Travelling to the North America next summer...

blindman

Ashok wrote: »

The thing that is worrying me the most is the immigration thing.. What could we do to insure we won't have any problems?

TBH I can't see you having a problem with immigration.

So long as you have a return ticket and give the address of your first night in the USA then I can't see the problem.

I can't speak from first hand experinence as I was 18 a lonnnnnnnnnng way back!

old_motters

Ashok wrote: »

The thing that is worrying me the most is the immigration thing.. What could we do to insure we won't have any problems?

Also in regards to flights, I'm guessing they would cost more for July anyway because of school holidays, or should they stay around £345?

For immigration, take your college acceptance letter/job offer if you have one, same for photo of a girlfriend, have an air travel itinerary handy, and your Amtrak/greyhound tickets available, travel insurance details etc. Also, enough funds either available or about your person to comfortably support yourself in the US.

July flights *will* go higher for that itinerary.

Personally, I'd skip Dallas/Texas, it's a fright to get around without a car and, apart from the strip joints, not that exciting. It's also quite a way west! For my money I'd start in Chicago, then across to Dearborn for the Henry Ford Museum (near Detroit), Buffalo for Niagra Falls and a walk across into Canada, then to Boston, NYC, Philadelphia and finally Washington DC.

ferf1223

Ashok wrote: »

Transport - we're both too young to rent cars and buying one would be too expensive so I think that our two options are the Greyhound (an unlimited month pass costs like $400 or an Amtrak train pass which is $600 for a month) but I'm not really sure which of these would be best?

Train travel in America is very limited...much moreso than bus travel certainly. You'd have to look at the routes offered for each to work out which would be better - it may be that in parts of the country Amtrak would be better than Greyhound and vice versa - but also it may be that you may not get enough value out of a monthly for either if you are moving around quite a bit. Will really probably be better to wait until you've come up with a rough itinerary and price the available options. My experiences with Amtrak and Greyhound are that Amtrak is a big surprise - in many areas barely used and reasonably cheap for what you get. Greyhound is a bit more dicey, but gets you from point a to point b.

I'm not sure why you are thinking about Detroit - it is not a very nice place...parts are downright dangerous. I lived in Cincinnati for 5 years and cannot really think of much there to draw an international visitor, but I suppose it's a nice enough stop enroute somewhere else. OK, wait, Cincinnati chili - that's something.

You also have to remember that public transport in the US is generally lacking as compared to the UK - so check carefully what's available in each city you will visit. No point in getting off a Greyhound only to find that there's really no public transport to get you around a strange city. The vast majority of Americans in most cities (other than major metropolitan areas) drive, so local bus services can be quite limited or non-existant.

dondo

I travelled extensively in the USA back in the mid 90's with the main big trip in 1995- I bought a rail pass and found that a great way to get around- yes it doesn't serve as many places as the Greyhound bus but the trains were extremely comfortable and you got to see some great scenery along the way.

I did get a discount on the pass with being a student and from outside the US but not sure if that still applies.

loobs40

Why not look at the STA website www.statravel.co.uk. My son has used them for his travelling in Australia and the USA (where he is now)

WolfSong2000

I'll second what others have said about lack of public transport...it can get very frustrating! Amtrak's great, but the service can be quite limited depending on the area...Greyhound's fine, though not as cheap as it used to be, sadly.

I'm in the USA as we speak, supposedly on a student work visa, but job fell through a while back, and a new one isn't forthcoming right now. Have managed to squeeze in a fair bit of traveling, though...am in Milwaukee right now, but spent most of my time in North Carolina and Tennessee...NC is really pretty (I was mostly on the Cherokee reservation) and the Smoky Mountains are gorgeous, but you need a car! Tennessee is really cool - Nashville is well worth a visit as you can walk around downtown. Both areas will be very hot, though, especially NC which also gets really humid.

If you're traveling for the first time, the South is a great place - people are very friendly and accomodating. So many people were offering to put me up when they'd only met me once (friends of friends), and the attitude (if not the politics) is great...Northerner's can be a little more brusque. Of course I'm generalizing, but I love the South for that very reason - people seem to be so much friendlier.

If you want to PM me with any more questions, feel free