Montreal-Las Vegas : The dream trip !

[Lifeson]

Hello everyone !

I thank you in advance for your ideas and comments on what i think could be an amazing roadtrip.

Me and two of my best friends (Me:20 friends: 21 & 22) had the idea not long ago to do a Great american roadtrip starting from montreal ending at las vegas. We would want to spend 5-7 days in Las vegas and all the other days on the road. We would sleep mostly in Hostels or Motels at lowest cost possible

This is what we would want to do.
**Something i really should precise is that we have no experience at all in roadtrips and we never went in USA by car.

So, We want to visit those cities.
*= okay if we skip
**= would be fun
***=Must absolutely do

*** New york
** Washington
** Memphis
** San Diego
*** Los Angeles
*Springfiel, Ohio
*Chicago
*Buffalo
**Niagara Falls
****VEGAS**** ( arrive on the 6 of August (my 21st Bday))

Of Course there are millions of other place to see and thats why im writing on this Forum to see waht you think about it !

The basic outline is that we would want to pass 7-10 days on the road to go to LasVegas then 5-7 days there,, then the remaining days to head back to Montreal-----Total Maximum possible days for the trip 24 days

What i would like from you:

-What do you think ?
-Sugestions ?
- cities
- sleep
-Is it Possible / Too Ambitious ?
-2000$ / person is okay ?
-owned car or rented ?

and anything else that could help to know !
Thanks for reading and answering

[glc]

That is very doable. I would go to Las Vegas via New York, Washington, and Memphis. You can do Los Angeles and San Diego either before or after LV - or you can do them as day/single overnight round trips. You can go home via Chicago, Springfield, OH, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls. $2000 per person should be enough as long as you stay in hostels and cheap hotels/motels and don't gamble it away in LV. Please note that hotels in cities can be very costly, especially New York. You would want to find a hostel, or stay in a motel way out of town. Be aware of unsafe areas. If you have a reliable car that gets decent gas mileage, it would be best to do that - with your ages and the nature of your cross-border trip, a rental could be very costly and the 20 year old may not be permitted to drive it.

You need to be aware that the legal age for alcohol consumption in the US is 21, and you also must be 21 to enter a casino in Las Vegas. Arriving on your 21st birthday will be a lot of fun!

Driving to Las Vegas via NY, Washington, and Memphis, without any side trips, is 3000 miles. 1 day to NY, 1 short day to Washington, 2 days to Memphis, and 3 days to LV is 6 days. LV to LA is about 4.5 hours, LV to San Diego is about 5 hours, it's 2 hours in between LA and SD.

LV to Montreal via Chicago, Springfield, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls breaks down like this - 2900 miles. 3 days to Chicago, 1 day to Springfield, 1 day to Buffalo and Niagara Falls, and 1 day back to Montreal.

These driving times both ways are essentially point-to-point times, they do not allow for much sightseeing, adjust your plans accordingly when the other fine people here give you suggestions for things to see enroute.

[Lifeson]

Wow thanks a lot ! I was not expecting a reply as fast and as good as that ! Google maps says it will take about 50 hours to go to LV from montreal with the stops i want to do..

But since we are three in the car, I think covering long distances in one day won't be too much of a problem. So maybe we will do 2 long distances. Wasington to Memphis (13hours) and then Memphis to San diego (25 hours)..

The 13 hours step won't be a problem ! but the 25 hours... will be long and i still wonder where can we stop ?

Little question !! Do we need reservations for Hostels ???

[glc]

No, I would not recommend you drive that long each day. No matter how many drivers you have, that's not safe. Google Maps does not account for fuel, food, and bio stops or any traffic or weather delays when it gives you the hours. You have plenty of days to do this trip, it's cheaper spending nights out on the road than in Las Vegas. Figure $50 a night for a room at a Motel 6 away from the cities. Hostels are a better choice in cities.

[Southwest Dave]

Google maps says it will take about 50 hours to go to LV from montreal with the stops i want to do..

But since we are three in the car, I think covering long distances in one day won't be too much of a problem. So maybe we will do 2 long distances. Wasington to Memphis (13hours) and then Memphis to San diego (25 hours)..

The 13 hours step won't be a problem ! but the 25 hours... will be long and i still wonder where can we stop ?

Hello and welcome to the R.T.A. forums.

L/V to Montreal is a 4 day drive to go direct and that will put you on the road for 11 1/2 hours a day. That would be about the limit for a multiple day journey.

As glc has pointed out the mapping programs allow no time for things us humans need to do, one of them being to rest.
Washington > Memphis Est. 16 hours.
Memphis>San Diego Est. 32 hours.

48 Hours on the road is again a 4 day trip and you will feel pretty rough at the end of it. You have 17 or 18 days for the road trip so the long distances and pushing yourself way beyond the limits doesn't make a lot of sense.
Don't make your dream trip turn into a nightmare ;-)
Enjoy the ride !

[Midwest Michael]

As GLC Mentioned, Computers don't take into account the realistic elements of traveling as humans using machines. Computers can go non-stop, but people need food and rest, and cars need fuel, thus stops are required.

On trips like this you need to think in terms of travel days, not hours. 600 miles is a long, but do-able 10 hour day on the road. If you start going much more than that, you really start to push things. Drives of 700+ miles in one day generally are counter productive on a multi-day trip, because it becomes nearly impossible to rest up after one day enough to be ready for the next.

DC to Memphis would be a very long day, and while you might be able to do it, you're going to be pretty exhausted when you get there. Stopping in Nashville would probably make more sense, and then you can use Memphis as a nice spot to stop and look around as a pit stop on your next day of travel.

Memphis to San Diego can't be done in a single day and should not be done in 2 days either. 3 long days is really a more realistic goal, and a 4th is not a bad idea if you start in Nashville and/or want to stop at anything along the way.

[Lifeson]

I know that internet sites dont take in account all of those steps.. But I think it still can be a valuable estimation.. I had to each 3-4 hours of road a 30minute break, This way we will all be still fresh to sight see the day after.

Just want to mention I did Montreal--Myrtle Beach twice by car (a 22hours trip roughly) And drove all the way in one shot with my dad taking rounds with me and we were able to do it. It is kind of hard but i don't think its too much.

Of course the situation is different so ill arrange my plan to be sure to rest a lot !

Little change in plans ! the guy that is 20.... might stay 20 during all the trip.... ( the 2 other dude cant have their break in the good week...) Will it affect a lot of things ??? willl it be as fun ? should we wait one year.....................

[glc]

If your primary reason for taking this trip is to go to Las Vegas, I would recommend you wait till next year. There are still a lot of things to do and see there, but you will be limiting yourselves somewhat.

[Midwest Michael]

If you won't be 21 during this trip, then I wouldn't bother going to Las Vegas except maybe to take a quick drive down the strip. You have to be 21 to even enter the casino complexes, so what you could do would be very limiting. Even in other cities, you won't be able to go out to clubs or bars so you'd probably be best off waiting until everyone is 21.

Also, being under 21 would make it impossible for you to get a rental car.

I had to each 3-4 hours of road a 30minute break, This way we will all be still fresh to sight see the day after.

No offense, but If you think you would be able to drive from Memphis to San Diego with just 30 minutes breaks here and there and make the trip safely, I think you are really fooling yourself. If you think you can take that same approach, get there safely, AND still be "fresh to sight see the day after," I think you are severely misjudging the limits of the human body. You need real sleep to be ready to safely drive, and most people can't get that quality sleep sitting in a moving car.

As has been said on this forum many times, most veteran roadtrippers have taken one shot trips of 1000 or so miles, and no one who has done it recommends it, especially if you need to get on the road at all for a 2nd day. In the best case, its a recipe to have a very tired and cranky group of travelers, in the worst case, its a recipe to cause serious harm to yourself or others on the road.

[Lifeson]

When i read your reply yesterday i decided to go check on other topics just to see some different opinion on the question of a long day of travel..

Unfortunately you all have the same opinion :P so i'll drastically change my plans to be sure to have a maximum of 10hours of drive in one day. There are fightening stories out there !

Glc ! thanks for your reply to.. I had expected an answer like this one.. But i think that i really want to have an objective in the trip. Somewhere to stop a couple of days.. just to rest from all the road we will have done..

So I was wondering.. If i am still 20 do you think our main objective could be Los Angeles ?

And if you have suggestion for the city to stop by between Memphis and San Diego it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again !