Budget Travel (Me Again) - Western US
 

I'll try to make this short and sweet this time around. If you haven't read my earlier posts, here's my deal:

My girlfriend and I are getting some money that will cover airfare and a portion of our stay somewhere. We are from Charleston, SC, and we would like to head out west (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, maybe Oregon) to see some of the beautiful scenery. We had originally planned to go in March but we are going to postpone the trip until May.

We are on a budget so we are looking for somewhere that's very affordable. We won't have a car but we will try to avoid cabs as much as possible. We would like to do some hiking and/or biking, but nothing too extreme.

That's the basis of the trip... affordable sightseeing. Any help is appreciated and I can definitely elaborate if necessary. Thanks!

Without a car, you will be limited to staying fairly close to airports, don't you think?

I live in Colorado and lived in New Mexico. There are wonderful things to see and do but it would take a car to get away from the city to do that sort of thing.

Wyoming, UT, CO AZ may not have the public transportation systems you are used to in SC.

Deb

Portland Oregon will still be rainy, even by May, but it is also beautiful here. You can get around very easily with public transportation even from the airport. Once in town, it is easy to walk all over. And you can hike up in Forest Park, which is easily accessible by foot as well. Lots to do and see, and prices are not that high here for hotels and such.

Unless you choose to stay in a city with good public transport and close to your arrival airport you'll need a car.
Can you elaborate on why you want to avoid renting a car. It might work out cheaper than a few cab rides.

In May how about flying into Salt Lake City and stay 2 nights. Hire a car for 3 days to travel to Moab for hiking/ scenery.

How long is your trip? Shorten it to increase your per day budget to afford a car. One/two nights' lodgings = car hire for x days

How long are you planning to be gone?
Are you going to all of those places or just one and stay for awhile?

You could pick one destination and rent a place apt or cottage.

Thanks for all the replies! I'll try to elaborate a little. We are only 23 years old so renting a car is out of the question (probably should have included this originally). Cabs will be our only choice so we're trying to stay in walkable towns and use cabs as little as possible.

The states I listed aren't necessarily the only places we're looking either. We just know they have great scenery, hiking, etc. We are completely open to suggestions.

The length of the trip depends on two things: (a) how much money we can save up and (b) how affordable lodging is. We probably plan to stay a minimum of three nights and a maximum of six. We are looking at VRBO first for lodging and then hotels. Any advice here would be great also.

Thanks again for the replies and let me know if I need to elaborate further.

I would think San Diego would be perfect for you. Although it's <i>easier</i> to get around with a car, many posters say they've done all their sightseeing without one. There's plenty to see and do for 4-5 days.

Sorry, I just reread your post where you said you are looking for beautiful scenery. I was focusing on the &quot;no car&quot; part when I &quot;voted&quot; for San Diego.

San Francisco is a possibility. There is a Youth Hostel near Fort Mason and one by Cronkhite Beach (not sure about the latter)in Marin. If you are willing to bike some, going down highway 1, there are Youth Hostels on some of the lighthouse grounds.

I might add that we had young friends (they could not rent a car) who went to Yosemite by public transportation and then did some hiking and camping.

Hi,
do you know about the Thorn Tree forum on the Lonely Planet web site? I think you might get a lot of great ideas from posters there, many of whom are in their 20s, about seeing places without a car. Not to suggest you shouldn't post here, but TT is known for super-resourceful and imaginative ideas for people wanting to travel on a budget.

I used Thorn Tree exclusively to plan a backpacking trip in New Zealand last year. It was invaluable.

it's at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa

Sorry but these are BIG spread out states. It will be very difficult to get to areas for hiking/biking only using public transportation.

First of all, thanks much to the original poster for having included where he is FROM to help us in giving suggestions.

I love the idea of traveling in May, before school is out and before (those who can still afford it, go on summer vacations).

Being from SC, anywhere in the west would sure give you a sense of adventure far from home.

I kinda sense that any one of many different possibilities will afford you the best in just TIME spent TOGETHER. Don't pressure yourself too much about picking the exact right spot.

You already live in a wonderful oceanfront city so there isn't so much pressure on you guys to witness the Pacific Ocean on your trip.

Wouldn't (true) &quot;mountains&quot; be quite a contrast to what you and your friends are used to??

I wonder if something such as Denver, or even Salt Lake City, in May, would be a great match for you.

It shouldn't be too hard to find some sort of a day tour from one of those to actually get up INTO the mountains. Maybe even a bus trip from Denver to Vail, CO would allow a day and a night in the true mountains.

If I could know anything more about the two of you, I'd want to know which western U.S. cities you might have had in the back of your minds for many years, because you'd probably gain more from actually getting TO some destination you've always thought/dreamed of, than you might if taking the best advice here.

Gee, maybe for being so far to the east, something such as The Grand Canyon would seem monumentous enough to rate your attention way out west.

At any rate, when you begin to narrow your choices... first book airfare, and then use PRICELINE to find the lowest rates for hotels.

Heck, maybe even get yourself a narrow list of possibilities, and then let AIRFARES (and schedules, perhaps) dictate to which place you'll travel.

It couldn't hurt to cut costs on airfares and then have more for your lodging expenses.

Some various cities I would most want to visit west of Kansas, with particular attention paid to

*walkability

*variety of nearby natural beauty, emphasizing mountains rather than oceans, if possible

(and maaaaaaaaybe these are in order of preference, and I'll only list cities I've been to)

A) Vancouver, Canada (too much airfare, perhaps)

B) San Francisco, CA

C) Salt Lake City, UT
D) Seattle, WA
E) Denver, CO
F) Portland, Oregon
G) San Diego, CA
H) Santa Fe, NM



Since I LIVE in Seattle, let me assure that IF airfares were suitable for you, you'd find lots to see around the Seattle area without needing a car. The city bus system is excellent, and you could even make your trip a 2-part journey and take a TRAIN up to Vancouver, Canada from here. Lots of mountain scenery around both places and the train ride alone would be exceptional.

IF you had designs on crossing the international border into Canada, you'd do well to be up-to-the-minute on requirements about passports and when/whether they'll be needed at land border crossings.


I seem to recall back in the day, that people who weren't at least 25 years of age couldn't rent in their HOME STATE/AREA... but when traveling, sometimes they were allowed to rent with proof of travel such as a plane ticket or the like.

Check the fine print if it is merely your age that keeps you from perhaps renting a car for at least an important DAY TRIP to somewhere, from a city in which you're staying.

At any rate, don't pressure yourselves too much to pick &quot;THE right spot&quot;... as many destinations will suit you just fine.

OP has posted the same question for travelling to New England in May, again wants to see a lot without a car. Don't see how they think it's possible given how things are so spread out.

If you aren't going to rent a car, it's much easier to travel to cities/urban centers than it is the countryside IMO.

The states you mention here, or New England, neither one are very practical without a car. Although New England is more doable, because the states are so much smaller in size and there is both train and bus as possibilities.

New England car-less is possible city-city sometimes, but much of what you would want to see is not on a bus route - my sister-in-law does not drive and lives in Central NH, for example. There is no bus service to Boston from where she lives -and certainly not to other New England destinations.