Can you help my girlfriend and me with our itinerary?
Jan 18th, 2015, 07:31 PM
#1
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Can you help my girlfriend and me with our itinerary?
QUESTIONS:
1) Does the order of travel make sense?
2) Which leg(s) of the trip would you recommend driving?
3) Should we add or remove places to visit?
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
Length of travel: 1.5 - 2 months
Budget: 10k max
Interests: Outdoors, culture, cuisine, art & architecture
Wanting to see places outside the cities
Willing to stay in hostels
Don't want to visit LA or LV
PROPOSED ITINERARY
Depart Vancouver (Canada)
Seattle
Chicago
Toronto (Canada)
Montreal (Canada)
New York
Charleston
New Orleans
San Diego
San Fransisco
Fly to SE Asia
Cities in bold are must see places
1) Does the order of travel make sense?
2) Which leg(s) of the trip would you recommend driving?
3) Should we add or remove places to visit?
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
Length of travel: 1.5 - 2 months
Budget: 10k max
Interests: Outdoors, culture, cuisine, art & architecture
Wanting to see places outside the cities
Willing to stay in hostels
Don't want to visit LA or LV
PROPOSED ITINERARY
Depart Vancouver (Canada)
Seattle
Chicago
Toronto (Canada)
Montreal (Canada)
New York
Charleston
New Orleans
San Diego
San Fransisco
Fly to SE Asia
Cities in bold are must see places
Jan 18th, 2015, 09:17 PM
#2
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BTW, bold does not appear. Even for two months that is an ambitious trip. Have you actually mapped this out? Have you checked from which airports you can fly conveniently or directly to SE Asia as that is a large territory as well.
Remember depending on the distance, you will lose from a 1/2 day to a full day moving from city from city. There is checking in and out of a hotel, packing and unpacking, getting to the bus, train, or plane, and then waiting there, actual travel time, and then getting to a new hotel. Or if you drive getting lost.
Remember depending on the distance, you will lose from a 1/2 day to a full day moving from city from city. There is checking in and out of a hotel, packing and unpacking, getting to the bus, train, or plane, and then waiting there, actual travel time, and then getting to a new hotel. Or if you drive getting lost.
Jan 18th, 2015, 10:14 PM
#3
You could do that. It's 106 hours of driving. If you drive 8 hours a day that's over 13 days of driving. Have you checked out how much that one way rate on the rental car would be?
One option could be to drive down the coast from Vancouver to San Diego and then fly to one of the other cities and do a loop from there.
Another option would be to take the train from NYC to New Orleans. If Charleston is important to you, you could get off the train, see Charleston and the area around it and then continue on the train journey.
Gas will be $1000
Who knows how much 2 months of rental car would be? If it's $40/day that's $2400.
$100/day x 60 days for hotels (hostels aren't everywhere along the way) = $6000
$50 a day x 60 = $3000 for food
So far that's $12,400 and that doesn't include admission to places you'll want to see.
Camping would be less expensive, but you'll need gear. You could buy it and toss it before you fly out and save on the lodging.
You can do it if you want to drive that far, I suppose.
One option could be to drive down the coast from Vancouver to San Diego and then fly to one of the other cities and do a loop from there.
Another option would be to take the train from NYC to New Orleans. If Charleston is important to you, you could get off the train, see Charleston and the area around it and then continue on the train journey.
Gas will be $1000
Who knows how much 2 months of rental car would be? If it's $40/day that's $2400.
$100/day x 60 days for hotels (hostels aren't everywhere along the way) = $6000
$50 a day x 60 = $3000 for food
So far that's $12,400 and that doesn't include admission to places you'll want to see.
Camping would be less expensive, but you'll need gear. You could buy it and toss it before you fly out and save on the lodging.
You can do it if you want to drive that far, I suppose.
Jan 19th, 2015, 02:39 AM
#4
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are you committed to flying out of SFO? Where are you getting the car? Does it allow use in every state? I've rented some that limit me to a certain geographical area.
I think you are trying to cover too much ground in only eight weeks. What time of year are you making this trip?
I think you are trying to cover too much ground in only eight weeks. What time of year are you making this trip?
Jan 19th, 2015, 04:29 AM
#5
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You need to know that in rural/suburbs you may well find hotels for $100 per night. You will not find that in most cities.
In NYC the hostel uptown near Columbia University is about US $50 per night per person for a bed/locker in a shared dorm room. If you have a car with you parking is about $30 per night (and no street parking will not work).
If you are really interested in a lot of outdoors really need to change your itinerary from only big cities to areas in between - which means a pretty solid car rental. And I think the cost of that could well be more than$40 per day. Plus you need to allow for tolls on many highways, transit costs inside cites (in many the car will just sit in a garage all day and you will have to pay for bus or subway).
So - a very ambitious trip and I think will definitely cost more than you have budgeted. Plus you need to consider weather - you don;t want to be in the south in midsummer or the north in winter.
In NYC the hostel uptown near Columbia University is about US $50 per night per person for a bed/locker in a shared dorm room. If you have a car with you parking is about $30 per night (and no street parking will not work).
If you are really interested in a lot of outdoors really need to change your itinerary from only big cities to areas in between - which means a pretty solid car rental. And I think the cost of that could well be more than$40 per day. Plus you need to allow for tolls on many highways, transit costs inside cites (in many the car will just sit in a garage all day and you will have to pay for bus or subway).
So - a very ambitious trip and I think will definitely cost more than you have budgeted. Plus you need to consider weather - you don;t want to be in the south in midsummer or the north in winter.
Jan 19th, 2015, 06:17 AM
#6
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I'm not really going to comment on the itinerary, but I wonder if a foreign visitor can jump back and forth across national boundaries--and particularly with a rental car.
You CAN travel in the south in the summer. LOL
You CAN travel in the south in the summer. LOL
Jan 27th, 2015, 12:51 PM
#9
How I envision your trip using Amtrak and ViaRail and only 1 rental car.
Vancouver (2 HI hostels) to Seattle using Amtrak train or Amtrak bus to Seattle (HI hostel former American Hotel) within walking distance of newly remodeled train station.
Amtrak Coast Starlight from Seattle all the way to Santa Barbara.
Pacific Surfliner train through Los Angeles to San Diego.
Surfliner from SD back to Los Angeles Union Station to catch the Southwest Chief to Chicago. If you wanted to break this long train trip, you could stop 24 hours in Albuquerque.
From Chicago take the "City of New Orleans" to NO.
Leaving New Orleans take the Crescent to Atlanta. Rent a car from Atlanta to go to Charleston. Return the car to ATL and take the Crescent to New York. (Any interest in Washington, Baltimore or Philadelphia?)
After New York take the Adirondack to Montreal. Leave Montreal on the ViaRail route to Toronto. After Toronto take the Maple Leaf to either Buffalo or Rochester NY.
Take the Lake Shore Limited (overnight) back to Chicago.
Take the California Zephyr west all the way to Emeryville CA with an Amtrak bus over to San Francisco.
My favorite break spot on the California Zephyr is Glenwood Springs Colorado.
Vancouver (2 HI hostels) to Seattle using Amtrak train or Amtrak bus to Seattle (HI hostel former American Hotel) within walking distance of newly remodeled train station.
Amtrak Coast Starlight from Seattle all the way to Santa Barbara.
Pacific Surfliner train through Los Angeles to San Diego.
Surfliner from SD back to Los Angeles Union Station to catch the Southwest Chief to Chicago. If you wanted to break this long train trip, you could stop 24 hours in Albuquerque.
From Chicago take the "City of New Orleans" to NO.
Leaving New Orleans take the Crescent to Atlanta. Rent a car from Atlanta to go to Charleston. Return the car to ATL and take the Crescent to New York. (Any interest in Washington, Baltimore or Philadelphia?)
After New York take the Adirondack to Montreal. Leave Montreal on the ViaRail route to Toronto. After Toronto take the Maple Leaf to either Buffalo or Rochester NY.
Take the Lake Shore Limited (overnight) back to Chicago.
Take the California Zephyr west all the way to Emeryville CA with an Amtrak bus over to San Francisco.
My favorite break spot on the California Zephyr is Glenwood Springs Colorado.
Jan 27th, 2015, 01:52 PM
#11
My favorite hostels are Hosteling International. https://www.hihostels.com/?linkid=98...FatxQgod9TEA1g
At least 4 nights on the route I listed they would be sleeping on board the train either in a coach seat or in a Roomette. San Francisco has 3 HI Hostels. My favorite HI hostel is in Sacramento in a Victorian mansion.
Even New York and Toronto have HI hostels.
With a few extra days after they return to San Francisco, they could rent a car and go to one of the 2 HI hostels south of SF that are at lighthouses. There is also a HI hostel in Monterey.
At least 4 nights on the route I listed they would be sleeping on board the train either in a coach seat or in a Roomette. San Francisco has 3 HI Hostels. My favorite HI hostel is in Sacramento in a Victorian mansion.
Even New York and Toronto have HI hostels.
With a few extra days after they return to San Francisco, they could rent a car and go to one of the 2 HI hostels south of SF that are at lighthouses. There is also a HI hostel in Monterey.
