Hi All,
Only 6 mths to go before we head off on our RTW. I CANT WAIT!!! Yay!
I’m really excited about the USA leg of the trip. As a teenager I was obsessed with the idea of traveling to America so this trip will be fulfilling many of my teenage dreams!!

We will be arriving in LA in the first week of April 2009 and staying in the US for about 7 weeks.

After spending about 3 nights in LA we will catch a bus to Las Vegas and stay about 2 nights.
Then we hire a car for 1 week in LV and make our own way to Tucson, visiting the Grand Canyon along the way.
In Tucson we start the Amtrak 30 unlimited passes, so we have 30 days from this point to reach New York.
The route we are thinking of taking is Tucson- San Antonio- New Orleans- Memphis- (Bus to Nashville, then Bus to Atlanta) Atlanta- Washington DC- New York.
We then spend about 3-4 nights in NY before catching our flight to London.

We will have a tent and sleeping bags because we want to rent camping sites during our road trip in Arizona (and will be mainly camping in Europe) but in the US cities we be staying in Hostels.

So, this is what we have planned so far. What do you all think? Please give as much info, tips, criticism and advice as you can as we will appreciate everything we get.
Does anyone have a suggested route for our road trip from Las Vegas to Tucson? Daily budget suggestions (we plan on making a lot of our own meals)? And must see sites?

Thanks

1. Don't let any bad experiences at the Los Angeles airport color your views about the rest of the US. I find that airport to very confusing without many signs to help you figure out what to do. Other airports here are much better.

2. When you get to New Orleans try to get out into some of the local smaller communities if you can. This will be hard though unless you rent a car (which you should find to be much cheaper to do here than in Australia.) St Francisville has many beautiful old homes including the Myrtles plantation, one of the most haunted homes in America. South Louisiana plantations can give you a unique perspective on the US slavery and Antebellum period as sugarcane was grown here instead of cotton. The big graveyards in New Orleans are also popular. Don't wander through these after dark no matter how fun it may seem. Like everywhere isolated dark places tend to attract muggers. Due to the high water table here, lots of people are buried above ground in masoleums as the coffins don't stay down. Everytime it floods here you always here news stories of coffins popping up out of the ground and locals having to go get them and rebury them. Also don't let the sight of destroyed homes put you off too much. The core part of the city survived. The problem in New Orleans is the city population is nonw much smaller than it used to be but all the land is privately owned so the government can't just come in and knock down the homes.

3. With your route you miss some of the best mountain scenery in the US. Again with the train route you are limited a bit. If you can from Atlanta its worth trying to get into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. There is some great hiking and camping there. The Chattooga (maybe wrong spelling) along the South Carolina, Georgia border maybe two-three hours from Atlanta is a great rafting river. It is also where Deliverance (you know the "make you squeal like a pig" movie) was filmed. While you raft the river, which has some great rapids, the guides point out where different scenes are filmed so obvisiously you should watch this very weird movie first.

4. Daily budget is sort of hard as you haven't listed what sort of plans you have once you get here. Your dollar is still strong so that should help. I spent two months in Australia last year with my weak (relative to history) US dollar. I found food to be about 20% higher when I was there when taking exchange rates into account. Fuel here is currently $US 3.60/gallon (3.8 liters per gallon). Here you will find portions to be much larger in restaurants. You can probably get away with ordering one plate of food and splitting it. All you can eat buffets are also quite common here. One of the main attractions in New Orleans is the food so you will miss it if you don't eat out.

If you have anymore specific questions or want me to try to find something out for you, email me at brogge1@gmail.com. I just finished a 14 month trip and am currently trying to buy a house here in Baton Rouge (the capital of Louisiana about 120 km from New Orleans.) The hurricane has made this difficult but hopefully everything will be repaired soon. Also for trip costs go to the trip statistics article on my blog and you can see how much I spent per day in each country I was in. For more specific details of what I spent that money on, just go to the corresponding country articles.

I am not quite sure about what you treasure when you travel. You mention camping which makes me think you like the far away places, but maybe I am wrong.

I think the kind of experiences you want really should guide your itinerary.

The US is very difficult to really experience with public transportation. It is so immense. The trains especially mainly stop in the larger cities. Getting out of the city you have to have a car. Hitch hiking is truly not safe in the US. Buss's take you few places, and rarely out of the city.

I actually dont even know if there are a lot of youth hostels in the US - but the cheapest hotels are like Motel 6, and they cost from $50 - $150 per night depending on where in the US you are.

Make sure to plan plenty of time around the Grand Canyon. Williams is a much, much better place to stay than flagstaff. Flagstaff takes tourist trap to a whole new level.

I am also wondering about the choice to go north to Las Vegas and then back down south. Unless Las Vegas is a must do for you, I am not quite sure I would want to do that.

In all honesty I would look for a cheap way to rent a car for the entire time you are here. There are companies like "rent a wreck" that will give you good discounts as long as you are over 25. Do a web search for them. I know it is sometimes possible to get access to cars that have to be moved from one part of the country to another, and be given the chance to drive it. Look for companies that offer "drive away cars". I havent looked for it in years so I dont have the research any more. Also look for cars that allow for cheap used cars for rent.

Finally - you can buy a decent used car in many places of the US for $1500 - $4000. You can always sell it for half of what you paid when you get to the other side. Dont buy the car right in LA though. Go for a place like Bakersfield or other places outside of the big city. Also make sure to find a mechanic to give it a look under the hood before you buy. US car sales men does a lot of negotiating.

Since you are going north - may I ask why you are not planning to spend any time in N. California? I know - I know - I am very biased. Its amazing here though. I am talking north of San Francisco. SF is an amazing city on its own, but expensive as heck. The redwoods - well - not sure what I can say. Except to me missing the redwoods would be as bad as missing the grand canyon.

I can only recommend spending a bit of time in Sonoma county.

Lets see - to the best of my knowledge New Orleans has never recovered from Hurricane Katrina. Personally I doubt it ever will. Try to find someone who has been there recently for more information.

Route 66 runs from one coast to the next in the more southern part of the US. You will need a car, but if I had 6 weeks to tour the US I would go east on route 66 and take it slow. Should you opt for your own car you can also find a lot of camp grounds.

Route 66 was the original route cross country. It is steeped in history and mystery. Taking you into the heartland of the US.

Since I usually stay away from cities I cant give you much feedback from the cities you have mentioned.

Hope you enjoy your stay here.

Malene

Ohh, what a coincidence. Someone in a thread further down is talking about auto drive away companies. The thread is cheap motels. Take a look - maybe they can guide you.

There are plenty of hostels in larger cities in the US, we just don't usually take advantage of them. Americans have not really taken to hostels like the rest of the world for some reason.

New Orleans is still a great place to visit. I have not been back since Katrina but my brother in law was there a few weeks ago. All the major attractions are up and running and there are still more places to get a hurricane and a po' boy than you can shake a stick at.

Sounds like you've picked a good time of year since your itinerary is mainly in the south. Any later in the year and it would start get hot.

Of course, I could say you are missing the best part of the US (the Rockies) but I know, you can't go everywhere. The US is big, just like Oz. So see what you can and enjoy!

I am currently living in Louisiana and have been through New Orleans a few weeks ago. The main areas that were damaged were the suburbs and government projects built after the levees were built. The original city (French Quarter, St Charles Street) were built prelevee on higher ground. (Think of New Orleans like a bowl with a hump in the middle. The old city was built on the hump). Most of the damage was caused by flooding not wind. The tourist areas of the city are alive and well.

Let me touch on the Washington, D.C. aspect of your trip. Depending on how much time you have, you should prioritize your must-see list. The city is full of monuments, museums, and amazing restaurants, but it is overwhelming to attempt to see them all.

DC is full of hop-on, hop-off bus tours if you prefer the guided city tour or have trouble walking long distances. These tours are expensive but convenient and will show you the sites in about 9 hours. They are also exhausting. If you taxi or metro (our metro system, http://wmata.com is easy and clean) to Foggy Bottom or the Smithsonian stop, you can see most museums and important monuments (Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington, Vietnam War, Korean War, Capitol Building) within a few hours. Food is overpriced - water on the Mall (the area between the Capitol and the Washington Monument) is $2.50. For eating on the Mall, stop into a Smithsonian museum and eat at their cafes - most lunch restaurants nearby are closed on weekends, and the only things available on the Mall are hot dog stands, etc.

Get to the museums early - they fill up fast in heavy months (May-September, December). You'll have no problems at the monuments, as they are outdoors.

It's a bit of a walk from the museums/monuments to the White House, so a taxi is recommended if you've been on your feet all day. If you walk, take Constitution Ave for one view or 17th and G for another view.

If you get a chance to venture outside the city, Old Town Alexandria (my city) is a quaint shopping area on the Potomac near Mt. Vernon with excellent restaurants. Metro to King Street (blue line) and you're there.

Hiking in this area is also excellent. My favorites include: Great Falls, Sugarloaf Mountain, Shenandoah Mountains. These are a little out of the way though.

Other suggested sites:
Holocaust museum, DC (requires advance tickets)
Annapolis, Maryland
Arlington Cemetary, Arlington, Virginia

Skip:
White House visitors center
American History museum (closed for renovation)
Postal museum

I liked the postal museum. Also most of the Smithsonian museums are free. The add on section of the Air/Space Museum that holds lots of aircraft like the Concorde does cost. I don't know how much though.

In New York check to see if the Statue of Liberty Crown Access is still closed. There is a fight between different parties whether to reopen it or not. If its not open you can only go up to the top of the pedestal. This might not be worth the cost of getting out to the island.

Wow!! Thankyou for such an overwhelming responce. Brilliant feedback.

As a couple of you have mentioned... I would love to see it all but unfortunately time and money just dont allow it. I dont plan on this being my one and only so hopefully ill make it back again one day to visit places I miss this time.

In regards to us taking camping gear... The main reason we will be carrying a tent and sleeping bags is to keep expenses down in Europe. I thought that it would also be nice during the week road trip in Arizona but realise we probably wouldn't be able to use the tent in other parts of this trip because we wouldnt have a car. Thats ok because we will stay in cheap motels and hostels instead.

In regards to purchasing a car... I was under the impression that its hard/expensive to get insurance when not a US resident. Plus the other point that stopped me from looking into it is that although we are both 26yrs old, only one of us has a full license (Hayley). And she doesn't want to be the sole driver for such a long distance.

Thankyou so much everyone for all the info so far. You have all given me many things to look into closer. Keep it coming.

you can't go to LA and New York and skip Chicago!!!

Well funny that you mention that because we were tossing up the idea of maybe adding Chicago in but didn't know if maybe we were squishing too much in. Would it be too much time on the train to follow this route instead:

Tucson- San Antonio- New Orleans- Memphis- (bus to Nashville and back to Memphis) Chicago- Washington DC- New York.

Just a thought.....get to LA by plane and then GET OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE....

take the "coaster", (train which runs along the coast) down to San Diego for 25 dollars. I live down here in San Diego and can assure you its SO MUCH BETTER than LA. The people, the beaches, the atmosphere....Much more beautiful too. Also an easy drive to vegas from here if thats your thing.

Hey Josh,

You can get insurance even without living here. I know some people who arrange different kinds of insurance. I can connect you if you are interested.

Would it be possible for you to get a drivers license before going on the trip?

I really think you will be a lot better served with your own car.

Malene

quote:

Originally posted by hayley_n_josh:
Well funny that you mention that because we were tossing up the idea of maybe adding Chicago in but didn't know if maybe we were squishing too much in. Would it be too much time on the train to follow this route instead:

Tucson- San Antonio- New Orleans- Memphis- (bus to Nashville and back to Memphis) Chicago- Washington DC- New York.

It would be a longer train ride and probably a boring one at that, but I think I can say that Chicago would have more to see/do than Atlanta? Chicago to DC would be a haul, but is DC a necessity? Maybe do Chicago-Philadelphia-New York? it's a straighter line and there's a lot of US history in Philly.