Help Planning 5 Week Trip to America

neilbond007

3 nights in niagara?
make it 1.
you see the falls and that's about it. the rest of the place is like blackpool .

i was pretty let down by it to be honest.

i would do NY and then focus on the west coast. as mentioned before yosemite was awesome. Vegas is the best city in the world! LA is a bit of a dump, but an hour in most directions are superb!

EDIT - just seen you're looking at hawaii. it's a 5 hour flight from LA. so it aint as close as you may think! i went to Maui. really pretty.

look at hiring a car... they are around £20 a day on here -
http://www.netflights.com/index.asp?partner=overture&overturekeyword=airline+network
get the lowest class of car (americans don't do a 2 door economy) and then upgrade for £3 - free tank of gas.
for example - i've driven from NY to niagara. took about 8 hours but it'll work out cheaper than the $55 train ride!

aussiedogga

purplesmiler82 wrote: »

So far we think we are landing in NY early day 1 and staying for 4 days before traveling to Niagara Falls via Amtrak ($55 each).

May I suggest Megabus for your trip from New York to Niagara Falls. If you keep an eye on the site, you'll notice they sell one day at a time, about 3 months in advance. If you book it at the right time you'll get 2 tickets for $4.

www.megabus.com/us

As for accommodation in New York, I've booked the Chelsea Star Hotel for my stay in April. Looks very cheap and OK reviews on TripAdvisor. Also others speak of the Cosmopolitan Hotel as being another good cheapy. Good luck with your planning. It does sound like you are trying to cram too much into 5 weeks though.

JustWonderful

I know this is an old-ish thread, but i felt the need to reply!

I did a 5 week trip to America in the Summer (bizarrely the same length og time!), and here is what i did and will share with you the highlights..

Started in Kentucky
Then Orlando
Miami
Atlanta
Washington DC
Niagara Falls
New York City

I do personally think you are fitting to much into your trip-however it depends on what you are after- i liked spending 5 days in a place, to get to see all of it.

I see you are planning on seeing the Falls, as someone else said in the thread- 2 nights maximum- there is nothing there- apart from the falls it is not very good. I was on the American side- not sure about the Canadian as my Brother lost his Visa!!

Just a word of warning- DO NOT GO TO ATLANTA! EVER! its hideous.

Miami is a great place- why not go there instead of Hawaii and then you can fly directly home from there?

Orlando- I loved, but its all down to taste i guess.

I looked at Amtrak, but for a 5 week trip it is a LOT of time spent travelling, whereas a plane is a LOT quicker, and not very much more expensive.

Another tip is to get a Nationwide Debit/Credit Card as they do not charge a penny, whereas most other cards do.

If you want any more advice then PM me!

sturll

purplesmiler82 wrote: »

Hi all,

Me and my partner are hoping to go on a 5 week trip to the US next Summer and need all the help and advice we can get. We have only ever been on package holidays before and know that this is going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Here is what we are thinking (not decided on amout of time in each location yet)

UK to New York
New York to Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls to Chicago
Chicago to Las Vegas
Las Vegas to GrandCanyon
GrandCanyon to Los Angeles
Los Angeles to San Francisco
San Francisco to Yellowstone National Park
YellowStone National Park to New York
New York to UK

Do you have any thoughts on this? As this is a once in a lifetime trip is there anywhere that you think we should be visiting as don't want to come back thinking we should have gone other places.

Travel inside the US - Are Amtrak the only passenger train company in the US? anyone had any experience of these?? Anyone know of any cheap car hire companies in the US, ones we have looked at so far are extortionate!! Are their any airline companies that do cheap internal flights? (e.g. equivalent to our Ryanair, BMI, Easyjet etc)

Motels/Hotels/Hostels - Accomodation needs to be cheap but of reasonable quality, would consider staying in a hostel but would have to be own room/private bathroom - again any recomendations

Anyone know of any good theme parks / water parks along this route (I am a big kid at heart!! and I'm sure I could convince my other half that it would be fun!!)

As you can see any help or advice you can give would be much appreciated

Hoping this thread will become very long and that I can keep you updated on my progress

Thanks in Advance
Purple Smiler

You know, you are asking a lot. If i were you - and really its your best option (from someone who has traveled extensively in the US) then get a car and play it by ear. (or an RV)

The thing is 5 weeks is hefty. I have been to the states 8 times and had car each time. I am currently in the middle of planning a 3 week jolly in August and its not easy. Well it is. But its about knowing when to have "free nights" where a hotel is not booked and then knowing where one can be. Best days etc.

I suggest you either wing it and see how it goes. Or get some experience first.

sturll

JustWonderful wrote: »

Just a word of warning- DO NOT GO TO ATLANTA! EVER! its hideous.

Miami is a great place- why not go there instead of Hawaii and then you can fly directly home from there?

Are you kdding?

Atlanta is great, a fantastic, clean city with tonnes to do. Comparable to most other US cities it is well above par - Why didn you find it crap?

Miami - Now that is crap. How did you enjoy it?

JustWonderful

Atlanta is the most horrible city i have ever been to.

You walk along the streets and there are dozens of beggars on the street, and wou are quite aware that these beggars probably have some sort of weapon. I was there for 5 days, and after going to the CNN building and Coke Museum, and even baseball there was nothing to do! The Olympic green part was nice, but apart from that?! Supposedly it has got much worse in the last few years- when did you go?

Miami is a great place- we had a hotel right on the beach, and spent the day on the golden sand enjoying the easy going lifestyle. That was bliss!

matthew74

Atlanta is not somewhere anyone should put high on your priority visit list. IMHO of course!

sturll

JustWonderful wrote: »

Atlanta is the most horrible city i have ever been to.

You walk along the streets and there are dozens of beggars on the street, and wou are quite aware that these beggars probably have some sort of weapon. I was there for 5 days, and after going to the CNN building and Coke Museum, and even baseball there was nothing to do! The Olympic green part was nice, but apart from that?! Supposedly it has got much worse in the last few years- when did you go?

Miami is a great place- we had a hotel right on the beach, and spent the day on the golden sand enjoying the easy going lifestyle. That was bliss!

I was there Aug 2008. And what American City doesn't have beggers? Have you been to LA/New York?
Atlanta is years ahead of just about every other US city in terms of transport, Parking, things to do, Cleanliness etc. I stayed in Midtown and loved the place - absolutely loved it.

Miami, i was there in Jan 2007/2008/2009 and every time its the same old crap city. South Beach is ok - but by no means as good as most other beaches in Florida - particularly the Gulf Coast.

JustWonderful

Never been to LA, but went to NYC and it wasnt even comparable.

There were dozens of beggars on every street in ATL, it was horrible. Very unnerving.

You don't like Miami, yet have been there three years in a row? Don't quite get that.

Yeah it was South Beach we went to in Miami, liked it.

sturll

JustWonderful wrote: »

Never been to LA, but went to NYC and it wasnt even comparable.

There were dozens of beggars on every street in ATL, it was horrible. Very unnerving.

You don't like Miami, yet have been there three years in a row? Don't quite get that.

Yeah it was South Beach we went to in Miami, liked it.

No, well yeah - I go to Orlando each Jan and drive down to Everglades and Keys. Miami is a stop between. Like i said S Beach is half decent but Miami itself is a ghetto.