BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi,
I'm part of a group of 3 21 yr old girls planning a trip across the USA and Canada, starting from Vancouver in July and wanting to end up back there.

We already are planning on going to Seattle, San Fran, Los Angeles, Los Vegas and want to go to Miami, New York, Chicago and Boston as well as visit the east coast of Canada.

What are thing/places that we need to see?

What are the best/Cheapest ways of getting around?

any help would be appreciated!

Hmmm. I'm inclined to say you need more than a month for that. I guess you could drive down the west coast, fly 1 way to miami and drive up the east coast, and then fly back home, but this definitely wouldn't be the cheapest option, and you'd still be very rushed.

Maybe look into a Green Tortoise tour? See if there are any trips there that appeal to you and then either do that and fill in your remaining time in cities, or use the itinerary as a starting point for arranging the trip yourself. How much money do you have exactly?

http://www.greentortoise.com/adventure.travel.html

I'm still trying to convince the others that we need more than 1 month I want 6 - 8 weeks but it depends on budgeting whether not that is at all possible.

I was looking into the driving flying thing and its not out of our price range (and much cheaper than the contiki option my friend were looking into).We have a budget of about $12,000 for all three of us for the entire trip not including their airfares from Australia.


Would it be possible for us to hire a car, or would a cheaper and more realistic option be something like the greyhound discovery pass?

i think a month may be enough for the west coast, but if you want to do the east coast and midwest too, it's going to be pushing it.

from seattle to portland, it's a 2-3hr drive. spending a day or two in portland might be a nice way to break up what would be an 18-20hr drive from seattle to southern california. from LA to vegas i think is a 2-3hr drive. a friend of mine moved from seattle to north carolina, and they drove as much as they could and slept at cheapie hotels alongside the highway-- that took them 3.5 days. taking a detour to chicago will probably make it 4-5 days. from north carolina to miami, that's i think 10hrs.. probably the same way going north up to NY and boston.

so my advice would be to just stick with one coast. as you probably know already, each coast has a completely different vibe. if it's all night long parties you want, i would say go for chicago and the east coast. not that our scene is dead in the pacific northwest, but i think the west coast just has a more relaxed atmosphere (lol probably not for plasticy LA though). but with that said, i love the west coast!

amtrak always takes longer than if you were to drive, which always pisses me off. greyhound i hear is really shitty, but if you can put up with it, it might be cheaper than gas if you have your own car.. not to mention trying to find parking everywhere. oh, i think you have to be at least 25 to rent a car.

what are you looking to do? what kinds of things do you want to experience?

quote:

mtrak always takes longer than if you were to drive, which always pisses me off. greyhound i hear is really shitty, but if you can put up with it, it might be cheaper than gas if you have your own car.. not to mention trying to find parking everywhere. oh, i think you have to be at least 25 to rent a car.

True, but if you factor in the fact you have a couch to sleep in relative comfort overnight, it could work in your favor.
For four people, driving actually makes economic sense, though I must say non-usa citizens get a one month pass for all of the USA for less than 400 dollars last time I checked, which is far cheaper than the price of driving that car in the long run, unless you want to sleep in the car.

If you want to see the natural beauties of the west, you might want to hold onto that car, since the west is hard to see by train and bus if you want to see national parks!!!

You definitely have to see me lol.

I think with a time frame of one month you should look into taking flights to save time. Maybe just concentrate just on the West and East coast or the places you are really interested in seeing. I mean, you can spend a week in NYC and that is 1/4 your trip

Good luck and have fun!

I would have to agree with the others that to do both coasts would be very hard and rushed. In my experience I have always had a better time just sticking to a few cities a month then trying to do the mad dash across the country. You pretty much end up spending most of your time figuring out the next step instead of enjoying the area you are at then. I have lived all my life in California but have lots of family east coast so I am pretty familiar with both sides.

So if you were to do the west coast I would say defiantly go to the Seattle/ Portland area. These are nice cities with lots to do, (like nightlife, outdoor activity, some sea adventures wale watching sort of thing, also I believe it is Portland that has the larges book store in it, it is nerdy but I spent at lest a couple of hours in there.) now of course it all depends on the time of year and the weather but if you don’t mind some rain go for it. As far as California, really the only place to go would be San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area for northern area and Los Angeles/ San Diego for southern. I have lived in both areas for a while so for any specifics hit me up on the private message.

As for the generals I would say in S.F. they have a pretty good rail system called the BART. This will take you around most of the city area and combined with the buses makes it very easy and relatively cheap to get around. To save money you can try staying outside of the city along one of the rail lines and just take day trips in. this would be nice because you get to see both small town and big city life. In the east Bay Area there are a bunch of wine country areas which is where I use to live and it is very beautiful. Suggestion there would be to take one of the wine tasting trips where you will go around from vineyard to vineyard trying the local vintage and seeing the countryside, once again very pretty and good food. I would say avoid the Oakland area cause there are some bad parts to it as well as some of the other southern parts of the area.

Now for the southern California, I know pretty well since I live here now. L.A. is a big city and the bus/metro is not great so best advice would be to rent a car if you are going to be there for a while just cause you can get out to a lot of areas and see more of what LA has to offer. I would defiantly recommend going to Venice beach( AKA Muscle beach) just cause it is a really cool mix of people, lots of street performers as well as goods sold on the sidewalk. The beach it-self is not that great but that is standard for LA, for good beaches go farther south to San Diego or Mexico even. Other things to do in La would be Hollywood ( Grauman’s Chinese theater where all the actors put there hands in the concrete, also the walk of stars is there and tons of other stuff, plus a really big nightlife, decent change of seeing someone famous if you are looking for that just have to know the right places). Downtown is alright, I go to USC so I live right next to it and wouldn’t say it is something you have to go see but there are some hidden gems if you have the time to find them. Although I would suggest going shopping in the fashion, garment, and jewelry districts cause it is just fun to walk around window-shopping and it is also one of the few places you can actually barter and haggle the prices.

Orange County is just outside of LA, 1 hour drive on a good day, and there you have Disneyland, which is fun but expensive like $15 for a humbugger, but also there is a lot of nice harbors and little towns that can be fun to see. This area is more mellow than LA and more scenic.

Finally for San Diego there are lots of nice beaches as well as old missions that are cool to see. Once again the area is big but they have better public transportation. The gas-lamp district is nice and has a decent nightlife.

Ok Now for brevity the east coast just as nice only in different ways. As in thing are lot older out there and there is a lot more history on that side of the country but there is also lot more bugs and pest. Done the New York City thing and was lot of fun can walk or take the subways to most places. Philadelphia is a nice city with lots of the nation’s history there as well. DC can be overrated with all the lines and hassles but can still be fun if you have a good outlook on it. I love North Carolina; go to the outer banks every year for a family reunion on the beach, plus it is where the Wright brothers took their first flight.

Wow ok so way bigger reply than I had planed but hey hopefully this help you guys out. Once again just send me a private massage if you want any more specific details, like help on traveling around certain areas and other stuff, should be a lot of fun no matter what.

Hmm for 12,000 split between 3 people I would say you could do 8 weeks - this depends a bit on what you plan on doing of course. If you spend the whole trip in expensive cities paying for drinks you'll run out of money...

I'm not sure if you'll be able to rent cars (you say you're 21 and often the age is 25... it really depends on the rental agency though.) If it's an option, I would say whether you should rent or not depends on how much time you went to spend in cities versus exploring outside of cities. It'll probably be cheaper to rent with three people if you're spending a lot of time outside of the major cities (which usually are expensive and annoying to park in.) You'll have a lot more freedom and will be able see so much more of the US if you rent a car, plus you'll be able to save money by camping, staying in cheaper hotels off the tourist trail.

It's probably a good idea to sit down and figure out everyone's top destinations and "goals" for the trip. Maybe everyone gets 3 things (cities, activities, national parks, whatever) and then try and figure out a route that fits all of this in?

If I had 1 month, 2 friends, and $12,000 in the US, this is what I'd do.

Week 1: I'd start in Seattle and spend a few days working my way down the coast to San Francisco - maybe visit the forest with the big Redwood trees on the way? Then San Francisco, seeing the city and maybe spending a day in Sonoma biking between wineries. I'd finish with a drive down along the coast of California to LA. Don't forget to be somewhere where you can see fireworks during the 4th of July

Week 2: I personally don't like LA much, but nonetheless I would spend a few days there. Maybe visit Disneyland (mostly to say I'd done it) and since I'm with my friends, try and be in the studio audience for a TV show or two? I think there might be some interesting Spanish missions in the area you can explore as well. I'd then drive through Death Valley to Las Vegas and spend a day or two there. If money was no issue I'd see the Cirque de Soleil because they're so cool

Week 3: I'd visit the Grand Canyon because it's amazing - maybe hike to the bottom or go white water rafting or something in it. I'd move on to Albuquerque and Santa Fe and have some delicious New Mexican food. Then Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Park (I'd camp overnight in White Sands - this was something I've done and I can't vouch for it enough.) I'd then drive on to Texas! Stop in Austin for sure and maybe Fort Worth to see a rodeo as a joke, if the schedule permitted.

Week 4: I'd move on to New Orleans and spend few days drinking in the French Quarter and doing the touristy things in the area. I'd then drive up through Nashville to the Outer Banks in North Carolina where I'd spend the remainder of the trip on the beaches relaxing, then fly back home.

If I added any more time on, I'd visit DC and NYC.

I've been on the greyhound buses, only use them as a last resort. There are a lot of creepy people on them, and a much higher creep to normal person ratio than on any other sort of transportation. Since everything is so far apart, driving is a distinctly American habit and I suggest you rent a car if at all possible. Although Malena is very right that any national car rental agency has a minimum age of 25, only the independents will consider renting to you.

A couple of tips on flying. Using Southwest is very cheap on the eastern seaboard. Philadelphia, Baltimore/DC, Chicago, Manchester NH, Fort Myers/Tampa FL traveling between any of these cities is between $49-$120 each way with 14 day advance bookings I believe. I would say hop a flight from Fort Myers or Tampa to Baltimore/DC to avoid the mind numbing drive north on interstate 93. It might be the most boring drive in America, so only take it if you plan on actually stopping at specific places on the way. From Baltimore, you can check out DC, drive north to NYC and Boston. From Boston, I would say drive up 95 to see the NH and Maine Coast and eat some lobster. Stop by Portsmouth in NH, it's right on the coast and the best city in NH, a great vibrant nightlife in the summer too. From there you can drive west across Maine/NH/Vermont and hit the second best city in the world, Montreal(after Vegas). West to Ottawa, Toronto then Detroit (don't bother stopping) and Chicago. That time of year Chicago is awesome and the weather will be perfect to drive across the Northern US states on your way back to BC.


Anyone can give you tips on Vegas, but I was there 6 months ago and stayed at the Sahara. It's on the end of the strip, the last of the old casinos, it's a dump, its really cheap (I paid 19.99 a night during the week, 99 on the weekends) and they have a 24/7 bar downstairs that has $1 beers and $2 dollars any drink 24/7.

I was also just in San Diego (3rd favorite city) as well as Chicago and had an awesome time. I would stay outside San Diego for cheaper accommodations and more fun,in my opinion. Think Pacific beach, Mission beach, Ocean beach, all three towns are populated by a young crowd that is almost exclusively people who aren't from California- so they are very friendly and helpful. If you need any specifics, Ill be glad to lend a hand to a fellow Canadian citizen.

quote:

Originally posted by Karelin140:
I've been on the greyhound buses, only use them as a last resort. There are a lot of creepy people on them, and a much higher creep to normal person ratio than on any other sort of transportation.

Wow ain't that the truth. In October when I went to Toronto from Milwaukee I took the Hound and it was hella creepy. Newly released convicts, guys "looking for a good time" and the utter lack of security meant that I had a legitimate fear of concealed firearms on the bus.

Avoid it if you can.

I grew up in Michigan and moved to LA, so I've seen a good bit of both coasts.

As for Cali, absolutely hit San Francisco - no question.
THEN absolutely positively hit Yosemite National Park. I'm sure everyone on the board would agree it's one of the most beautiful places on the planet, it's jaw dropping Luckily it's pretty close to SF! Also check out the Red Wood forest or Sequoia National parks (those are the huge 50ft wide trees), it's amazing. You gotta drive down the Pacific Coast Highway out of San Fran for a couple hours, it's on the mountains off the coast and the cliffs just drop straight down 300ft into the ocean! Check out Big Sur then head back onto the main highway.

Honestly I think LA is a wee bit over hyped. I live in Venice Beach and love it, but a lot of things like the Hollywood star walk and Chinese theater are tourist traps if you ask me. The beaches are where the heart of LA is, but you should catch a show like Jay Leno just to take a peak behind the scenes. I work in production so I've never actually seen a show, so I'm not sure on the details of being in the audience, just do a little research. Must do's in LA are probably Griffith observatory, Rodeo drive (if you like to see rich shops), hike up Riuyon (spelled it wrong) Canyon for an amazing view of the city, the Getty Center is great for art lovers and it's very cheap, and of course you gotta rent surfboards! You'll have a heck of time in LA without a car, our public transit is bad. It's possible without, but it would be a bigger pain than it's worth probably.

A great way to save money is using www.couchsurfing.com it's a network of shoe string travels who open their doors for others, and vise versa. It's out of some people comfort zone I suppose, but the site has a feedback system similar to ebay to help ease the nerves. I have someone from Germany surfing my couch right now, and we had a great around Venice and Santa Monica today.

It's a great way to meet some local city folk who have the inside scoop It'll be tough with three people, but you'll find a few homes to sleep in I'm sure. If you do end up in LA swing me a message and we can probably give you guys a home for a few nights too.

Hello there,

A fellow Aussie friend of mine was here for a year studying. Now, she's one of those magical people that can make things happen, but she found a sort of "courier" deal where she flew into Boston, and drove someone's car to LA. (The owner was flying and needed the car to be 'delivered'). They gave her a month to do it and she could stop anywhere along the way as she wanted.

You can also check out wwwofing and helpexchange.net if you want - but if you only have a month you may not want to spend it working.