east to west for the irish!!

[eoin,ireland]

hey everybody,
i've been reading the posts here and they seem great. i'd love some help from anyone who has ideas to contribute to my road trip in june. here are the (very basic) plans i've come up with so far:
start in new york and rent a car (kinda necessary for the road trip!)
head to boston and from there to montreal. then to toronto and down to niagara falls. from the falls to chicago and then not sure, but maybe milwaukee or somewhere. milwaukee to denver, and from denver to las vegas. from vegas to yosemite and then to california. im flying out from san fransisco.

there'll be three of us on the trip, and none of us have ever been in the states or canada before. i've read the international page, and i've done a bit of reading in the "rough guide" for the usa. a lot of the cities and locations are very flexible, and its just from looking at google earth and maps that i've chosen the route. i definitely want to see new york and boston. would like to see toronto and niagara falls. also wanna see vegas and a national park or tow. have to get to california and san fransisco too. most of the middle of the trip is completely open to suggestion!
we'll have about 21 days to do the trip, and of course, we don't wanna be driving ALL the time! would love to see some small villages of course, and being irish, we're always up for a few beers too! any suggestions or help welcome!!
thanks all,
eoin

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

The first order of business you'll need to attend to when you get down to making the arrangements for your trip is to make sure that you and the car hire company agree that you can drive it to Canada. Many, maybe even most, rental contracts will limit your driving to the contiguous US, and yes, they'll know where you've been.

Next, given the cities you've named, you should be looking at an itinerary something like the following:

Boston to Niagara: Maybe via the Mohawk Trail and following the Erie Canal.

Niagara to Detroit: Through Canada (with a side trip to Toronto) subject to the warning above.

Detroit to Denver: via Chicago, Iowa and Nebraska. For some unique midwest small town America, visit the Amana Colonies in Iowa, but then Iowa is full of oddities. While in Denver, make a short side trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Denver to Las Vegas: I-70 west out of Denver is perhaps our most beautiful motorway and I-15 south to Las Vegas passes several worthwhile National Parks.

Las Vegas: Take a day (or two) to see the Grand Canyon while you're there and then head on to San Francisco by way of Yosemite National Park.

...being Irish, we're always up for a few beers too!

There are local breweries all across the US for when you've settled in for the evening

AZBuck

[eoin,ireland]

cheers azbuck,
thanks for the info. im going to go and look up all of those places now! never even thought of the problem with car rental and canada so i'll definitely check that out too. don't know much about iowa or nebraska so research is needed! i'll post again when i check out the places you mentioned,
thanks again,
eoin

[Quebec Gen]

head to boston and from there to montreal

In Boston, check out Charlestown and climb the Bunker Hill Monuments for a view of the Boston skyline. Walking the Freedom Trail is a great way to visit the city. Don't forget about Salem north of Boston and its quirky Witch Museum.

The fastest way to get from Boston to the province fo Quebec is I-93 and I-91. Along the way, you'll go through the magnificient White Mountains if you love hiking, it's the place to go. St. Johnsbury in VT is a cute small town. You'll cross the border at Stanstead/Rock Island, I-91 becomes I-55. Be sure to stop at the Haskell Opera House, a building located right on the border, 40% is in VT and the other half in Quebec. In Beebe, there is also a similar split but with a street (Canusa St.). Ask locals. Lac Massawipi in Ayer's Cliff is a good roadside stop for a picnic. Magog is a very touristy city : boutiques, Lake Memphremagog, cafés, restaurants if you are into that kind of stuff.

To get to Montreal from I-55, you have to go west on I-10. Stop by Parc du Mt Orford for a swim or a hike. It's about 1,5 h of driving to get from Magog to Montreal. Here are two posts I wrote about attractions in Montreal : #1, #2. The cheapest accomodation in the whole city is the Universities summer residences and the Oratoire St. Joseph. They're not downtown, but there's always a subway station nearby. You will find many breweries in Montreal : McAuslan, Brasseurs RJ, Dieu du Ciel!, L'Amère à boire, etc. Many of them offer guided tours. The best way to live the Montreal experience and have a great beer for you guys, would probably be to spend a lazy afternoon on a terrace on St. Denis St. There are some Irish pubs in the western downtown area (ex. : Crescent St.) but I think if you stick to that area, you'll miss something.

Happy planning!
Gen