[Closed] Help Planning a trip to America

Maybe a Route66 type road trip? Start Chicago iirc, end up somewhere near LA via maybe Vegas, Yosemite & SanFran.

Or if you're into music, Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans.

Maybe it's not yet your time to go?

EDIT: Possibly a bit harsh, but I've read your OP as you don't really know why you're going. If you were to say that you're going for a few weeks, fly into somewhere and go where the breeze takes you, that's a plan.

Alternatively, if you said you wanted to spend a few weeks with mates in the middle of the Nevada desert and get utterly shitfaced on peyote mushrooms at the Burning Man festival, then that's another plan for an experience

TBH it's too big a country to do in one big go. Better to pick a chunk you really want to do and then think about the next chunk later...

NYC is worth about 3 days, no more. If you want to do the big Apple then maybe add Boston, New England & DC for the revolutionary history & politics. But you're never going to do the whole country in one three week thrash

What I would recommend is to go and see Real America. Don't be one of those chumps who plans a holiday to London and goes "well, I've seen England." Get off the tourist trail, go tramp around Hicksville Tennessee or something.

As a random suggestion, I really enjoyed DC. It's the place in the US I thought felt closest to home. Great museums, friendly people, the Pentagon is well worth a tour.

My youngest son & his GF did it last year for 3 weeks at the tender age of 29. Started off in NY & worked their way down through.....load of places I can't remember, but mainly coastal.
Until a hurricane cut their tour short in Florida & they had to hotfoot it back to NY!

TBH it's too big a country to do in one big go. Better to pick a chunk you really want to do and then think about the next chunk later..

Very good advice.

Also, Boston and San Francisco are supposed to be great, they're on my to-do list but I've not been yet.

Shouldn't Portland be on a MTBer's hit list?

TBH it's too big a country to do in one big go. Better to pick a chunk you really want to do and then think about the next chunk later...

Definitely this. I've been to 36 of the states and they are all different.

Go to the part that matches your personality. OK, that sounds a bit new age but what I mean is: If you love nature and adventure, go to Colorado/Utah. If you're into seeing what you've seen in films: Go to California or New York. If you're into beach holidays, go to Florida, the Keys etc. If you grew up with Grunge, go to Seattle and start there. If you're into history, go to Boston, Washington DC, Williamsburg, Jamestown etc. If you like jazz and blues, start in New Orleans; and so on and so forth.

& if you like nothing for miles & miles & miles.....go to Canada!

& if you like nothing for miles & miles & miles.....go to Canada!

Only the middle bit. Everything west of Edmonton is great 😀

I can only recommend what I did. Travel down the coast from San Francisco to San Diego, Plenty of places to see.

Canada is different again

My first trip was Calgary, Canmore, Banff, Kamloops, Vancouver and back again. Rocky Mountain road trip = awesome.

Second trip, Toronto & Niagara Falls

Next trip, next month Vancouver Island

Road signs in kilometres and bilingual French/English

Want to cover a lot of distance in 2/3 weeks? Do a whole load of training and enter the tour divide. Job jobbed!

We did Nashville for a few days (Jack Daniels distillery is a must!), then drove through Georgia down to Florida where we stayed for a week before flying home.
I love the South, but hated the driving - when we go next time we are flying between different places

We did Nashville for a few days (Jack Daniels distillery is a must!), then drove through Georgia

I've driven from KY to Atlanta.

On the freeway we spotted the sign, "Historic Jack Daniel's Distillery, next exit." We thought, why the hell not pop in? So we followed the road, A road became B road became dirt track... after several miles we stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere and enquired, "are we going the right way?" She replied, "Oh yes, it's just down the road, only another 15 miles." We turned around and went on our merry way.

Americans have funny ideas about distances, not least of which is telling you them.

(If you get to Atlanta the Coke museum is cool, if only for the pervy polar bear.)

Me, partner and 14 yo son went last summer, had a fantastic trip. Three weeks, got a couple of days in NY, which was ace, much better than I anticipated; visited partners brother & family in Wisconsin, then picked up a hire car in Salt Lake City. Three days in Yellowstone, three days trekking in Tetons, drove to Bend Oregon for some mtb, drove to Oregon coast and headed south to SF, flew home. I'd go back to Oregon for month if I had the chance....
Plan well, book some accommodation and leave some to chance. Eat in diners, drivings cheap, motels are cheap. Flew over and back with Aer Lingus, via Dublin, best deal for what where wanted to go, couple of internal flights with Delta.

Vague plans are either awesome or crap.
What do you like? Personally I got the chance to do 2 weeks after a work trip so packed up the bike and hit some iconic trails. Had some burgers and watched Red Bull Rampage and had a look at Vegas. With the driving that was a lot and it took a long time to get anywhere. Met up with some Canadian girls who had driven down from BC to Utah stopping in random places, they had a great time hitting national parks on the way etc.

If your budget is limited then probably make a bit of a plan and factor in a currency shift - my plan involved packing a tent as the prices moved significantly between booking and taking off. Also remember tax goes on top of any price.

national lampoons vacation springs to mind..:) Wally world definitely. Vegas, San Fran, LA, NYC

Awesome place to go. Me? I'd go somewhere remote. Oregon is superb in every respect. Just do a big loop of that, starting in Portland, over to Astoria, down the coast road, travel in to Bend. Back to Portland. New York is cool for about a week, then it gets interesting as you break free of tourist stuff. Love New York. It's not cheap though - cheap means the sticks and negotiating manager specials everywhere. Food used to be fun, but now seems homogeneous. Used to be able to find mom and pop places that kind of made it all up. Just be aware the more South you go, the less chance you have of understanding them. I'd just pick an airport, hire the biggest f'off car you can, and follow your nose along anything other than a freeway.

Can only echo muddyground really - Oregon would be my default go-to place (and will be come 3 weeks 😀 ).

If it's your first trip to the US, you could of a lot worse than a circular trip round the canyons, which would fill 2/3 weeks very nicely:
Las Vegas start - flights are reasonable and hotels are cheap + loads of car hire
Hoover Dam
Grand Canyon NP (get helicopter flight - worry about the cost later!)
Antelope Canyon
Monument Valley
Natural Bridges NM
Moab (rent MTB and do Porcupine Rim)
Arches NP
Canyonlands NP
Capitol Reef NP
Bryce NP
Zion NP
Lake Mead
Vegas

If you're happy to take a tent (or rent from REI) and book early enough, most of these places are well equipped for camping and keeps the costs very affordable.

Also some interesting flight options out there: Norwegian Air can get you close to US cities in 'RyanAir-style' really quite cheaply. Or, IcelandAir give you a free stopover in Reykjavik.

Happy planning - US is a great place to visit.

Echoing some others, don't try to do too much or travel too far as it'll dilute the experience.

With something like this the research can be the most interesting part so get stuck in! Suggestions would be to try New York and the east coast, maybe dipping into Canada and Niagara Falls/Great Lakes; Go explore Texas and the Alamo; Head to the mid-west to see the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Petrified Forest and the areas where Breaking Bad was shot; or maybe roadtrip from Vancouver down the Pacific Coast Highway through Seattle and Portland down to LA.

In terms of tips, consider a mix of camping and Motel 6s to keep costs down. In the west at least this is pretty easy and just requires a trip to WallMart to stock up after you land. If you hire an MPV you'll have extra space for sleeping if you don't find a campsite (you can get a blowup double matress in them!) and get the #vanlife experience on the cheap.

As above it really is a country of many cultures and speeds of life and it can't be done in one hit, so take your time and soak it up across a few trips.

I enjoy planning 3 week trips to the US. It consumes me for weeks.
Then I think, that was nice but I can't be arsed to leave the house.
True story.

Mattstreet: I even named my daughter Page after doing the Canyon trip North out of Vegas to Denver - awesome journey in winter. Odd, but neither Vegas or Denver lived up to expectations.

Thanks for all the brilliant suggestions. Gonna have a think between us all and see what suits best. Think the general consensus is see as much as possible in the day and get shit faced on the night hahaha. But all the major places like ny, la, San Fran, vegas are a must just doing it as cheap as possible traveling wise so can spend more there

Start by asking yourself why you want to go, what sort of things you want to do. I like co/ut/wy for the parks and mountains, cycling the Colorado trail would probably be a great trip. Grand Canyon is amazing and I'd like to walk across it one day but it's a fair drive from most places. SF is a fun city but a long way to go just to see a city and bridge. Etc. Different people might have complete different ideas as to what will be fun.

Ah right. Sounds like my idea of hell but each to his own.

all the major places like ny, la, San Fran, vegas are a must just doing it as cheap as possible traveling wise so can spend more there

My wife and I were living in the Philippines at the time so flew in to San Fran, the went to New York, Boston, DC for a couple of weeks and finally a 2 week holiday where we met with her sister, husband, Mum and nieces who'd flown over to Florida for 2 weeks of theme parks, 'gator seeing and that kind of thing.

It was awesome. We were around 26 or a couple of years younger maybe, but had a fair budget. We toured San Fran on a mini-bus tour, went to The Rock and generally explored. 3 days there.

NY was amazing. We just made a list of things to see and do before arriving and did it. Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, bike ride in Central Park, watched the Yankees play baseball (great sport to see live), China town, Times Square at night etc. Another 3 days.

We stayed in Georgetown in DC. In uni halls out of term time actually, which were a bargain. We went to the museums, did a Segway tour of the good bits from The White House to Capitol Hill and all the stuff in between. DC has a nice feel to it. 4 days.

Boston was amazing. Not the highlight of the holiday as a destination but the place I'd choose to live. We toured Harvard. Did half of a really nice walking trail (we were distracted by $1 beer) and laughed about how everyone there looked like my Irish wife. We met with her (American) cousins for a day there too. 3 days.

Florida was great. We went to theme and water parks and it wasn't too expensive with multi-park passes. We went to the Universals, Sea World and a couple of water parks on that ticket. We went on one of those swamp boats to see alligators. Went to the beach. A few malls. We ate stupid amounts. It was so different to the first bit of the holiday that being away for a month didn't seem long. Usually I like to go home after 3 weeks holidaying. Top tip. Never go to the theme parks in the morning. Everyone else does. They're open late. We'd go after lunch and there'd already be a stream of people leaving. We'd take a few sandwiches in our backpacks for a snack in the late afternoon. Leave the park around 8pm and go and have tea.

As others have said, the US is enourmous. I loved our trip but would love to go and see other bits.

I love the South, but hated the driving - when we go next time we are flying between different places

But that's half the fun, especially in the South! You'll miss the best bits if you fly.

OP, Hire a car in San Diego, head north to San Francisco, and then decide if you want to keep heading north and drop the car off in Oregon or turn back via Las Vegas. 3 weeks might not be enough time, but the California coast road is a MUST!

Going again this year for a tour from Vegas to Yellowstone with Moab along the way.

So much to choose from.

We got great flights from Manchester to Vegas premiere eco Thomas cook. Way better deal than Virgin.

Last time we did the coast and Yosemite / Moab / LA / SF (not that order) and a lot more for 3 weeks. I loved the driving actually.

Sequoia was great. But Moab was great too. Not cheap bit one of the best trips ever finishing with seeing the Space Shuttle in La La land.

Start by looking at the travel times between those and see how much time is left after.

With the way Americans use internal flights like buses it's a bit of a moot point. You'll lose time travelling from New York to Washington (take the train), so the extra distance to fly to SF isn't that relevant IMO.

I'd do Boston-New York-DC, then San Francisco and drive down to LA/San Diego. 3 days in each of the first 3, 10 days doing the latter bit.

vegas are a must just doing it as cheap as possible

Vegas and cheap do not belong in the same sentence, the entire place is designed from the ground up to part you from your money. Every door has a doorman with their hand out guilting you into giving them a dollar.

I don't get the love for Las Vegas, I thought it was dire and I wouldn't go back if you paid me. It looks glitzy on TV but up close it's cheap and nasty, the marble pillars are chickenwire and fibreglass (which just about sums up Vegas as a whole TBH).

Granted when I went I was on a very tight budget so maybe didn't experience it as its best. I couldn't afford to spend hundreds of dollars gambling or on cool stuff like helicopter rides in the Grand Canyon (which I would've loved to do), I managed a couple of the slightly less eye-wateringly priced evening shows though.

Also, if you're vegetarian you can forget it. America is catching up slowly on the notion that you might not want to live off steak and burgers every day of your life, so you'd think that a tourist trap would be awash with options. Not so, I basically lived off French fries for a fortnight.

Vegas and cheap do not belong in the same sentence, the entire place is designed from the ground up to part you from your money. Every door has a doorman with their hand out guilting you into giving them a dollar.

I sort of agree but it's cheaper to fly in and we'll located for other places. We will be riding Red Rock Canyon too which is nearby. It's also relatively cheap to stay too.

Solution: fly in and stay a couple of nights tops.

https://roadtripusa.com/about-the-book/

Have a look at that website and get a copy of the book. Has suggested routes and you can get a feel for where you'd like to go.

Alternatively sign up for the 2018 Tour Divide, easily the best way to see America.

After last year's TD I hired a Dodge Challenger and deobe from Phoenix to R66, to Vegas and then back through California staying in cheap motels. There's a great webpage listing ghost towns that I used to have a nose about.

Vegas can be cheap, you just have to be careful and disciplined!

I'd recommed Utah. Moab is very cool and not just for biking. But the whole state is full of outdoor stuff of all kinds. Just don't set your sights on national parks, they are not like ours - they are tourist traps built around some physical beauty where you pay to get in and drive your car around in a big queue. There are however tons of national forests and other spectacular scenery that you can ride in.

Bend, Oregon is also cool for outdoor pursuits.

If it was me...

i'd finish whatever you do with 3 or 4 nights in miami beach.

take in a baseball game somewhere.

If you don't gamble, Vegas is cheap. The accomodation is silly cheap an there's a wide range of places to eat. Only for a couple of nights though. The old town is cool.

I think it's one of those places you ave to go to and decide for yourself. Personally I thought the buildings were less tacky but the people tackiier than I expected.

i'd finish whatever you do with 3 or 4 nights in miami beach.

I wouldn't. Beach, with some brightly lit buildings, and a hell of a lot of poseurs. Did nothing for me 🙂

Remember that the US is very big, even the contiguous 48 are huge. Whereas in the UK an hour or two's drive will get you into a totally different landscape, in the States you might drive for a day or more before things change. The New England trees in the fall are stunning but after four hundred miles of them ...

Pick things that you want to see, mark them out on a map and figure out the distances between them then pick a subset that doesn't mean you are rushing around for the duration of your trip.

@Cougar - I had no trouble eating as a vegetarian in the States in the mid 1980s, it was New York state and New England so perhaps not typical of the rest of the country.

What I would recommend is to go and see Real America

I've now spent quite a lot of time in Jones County, Mississippi. It is pretty Real™ down there, but (unless you're me visiting my girlfriend) I would not [i]especially[/i] recommend it. 🙂

Id recommed Utah. Moab is very cool and not just for biking. But the whole state is full of outdoor stuff of all kinds. Just don't set your sights on national parks, they are not like ours - they are tourist traps built around some physical beauty where you pay to get in and drive your car around in a big queue.

Agreed on the parks. Very permit oreintated and they aren't that keen in bikes in them.

We are staying at the Gonzo Inn Moab. Ace place.

TBH it's too big a country to do in one big go. Better to pick a chunk you really want to do and then think about the next chunk later..

This.

I go there quite a lot with work, have travelled there twice and lived there for a while. It's a big, diverse place.

What are you after? Riding? Sight seeing? Culture? History? Architecture? Ghettos? Redneck towns where you'll be asked to leave because of your strange accent? The US has it all.

Personally I'd stick to the coasts or mountains. On a budget I'd consider getting an RV, sleeping in Walmart parking lots (it's free and legal) and driving around. The trains are like the UK's post-privatisation with added Beeching cuts, but having a really, really bad day. Flights can be cheap, depending who you fly with - Alaskan, JetBlue and South West are always worth checking out. Greyhounds are (or certainly were) cheap and consequently certainly used to carry very interesting folk and have depots in interesting parts of town; this can be either stimulating or downright scary, depending on your view/naivety. However, they are a good way of seeing the country.

I don't get the love for Las Vegas, I thought it was dire and I wouldn't go back if you paid me. It looks glitzy on TV but up close it's cheap and nasty, the marble pillars are chickenwire and fibreglass (which just about sums up Vegas as a whole TBH).

This sums up Vegas for me. I don't like particularly like it, but see the attraction of going there. It is a party town, but like everyone's said - a fool and his money are easily parted, especially in Vegas. Do it, but don't do it for very long.

Equally, all the major cities are expensive. Expect to pay London prices for beer in SF and the like. I was shocked during my last trip (eight weeks ago) at the cost of eating out in Chicago and SF. I found it more expensive than is used to be, and the double whammy is the exchange rate is crap (thanks Brexit).

I'd do either

NYC/Philly up to Vermont to Boston
or
San Fran to Tahoe/Reno
or
Portland to Hood river to bend

I always advise road trips to get any taste of the US - its easy/cheap and can reveal the most amazing sights you will never find on a tourist itinery