Travelling america...

hstrug

Myself and my fiance are looking to travel america for about 3 weeks for our honeymoon. Ideally, we're looking to travel by train as we'll be able to take in the views. Are there any recommendations for how to go about this - are there UK travel agents which can help us? We've seen a few tours but not sure if we'll be able to do it cheaper ourselves and get to all the places we want - San Diego, LA, San Fransico, Salt Lake City, Grand Canyon, Chicago, Denver, Washington DC, Boston & NY.
Any help would be gratefully recieved!!

Incapuppy

hstrug wrote: »

Any help would be gratefully recieved!!

Are you crazy? Try not to do so much! Ditch the last six, hire a car and you might make it round the first five seeing bits and pieces inbetween travelling.

zagfles

hstrug wrote: »

Myself and my fiance are looking to travel america for about 3 weeks for our honeymoon. Ideally, we're looking to travel by train as we'll be able to take in the views. Are there any recommendations for how to go about this - are there UK travel agents which can help us? We've seen a few tours but not sure if we'll be able to do it cheaper ourselves and get to all the places we want - San Diego, LA, San Fransico, Salt Lake City, Grand Canyon, Chicago, Denver, Washington DC, Boston & NY.
Any help would be gratefully recieved!!

In 3 weeks??? You'd need at least 3 months for the above. If you want to travel by train stick to the East coast, doubt you could get a train for the rest. Greyhound bus may be an option though. But in the West you really need a car.

Spursman180

www.seat61.com to get a good look at what it will take travelling by train in the States

Doshwaster

hstrug wrote: »

Myself and my fiance are looking to travel america for about 3 weeks for our honeymoon. Ideally, we're looking to travel by train as we'll be able to take in the views. Are there any recommendations for how to go about this - are there UK travel agents which can help us? We've seen a few tours but not sure if we'll be able to do it cheaper ourselves and get to all the places we want - San Diego, LA, San Fransico, Salt Lake City, Grand Canyon, Chicago, Denver, Washington DC, Boston & NY.
Any help would be gratefully recieved!!

To do all of those places in 3 weeks you'd be spending far too much time travelling. DC + NY + Boston is possible by train on the Acela Express route and an open jaw flight but I'd forget about the other places for another trip.

realised

Try Trailfinders.com

Never used them myself but if it's a travel agent you're looking for, a friend of mine used them for a trip to California and said they were very good

inmypocketnottheirs

Echo comments above. Do the East coast as one trip and you will have a great time. Try and do it all and you will be taking too much on.

hstrug

They're the places we've come up with that we want to visit... wanted to find out the best way to book so we could determine exactly how much travelling would be involved and cut down based on our priorities - as I was writing the list I realised just how much we want to see! Think east and west coast split may be the best way to do it, will check out organised tours for each and see what that will entail! I know my friend used STA to travel to Aus & NZ, and trailfinders were another place she investigated so will give that a go!

Doshwaster

hstrug wrote: »

They're the places we've come up with that we want to visit... wanted to find out the best way to book so we could determine exactly how much travelling would be involved and cut down based on our priorities - as I was writing the list I realised just how much we want to see! Think east and west coast split may be the best way to do it, will check out organised tours for each and see what that will entail! I know my friend used STA to travel to Aus & NZ, and trailfinders were another place she investigated so will give that a go!

Seeing as it is your honeymoon and you'll want to be spending some time alone you may be better off planning the route yourself rather than using a tour company for the whole trip. You can always book separate tours along the way while you are there. The DIY approach will also give you much more flexibility.

I would just look at booking an open jaw return, flying into DC and out of Boston (or vice versa) and use train service to work your way along the coast. It's really not worth the hassle of flying on such short routes.

Apart from the flights your biggest cost will be hotels, especially if you want to stop in the city centres. DC, NYC and Boston can be quite pricey. If you had a rental car you could save some money by stopping in out of town hotels.

inmypocketnottheirs

Try https://www.hotwire.com and https://www.laterooms.com for hotels or https://www.airbnb.com if you fancy b&bs or something a little different.

zagfles

hstrug wrote: »

They're the places we've come up with that we want to visit... wanted to find out the best way to book so we could determine exactly how much travelling would be involved and cut down based on our priorities - as I was writing the list I realised just how much we want to see! Think east and west coast split may be the best way to do it, will check out organised tours for each and see what that will entail! I know my friend used STA to travel to Aus & NZ, and trailfinders were another place she investigated so will give that a go!

STA and Trailfinders are generally for independant travellers, but that's by far the best way to see the US. Organised tours will tend to be expensive and won't necessarily do the things which interest you.

Really would suggest hiring a car, at least for some of the trip, it'll give you so much more freedom and driving in the US is easy. Tell everyone it's your honeymoon and you'll get loads of freebies!