Help planning a road trip without a car.
Jun 8th, 2009, 11:37 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Help planning a road trip without a car.
Hi
I need some help planning an iternery for a 4 week trip from Toronto. I'm flying into Toronto from the UK on the 22nd of July. I will spend just over a week in Toronto then set off to new york and down to washington dc. From there I can't decide wheather to travel down the coast or come in land to do some national parks. But the problem is I will be travelling on grey hound buses. Will it be possible to find local transport through the shenandiah national park and down the valley into the great smokys and find some campsites to stay on? This is my planned route. Please can anyone reccomend anything worthwile that I have missed off? Do you think this is a possible route for just over 3 weeks as I plan to fly from miami back to chicargo or detroit and then bus it back to toronto in time for my flight home on the 27th of august
Thanks
Matt
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&so...57,14.0625&z=6
Alternate route without flying
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&so...57,14.0625&z=6
I need some help planning an iternery for a 4 week trip from Toronto. I'm flying into Toronto from the UK on the 22nd of July. I will spend just over a week in Toronto then set off to new york and down to washington dc. From there I can't decide wheather to travel down the coast or come in land to do some national parks. But the problem is I will be travelling on grey hound buses. Will it be possible to find local transport through the shenandiah national park and down the valley into the great smokys and find some campsites to stay on? This is my planned route. Please can anyone reccomend anything worthwile that I have missed off? Do you think this is a possible route for just over 3 weeks as I plan to fly from miami back to chicargo or detroit and then bus it back to toronto in time for my flight home on the 27th of august
Thanks
Matt
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&so...57,14.0625&z=6
Alternate route without flying
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&so...57,14.0625&z=6
Jun 8th, 2009, 12:42 PM
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
can't afford to rent and to pay for gas since i will be travelling alone. I can get a 30 day greyhound pass for $399. Also I hope i can do the big distances through the night and snooze and save money by not having to pay for a hostel/campsite and hopefully meet more people.
Jun 8th, 2009, 12:57 PM
#4
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,618
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think it will be pretty hard to visit those national parks without a car.
You can visit the national park service site for each national park (nps.gov) to find out about public transportation options that go into the park -- click on the Directions link to see what is avaiable. For Great Smoky Mountains, and Shenandoah, there are no regular public transportation services from nearby towns (I looked). But GSM site does say that nearby towns run some private shuttlebus services. For Shenandoah, it doesn't even look like shuttle bus is an option.
I suppose you could always get a taxi from the bus station, but that would probably be way too expensive. If you are able to rent a car for the short trip to Park and back to bus station a day or two later, it would probably be the most cost-effective solution.
The national parks are beautiful to visit, but I think sticking to the shore might be the better option if you can't drive at all. Also, the ocean will be refreshing if you are planning a july trip.
(I don't see any differences in your two alternate routes?)
You can visit the national park service site for each national park (nps.gov) to find out about public transportation options that go into the park -- click on the Directions link to see what is avaiable. For Great Smoky Mountains, and Shenandoah, there are no regular public transportation services from nearby towns (I looked). But GSM site does say that nearby towns run some private shuttlebus services. For Shenandoah, it doesn't even look like shuttle bus is an option.
I suppose you could always get a taxi from the bus station, but that would probably be way too expensive. If you are able to rent a car for the short trip to Park and back to bus station a day or two later, it would probably be the most cost-effective solution.
The national parks are beautiful to visit, but I think sticking to the shore might be the better option if you can't drive at all. Also, the ocean will be refreshing if you are planning a july trip.
(I don't see any differences in your two alternate routes?)
Jun 8th, 2009, 01:03 PM
#5
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,690
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
i think traveling from one town to another as long as there's a greyhound station available wouldn't be the problem but it's your transportation in the towns. I know that in national parks itself which are mostly huge, it'll be hard to get around without transportation. smokey mountains for example do not have a shuttle service in the park. in fact, most parks don't have transportation available in the park. you would have to rent a car at the town then get around that way which defeats your purpose.
If you look at www dot nps dot gov, you can look at the parks you want to visit, go to the plan your visit and see if they have a shuttle service or not.
if you want to do the coast, amtrak has a route that get get you all the way down from ny to about charleston (and toronto to ny also)
If you look at www dot nps dot gov, you can look at the parks you want to visit, go to the plan your visit and see if they have a shuttle service or not.
if you want to do the coast, amtrak has a route that get get you all the way down from ny to about charleston (and toronto to ny also)
Jun 8th, 2009, 01:04 PM
#6
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,690
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Jun 8th, 2009, 02:59 PM
#7
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 12,492
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
check www.megabus.com from some routes. you may be able to get a much shorter greyhound pass this way and save more.
Jun 8th, 2009, 04:16 PM
#8
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A road trip without a car just isn't possible. You can go from town to town - eventually - by Greyhound - but they stick to the major highways wherever possible - and definitely don;t take any scenic routes. Also, the stations are often in definitely the wrong end of town and you can end up arriving at 2 or 3 am in an area filled with hookers and druggies.
Amtrak is possible between Boston and DC - but outside of that is slow, unreliable - and also not very pleasant. Out government has opted to support air and road travel at the expense of trains/buses - so car is the only realistic options for making your own way through state or national parks/camping etc.
There are tours that visit some of these areas - but they would cost a lot more than renting your own small car.
(You need to understand that having a family car has been the standard in the US since the 1920's - when Henry Ford started pushing all those model T's off the production line at next to no cost, and typically only people who live in the centers of major cities don't have their own cars. Public transit is just very limited.)
Amtrak is possible between Boston and DC - but outside of that is slow, unreliable - and also not very pleasant. Out government has opted to support air and road travel at the expense of trains/buses - so car is the only realistic options for making your own way through state or national parks/camping etc.
There are tours that visit some of these areas - but they would cost a lot more than renting your own small car.
(You need to understand that having a family car has been the standard in the US since the 1920's - when Henry Ford started pushing all those model T's off the production line at next to no cost, and typically only people who live in the centers of major cities don't have their own cars. Public transit is just very limited.)
