gabrieltraian

Hi,

We are in the planning stages of our one month trip to the US, from mid May to mid June.

It's just so much to see and do, that I nearly lose my focus, so I need some help to narrow it down, please. I know I cannot do it all in one month.

We're arriving in LA and from there I'm trying to figure out an itinerary. We'd like to see and/ or visit LA, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Memphis, New York, Niagara Falls, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston.

I am not sure which one to choose between Boston and Philadelphia, or should I keep both and cut something else.

The must dos on the list are Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Memphis, New York.
I'm thinking LA 3 days, Vegas 3 days, NY + Niagara Falls 7 days.
My main interest in Memphis is Graceland, but I wouldn't go to Memphis for just one day, I'd prefer to hang around for 3 days to try to get a bit more from it, so I need some recommendations please, as to what else should I see and visit in Memphis. We do like jazz and blues too, not only rock'n'roll music.

Our interests in general are scenery, art museums, history, rock'n'roll, shopping, architecture, and would like to throw in a day to visit Disneyland as well.

I wouldn't really want to drive, unless I have no choice. I like to admire the views too, so for that I stop a lot, which makes the drive from one spot to another longer, and I am not sure I can afford it on this trip.

Please help me with logistics, which airlines to look at, and what would the best itinerary be.
Also, what points of interest should I look at, what would your recommendations be for us to see during this holiday.

We won't do much shopping when we get to LA, we'll wait to see NY as well and then decide how we should spend our shopping money. On departure we take off from NY and stop for a couple of days in LA for shopping.

Thank you for your help here.

janisj

Sorry but 4+ weeks just isn't enough time to see LA, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Memphis, New York, Niagara Falls, Washington, Philadelphia, and Boston.

Just LA/Vegas/SF/Napa/Sonoma is 2 weeks worth.

>>I'm thinking LA 3 days, Vegas 3 days, NY + Niagara Falls 7 days.M\

Clifton

gabriel, we lived in Memphis for quiet number of years before moving to Australia and in that time, I figure we probably exhausted what there was to do there many times over. But an extra day is probably enough for the busy traveler. Besides Graceland (definitely a taste choice), there's the National Civil Rights Museum (IMO the best done thing to see in Memphis), Sun Studios, Stax Records, the Gibson Guitar factory, Mud Island Beale Street (not a kids thing) and further afield, Clarksdale, MS. Also, it's a Memphis tradition to go to the Peabody hotel to see the man in top hat walk a flock of ducks out of the elevator and to the fountain in the center of the historic lobby where they hang out for the day.

Memphis was Northwest's hub until Delta acquired them, so the vast majority of gates at MEM now serve Delta flights. Suspect that'll have some influence on who has the best flights. I do recall there were a few other choices though between MEM and LAS, which is probably your most logical departure point from the west. I flew that route quite a bit.

I do agree that many parts of the US could consume as much time as you'd like. And not just California. But also understand how far Australia is from other things and that you're fairly limited regardless of whether the things you see are all close (and you skip another part of the US) or spread out (and you skip some of the stuff in any one area). In the end, you kind of have to choose knowing coming back isn't a given.. and neither ends up really being better.

gabrieltraian

Thank you Janis and Clifton.

I knew I had to trim down my destinations, just don't know right now which and how.

Excellent info about Memphis and flights, Clifton, that's very helpful.

I am doing some research these days, to decide between San Francisco and Napa Valley, Washington, Philadelphia and Boston. Right now, while still not knowing much, I think we could do one or two day-trips by train from New York to Philadelphia or Boston and avoid too much checking in/out and carrying baggage with us.

Will write some more as I progress with my planning.

Thank you.

spirobulldog

Monument Valley wouldn't make my list for "must sees".
I love Memphis, but I don't think I would make that a "must see" either.
For this time of year, I would include 2 or 3 days at Yosemite. That is prime time for the waterfalls to be rolling. Plus you have the giant sequoia trees right there too. It is every bit as impressive as the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls. Zion and Bryce are just a bit north of Vegas, so I might include a day at each of those too.

Really I think spend the entire trip in California with a bit in Arizona and Utah would be great.

The other option is to see the east coast. This offers more US history and cities. It offers less of what I would call highly scenic places/nature though.

Day trips by train in the US probably isn't exactly like you imagine. There is no way I would do a day trip from NY to Boston and back on a train or car.

I'm not trying to be mean, but this is a really bad plan so far. You need to decide which side of the country you want to be on and plan around that.

nytraveler

On the west coast - it's going to be extremely difficult to see national parks wihtout driving. You can fly into Las Vegas and get a tour from there - but seeing anything else is very difficult without a car.

On the East Coast NY and DC are the must sees. Philadelphia is a charming city, but not in the first rank in terms of sights. And while I love Boston and it's history - DC and NY have tons more things to see and do than either. IMHO, for DC you need to allow at least 4 days (5 nights) and I would do 5 or 6. Similar for NYC.

To me the outliers are Niagara Falls (this will take 3 days out of your trip - one to get there, one to see anything and one to move back to wherever). I never saw the Falls until we drove to visit Toronto - and frankly still wouldn't have seen it except for that trip. It's just a lot of water falling - pretty, but not overwhelming. Also - to see much you have to go to the Canadian side - so you need to be sure your documents give you multiple entries to the US.

The other outlier is Memphis (been there and it's OK - but not in comparison to other places). Also Las Vegas isn't really worth the time IMHO - but is sort of necessary to see the Grand Canyon. But if you are mad for Elvis (sorry, he's not my generation, I'm a child of the 60's - but in a larger sense - why would I want to see his old house?). I would much rather see live music (have you checked what groups will be touring while you're here?)

I can't decide for you - but you definitely need to cut back on locations, and be sure you have allowed enough time to get from one place to another - allowing for the extensive security and the delays common at many airports.

And trains are not for sightseeing. They are just ways to get from one place to another On the east coast most of the trip you are looking at the wrong sides of cities and towns or industrial parks or random neighborhoods. From DC up through Boston is almost all built up along the train route (this megalopolis is about 60 million people).

It is possible to do a day trip from NYC to Philly - since Amtrak is only about 1.5 hours each way. Boston is not realistic - since it's about 4 hours each way (we don;t have high speed trains - well we do have a couple - but we don;t have high speed tracks. So driving is just as fast as the train - and gives you better scenery - since you can get away from the built-up coast the train follows. But either way it's too far for a day trip - 8/9 hours in transit for 5 hours there makes little sense. And while Acela (more expensive) isn't bad, some of the regular Amtrak trains are not very pleasant and there is no real food (just sodas and snacks).

But if you do Philly and Niagara Falls trips from NYC - you will only have 1 or 2 days actually in NYC.

Gretchen

Niagra Falls is an iconic name, but it is not really "much".
I think you can do much of what you want. Rent a car in LA and make a loop for 2 weeks much as Janis suggested.
Fly to the east coast via Memphis for day or so.
Go to Washington, train to Philadelphia and NYC. Go to Boston if you can. The East coast is set up for no car rental.
Do you have an open jaw from the east coast to return?

tomfuller

I'll give you my suggestions for what they're worth. Fly to LAX. See Los Angeles. Fly to Boston from LAX. See Boston. Take the train to New York. Decide between Philadelphia and Niagara Falls (either the train will work for). Fly to Chicago or take the overnight train from Buffalo to Chicago. Take the "City of New Orleans train overnight to Memphis. From Memphis fly to Las Vegas. Take a tour from Las Vegas to see Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. Fly back from Las Vegas to LAX. Skip Monument Valley. You do not need even 3 days to see Niagara Falls. Do you have the multi entry visa that will allow you to enter Canada and come back into the US? The best views of the falls some say are from the Canadian side.
Philadelphia and Washington are rich in history so you could maybe take the train to either and then fly to Buffalo to see Niagara Falls.

nytraveler

You do not need 3 days to SEE Niagra Falls. You do need a day to get there from anywhere (by train it's more thna 8 hours from NYC to the US side - 1 trade a day - and then another couple of hours to the Canadian side - on the train border guards check papers of every person). IMHO wasted time - as is a couple of days on a train from Niagara to Chicago and then Chicago to Memphis. These trains are NOT like the NE corrdidor trains, which are frequent - two per hour - and run on time. Outside of that trains tends to run once per day, take forever and are usually late - often hours late - since the tracks are owned by the freight companies and their trains take priority over passenger trains.

You really need to lay this out day by day - including realistic travel times - to determine what you actually have time to see.

Gretchen

What the new Yorker says about trains is TOO true. it is fine to be a train buff, but for a realistic arrival and departure trip, on a time limited basis, it just isn't workable.

Gardyloo

Well, I tend to be much more aggressive when it comes to time management on vacations (to the occasional displeasure of my spouse) so I would say go for the whole thing. But some time in the car will indeed be required.

We're arriving in LA and from there I'm trying to figure out an itinerary. We'd like to see and/ or visit LA, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Memphis, New York, Niagara Falls, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston.

My first recommendation may sound daft but bear with me. Fly to LA but connect right away to Las Vegas. (BTW are you coming from Oz?) The reason for this suggestion is that there’s no better place to be jetlagged than LV, which is hopping regardless of what your body clock says the time might be. You can survive Vegas easily without a car for a couple of days, during which time you can get your bodies in sync with the clock and not have to deal with LA traffic.

Then collect a car in Vegas and head over to the Grand Canyon (around 4 ½ hours) and spend a night or two, then drive over to Monument Valley (around 3 hours) staying in Kayenta. Then drive back to LV and drop the car. Total time in LV and desert/red rock southwest, around 6 days.

I’d then fly to Memphis and spend 3 days in the Memphis/Delta area. On one of those days I’d drive south an hour or so to Clarksdale, Mississippi to see the Delta Blues Museum and have some barbecue at Abe’s, located at the Crossroads of the Blues (as in Highways 61 and 49 - Highway 61 Revisited,, “I went down to the crossroads…” etc.) Visit Graceland, Sun Records, Beale Street, and all the other music monuments in the area. Total time in Memphis and area, 3 days.

Then fly to DC. Again, no car needed. Three days in DC will give you time to overdose on museums and iconic sights – monuments, etc., then hop a train to NYC. Total time in DC, 3 days (cumulative now 12 days.)

Everybody has different tolerance levels when it comes to New York. Personally we find that by the fourth day we’re getting exhausted (and broke) but there are ways around that. One thing I’d definitely do is take one of the NYC days and actually spend it in Philadelphia. Philly is easily visited as a (train) day trip from New York, and that will relieve you of having to schlep bags, make alternate hotel arrangements, etc. If you’re not museumed out by this time, you can visit the Barnes in Philly, or the art museum or Franklin Institute, or just walk along the Ninth St. Italian market, visit the Reading Terminal market, see Independence Hall, whatever. Taxis are cheap and plentiful in Philly, and it’s a full but surprisingly easy day trip from NYC.

Total time NYC/Philly – say 4 days (16 cum.)

Then we depart from your plans. Two options, both of which skip Boston and Niagara Falls:

Option 1: Fly from NYC to Portland, Oregon.

Say what?

Reason: By this time it’s late May or early June, and the Pacific Northwest is coming into its own – flowery, green, still a lot of snow on the (amazing) mountains… You said scenery was a priority, so…

Just east of the Portland airport is the Columbia (River) Gorge, a National Scenic area. The Columbia River hereabouts is a mile wide, and the gorge it passes through is lined with cliffs and waterfalls, which with May/June mountain runoff, will be spectacularly full of water. Just south of the Gorge is Mount Hood, a perfect conical volcano with a grand lodge (Timberline) located on its slopes. The Hood River Valley (which connects the mountain with the Columbia Gorge) will be full of flowering fruit trees and idyllic farms, with Mount Hood looming to the south and Mount Adams looming to the north (in Washington state, across the river.) It’s a grand 2-day stopover.

Then keep the car and drive to San Francisco over the next 3 days, via the Oregon coast and the Coast Redwoods. If you’re from Oz and are familiar with the Great Ocean Road, then the Oregon coast will look familiar, except it’s more beautiful and around five times as long. And the coast Redwoods in Del Norte and Humboldt Counties in California are like nothing in the world. I’ve taken numerous overseas visitors on Seattle – San Francisco drives, and invariably they claim that the Redwoods were the highlight of the trip – the whole US trip in a couple of cases. Total time Oregon – SF, 5 days (21 cum.)

Then spend two days in SF, then drive down the coast to LA (via Calif. Hwy 1) with two overnight, one in the Santa Barbara vineyard country (see the movie “Sideways”) instead of Napa. Your last 3-4 nights are in the LA area, enough for some shopping, a day at Disneyland, and some basic sightseeing.

(Option 1A – if you want more time in southern California, you could fly from Portland to San Francisco and save the days on the road. In that case you’d definitely want to spend an extra day in the SF area to visit the Muir Woods in Marin County to see some redwoods, or else add half a day to the SF – LA drive to stop at Big Basin State Park – en route to Monterey – to see the big trees there. But missing the Redwoods altogether is not an acceptable option)

>Option 2: Fly from NYC to San Francisco. Spend 3 days in SF, then get a car and head east, to Yosemite National Park (around 4 hrs.) You want waterfalls? You got ‘em, but mountains and stunning scenery all over, plus you can travel there via California Hwy 49, through the incredibly beautiful and historic Gold Rush country, with numerous very cute little towns (and wineries) in the Sierra foothills.

You will need to book accommodations in Yosemite ASAP (or bite the bullet and stay outside the park in Mariposa or Oakhurst) but it’s well worth the trip. Spend two nights around/in Yosemite. (Cum to this point 21 days.)

Then drive down to LA (around 7 hours unfortunately) and spend the rest of your time (around a week) in southern California. You could split it up with a day/night in the Santa Barbara area (gorgeous architecture and wine country nearby) or just hang out, shop, eat, and enjoy LA. You’ll need a car.

Many will find this kind of trip exhausting-sounding, but by mixing up flights with drives you’re limiting the total number of airport/hassle days as well as long-boring-drive days.

Anyway, it’s just some suggestions.

tomfuller

I don't know what nytraveler has been on other than the Northeast corridor. My first Amtrak trip started from Washington DC at 3AM to New York Penn station where I got on the Maple Leaf. I was in Toronto before 9PM. At the border the US Customs agents got on with a black lab. No one was taken off the train. We went over the border into Canada and the Canadian C & I got on with their black lab and talked to every person. Their black lab alerted to the 2 kilos of drugs (heroin). Two people were taken off. Yes we were an hour late into Toronto that night.
The City of New Orleans leaves Chicago at 8 PM every night and gets into Memphis (downtown) in the early morning.
Why pay for a hotel room in Chicago when you can wake up in Memphis?
I have saved quite a bit of money sleeping in coach on Amtrak compared with sleeping in a hotel room.

nytraveler

But why add Chicago at all when the OP already has too many destinations for their time? Plus a very long train ride - when they could hop a plane form Buffalo to Memphis?

spirobulldog

I thought o Gardyloo's suggestion of possibly including Portland/Oregon too. I like the Yosemite idea better though. It's one of my favorites. Plus, its not far from San Francisco.

janisj

I do like Gardyloo's suggestion (w/ the Yosemite side trip) -- if you really like to move. If you do have the stamina, that would tick most of your boxes. Mid-May to Mid-June is just about the best time of year in Yosemite Valley and it will be a highlight of the entire trip. Changes I'd make - add a day or so to NYC and drop Niagara Falls.

And no, trains are not a viable option - except on the eastern seaboard (Wash. DC/NYC/Boston/Philly). Elsewhere one can't depend on Amtrak to get you from place to place on any sort of on-time schedule.

gabrieltraian

Wow, excellent, thank you!

Very good tips, I appreciate them.
The train travel and how long it actually takes, good points!

Excellent tips about how to connect those destinations.

Gardyloo, I've been thinking of connecting straight to Las Vegas, but was wondering how would that be after having already been for so long on the plane.
I'm departing from Perth, so just over 4 hrs to cross Australia to Sydney, then on to LA, but it's a good idea when I look at the time of arrival in LA, 6:35 am...

Thank you all for helping me cut from those destinations, e.g. Niagara Falls is out, Boston's out, Philly... MAYBE a day trip by train from NY (I know, I know, LOL!).
Washington DC stays, thank you.
Yosemite is on my thoughts, thank you for this.

Memphis is on my list just because I am an Elvis fan and I want to visit Graceland. I see how inconvenient this is for my plans, but...

And yes, I now live in Australia (Perth); moved here just over 5 years ago. Before then I did my travelling from the United Arab Emirates for many years.
Otherwise, I was born in Romania and left the country in '94, soon after the fall of the Communism.
Been on this forum for many years too, and got help from many of you posters right here, either from your trip reports, or advices to others and to me.

Lots of thoughts now on my mind, thank you everyone again.

Clifton

I loved the natural beauty in the mountains of Romania, particularly driving the Transfagaras pass. If that sort of area appeals, you'd probably love Yosemite and other natural bits of Northern California. (even with the crowds in some parks). Wouldn't skip that if you could help it.

ps - Sun Studios, Memphis is where Elvis recorded. (As well as Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Otis Redding, Roy Orbison...) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Studio

The civil rights museum is in the Lorraine Hotel facade (the original front remains), the balcony of which is where Dr Martin Luther King Jr as assassinated in 1968. So an important part pf and turning point in US history (IMO). Plus Memphis in general is kind of a good jumping off point to see that "other" America that's often thought of as "fly-over" country. Significantly different in many ways to either coast.

tomfuller

By all means, spend a day in Memphis. Since you dropped Niagara Falls, try to find a direct flight from your east coast last city to Memphis. If you find that your flight has a connection in Chicago, you really should try the City of New Orleans.
Even if it is late, it will certainly be there by 10AM.
The place to stay in downtown Memphis is the Peabody. http://www.peabodymemphis.com/?gclid...srefdom=pm-ppc
The two airports with a direct connection to the Amtrak NE Corridor are Newark (EWR) and Baltimore-Washington (BWI).
If you are leaving from Washington DC, Reagan National has it's own Metro station.
If you find yourself stuck in Chicago for a few hours, take the elevator to the top of the Willis (Sears) Tower.

Gardyloo

Gardyloo, I've been thinking of connecting straight to Las Vegas, but was wondering how would that be after having already been for so long on the plane.

I'm departing from Perth, so just over 4 hrs to cross Australia to Sydney, then on to LA, but it's a good idea when I look at the time of arrival in LA, 6:35 am...

Frankly, all the more reason. By the time you're through immigration and customs it will be around 8 - 8:30 AM, but except for a few airport-area hotels it will be unlikely you'd be able to check into a hotel room for several hours after that, and only after enduring LA rush hour traffic and spending a ton of money on a cab or rental car (the latter probably not recommended for seriously jet-lagged travelers.

Instead, you could exit customs, put your suitcases through to your connecting flight using the bag re-check counters right there, go to your connecting terminal/gate and fly to Las Vegas right away. The hotels in LV have no problem with early check-ins, and you'd probably be in the sheets there sooner than you would be anywhere in LA except for the Century Boulevard strip near LAX, which is not where you'd want to spend your days in the LA area.

For example, if you're flying on Qantas over the water, Qantas' 6:40 AM arrival from SYD connects to an American Airlines flight to Las Vegas that leaves at 9:40 from the terminal adjacent to where Qantas arrives. That puts you in Vegas at 10:50 with a bare minimum of hassle. Yes, you'll be tired as hell, but no more so than if you checked into a hotel near LAX and had to wait a couple hours for your room to be ready, only to wake up that night in an... airport hotel.

By going to Vegas you get the pain out of the way, and you wake up surrounded by things to do and umpteen sights to see, places to eat, walks in the twilight, shows... way, way better, IMO.

Clifton

The LV thing is clever and does make a lot of sense for arrival. There are usually a steady stream of Aussies around here planning US trips. Which almost always means (or at least starts with) California and Las Vegas. I'm definitely suggesting the LV-to-start idea in the future... everyone's permanently jet lagged there.