Trip Starting from New York

Old Jun 27th, 2016, 05:38 AM
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Trip Starting from New York

Hi,


I, wife & our two daughters (7 – 11 years old) coming to USA for a Holiday and road trip in July 2016.

We are looking to have a road trip by renting a car and then start driving from City to another, we will arrive New York on 3/July/2016 … and we should flight back from New York on 24/July/2016.

I would like to kindly asking your help to tell me what's the worth cities to visit in our trip, what cities we have to visit and how many days we should stay in each city ... and any tips which i have to keep in mind.

Note: we don’t have a special interests, everything is okay with us, mountains, beaches, nature places, busy cities … etc.

Thanks for your help.


Regards,
Raf
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 05:54 AM
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Surely you jest. You have no plans and are coming next week?
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 08:52 AM
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And I take it you've already arranged for your rental car? Cars are in short supply on busy holiday weekends in NYC. (They are also significantly cheaper when rented elsewhere ... so your first let might be by train or bus to a cheaper car-rental destination.)
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 09:12 AM
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How many days are you planning for New York? Or, rather, what parts of the trip do you already have planned? You tagged Georgia, is there someplace in particular in Georgia that you are going to?

And as far as the "big cities" like Washington DC, what is your budget for a hotel-and-parking each night?
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 09:41 AM
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With 21d, here's what I would do.

4-5d NYC
Take train to Washington DC, 3-4 days

Then start a road trip.
Rent car in DC, visit rural PA (eg Hershey Park/Amish region), and/or mountains of NE PA, or Finger Lakes region of NY State, or Upstate/Adirondacks region of NY State for a ~1 week road trip.

Drive east to NH / southeast Maine coast for 2-3 days.

Visit Boston for 2-3 days

Drive from Boston to NYC the day before my departure.

Fly home.

That gives you 3 big cities, and 1 to 1.5 weeks to enjoy some open space / countryside / mountains / lakes / coastline.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 12:05 PM
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STRONGLY suggest that you get some US guide books and a decent set of maps so you can start making some concrete plans. Not sure where you are from but I expect that the US may be much bigger than you realize, with long travel distances if driving - and to see much of anything versus just driving constantly you will really need to limit yourself to a specific area of the country - and in July I would stay away from the south to avoid the worst of the heat and humidity.

J62 has one possible idea that gives you a mix of city and country/beach but will not be cheap (NYC and Boston are both expensive).

Have you even looked at hotels for NYC? If you give us a nightly budget people can make some recos for a family room.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 05:31 PM
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Dears,

Thanks for all your replies, actually I was plan another trip to Canada and it's totally changed now due the visa issue which it will take at least another 30 days from now, so i decided to spend my vacation with family in USA.

i'm not new in USA, i been there 4 times before, i drove between states even, but this is the first time i'm coming with Family and that's why i need your advise.

for a 21days, it's fine if i drive around 1000 mile, it's not a big deal for me, all what i need is the advises in where i have to go and visit.

Hotels budget is not a concern here, so please advise me for the best which i and my family we can enjoy.

within my searches, i found you all right about renting car from New York, it's very expensive, but when i try search in Jersey City, i found the prices very cheap comparing that with NYC.

Thank you all, looking for your valuable advises and information.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 05:36 PM
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You really do need to give us a nightly budget if you want any suggestions for hotels. In NYC a luxury hotel can easily be more than $1000 a night - and Boston, while less expensive, is not cheap.

Are you really expecting to spend $21,000 just for hotels?
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 05:30 AM
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Dear Nytraveler, why you need to know the budget? i'm telling you just provide me the best advises and info and i will manage my hotels, you don't need to mention anything about the hotels, i will do that myself.
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 11:26 AM
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July 3 and 4 will be tight for rental cars since it's a holiday weekend, and July 5 will have a lot of traffic in the morning as people head back to work after the long weekend etc. July 6 is probably the best day to rent a car and drive.

With a 7 & 11 year old I would plan to take a train to Washington DC and stay 3 nights, then rent a car for your roadtrip and decide if you'd prefer to visit:

A) Williamsburg & Virginia Beach, Charleston, Atlanta, Nashville and Cincinnati, then back towards NY

or

B) Philadelphia, Hershey, Cincinatti, Buffalo/Niagara Falls, then upstate NY or Catskill Mtns area.

It's hard to recommend anything because you say you've traveled the USA before but you haven't said where you'd like to return to or what you've already seen/ where you've already been.

Leaving NY will probably be much easier and more enjoyable by Amtrak train, depending on where you decide is your first destination.
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 11:47 AM
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I'd head south to Virginia myself with maybe 3 days in DC.
It is almost impossible to make recommendations for hotels without knowing your budget per night for lodging - it is not like people are asking to see your income tax returns.
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 04:52 PM
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Thanks a lot for the advises and valuable info.

I got also some recommendations to go north of NYC, things closer to Boston, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, so i don't know if it's worth it or now?
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 07:45 PM
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For the coastal areas, Newport Rhode Island, Hampton Beach New Hampshire, Cape Cod, Boston's North Shore, etc....you are probably too late for hotels....they are booked up months in advance....July/August is busy season.

Again, it's hard to recommend since we don't know what you saw/where you visited during your other 4 trips. Is there anything in particular that you enjoyed?
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Old Jun 29th, 2016, 02:41 AM
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Lots of good advice here, the hard part will be getting lodging near the areas that folks generally go to during holiday time. Perhaps if you look near interstates and make reservations that can be cancelled then look for closer to where you want to be for last minute cancellations you might get lucky.

After your time in New York City, one trip would be to head south on the Garden State Pky to Cape May, NJ, take the ferry to Lewes, DE then go down to Chintoteague/Assiteague. Spend a day or two there, visiting the beach looking for the ponies.

From there take the Bay Bridge/Tunnel to Virginia then head to Williamsburg/Yorktown/Jamestown for a bit of history and/or an amusement park if that is what would make the kids happy.

Head up to Washington, DC for 2 - 4 days. then up to Pennsylvania for 2-4 days for Philadelphia, Amish country and/or Hershey park.

If you want to visit Niagra Falls, you could do that but will miss the best views if you can't get the visa for Canada as the Canadian side is generally nicer.
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 03:58 PM
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Dear All,

I know that I asked a lot and a really get a lot of useful information from you, the following is a Simi final plan which I need your kindly help to advise me if it’s okay or I have to change anything on it, the main idea of this plan is to see multiple things like mountains, frosts, cities, shopping and six flag, I’ll be waiting your kindly advises:

1. Will Arrive NYC on 3rd of July Morning time, stay (3/4/5/6 July)

2. Then on 7th of July Morning will rent a car and drive to Boston to stay (7/8 July)

3. Then on 9th of July morning drive to (White Mountain National Forest) or (Green Mountain National Forest) and stay there the whole day or even one more day... need your advise here to visit the white mountain or green mountain, which one is better and more interested?? or is there a place to replace them both, something like (rhode island or New Hampshire)

4. Then on 11th of July morning will drive to Buffalo to see Niagara Falls, will spend (11/12 July) there.

5. Then on 13th of July morning will drive to Pittsburgh, PA, and sleep there.

6. Then on 14th of July morning will drive to Washington DC and stay there (14/15/16 of July)

7. Then on 17th of July Morning will drive to Tanger Outlet Rehoboth Beach DE, this will be a pure trip for shopping since i read that Delaware stat has 0 taxes ... will sleep there.

8. Then on 18th of July morning will drive to Philadelphia and stay there (18/19 July).

9. Then on 20th of July Morning will drive to Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, NJ and stay there for a full day.

10. Then on 21th of July Morning will drive the car back to New York and will stay there (21/22/23 of July

11. Then on 24th of July will flight back home.


Thanks
Rafat
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 04:04 PM
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Sounds like you've planned a good trip that meets your family's interests.

As for mountains - I recommend you drive up Mt Washington in NH. You very well may find frost up there even in July.
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 04:11 PM
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Dear J62, do you mean i should change point# 3 to Mt Washington in NH ?
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 04:40 PM
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Looks pretty good, I wish you had found some time for beach or a coastal destination since it's summer time.

NYC and Boston are icky cities for driving so I think I'd train to Boston. You don't need a car for 2 nights in Boston, parking is expensive, and you could just rent a car when you're leaving Boston instead. Train from Penn Station NYC to Boston is about $75 per person / 4 hour trip.

Note that the 7th is your travel day so you only really have one day, the 8th, to visit Boston. You have some other days that are even worse, such as your drive to Pittsburg and then just a night there. But I know that some people enjoy this look-and-run type of traveling.
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 05:17 PM
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Hi DebbieDoesDulles, thanks for your feedback and advises. Could you please elaborate more "beach or a coastal destination" you mentioned and when you suggest to do it in my plan.
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 05:52 PM
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I agree with DebbieDD that taking the train to Boston makes a lot of sense.

Is there a reason you are going to Pittsburgh? Why not head for Philadelphia for your days there and on leaving only have an hour or so to go to Washington DC.

This would give you an extra day or so and you could spend time at Rehoboth Beach if you want a beach/costal destination.
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