UK - USA Multi City, East Coast - West Coast - Hawaii - UK

MasterPoo

Hi,

I live in Birmingham UK, (BHX), I'm in the early stages of planning a month long multi city trip for myself, 2 sons (21 & 14) and my 80 year old mom. I plan to be departing UK on the 31 July 2015 and want to arrive back in the UK 29 August 2015.

I'd like to ideas/suggestions on this itinerary? is this over ambitious?

I don't mind where I fly out of the UK from/return fairly flexible in that aspect, key to where we depart from is that the plane must have business class (for my mum as I want her to be comfortable during long haul flight).

So far this is my itinerary:

Birmingham/London - Florida 5 Nights

Florida 5 Nights - Drive to Miami

Miami 2 Nights - Fly to Boston

Boston 1 night - Drive to NY

NY 5 nights - Drive to Atlantic City

Atlantic City 1 night - Drive to Washington DC

Washington 1 night - fly to Vegas

Vegas 3 Nights - Fly to San Francisco

San Francisco 1 night - Drive to Santa Barbara

Santa Barbars 1 night - Drive to LA

LA 2 nights in LA - Fly to Hawaii

Hawaii 7 nights - Fly to LA

LA 1 night - Fly to UK

Thanking you!

richardw

I'd fly to Boston, visit the east cities, end up in Miami then Vegas etc.

MasterPoo

Thank you. Yes flying into Boston from Heathrow then working my way down the map, towards West Coast does make more sense. thanks

jackieblack

Personally, I'd skip Miami and LA and have 2 extra nights each in Washington DC and San Fran, both of which have much more to offer IMO

blindman

MasterPoo wrote: »

Hi,

I live in Birmingham UK, (BHX), I'm in the early stages of planning a month long multi city trip for myself, 2 sons (21 & 14) and my 80 year old mom. I plan to be departing UK on the 31 July 2015 and want to arrive back in the UK 29 August 2015.

I'd like to ideas/suggestions on this itinerary? is this over ambitious?

No but at the moment illogical route

I don't mind where I fly out of the UK from/return fairly flexible in that aspect, key to where we depart from is that the plane must have business class (for my mum as I want her to be comfortable during long haul flight).

BIG decision here as not all business classes are equal :cool:


So far this is my itinerary:

Birmingham/London - [STRIKE]Florida 5 Nights

Florida 5 Nights - Drive to Miami

Miami 2 Nights - Fly to Boston[/STRIKE]

As has been suggested Start in Boston.

Boston 1 night - [STRIKE]Drive to NY[/STRIKE]

No need for a car in NYC so either fly or get train\coach from BOS

NY 5 nights - [STRIKE]Drive to Atlantic City[/STRIKE]
You may be able to do this in a day trip or at least by train\coach IIRC-though I decided not to go there (as apparentley it's a dump..)


[STRIKE]Atlantic City 1 night - Drive[/STRIKE] to Washington DC

Again fly or train\coach to here

Washington [STRIKE]1 night [/STRIKE]- fly to Vegas
Stay at least two nights

Vegas 3 Nights - Fly to San Francisco
14 yr old cannot go in casinos-Avoid Frid\Sat nights and major conventions

San Francisco [STRIKE]1 nigh[/STRIKE]t - Drive to Santa Barbara
Stay at least 2 nights

Santa Barbars 1 night - Drive to LA

LA [STRIKE]2 nights[/STRIKE] in LA - Fly to Hawaii
Only one night near airport-City is too big and sprawling and congested.

Hawaii [STRIKE]7 nights [/STRIKE]- Maximise the time here as it is so far to go for only a week.
Which Island? Ohau is only worth 2-3 nights IMHO

Fly to LA

LA 1 night - Fly to UK

Thanking you!

Trip is doable, just needs various tweeks-mine are only suggestions.:cool:

Are you all flying business class or just "Mum" :cool:

franklally

As you are landing in boston why not consider spending some time in New England - it's an easy drive to New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont - you could always then take the scenic (but long) drive through the Adirondacks to New York

I would also skip Miami and spend no more than 2 nights in LA (worth going here just to stay at the magic castle hotel!)

MasterPoo

Hi Jackie, Bland and Frank,

Thank you for suggestions.

Jackie - Miami is more for my 21 year old, I've been there before, its also not that long of a drive so I thought it would be doable? Skipping LA is not an option, my boys have never been to the US so we are going to do a few touristy things, just so we can ticket off our bucket lists.

Blindman - Yes it was illogical! I will now be flying into Boston. Great suggestion. I think I will skip Atlantic City, this is more for my mom, she's a gambler, hence Vegas too! I think 3 nights for her and US in Vegas is too much. So will look at reducing the number of nights there, plus its MY money she will be gambling with.

RE: Business Class, if I find a good deal I wouldn't mind all 4 of use flying it, I just want my mom comfortable during the long haul flights, I'd like her to put her feet up. I'm not really bothered for myself and my boys, we are all still young and fit!

Washington - yes I will defo do 2 nights now, thank you! And thanks for the coach/train suggestions, noted.

Vegas - yes I will avoid weekends, that would be a nightmare for me!

San Francisco - noted.

LA - we need to spend more time here.

Hawaii - I've not even thought that far, I need to do my research. Suggestions welcomed.

Frank - yes that actually sounds lovely, will research.

Icequeen99

MasterPoo wrote: »

Hi Jackie, Bland and Frank,

Thank you for suggestions.

Jackie - Miami is more for my 21 year old, I've been there before, its also not that long of a drive so I thought it would be doable? Skipping LA is not an option, my boys have never been to the US so we are going to do a few touristy things, just so we can ticket off our bucket lists.

Blindman - Yes it was illogical! I will now be flying into Boston. Great suggestion. I think I will skip Atlantic City, this is more for my mom, she's a gambler, hence Vegas too! I think 3 nights for her and US in Vegas is too much. So will look at reducing the number of nights there, plus its MY money she will be gambling with.

RE: Business Class, if I find a good deal I wouldn't mind all 4 of use flying it, I just want my mom comfortable during the long haul flights, I'd like her to put her feet up. I'm not really bothered for myself and my boys, we are all still young and fit!

Washington - yes I will defo do 2 nights now, thank you! And thanks for the coach/train suggestions, noted.

Vegas - yes I will avoid weekends, that would be a nightmare for me!

San Francisco - noted.

LA - we need to spend more time here.

Hawaii - I've not even thought that far, I need to do my research. Suggestions welcomed.

Frank - yes that actually sounds lovely, will research.

Hawaii is amazing, but you need to decide which island you are going to or whether you will do more than 1 (probably better to go for longer than a week if so). I disagree with the previous poster who said 2 to 3 nights is enough in Oahu, outside of Honolulu there is lots to do exploring the island. Accommodation is far more expensive in Hawaii than the mainland.

One tip, if you are prepared to fly from Amsterdam or other european cities you can save on business class flights. Then book a flight to the departing city the night before (we used easyjet). Coming back, ensure the flight breaks in London (preferably requires a transfer between heathrow and gatwick so you can just get your bags and leave without going back to Amsterdam. We just saved £4,000 on business class flights to Hawaii doing that.

Do you have a rough budget in mind as it might help us make recommendations? I would have thought you would be looking at 10k just for flights.

IQ

John259

MasterPoo wrote: »

Boston 1 night - Drive to NY

You don't need a car in Boston, and in New York City a car is a liability. I-95 between Boston and NYC is busy and not very scenic. There are other slower more pleasant roads, but I'd suggest investigating using the train, the Amtrak Northeast Corridor Route, instead of driving.

Drive to Washington DC

The same comment about thinking about using Amtrak, except that I-95 between NYC and Washington DC is even worse.

Vegas 3 Nights - Fly to San Francisco

Have you thought about driving? It's a wonderfully scenic area and you could go via Yosemite National Park, one of the most beautiful places on this planet (IMHO and that of many other people). However, Las Vegas to Yosemite Valley needs two days to drive (it can be done in one very long day, but you ideally need time to stop and see the places of interest along the way, especially on CA120, the Tioga Pass road). Then you need at least one full day in Yosemite. You might not want to allocate that much time, fair enough.

San Francisco 1 night - Drive to Santa Barbara

Presumably via CA1, the extremely scenic Pacific Coast Highway? (Inland routes are faster but vastly less scenic). That's a long way to drive on a relatively slow road, where again you really want time for stops. An overnight stop in the Monterey area would be a good idea IMHO but yet again I'm eating up days that you might not wish to lose from other places.

Whatever you decide, you're going to see some wonderful places.

MasterPoo

Icequeen99 wrote: »

Hawaii is amazing, but you need to decide which island you are going to or whether you will do more than 1 (probably better to go for longer than a week if so). I disagree with the previous poster who said 2 to 3 nights is enough in Oahu, outside of Honolulu there is lots to do exploring the island. Accommodation is far more expensive in Hawaii than the mainland.

One tip, if you are prepared to fly from Amsterdam or other european cities you can save on business class flights. Then book a flight to the departing city the night before (we used easyjet). Coming back, ensure the flight breaks in London (preferably requires a transfer between heathrow and gatwick so you can just get your bags and leave without going back to Amsterdam. We just saved £4,000 on business class flights to Hawaii doing that.

Do you have a rough budget in mind as it might help us make recommendations? I would have thought you would be looking at 10k just for flights.

IQ

IceQueen - I want to just veg/chillout in Hawaii. Sit by the beach and do loads of water sports and possibly 2 day trips to explore? What would be your suggestion for a good stay without having to lug bags around?

I'm now researching flying from Europe to US, thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks

John259

MasterPoo wrote: »

I'm now researching flying from Europe to US, thanks for the suggestion.

For me, being able to fly from Norwich via Amsterdam (Schiphol) is wonderfully convenient, saving all the pain and cost of getting to Heathrow or Gatwick.