American Roadtrip - Help!

iamana1ias

I've done that trip (minus Sedona) and it took 2.5 weeks (2000 mile circuit). I didn't spend more than 2 nights anywhere - I certainly didn't manage to do everything there is to do in that time either.

Starrystarrynight

I found the red indicators on some of the cars quite hard to get my head round! We also tried a car pool lane but, after somehow going round in a huge circle and ending up back where we started, decided to stick to the regular lanes.
My OH did all the driving in CA, as I'm a nervous driver even here in the UK, but we managed ok.

kittykarate

Oh, thought of something else that nearly caused me problems. The petrol pumps don't follow the same colour coding convention as in the UK, and in one place I nearly filled up my petrol car with diesel because diesel had the green nozzle. Luckily the guy in the gas station didn't start the pump because they don't seem to have small cars that take diesel, so he knew I was being dumb.

I had no trouble in gas stations/rest stops when I travelled around, but I always picked places that were very well lit. A lot of gas stations have bathrooms, microwaves to heat up burritos etc.

To me it sounds like you're trying to fit 3 holidays into one holiday, and you could just end up tired. The US is a big place, and even though driving on their highways is less busy than ours, it's still time where you're not doing anything fun.

Something else that confused me when I first drove through cities - at crossroads they have the sign for the road you're crossing overhead. If you want to see what road you're actually on, you have to look to your side as you go through the crossroads. Sat Nav is a godsend - do any of you have a Nokia that supports Sat Nav? If you preload the maps of USA, set it not to go online you can do navigation for free.

duchy

If you really don't want to trim down the number of places start with an open jaw -ie into SFO and out of Vegas and think about flying some of the legs although to be honest I do think you're piling in too much, the heat in August is punishing.

I'd consider starting in SFO -driving down the Pacific Highway to LA , then on Vegas-pick a hotel with a great pool like Flamingo (and avoid Friday and Saturday nights in Vegas if you can as prices double those nights there) for a few days maybe driving to the Canyon in the middle of the stay there- personally I'd do Zion rather than Yosemite and maybe fly out of Salt Lake City rather than Vegas going home .

Murphy the cat did a great trip report a year or two back which covers a fair bit of what you're doing-his planning posts might be really helpful for you.

Checking out some of the coach tours that do this route might be useful in giving you an idea what is actually do-able too.

cubegame

I did a trip of this sort on my first visit to the US. Stayed a week in San Diego (was attending a conference) and then drove up via Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley and then Lake Tahoe to San Francisco.

In two weeks you could easily do.......

San Diego (staying long enough to see the sights, zoo, Seaworld etc), late drive to Grand Canyon national park stopping at Williams, AZ. Visit the Grand Canyon NP and then drive via Hoover Dam to Vegas for a few nights. Then via Death Valley to Yosemite (we didn't do this as the snow had the routes closed) and then on to San Francisco for a few nights.

Public transport is good enough in San Francisco to let you drop the car off on arrival meaning you won't have to mess about with parking.

Some people will say it's too much for two weeks but I disagree. We did Seattle to San Diego via Las Vegas and six national parks last year.

Biggest tips:-

- America is very safe especially in rural areas. People are more friendly and will go out of their way to help you.

- Get the free road maps which you can order online from the state highway offices.

- Get a Satnav. They will be invaluable in getting you to your motels.

- Don't plan all but the vaguest route and NEVER book ahead by more than a few hours. Booking will get a you a worse price than a walk-in. There will be nothing worse than having to abandon seeing something so you can get to the motel you've booked. Likewise, if what you were planning doesn't take as long as you thought and you end up at a booked motel at 2pm!!

- Take a laptop or netbook. You will save hundreds of US$ if you have up to date info at hand.

- Motels are always cheaper than the first price they offer. They will almost certainly never be full and if you turn up after 8pm they will be putty in your hands. Get prices off Kayak to give you an idea where to head for and also look out for coupon books. When you arrive at a motel, say what you want and when they offer a price tell them you're travelling on a budget. If they don't go lower, knock $20 off yourself. If they say no, walk out. 9 times out of ten they will call you back and offer you the room. I've only been knocked back once on two trips.

- Priceline, Hotwire........if you heading for a city do consider these as they generally offer good rates. But again leave it late. If we knew we were headed somewhere that evening as a definite we'd browse and book at breakfast.

- Car. Get a big one. The nature of a roadtrip is that you will be living in it. If it takes you more than 5 minutes to load and unload it every morning/night it will wind you up. I'd say get a full size SUV for a family of four.

blindman

Umpteen threads on this topic.

Here's a post I did with some references and links that apply to some of your trip.


Some other threads

West Coast

SFO to Vegas

MTC thread

My last USA trip

Tips for your plans

(As mentioned) Open Jaw is the best way to cover all the places.

No one way drop off fees in CA from Netflights (and others)
No need for a car in SFO so either start there (3 days) or end there.

Similarly do not drive in Las Vegas, though you need a car to get to other sights (unless you go on a tour) and these sights are a long days drive.

Las Vegas and Death Valley in August will be bl**dy hot!

Accommodation inside Yosemite will now most probably be full. To stay outside is cheaper but involves driving to\from and traffic!

Use Hotwire (Priceline only guarantees a room for two) for accommodation at arrival point big city and departure airport.

Driving cars in the US is easy (except for LA) and the highways are very wide. Don't forget to factor in the cost of gas, the hire cars fuel consumption (30mpg) and the miles you'll do (2k+)

AVOID driving in\around LA if at all possible!

Do not try to cram too much in.

Enjoy

markandkate

You should defiantely consider internal flights as well as driving as you are picking some very long and boring trips in your proposed itinery. We flew from SF to Vegas and then hired a car to drive to the Grand Canyon. One way car rentals will also work to save you going backo n yourself and South Western airlines and Blue offer good rates

Murphy_The_Cat

Time to put my oar in.
You can easily do very large distances each day in America, if you need/want to - but its not much fun for the passengers.
Personally, I prefer to do long hops and stay additional nights in places, than shorter hops but having to stay in more places.
Driving in America is a doddle.
A SAT NAV with American mapping make driving so much easier. Keep an eye out on this site for when refurbished TomTom 910s become available. For £100, it pays for itself in lack of aggro within about 24 hours, plus you can preplan a great deal of your route and things to see, beforehand.

I'm going to disagree with cubegame as regards planning ahead and booking ahead, as it all depends on your outlook on things. If you are prepared to drive for a few hours and then spend more time driving around looking for somewhere to say, to save a few $$'s then follow cubegames plan. If however you want to know that you have a got a room in Hotel X and that it is going to cost you $y then book ahead. Cubegames plan will definitely save you money, my plan will definitely save you time and aggravation. Only you can decide which works best for you.
Hire the largest, most luxurious car that you can get. Your children will probably kill you if they are cooped up in the back of a little'un for several thousand miles in the heat of Summer.

You will have a great time but it will cost you a small fortune - you'll want to go back again and again.

I did this trip a while ago which may help - Touring holiday to Nevada, California and Arizona.

If you need any more help, just ask. Quite a few of us on here have done a roadtrip to that part of the world, and if my memory serves me right, we've all had a great time (but August will be absolutely baking !)

ferf1223

I think I would be in Murphy's camp on the hotel/motel thing...I don't think I would really want to be haggling at the end of the day over where we woudl be staying that night...one other thing on booking hotels/motels in the US - in many cases if you book direct, you can cancel quite late - in some cases we've experienced up to 6pm on the day of arrival...so pre-booking doesn't have to mean you can't change your plans at relatively short notice. Most motel chains will have a book on the front desk with all their locations so you can grab one and have it with you - if you find a chain you like you can keep their guide to hand and see if there's one on or near your route wherever you are.

wattywattwatt

I would agree with the two previous posters re booking ahead. We thought we could get away with not booking a night (pre flight home) in Charlotte NC, only to discover that there was a schools sporting event on and spent half the day trying to find a room! You can pick up books of money off coupons at the rest stops on the interstates, usually the ones just inside the state lines have loads of tourist info. I would consider a laptop essential on a trip like this, there are loads of free wi-fi spots in cafes etc and motels, and you could easily book just a day ahead on-line and be assured of a place to stay on arrival. Just to reiterate the driving thing, don't worry about it , hire the biggest vehicle you can afford and relax, I find Americans, in general, to be much better mannered on the roads than us Brits and the parking spaces are huge!!!!! Finally, I haven't been to the West coast but have driven several thousands of miles in the South and all down the East coast and the worst thing to happen was hitting a raccoon in the dark on the freeway, that's when the big SUV came in handy, but it still made a dent and burst a tyre, you'll see LOTS of roadkill! Have a great time, you will want to go back.