NYC TO LA 15 days Road Trip.10th April.Need Urgent Advice ****

[Saad Cheema]

Hello Everyone,

I need some expert,s advice.

we are 4 guys in Toyota camry 2014 driving from NYC TO LA 10th April 2015.

we love outdoor,nature,and also wanna see famous attraction of each city(major cities only) on our route.

we wanna do camping at nights,if in some city/state we didn't find any camping place we will use motels.

i want your help to decide route in this time of year so keep in mind weather condition.(we dont mind hot weather but living NYC seen enough cold)

i want best route for outdoor activities.

we want to use different route on our way back. its two way trip we dedicate 5/6 days for each way. we can spend max 15 days on both way.

IS IT SAFE? just moved in USA so not sure if its safe to drive in country sides.(coz mostly parks/mountain kinda stuff is far from cities.
is it easy to get camping park/ground in most cities.
is there many attractions/parks close to interstate.(don't wanna drive far from interstate for attractions max can do 1 hour drive away from highway)

is Google maps in iphone enough?

Can you guide me for best route both way.

Thank you very much for reading this. (sorry for my English its not my first language)

[glc]

Welcome to RTA!

If you only have 15 days, you do not have time to drive from NYC to LA and back and expect to be able to enjoy any sightseeing, much less spend time in any cities. Via fastest Interstate highway route, bypassing cities, this is a 5 day drive each way, in the car for at least 10 hours each day.

With those time constraints, I'd highly recommend you scale the trip back considerably and confine it to Chicago and points east.

You also are not going to find much camping in or near any major city, just relatively expensive hotels.

For any road trip, you need paper maps in addition to anything electronic. You can buy a Rand McNally road atlas at Walmart, book stores, and truck stops. If you have a AAA membership, you can get free maps at any office.

In my opinion, driving in the countryside is safer than in cities.

[AZBuck]

I hope you understand that this is going to be a slog, and that by the end of it there's a very good chance that the four of you won't be able to stand the sight of each other. That's because nearly every minute of every day will have to be devoted to driving and sight seeing, and that with only one car such an effort means that you will almost never be out of each others' company. Fifteen days of that, even with your best friends, will wear on your nerves. However, if you still want to go ahead, then here's a workable plan.

First, do your city visits during mid-day. Do most of your driving in the early mornings and evenings and plan on being at a campground with enough time before dark to set up camp and relax. The pace you'll need to keep up is about 425 miles per day. That does leave time for a quick stop in one major city or attraction each day, and maybe some short rest breaks at roadside parks, but not much else. It also leaves exactly one day to spend in San Francisco midway through the trip as your one and only day off from the daily grind of covering over 400 miles each and every day.

Even to do that you only have, really, the choice of two routes: I-80 through Cleveland, Chicago, Des Moines, and Salt Lake City; and I-78/I-70/US-50 through Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Denver. But even so, you've got some serious planning ahead of you and an app on your phone simply won't cut it. You need some decent paper maps, at the very least a good overview map of the US, and probably relatively large scale maps of each state you'll be driving through. Your best bet is to spend $10 or so at your nearest big box store, bookstore or map store to get a good atlas of the US. That will at least show major access routes into cities as well as national and state parks that have camping.

You'll then have to work out where 400-450 miles will get you each day and find a campsite near that point, as well as determine what city or attraction you're going to visit that day. Those choices will be entirely up to the four of you but, again, you can't get enough info from a phone app to make such decisions. Finally, as part of your planning, be sure to take our Compatibility Quiz to help sort out what it is you all want out of this trip, to all get on the same page, and to help forestall the inevitable conflicts that will arise from so much time spent in such close quarters.

AZBuck

[Lifemagician]

If you all are new to the US, and only have 15 days, are sick of the cold in NY, I would have to agree with glc, stay east of the Mississippi. In fact, if you are looking for warm weather head south. Florida is nice at the moment. On the way, there are many historical and natural sights and interesting cities to see. At your destination there are beaches, nightlife, Alligator Alley, Everglades national park, Big Cypress national preserve - the habitat of the last remaining Florida panthers.

Definitely get good maps. As already mentioned it is not wise to expect an app on your phone to do the planning for you. You would need to check about campgrounds which are open, as many do not open till May. There will be camping in FL.

Do you have a roadside assistance package in case of any mishaps? If not, it would be wise to take out a AAA membership. You could pick up some maps at the same time. Be sure to have a map of each State you plan to drive and ask for a detailed map of any major urban area you plan to visit. The maps will also showthe points of interest along the way and scenic routes.

Lifey