Cleveland, Ohio

Goat

Has anyone been there before? Any advice on cheap accomodation?

Me and four friends from my uni (all 19-20 year old guys) booked a flight to Cleveland cos it was only £104 return, but we don't know much about the city/surrounding area.

Does anyone know the best way to get to Niagra Falls from Cleveland? So far the best way seems to be a 6 hour coach journey but hopefully there's a quicker way. We were hoping to visit Niagra Falls and then spend the night in Toronto.

nelly_2

Funny we did this trip last year but the oposite direction.
We did it to go to theme parks.

To start off clevelands crap, to some tune too.

However 40 miles up the road is the biggest baddest and bestest theme park on the planet, which is why we went http://www.cedarpoint.com/ its a superb place do not miss this if your even slightly into rides. We stayed 4 days, the on site hotel ( Breakers) lets you into the park half an hour before the general public. I cant rate this park highly enough.

Cleveland has a rock and roll hall of fame which is supposed to be good but were not into rock and roll, halls or fame

We did the bus journey (greyhound) and it really wasnt that bad, and im not a good traveler. Im sure you can get a train though.
In niagara do Nightmares.

I did a trip report on a coaster webby here, might help might not

http://www.rccgb.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=1443&hl=

PS where the hell did you get flights for 104 quid???????????

Goat

Cheers - Cedar point sounds great.

The weird thing is that we are going at pretty much the same time you went as well! Flying out on the 27th August (back on 3rd Sep).

The flights were a pricing error (we think) at expedia. (Was posted in the grab it forum). It's no longer available unfortunately. It's a bit of a random flight which includes a five hour wait in Dallas. (1000 miles from Cleveland!)

What's the weather like at that time of year? So would you recommend spending most of our time in Toronto (which also has the advantage that we can drink) after visiting Cedar point and then Niagra Falls?

nelly_2

Drinking good point, their a bit keen in the US, try and get some fake id ( I never said that) I dont know where from but false english driving licenses would be best because they dont know what they look like anyway (and I never said that either) My misses was 29 and they werent keen to let her drink without id, we only got away with it cos we played the , we didnt know were foreigners card.

If you get to the canadian side of the falls which is the better side your ok @ 19 drinking. Niagara has a pile of bars its a suprise really.

Weather wise it like south coast England, can be hot or not luck of the draw, it was nippy for most of the trip then the sun really came out at the end.

I cant beleive them tickets im gutted, I'd go back to Cedar point in a shot.

If any 2 of your party drop out Ill buy them off you for double the price

Check your pm box.

chelle86uk

hey,
me and my BF managed to grab this deal too! got two flights leaving on the 27th august til 10th september for a bargain £108 each! we are probably gonna stay in cleveland for a few days, i know you can get a greyhound bus quite cheaply up to cedar point (look on ebay for money off coupons) then hopefully we will head down to washington, up to new york then up to boston to stay with my brother! you can get some quite cheap flights if you book early enough, in particular using the multi-destination option! try jetblue, ifly, southwest and look on travelzoo.com!
chelle x

Goat

chelle86uk wrote:

hey,
me and my BF managed to grab this deal too! got two flights leaving on the 27th august til 10th september for a bargain £108 each! we are probably gonna stay in cleveland for a few days, i know you can get a greyhound bus quite cheaply up to cedar point (look on ebay for money off coupons) then hopefully we will head down to washington, up to new york then up to boston to stay with my brother! you can get some quite cheap flights if you book early enough, in particular using the multi-destination option! try jetblue, ifly, southwest and look on travelzoo.com!
chelle x

Thanks!

Does your flight have the random 5 hour wait in Dallas?

Do you think we'll be able to leave the airport and then come back before the flight?

chelle86uk

We're actually flying through chicago, i think there is about a 2.5 hour wait there. As for leaving the airport i wouldn't know, maybe for you as your wait is much longer it would be possible!?? im hoping so, just so i can say that ive walked the streets of chicago! where abouts are you flying from?

Let me know if you find any good deals up to the niagra falls, i would love to visit there! So far my itinery involes a total of 42 hours (and growing) on a bus, mainly overnight trips though, i'm still trying to find some cheap flights, but not sure if i can justify the price difference (being poor students)....the coach journeys will come to around $197 in total, flights around $500!

Goat

chelle86uk wrote:

We're actually flying through chicago, i think there is about a 2.5 hour wait there. As for leaving the airport i wouldn't know, maybe for you as your wait is much longer it would be possible!?? im hoping so, just so i can say that ive walked the streets of chicago! where abouts are you flying from?

Let me know if you find any good deals up to the niagra falls, i would love to visit there! So far my itinery involes a total of 42 hours (and growing) on a bus, mainly overnight trips though, i'm still trying to find some cheap flights, but not sure if i can justify the price difference (being poor students)....the coach journeys will come to around $197 in total, flights around $500!

Chicago makes more sense! The detour to Dallas makes the total time for the journey 17h45!! I'm flying from Gatwick.

Yep i'll let you know if I find anything good! If you could let me know if you do as well that would be great! (My exams start on Saturday so I should really be revising at the moment, although I do seem to be spending most of my time doing research for the holiday!)

You could have a look at trains, might be quicker than a coach.
http://www.amtrak.com/

Baz-Bee

First and important piece of advice. If you are students take your student ID with you and preferably get an International Student ID Card (Is it ISIC?). Many places in the US offer student discounts with a valid student ID Card

Normally you can leave the airport if you have time. When transiting through you will have cleared US Immigration and Customs at first point of arrival. Then the domestic leg will normally depart from another terminal or another area of the airport building. Remember though if you do leave you will need to clear security again and in the US that can take a long time!!

Cedar Point is awesome and you should try and get there if you can. It is also right on the shore of Lake Erie.

For the amount of travelling you like like you are doing hiring a car or 7 seater van would probably be the cheapest. Although if you are all under 25 you will pay a loading per day. And if no one is over 21 you may have trouble getting a hire car anyway.

In Cleveland I would recommend taking in a Baseball game if the Indians are home when you are there. They are home 29 - 31 August to Detroit. Jacobs Field is a nice but new ball park. If you do decide to go book tickets in advance as often they sell out before the day. Scedules and tickets on the Indians wesite at:
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp?c_id=cle

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is also in Cleveland and if you are in to pop music is again a must do. Again it is right on the shore of the lake.

http://www.rockhall.com/

Will post some more tomorrow as have not got time now.

chelle86uk

baz-bee, thanks for the info, i'll definatley look into the student card thing i know both amtrak and greyhound offer 15% discount with this card so it looks like its worth having! unfortunatley we are both 19 so hiring a car doesn't look to hopeful, i wouldn't be too keen on it anyway, i am a bit of a nervous driver so driving on the other side of the road wouldn't be the best thing!

goat, not sure if you're still looking into the best way to get to the niagara falls, but i just had a look on amtraks website and under their weekly specials on certain dates you can get a train from cleveland to buffalo for $25 return (48 and 49 lakshore limited). niagara falls is about 1/2 hr away from buffalo and they have buses to there regulary. we're going there on sep 8th!