paulie29

Hey - im from the UK looking for some advice for a 3-4 week road trip in August going from New York across to the West Coast, possibly California.

Ive been advised to go down the East Coast through Maryland, South Carolina etc then West through Texas & New Mexico before going up to California.

However I've always been keen to visit the states in the middle of America which don't get advertised as much over here, and would really like to know the best places to see, or a good route to take.

I'd be really grateful to hear from anyone that has taken a similar journey before.

Thank you.

nytraveler

IMHO the summer is NOT the time to take the southern route across the country - the weather will be as hot as hell and often humid as well. I would take the norther route - hit Chicago, the Wisconsin dells and more of the northern sights - which will still be fairly hot at that time of year. It wold be a shame to miss DC - but you could head west and somewhat north from there - rather than further south.

Can;t help with a lot of the middle, since I haven't been there myself - but do realize how big the country is, how far apart things are - how long the daily drives will be - and pick out the sights you will want to see carefully. Also, the lodgings in/near the western nationall parks sell out very far in advance (often a year earlier) - so you may need to check repeatedly for cancellations to find lodging in yellowstone, yosemite, etc.

sf7307

>>

What about the "middle states" appeals to you? (knowing why and what you want to see/experience will help us help you).

As for driving through the southern states, well, it's d***ed hot and humid almost everywhere in the US in summer, so I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor personally.

Ryan

If you're taking the "middle states" you want to decide what you do once you get to Indianapolis, Indiana.

From there, you have two options. Taking I65, will bring you through Chicago (a great town to visit), which then gives you the option to head north into Wisconsin and Minnesota. From there, easy to head west into the northern plains, which include the Dakotas, Wymoning, Montana, etc.

Other option heading out of Chicago is a more direct route to the west which will take you through Iowa, Nebraska, and on into North Eastern Colorado.

If going through Chicago doesn't appeal to you and you're interested in a more "southward route" then you'd want to take Interstate 70 out of Indianapolis. That will bring you through the southern part of Illinois on into St. Louis.

From there, you'd be heading on through Missouri, Oklahoma, the panhandle of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona.

Really two very different options.

Personally, I might consider the route that takes you through Minnesota into North Dakota and Wyoming.

You might want to consider which sites you'd like to see and plan accordingly. You have plenty of time.

Ryan

Sorry, meant to add if you look at a map, you'll see what I mean about Indianapolis being a junction where you can head in a variety of directions.

From NY, I'm assuming you'd head due west into NJ, then Pennsylvania and on into Ohio.

Placename

How are you going to travel? Bus, train, car, fly?

What are you interested in seeing? What are you not interested in seeing?

3 weeks is not much time for this trip. You might consider breaking it into two round trips, one in the Northeast for two weeks, then flying to the west coast and doing a two week round trip in California.

But you have given us no information about yourself, your travel mode, your preferences from which to make any reasonable suggestions.

Orcas

paulie, Don't know who advised you to go south or why. What are you interested in? What is interesting about the middle states? They are pretty flat and not too exciting for tourists, in my book.

Europe has historical cities. We have some that are historical, but the history doesn't go as far back as in Europe, of course. What we have that is really special, is natural beauty, especially in the west.

I would suggest an entirely different route. The northwest would be cooler, temp-wise. I'd suggest you go west to Chicago and visit Chicago. Then, hightail it west to Yellowstone National Park, barely stopping on the way. The middle states are flat and it would be hard to really get familiar with them in a short time.

Visit Yellowstone and Glacier NP, then continue west to Mt. Rainier NP, and Seattle. Travel down to Portland then head west to the Oregon Coast and go down the coast to SF.

That would be a great 3 wk trip.

If you go the southern route, you could go down to Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Charleston SC, then head west through Montgomery AL or Jackson MS (visit a museum or confederate site), then New Orleans and then go west real fast to Colorado (Rocky Mt. National Pk), Santa Fe, Mesa Verde for cliff dwellings, Monument Valley for incredible beauty, and the Grand Canyon, then to CA.

You will want to drive as fast as you can through much of the midwest...though I must admit, I once traveled through the midwest with someone who had not been out of North Carolina much and he was amazed by the mile after mile after mile of cornfields and flat land. So, to each his or her own. The sky opens up west of the Mississippi and it is a sight to behold for the first time, and there is nothing quite like seeing that purple line on the horizon that grows and grows into the Rocky Mts, after driving through the plains for a couple of days.

nytraveler

I think you need to look at a map, a weather forecast and a couple of guidebooks:

Yes, the whole country is hot in summer - but 100 is much worse than 85. And there are large area of the midwest where you can drive for hours and see little but perfectly flat fields of corn or wheat. You really need to identify a couple of key sights you want to see: Grand Canyon? Yellowstone? Yosemite? Mount Rushmore?

You said road trip so I assume you're renting a car. Any other means will mean city hopping and then finding transit from major centers to outlying spsots (often not easy - we dont really have a train system).

And you time is short. After my parents retired they took several trips west - 5 or 6 weeks roundtrip each - but each to only one area/set of sights.

Gardyloo

I've driven British friends across the continent and highly recommend the northern tier at that time of year.

Basically I'd take Interstate 80 west until it joins with Interstate 90 near Cleveland, then use I-90 as the "spine" of the trip all the way to Seattle on the west coast.

You pass through Chicago, which is well worth a day or two, then you roar across Illinois and up through Wisconsin to Minneapolis/St. Paul, a very attractive area that doesn't seem to get much play on Fodors.

Stick to I-90 across Minnesota and into South Dakota, which in my experience is a real treat for foreign visitors - the Corn Palace at Mitchell, the awesome view of the Missouri River near Chamberlain (left some Northumbrian colleagues gobsmacked) followed by the high prairie, Badlands National Park, the Black Hills (great "old west" history in Deadwood), Mt. Rushmore... fab.

Then Montana - stop at the Little Big Horn battlefield, then at Bozeman cut down to Yellowstone National Park for a couple of days.

From Yellowstone it's a day's drive across Idaho and Washington State to Seattle, and you've arrived at the Pacific Coast.

If California is your destination, the best comes at the end, because with 3 or 4 days you can drive down through the Oregon coast and the California Redwoods to San Francisco, and then another day or two and you're in LA.

Filling 3 weeks with this itinerary is easy and not especially taxing. One can drive purposefully from the east coast to the west in 5 long days. Not suggesting that, but with 21 you have plenty of time for ambling, stopovers, detours and other pursuits.

Here's a trip report of one of those high-speed trips that I made a couple of years ago - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...back-ford.html

Orcas

Agree with gardyloo only add Glacier National Park to your itinerary. Well worth it.

I did this trip in 3 wks from Chicago years ago, ending up near San Francisco. It was the trip of a lifetime. (I described it in my above post)

paulie29

I wasn't expecting this many replies & so much information, but a massive thanks to everyone that took the time out to reply.

Sorry if I was a bit vague in my post. I should have said that we'll be driving the whole way, & one of the reasons I was interested in taking a different route was to see some of the natural beauty & wilderness along the way. I know that mile after mile of fields & plains might not appeal to you guys, but the UK is a really small island, so the vastness of the USA is quite appealing to me.

From what you guys have suggested I'm leaning towards Chicago through Minneapolis, Wyoming, Montana, then take it from there (Wyoming & Montana look amazing). A good combination of City & Nature I think.

Thanks once again to everyone that took the time to give me some advice. Really good of you - this is a great forum!

wildblueyonder

Hi paulie29
Also from the UK, we did an east-west road trip in 2008. We took 25 days, but we cheated a bit and flew from NYC to Chicago - and we'd already had 2 visits to the US and had seen a lot of California and the Pacific NW and Yellowstone before - so we headed across South Dakota and down through Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. We had 3 nights in NY - flew to Chicago, 2 nights there - then we drove across to the Black Hills, 3 nights there - down through Wyoming to Denver - to New Mexico and a couple nights in Santa Fe - then across to Monument Valley, Arches NP, Bryce NP, Zion NP - 1 night in Vegas (don't like it much) - then to Palm Springs for 3 nights rest - then 3 nights in San Diego before flying home from LA. This is our trip report, if interested. http://www.francesjane.com/usaintro.html

It wasn't rushed - it can be done in the time you have. And you'll have a wonderful time!

Ryan

Not a bad suggestion to fly into Chicago and start from there. Although, you might consider that rather than heading west through Pennsylvania, you head into New York state. There are some very nice towns near the Finger Lakes area in Central New York with Niagara Falls as your "destination."

From Niagara Falls, you would be able to take I90 West along
Lake Erie and on through the northern part of Ohio and Indiana.

The benefit of this option for the start of your trip is that the topography of that part of New York will be very different from what you will see in the Rockie Mountain Area.

It is also possible from Niagara Falls to head through Ontario, Canada. Toronto is a great town to visit for a few days. The border of Southern Ontario is right across from Detroit, which will put you back on your US westbound route through Chicago.

Placename

Before you commit to driving the entire way, make sure you have a good understanding of the costs of rental, insurance, and a possible one-way drop-off charge.

Some rental agencies have mileage limits on long-term rentals, so that the car gets properly serviced. You need to make sure you understand all the parameters of renting before you commit to this trip.

Orcas

You are on the right track, Paulie, with good advise for a northern or southern route. I agree the drive and the vastness is impressive (but somewhat boring after you've done it several times).

As I was growing up, we did all our trips by car, as most everyone did. We moved from the midwest to the southwest when I was in elementary school and we travelled back and forth and visited many places in the southwest. Now we live in the northwest, and again, travel back and forth, but mostly by plane. I have done it by car though, and there is nothing like it.

Whenever I hear the words, "America, the Beautiful," I visualize the sights I have seen driving across this great land. I wish it were our national anthem, as it rings so true and has such high ideals in it:

"Oh Beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountains majesty,
Above the fruited plain,
America, America,
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown they good with brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea."

Wait 'til you see the golden fields of wheat rippling in the wind, that stretch into the endless sky - and then the majestic mountains. Did you know we still have glaciated mountains in the northwest? And rain forests on the west coast. The deserts are vast, as well, and canyons multicolored.

This is a beautiful earth we live in. I'm so glad you are coming! Three weeks will give you time for a great trip where you will see a lot of diversity.

Orcas

PS. But don't do a round trip. 3 wks is time for a northern or southern one way trip.

sf7307

>>

Amen.

tchoiniere

Have you looked at how much a 1way rental is going to cost, including the way fee? The extra fee is generally charged by the mile.

nytraveler

Agree that many visitors miss New York State - which IMHO is gorgeous compared to many other parts of the country - wether the palisades along the lower Hudson, the Storm King highway (try it in a summer torrential downpour), the Catsils, Finger Lakes or Lake George/Adirondacks - New York state has a huge amount to offer - plus Niagra if you're into that. (My father grew up on a dairy farm near New Platz in an original 18th century stone farmhouse built by Hugenot refugees to the area.)

sf7307

Upstate New York is indeed gorgeous.