Highway, the PCH, you could then head to Vegas, Hoover dam, Monument valley and/or choose from many amazing NP's in the southwest such as Yosemite, Death valley, Grand canyon, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches and drive through mountain towns of Colorado such as Silverton and Ouray on the 'Million dollar Highway' [US550]and end up in Rocky mountain NP. That's just a very small list of possible attractions of 1 option of hundreds, where you could head North, through the 'middle' or even further south to Nashville, New Orleans perhaps. That's really just to show why it's impossible to start throwing names out there at this stage with any real meaning. A 5 week cross country trip means you can't go everywhere, but you can almost go anywhere you want to.

If your trip is to be biased towards the City, I will say again that you should consider if an RV is the best mode of transport. They are not a cheap option by the time you consider all the costs and then add campground fees and fuel costs [9-10mpg] and certianily not fun to drive around in the City, where the RV parks are usually the most expensive as well.

Enjoy the planning !

As well as searching the forums for info, also take a look at the green tool bar above. Run your cursor along and you will find routes, attractions, pages on RV info and the RTA mapping prgrams where you create routes and/or use them to search out a large list of attractions and more !

[matt_90]

There's so many places that we want to see lol.

The reason we were thinking about an RV is because it gives the freedom of being able to stop when and where we want, whereas a train or plane doesn't really offer that. What's the American rail like? I'm open to suggestions!

Also, we have a very rough guide as to where we want to go on our trip. It consists of:

San Franciso,
Yosemite NP,
Los Angeles,
Las Vegas,
Grand Canyon NP,
Denver (to see some of the scenery around the Rocky Mountains),
Santa Fe/Albuquerque,
Dallas,
New Orleans,
Miami,
Boston.

If you could give some help as to what can be seen in between those places and any that you wouldn't stay at it would be much appreciated.

[Southwest Dave]

The reason we were thinking about an RV is because it gives the freedom of being able to stop when and where we want, whereas a train or plane doesn't really offer that. What's the American rail like? I'm open to suggestions!

How many are travelling in total ? We are all about road trips here and I hadn't even considered trains or planes. I shoud have been clearer, but an RV is often more expensive than a car and Motel rooms in a lot of cases and a car is easier to get around in. Don't get me wrong, I love the RV Lifestyle, but I like the National parks and open spaces and mainly avoid Cities. That's what I meant about checking suitability.

The other thing you could consider is doing a loop around the country. By starting and finishing in the same City you will avoid one way drop off fees, and if you are doing an International flight it may save you money in fares. For example NY would be cheaper than San Fran or LA from the UK.

[matt_90]

We will probably have 6 traveling. Ahh sorry I didn't even consider a car. That sounds like a much cheaper alternative. I think it'd be a lot easier driving around in a car as opposed to an RV.

Would you be able to do a loop of the country in 5 weeks? It would save a lot of money though, I just saw one of the one way fees was about $900.

[Lifemagician]

Matt,

I would definitely go with a loop. It will be a much more enjoyable, as well as cheaper trip. Flights in and out of the one spot will also safe you heaps. And some of the big SUVs, such as the Yukon and Suburban should be able to carry your party (and luggage) in comfort. Or you might consider two sedans. That way you can swap and change as to who travels with whom.

A coast to coast trip can be done in six comfortable days driving. So you will have ample time to explore all the places on your list.

The first thing you should do, if you have not already done so, is get a large wall size map of the US. I like the National Geographics best, and have a laminated copy on my wall. It gives all the major routes as well as two lane highways, all the cities and most towns, and best of all, all the national partks, forests, State parks, etc. Start with putting sticky notes on it, of all the places you want to see and visit. As you research, continue to add places, and the route will appear before you.

When you have your dots on the map the experts here will be able to help you refine the route and fill in the blanks.

Enjoy the planning.

Lifey in Melbourne

[Lifemagician]

... Denver (to see some of the scenery around the Rocky Mountains)

When I read this, I wondered if some of the 'cities' on your list are there because they are what you know to be in the area. You do not actually have to go to Denver, to see Rocky Mountain NP, and all the other great places in the Rockies in CO. Of course you may like to go there anyway. But you don't have to.

The same goes for many other State and National Parks.

Lifey

[matt_90]

I'm really keen to see some of the National Parks, which ones are the better ones? And yeah, I put Denver in there because I wanted to see the Rocky Mountains NP and I read that you can see some of the best scenery of the mountains up there.

If I'm doing a loop, is it fine to start in San Francisco?

I'll get the map and do a bit of research and I'll be back with more questions!