Vegas to Miami - Suggested Travel?

[Zerok66]

Hey Guys,

So I am Vegas bound in September for a few days from London and shortly after that my girlfriend will fly over as it is her 30th and she would like to spend that in Miami. My first thought is ROAD TRIP! I love America, I love cars and I love a road trip, diner food, visiting random places - sounds perfect to me. Slightly less perfect for her I imagine, hence the post.

While I do not want to rush the trip - I equally cannot expect her to spend 7 days around her birthday hopping from one place to the next and I still want to get a good amount of time in Miami to relax.

With that in mind... how would you suggest I go about this? Are there parts of the trip slightly less exciting than others that I could fly rather? Or perhaps not start in Vegas, but fly somewhere first then start the drive. Are there sections that could be done by train quicker?

Perhaps the thing to start with is what are the must see bits between Vegas and Miami or MUST drive roads... then I can start to plan around that.

Thanks in advance!

[glc]

Welcome to RTA!

For planning purposes, it would take you 5 days to drive from LV to Miami via fastest route (mostly Interstate highways - like your motorways) driving about 10 hours each day. How does this affect your decision?

[AZBuck]

It would be a shame to fly over everything within a day or so of Las Vegas, which could include the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, etc. It would also be a shame, as you note, to 'celebrate' your girlfriend's birthday by subjecting her to a long drive unless that's what she'd really enjoy. If I were in your shoes, here's what I'd be looking at: Take a two day RoadTrip out of Las Vegas. See at least the Grand Canyon and one or two other sites, but finish up at the end of the second day in Albuquerque. The next morning take a flight to Tampa (considerably cheaper than flying to Miami for some reason) and drive to Miami through the Everglades. I think that combines the best of both worlds, but does come at a price - namely drop-off fees for the car(s). But many of our European readers have noted that they can often get such drop-off fees waived if they rent through a European consolidator, and besides - what is your girlfriend's happiness worth to you?

AZBuck

[Zerok66]

Hi Guys,

Originally planned to start in Vegas and end in Miami, but time is not on my side... so change of plan.

I need to pick a mid-point to fly to and drive from (Dallas perhaps - any other suggestions?). From this mid point make my way to Miami. Now what I could do with is help on selecting where to visit from your suggested mid-point to Miami? I would like to see New Orleans, but apart from that I have not got much else on the list. I would want to spend 4 night max travelling...

Look forward to hearing your suggestions, route and sites to see.

Cheers!

Moderator Note: Please keep all questions about this trip in the same thread.

[AZBuck]

While I still think that my original suggestion to do the driving first (Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert) and then flying to Tampa/Miami is something that your girlfriend would enjoy, you seem to have your heart set on skipping everything the west has to offer in favor of a drive along the Gulf Coast. As long as you understand that flying to Dallas and driving to Miami from there entails more driving than what I suggested, and appreciate that (according to you) your girlfriend doesn't like RoadTripping as much as you do, then the best we can do is give you good advice for what you will do. So - flying from Las Vegas, your best bets are Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston. Both of those are airline hubs and there should be non-stop flights from Las Vegas to both of them. Slightly better in terms of lessening the driving miles would be New Orleans. In fact, only New Orleans is within a two day drive of Miami, so if you flew to DFW or Houston, you'd have to get in some significant driving hours on the day of your arrival and drive through the two next days with little time to stop along the way in order to arrive in Miami within three days of leaving Las Vegas. If you do make time for sights along the way, then the ones you'd probably like to see would include Gulf Island National Seashore, perhaps the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach and its International Speedway, and Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. But, again, stopping at just a few of those would mean close to four full days of a fly-drive to get to Miami.

AZBuck

[Zerok66]

Thanks! What I should have said is we have both done the Vegas area, seen the Grand Canyon and done a little exploring on the west side hence skipping that but. We love Vegas and surrounding sites, but to save time as we have seen them we could skip them.

I shall look at options - if we do Dallas or fly straight into New Orleans and take a look at your suggested stops. Thanks again :)