Travelling around America

djmsemcgrath

My wife and I have always had a dream of going to the United States and visiting all 48 mainland states, ignoring Alaska and Hawaii. We know that we won't be able to completely immerse ourselves in each state properly, as that might take a few weeks per state and I don't think visas will last 12-18 months! I think our limit is probably around 6 months.

Our original plan was to pick a few touristy elements in each state, or places we really wanted to visit, and then plan the driving route. Some hotels could be pre-booked, maybe even the majority, and some could just be dropped in on.

That was the high level plan, but clearly it needed a lot more work, especially around picking the right times of year to visit each state, and trying to factor that into which way round we drove, and whether we could give the hire car back in a few states (such as New York) where it wasn't needed, etc. We have got a ton of research from Google, but it clearly needs a lot more work until it's a realistic plan.

However, a few years ago, our daughter was born so this dream got put on hold. Clearly, this isn't something to take her on at an early age, as she won't care about a lot of attractions we would care about.

Our new plan is now either to wait until she's moved out or at uni, and then we'll go, maybe even see if she wants a year out before uni to come with us (perhaps it's not cool going with your parents), or wait until she's at an age to appreciate things, maybe 12ish and go on a shorter trip over a summer holidays. Maybe do the New York/Florida coast in one trip and go back to do the rest some other time?

Assuming a summer holiday period of let's say 6 weeks or 2 months, is that realistic to do Niagara, New York, Washington DC, and the various Florida attractions (Seaworld, Disney, Everglades, etc). I'm thinking perhaps summer isn't the best time to visit that for my pasty English skin!

I'm getting a little confused by everything, as I had an initial dream of travelling around which has had to be tweaked because of having children (don't take it the wrong way, having children was a bigger dream!), and I'm not sure how to amend my plans or the best thing to do.

Does anyone have any tips or advice about travelling America, and maybe the best ages for children to be interested in more cultural things, and ultimately, tips on the best way to approach a long trip, either by booking hotels beforehand, etc.

Sorry it's a messy question - it's a mess in my head too lol!

torbrex

Murphy is your man for the children question, he has taken his kittens a few times.

As to travelling round all the states, I have done it but spread over a long time. I did it in loops rather than point to point, I picked a city to land and leave from then worked out a circular route that would see me visiting as many states as possible during my 2 week road trip. Sometimes I just managed a few because of the sights that I wanted to take in but others I managed 7 or 8 states, I did have a couple of 'stationary' holidays where I did not get a car but instead enjoyed the one location for the whole trip eg Washington DC.

If you intend to try to bag them all in one trip you could still do the loop method that I used for some and fly between the centres.

converted

Hi


you need to remember if you wait until your child is 12yrs old you will have to factor in school holidays - which will curtail the length of time and probably increase the costs.


regards

John259

You can use Google Maps to check where places are and probably more importantly how far away from each other they are. You can also use Google Maps to search for motels, and in StreetView mode you can look round towns, highways and some hiking trails in national parks.
https://maps.google.com

Wikipedia has useful background articles on regions, states, cities, towns, national parks and even highways.
http://en.wikipedia.org

The US National Park Service web site has lots of practical information about visiting each of the parks and the numerous other similar areas that they administer such as the national monuments.
http://www.nps.gov

YouTube has some excellent videos of places, road trips and dashcam videos of highways. (There's also an awful lot of total rubbish on there so it takes some effort to find the good ones.)
http://www.youtube.com

It's probably obvious but FWIW here's a map showing the major US mountain ranges etc:
http://www.freeworldmaps.net/united-states/us-mountain-ranges-map.jpg

Here's a map showing where almost all of the US national parks are located:
http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/info/parks-map.gif

The weather is a major consideration. In winter you need to keep well south, and avoid mountains except for those in Big Bend National Park (southwest Texas). Some roads in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains are closed all winter (roughly December to May or June). In summer the southeast is very hot and very humid, whereas the southwest is very hot and very dry which most people cope with better than the humidity.

The budget motel chains such as Motel 6, Super 8 and Red Roof Inns suit me ideally for a road trip where all I need is somewhere clean and safe to sleep. Some people prefer to pay more, of course. Independent family run "mom & pop" motels are often good value in smaller towns.

Even fairly small towns in the USA and Canada have "gas, food and lodging" (petrol stations, restaurants and motels) especially if they have an interstate exit. These services tend to be clustered around interstate exits or on the main roads into town, rather than in the actual town centre. So you're not limited to staying in big cities all the time.

Accommodation in national parks is expensive and books up months in advance. However, nearly all the parks have towns fairly close by with motels at lower rates with no need to book in advance.

Two superb loops in the west:

1. Los Angeles > Pacific Coast Highway > San Francisco > Yosemite National Park > via the Tioga Pass and US395 to Death Valley National Park > Las Vegas > Los Angeles (the Tioga Pass is closed in winter).

2. The Grand Circle: Las Vegas > Zion National Park > Bryce Canyon NP > Capitol Reef NP > Arches and Canyonlands NP and Dead Horse Point State Park > Monument Valley > Mesa Verde NP, the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (authentic old time western style stream train through the mountains) and the San Juan Skyway loop of highly scenic mountain roads > Grand Canyon NP (south rim) > via AZ66 (part of old Route 66) and Hoover Dam to Las Vegas.

In the East, I'd highly recommend the Appalachian Mountains, i.e. Great Smoky Mountains NP (Tennessee and North Carolina), the Blue Ridge Parkway (North Carolina and Virginia) and Shenandoah National Park (Virginia). That's well over 500 miles of great scenery and interesting roadside exhibits such as pioneer cabins.

Here's some recommended YouTube videos, playlists and creators that you might like to sample:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TravelingRobert

https://www.youtube.com/user/cheapfamilytravel

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb-8Gy55ZLXaVGaWY3_O_KUo2H5cgmb7P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_6z7C5ecTk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmSVpSl4vVs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypfy7XHjRl4

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpz7cLJ1_TwSnUf7XGZAQci-c3omf5Ept

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UExeCMJ1RuQ

jodles16

Hi, probably not much help but this is also something I dream about when we are MF! I found it useful to look up pre made tours around the USA using google, these give an indication of travel times etc! Also there is the 'perfect' road trip plan if you google it, might again help with some route planning! Will be subscribing for any inspiration and tips!

Jodles :D

EssexExile

In 1978 I pleaded with my boss to let me have 3 weeks off to go to Canada & USA for the holiday of a lifetime. He refused but I went anyway as it would be such a one-off event. I've been 14 times since.
Don't try to do too much, if you like it you'll be back. If you want to know what it's like to try all 50 states at one go read "Brit at the Ballpark" by Pete Taylor.

Bordeuax

The food is really cheap in dinners, the starter is a meal itself.
Go room only.

zagfles

John259 wrote: »

You can use Google Maps to check where places are and probably more importantly how far away from each other they are. You can also use Google Maps to search for motels, and in StreetView mode you can look round towns, highways and some hiking trails in national parks.
https://maps.google.com

Wikipedia has useful background articles on regions, states, cities, towns, national parks and even highways.
http://en.wikipedia.org

The US National Park Service web site has lots of practical information about visiting each of the parks and the numerous other similar areas that they administer such as the national monuments.
http://www.nps.gov

YouTube has some excellent videos of places, road trips and dashcam videos of highways. (There's also an awful lot of total rubbish on there so it takes some effort to find the good ones.)
http://www.youtube.com

It's probably obvious but FWIW here's a map showing the major US mountain ranges etc:
http://www.freeworldmaps.net/united-states/us-mountain-ranges-map.jpg

Here's a map showing where almost all of the US national parks are located:
http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/info/parks-map.gif

The weather is a major consideration. In winter you need to keep well south, and avoid mountains except for those in Big Bend National Park (southwest Texas). Some roads in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains are closed all winter (roughly December to May or June). In summer the southeast is very hot and very humid, whereas the southwest is very hot and very dry which most people cope with better than the humidity.

The budget motel chains such as Motel 6, Super 8 and Red Roof Inns suit me ideally for a road trip where all I need is somewhere clean and safe to sleep. Some people prefer to pay more, of course. Independent family run "mom & pop" motels are often good value in smaller towns.

Even fairly small towns in the USA and Canada have "gas, food and lodging" (petrol stations, restaurants and motels) especially if they have an interstate exit. These services tend to be clustered around interstate exits or on the main roads into town, rather than in the actual town centre. So you're not limited to staying in big cities all the time.

Accommodation in national parks is expensive and books up months in advance. However, nearly all the parks have towns fairly close by with motels at lower rates with no need to book in advance.

Two superb loops in the west:

1. Los Angeles > Pacific Coast Highway > San Francisco > Yosemite National Park > via the Tioga Pass and US395 to Death Valley National Park > Las Vegas > Los Angeles (the Tioga Pass is closed in winter).

2. The Grand Circle: Las Vegas > Zion National Park > Bryce Canyon NP > Capitol Reef NP > Arches and Canyonlands NP and Dead Horse Point State Park > Monument Valley > Mesa Verde NP, the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (authentic old time western style stream train through the mountains) and the San Juan Skyway loop of highly scenic mountain roads > Grand Canyon NP (south rim) > via AZ66 (part of old Route 66) and Hoover Dam to Las Vegas.

In the East, I'd highly recommend the Appalachian Mountains, i.e. Great Smoky Mountains NP (Tennessee and North Carolina), the Blue Ridge Parkway (North Carolina and Virginia) and Shenandoah National Park (Virginia). That's well over 500 miles of great scenery and interesting roadside exhibits such as pioneer cabins.

Here's some recommended YouTube videos, playlists and creators that you might like to sample:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TravelingRobert

https://www.youtube.com/user/cheapfamilytravel

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb-8Gy55ZLXaVGaWY3_O_KUo2H5cgmb7P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_6z7C5ecTk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmSVpSl4vVs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypfy7XHjRl4

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpz7cLJ1_TwSnUf7XGZAQci-c3omf5Ept

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UExeCMJ1RuQ

Excellent post - I've done most of the 2 Western ones and they were superb.

One thing I'd add is try to go off-peak without booking any accomodation, except perhaps in the major national parks like Yosemite. Motels are everywhere and cheap, and easy to haggle a cheaper price. It gives you so much more flexibility than a regimented plan with accomodation prebooked everywhere, you never know how much you're going to like a place so it's good to have the flexibility to stay an extra night, or move on more quickly, or take a diversions to somewhere someone you've just met raved about...

John259

Yes, flexibility is vital. Not only because you might change your mind but also because poor weather conditions, wild fires or car breakdowns might give you no option but to change plans. I've had all three over the years.

BTW you don't need to eat where you sleep. Not even in the same town.

djmsemcgrath

There's a lot to think about in this thread. Thank you for all of the amazing replies, especially as I didn't really know what I was asking myself!

My original intention was to prebook all hotels, mainly for the cashback and to ensure we had somewhere sorted, so we weren't stranded. But maybe that's a hugely expensive way to do it and I take the point that we might find something unexpected to do in a state for an extra day.

I'm probably a few years away from going, waiting until the little one is older. But I do need to decide whether it's going to be the summer holidays and see what states are out during that time due to weather, or whether we'll wait a bit longer and go for several/6 months at a convenient time for everyone.

I've got a list of 5-10 things we want to do in each state so I need to cut this down slightly then work out the best travel route, either drive or internal flights. And then maybe prioritise so if we need to miss out some states for any reason, we can.

It's just a lot of planning and trying to figure out the best thing to do, the best months, the best way around, etc. There's a lot of great links here that will help my research, really appreciate that.