coast to coast
 

Hi all,

myself and DH are coming to the US in July for our first real holiday there. We are planning 4 weeks to drive coast to coast. Flying in to San Francisco, out Miami. We are planning the following and would like comments/suggestions of sights, etc.

San Francisco 3 nts
pacific Coast 1 nt
LA 2 nts
Las Vegas 2 nts
Grand Canyon 2 nts
Rockies 4 nights
Texas/New Mexico 6 nts
New Orleans 2 nts
Florida 5 nts

We have put a bit of thought into the beginning and end parts, but not much in the middle. Any suggestions or recomendations for 2 Europeans who want to see and do as much as possible in 4 weeks?

Wow!! I live in the U.S. and I'm jealous. Most of us dream of taking a month and driving cross-country!

In San Francisco, consider a side trip (about 40 minutes' drive) to Sonoma to visit the vineyards. Our favorite was Benziger -- friendly staff and a fun tractor tour of the vineyards, which are biodynamic (ie, they breed bugs to eat the destructive bugs instead of using pesticides).

Between Vegas and the Canyon, take the route that leads you past Hoover Dam. You'll want to stop there for about an hour to walk around. It's impressive!

While you're in that area you may want to consider taking your trip through Zion National Park in Utah. I haven't been there, but I'd love to go. They have slot canyons, which are amazing in pictures -- can't imagine how incredible they must be in person.

You might want to visit the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest in Arizona: http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm

As for Florida, Disney is a fab time, even without kids. South Beach is a great place in Miami -- the Kent Hotel gets good ratings and runs about $75 a night in the summer. I stayed at the Clinton in SoBe and loved it -- their rates were $115 when I was there.

If you want some CRAZY places to visit along the way, check out www.roadsideamerica.com/map.html and click on the state you're in. They have some bizarre suggestions.

My first comment - and people have very different tolerances - is that a southern-tier route in July ignores the heat factor. Places like Las Vegas and much of New Mexico and Texas, not to mention New Orleans, will be uncomfortably hot; so much so that you may find yourselves limiting the time spent out of the air-conditioned car.

Which is not to say you should skip things like Vegas or the Grand Canyon, but you might have a look at a map and see if you'd have the time to head north after the Grand Canyon, and cross the country through the central or northern Rockies instead of Texas.

We have several sets of European friends (also from northern Europe) who did similar Florida-to-LA or v.v. drives in July/August, and who felt that they wouldn't do it again, because what they thought would be a comfortable holiday turned into one of avoiding the out-of-doors because of the weather.

Just my opinion; others may well disagree.

Thanks for the comments. I had thought about the heat factor, but havent been put off yet. What alternative routes would you suggest after Rockies to end up in Miami? I admit I dont know much about the central states.... Suggestions much appreciated :)

I hadn't thought about the heat in my reply, because I love oppressive heat (seriously). That said, keep in mind it might be 100+ degrees in some places. Can I guess from your name that you're coming from Sweden? Might be a big difference. I'd compare the comfort factor of Arizona heat with a humid 85-degree day. To me, that's bearable/pleasant, but I know some people who hibernate in the summer!

If you're okay with the heat, just remember to bring LOTS of water if you're doing any hiking. Other than that, your California days will be pleasant (summers are usually mild in CA). Vegas should be fine since most of the action is after dark, anyway. Florida has beaches to cool you off, so your main concern is the Southwest portion of the trip.

Yes, we're coming from Sweden. But it's not all snow up here (well, it still is at the minute, but it's running a bit late this year).

We typically holiday in the East- Thailand, Borneo, those kind of places, so whilst we're not crazy about the heat, we are somewhat used to it.

So if we want to avoid the Texas summer, what's a good suggestion for another route with plenty to keep us Europeans amused?

I know it's not all snow! I was basing it on the latitude, which is equivalent to Canada -- generally much milder than the Northeast U.S.

If you don't mind the heat, I still think your current plan is the way to go. The Southwest is breathtaking, and you won't have many loooong stretches without anything to see.

But if you choose to go north, you could travel through Yellowstone National Park (www.nps.gov/yell), visit Mount Rushmore, spend a day at the the Mall of America, a few days at the lakes of Michigan, visit stop in Chicago, and maybe Nashville or Graceland/Memphis in Tennessee on your way south towards Louisiana and Florida.

But honestly, in terms of natural wonders, the Southern route would still be my pick.

I should add that the heat can be ridiculous in the northern regions too. Maybe a few degrees cooler, but often with heavy humidity (especially as you head east) -- which some people find less comfortable than the hotter, but drier, temps in the South. So you may be better off basing your decision on the sights you want to see, since July is going to be pretty toasty in almost any part of the U.S.

Welcome to the US Nikki. When you see your itinerary a month just doesn't seem like a lot of time. I could spend all of that in California. I love the Laguna Beach area. So that would be my suggestion. I'm curious why so many nights in Texas / New Mexico?
Have fun! Sounds like a great vacation!
Annika

Thanks Karameli and Annika for your comments!

We havent yet properly planned the trip after Crand Canyon (and I dont want to plan all of it but more take it as it comes). We are trying to avoid driving at high speed across the country, which is why we have slated down several days for the Texas part. Karameli probably has a good point about not wanting to leave the AC in the car in Texass in July, and Annika's probably quite right about it being too long on that part anyway.

Laguna Beach does look great!

Las Vegas: we're first timers, and I wonder if its worth paying more for the Bellagio, or whether to go for NYNY or Paris? My parents were at the Bellagio a year or so ago and they rave about it still!

And how are things arond the New Orleans area after the storms last year?

If you stay above 5000 ft. it will cool down at night, and the daytime dry heat will be bearable. But that does not apply once you leave northern New Mexico. And once you leve that area, I don't see spending much time in NM or TX unless you plan to visit Big Bend NP. But of course, TX is big, and you have not indicated your interests. What have you gleaned from guidebooks?

Our interests are pretty varied. We love nature and the wilds and I think we have that covered pretty well in Grand Canyon, Rockies. We also love large cities, hence SFrancisco, LA and Las Vegas. But we're also out looking for the quinticencial (sp?) American life, not just the extremes. So Small Town USA is what we really want to see when we're on the road. Diversity is what we want to see and take home with us as memories of a once in a life time coast to coast trip.

Guide books can only give so much of that, mostly its what we will absorb on our journey which is why real life people on sites like these can give us so much more info on which route to take, what to see/do etc.

Sounds vague, right? Unfortunately the guide books I have seen dont fill much of the gaps between the sights.

My son was going to go coast to coast from east to west after graduation. He made it about half way across Texas and decided that he had seen all of the wide open spaces that he could stand. You are looking at some loooooong empty stretches. And it will be most unpleasantly HOT.

Texas is also not the place to avoid high speeds. They have all these nice very straight roads with nothing to look at so they go through as fast as possible.

The famous desert parks of Utah (Zion, Bryce Canyon, etc.) might be too much of a detour from your itinerary. But as you work your way through New Mexico from the Grand Canyon to Texas don't miss Carlsbad Caverns - a spectacular series of immense limestone caves. There are literally kilometers of well-lit trails in these giant caverns underground.

In Texas you should take a detour to Austin. The people are friendly, the nightlife is wonderful, and the cool nearby lakes will feel very nice during your July visit. Take small roads East through the scenic hill country (the countryside here might just make up for the dustbowl of West Texas you drove through earlier) until you link up with the 10 Freeway in Houston that will take you to New Orleans.

For those that know these vast plains; how much time should be allow to get from Colorado over to New Orleans? If this is the part where there is less to see, maybe its worth putting medal to the metal and getting to New Orleans quicker so we can spend more time elsewhere?

It took me three full days to drive by myself from Houston to SF (overnight stops in NM and Williams, AZ). MapQuest estimates the drive time between Denver and New Orleans to be 20 hours.

First, I am not sure you can drive from SF to LA in a day.
After the Rockies head southeast toward Dallas and then on across to Louisiana. With all due respect to Texas/NM it is a long distance to drive to see not a lot. After you leave Grand Canyon you can visit some INdian sites in Arizona on the way to the Rockies. In the corner of CO, UT, NM, AZ is Mesa VErde, a phenomenal Indian site. From there yo can head north to the Rockies.
On the way to Louisiana, pass through Mississippi--might stop in Jackson--or follow the Natchez Trace to see some Ante Bellum (pre-1860) fine old plantation homes.
While New Orleans is definitely open for business it is much different from what it was.

<i>If this is the part where there is less to see, maybe its worth putting medal [sic] to the metal and getting to New Orleans quicker so we can spend more time elsewhere?</i>

(I stand by my heat aversion, but I acknowledge others don't share my views. As they say in Yorkshire, there's nowt so queer as folk. ;) )

Let me throw out an idea nugget. Consider making your trip two zones instead of one long trip. Visit the southwest/Grand Canyon etc., drop the car, then fly to NOLA, rent a car there, and do a second tour of the southeast. You could include Memphis and the Mississippi Delta, then make your way to Miami via a number of routes, using the time you would have spent traveling across the plains to see more diversity.

Four weeks isn't enough time to cover the areas you want to see in any kind of depth. I thought about suggesting a SF to LA to LV to GC to Yellowstone to NOLA to Miami route, but it would require so many road days (Grand Canyon to Yellowstone = 1500 km, Yellowstone to NOLA 3000 km) that much of your view of the US - out of necessity - would be that of McDonalds and motels at freeway exits.

This is not to say there aren't wonderful things to see in Texas or Oklahoma or eastern Colorado (well, not sure about eastern Colorado...) but - in my opinion only - the romance of the highway starts tapering off on the second or third day crossing the Great Plains. With your stated interests, I'd exchange a big piece of Texas for the South Carolina low country, for example, or most of Kansas or Iowa for an extra day or two at Yellowstone or Grand Teton.

Note on Fodors we'll all happily plan and re-plan your route regardless of what <i>you</i> want, so courage, nikkiSweden... it's just an internet message board with no police power. :)

nikkiSweden -

Don't wnat to discourage you - but doing this in a month is like trying to do all of europe (not all of Scandinavia) in a month. And the heat can easily be unbearable - and even dangerous. You need to be sure you and the car are well-stoked with water, be ware of the syptoms of heat illness etc. (to the point where people go from AC house to AC car to AC office or mall) and are rarely outside.

(I was in Dallas once on a business trip and had a half day free. I was going to walk to the nearest mall - down the hotel drive and across the mall parking lot to the stores - when a bellman stopped me and called a cab - he said it was just too hot and a local would never walk that far outdoors.)

As for quintessential USA - yes - there are lots of small towns - but most Americans live in or near (suburbs) of major cities. People may disagree - but NYC is much more typical of the US than a town of 500 people. (In fact, many small towns are slowly becoming deserted, churches closing, school districts combining and most young people leaving town - because their future in small towns is very limited.) It's cities (mid size as well as large)and suburbs that are growing the most.

I would definitely pick fewer places and fly between only 3 areas, renting a car separately in each. (This is not a bad trip for winter - in summmer I would do the northern route - from NYC or Boston to SF via Ohio, Chicago and the more northern parks.)

nikkiSweden, It will be an interesting and enjoyable trip. I have driven cross country a few times and lived in or visited dozens of times most of the places you mention, so here is my take.

San Francisco is the nicest city in the US and the best food ( I apologize only to New Yorkers, on both counts, for my opinion) 3 nights just isn't enough. Yes go to the wine country, take the ferry to Sausalito, walk across the golden gate bridge, do all the tourist things. 5-6 nights minimum. By the way, technically SF is not a large city- less than 1 mil people in only 49 square miles.

Take Pacific Coast Highway and stop around San Simeon to visit Hearst castle.

LA is really a hundred small towns spread out an hour away in every direction-that's without the traffic, but if you plan well you can see some of the key sights.

Las Vegas (4 hours from LA): stay in a nice hotel, but it doesn't have to be the Bellagio (we like NYNY, Paris, Mirage, Treasure Is., Caesars). But, you must visit all the hotels and see their free attractions, maybe take in a show. NOTE!!!- this is the only city in the US where it pays to use valet parking. You can park all you want and for a few $$$ tip get droped at the front door and not have to walk to the far end of some massive building to park [something you will appreciate when it is 111 degrees, that's 44 C].

On the way to Grand Canyon, stop at Hoover Dam and afterwards the Petrified Forrest.

Texas/ New Mexico- I'd have trouble spending 3 days there, much less 6. But if you must: Albuquerque, Carlsbad Caverns, San Antonio (a real nice Texas city).

New Orleans: My daughter (who got washed out due to Katrina) and some friends who have visited recently say that the French Quarter is operating fine and that they are open of tourism- they all had a wonderful time. Great Restaurants!

Florida: hopefully you enjoyed the Rockies, 'cause Florida is FLAT. Two quick stops as you drive US 10 across the top of the state near Marianna- FL Caverns State Park and Falling Waters State Rec. Area.

FL.: Disney world/Epcot center in Orlando and Cape Canaveral are tourist destinations.

Two routes down to Miami: gulf coast through Tampa and some nice beach towns and across the Everglades or down the atlantic side, also a nice drive. (you can always visit the Everglades from Miami).

Miami, When booking a motel, Note the difference between the city of Miami and the city of Miami Beach. I am sure you want to stay in Miami Beach which has the beaches that make the state famous.

And if you spend any time at the beach, Use Sunscreen!. It Pains Me to see all the pale white tourists from the UK or Sweeden turn bright pink to red the second day.

Hi, nikki!

I'd agree with gardyloo on the heat issue. But probably not with his itinerary.

There is so much to see in Arizona alone, not just the Grand Canyon. Don't miss the Navajo Nation with Monument Valley or the Canyon de Chelly - there's a small hotel run by the Navajos themselves (forgot where it is, probably Chinle) which may interest you as there are few hotels run by American Indians. In July, you should try and get a tour to Antelope Canyon to see the slot canyon, schedule your arrival at Antelope Canyon as close to noon as possible. All of these places are filled with lifetime memories - at least for me. I hiked down to the the White House in Canyon de Chelly (pronounced canyon deshay) and will never forget that hike along with the old Navajo woman we met along the trail, dressed in all her Navajo splendor, with plenty of silver and turqoise.

You should also not miss Zion and Bryce National Parks. It's no use driving all that way and miss some of the most beautiful and memorable sights in the West.

After that you can cut across Kansas and Oklahoma, two states which will interest you with how different they are from the states you have just left: Nevada and Arizona. Plan on about two days fast driving to cross this area.

Avoid West Texas. As the others have said, it's a long drive over nothingness. In west Texas, we once came around a bend (yes the road actually made a bend!) after hours of driving and the only live things we saw were a bunch of huge vultures sitting there eating something on the road! They wouldn't even move for us! Ugh! We drove more miles in the heat and saw nothing else live or dead. Take a more northerly route.

If you have to, see Dallas, but I'd even suggest missing that also and getting into the American South, which has so many more interesting places to see. I'd let the real Southerners tell you of the charms of the Southern US.

Have a good trip! Drive safely.

Oh, BTW, take lots of drinking water when you are crossing the desert. Also bring lots of sunscreen and a big hat wouldn't hurt. Try and drive the desert, e.g., LA to Las Vegas, as early as possible. If you start out at 5 am that'll be a good time. Have fun! :)

Thanks to everyone for your help in putting together a list of places for our trip and giving your advice, especially on the heat!

We havent been scared off by the heat, and if not for the fact that the intention of our trip was to do the US coast to coast, we would definitiely split it up into 2 or 3 zones and fly between.

So here's what we have come to, based on your comments and a few weeks of background reading and surfing on the web. You have all confirmed our thoughts regarding the mid country stretch!

SF 3 nts
Pacific Coast 1 nt
LA 2 nts
Las Vegas 2nts
Grand Canyon 2 nts (North and South rim camping!)
Zion NP 1 nt
Escalante 1nt
Moab 1 nt
Durango 1nt
Santa Fe area 2 nt
Dallas area 1nt (burn across Texas)
New Orleans 2 nts
Tallahassee area 1 nt
Orlando 2nts (visit Mickey)
Tampa/coast 1 nt
Everglades area 2nts
Miami Beach 2nts


So, a lot of driving for a couple of days between Santa Fe and New Orleans, but it should be do-able?

I am SOOOO looking forward to it!

In Las Vegas, we enjoyed staying at Paris more than Bellagio. It is right across the street and then you get to look at Bellagio.

EasyTraveller, I was posting as you were posting, so I missed your suggestion. Anteope Canyon I hadn't heard of before, so I will hceck that out. Monument Valley as well as Death valley are on our list of places to see. I love the idea of staying in the navajo hotel! I will definitely check that out.

Thanks everyone for your input, anyone else who wants to comment, I will look forward to reading your ideas!

You might be able to do Santa Fe - San Antonio in one 12 hour day, using the Interstate. But it is 800 miles.

Michael, if that is a vote for San Antonio instead of Dallas, I second it!

NikkiSweden,

It is looking pretty good but I have one suggestion for the Grand Canyon----if you try to camp at both the South Rim and North Rim you will spend all your time driving in between. consider going from Las Vegas just to the North Rim, which is higher, cooler, less crowded, and (in my opinion) much nicer in the summer. If you camp 2 nights there you will have a full day to hike around and enjoy the canyon---even hike partway down and back up, if you like. From there it is an easy trip to Zion, Moab, and so on.

I suggest you make your camping reservations for the Grand Canyon as soon as your dates are firm to avoid disappointment. The website is here:
http://reservations.nps.gov/

nikki, drive from New Orleans to Orlando. No reason to stay in Tallahassee. It's inland Florida and hot. Spend two nights in Orlando (stay onsite Disney if you are there to see the mouse). Do Tampa, coastal drive and Everglades in one day.

Spend your original five nights (if not six) on a beach in Miami. Trust me, you'll thank me.

A few more thoughts:

If you're spending 2 days in Vegas, you won't be in your hotel room much. Save the $$ and stay in the Paris, Aladdin, MGM or NYNY. They're all clean and Vegas-glitzy. You HAVE to watch the Bellagio water show (it's free!), but I personally wouldn't splurge on the hotel.

Your revised itinerary looks good. You may want to break up the shot across Texas, but you can play that by ear if you pass something semi-interesting along the way. I would also aim for San Antonio instead of Dallas. (By the way, it was Gardyloo who made the comment about staying in the air-conditioned car...my car doesn't even have A/C!)

I agree with the previous poster who said you don't need to do both sides of the Grand Canyon. Stay on one of the Rims, take a break from driving, and wander. I'd also cut the Everglades to one night and tack the extra night onto Disney (see an extra park) or Miami Beach (one last day of relaxation!).

You may want to consider the Everglades NP as a day trip, a drive down and back with the windows up and the A/C on. That time of year is off season and you will have the park mostly to yourselves, it will be hot, humid with daily thunder showers. It will be difficult to do the nature walks because of the mosquitoes.

Hi, nikki!

Here are a couple of websites:

One of the best websites to see what it looks like in Antelope Canyon is

www.donheller.com/antelope.html

Getting a tour that arrives at noon will afford you the most sunlight getting into the canyon and give you the most awesome views of the sunlight playing on the cliff surfaces. You want to get as much of the magnificent reds, oranges, and yellows as possible.

Also bring a small flashlight as parts of the canyon can be quite dark.

The Navajo hotel I was telling you about is in Many Farms, Navajo Nation (Arizona).

http://www.discovernavajo.com/hotels...farms_inn.html

This is not a fancy place. It is where Navajo youths train for the hotel business. It's very basic but also very clean.

It was the Navajos at Many Farms who told me about Antelope Canyon.

Enjoy! :)

The view from the south rim of the Grand Canyon is far more impressive than from the north rim.

NikkiSweden, you will certainly enjoy your trip across the United States. Perhaps I can help you with your Dallas leg.

Dallas is a logical destination between New Mexico and New Orleans, but reaching it from New Mexico will be a long drive.

The Dallas metro is one of the 5 largest urban areas in the United States, with a population of about 6 million people... larger than Berlin or St Petersburg. As you might imagine, it has many things to see and do, some of the best restaurants and hotels in the United States, and many things to delight the visitor.

For only one day in the city, I'd suggest...
. Visit the 6th Floor Kennedy museum, depicting the times and circumstances of the assassination of John Kennedy, former president of the USA.
. Visit the Dallas World Aquarium. It is actually a zoo as well as an aquarium, is housed in an enormous building, and will give you an interesting jungle adventure, while escaping the July Dallas heat. On weekends, it features dancers in Mayan costume dancing in front of a Mayan temple.
. Ride to the top of Reunion Tower, about 200 meters high, for a very good view of the city. It has 3 levels... one is an observation deck, one a restaurant, and one is a cocktail bar. As you sit in the restaurant or the bar, the entire room slowly revolves, giving you a complete view of the city.
. Finally, go to the museum complex in the Arts District, at Ross and Harwood streets. It has 3 art museums, but the best (or most famous) is the Nasher Sculpture Center. Other museums include an Asian arts museum, and the huge Dallas Museum of Art.

The activities above are mainly indoors and will get you out of the weather. Also, they are in the center of the city, fairly close to one another.

Good travels...

Hi Nikki -
I like your revised itinerary! The Ca coast between SF and LA is lovely. Be sure to visit a mission church and go to a winery. Or five.

I agree with the others that you do one rim of the Grand Canyon.

I'd go to Capital Reef NP - it's our favorite of the national parks. If you have camping gear the campground at the park, at Fruita in Capital Reef is lovely - green grass, a river, surrounded by red rocks. I prefer that to Zion that time of year as the elevation is higher (Zion is just too hot for me then), the rock formations so colorful and the drive between Escalante and Torrey is beautiful and fun. After a day and a night at Capital Reef it's a nice drive to Moab.

I would also take the fastest, straightest route from Santa Fe to New Orleans. What's interesting there is how vast the great plains are. Best to get across as fast as possible!

Way too much to read, but I'll add you should check out Monument Valley in Arizona (probably covered under &quot;Navajo Nation&quot;) and Mesa Verde, which has amazing cliff dwelling of people long-gone.
In FL, St. Augustine is a great Spanish city. If you can zip up the coast to Savannah, you will get some of the old south. Charleston SC is farther up still, and is also wonderful.
Of course, you could do a northern route, through the OR coast, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Seattle, the San Juan Islands, then east to Glacier NP, Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons. Then zip over to Chicago and drop down from there paralleling the MS River, on your way to NO. You could go through Vicksburg on the way. After NO, go north through Atlanta and east to Savannah, down through St. Augustine, to Orlando.

I haven't read everything here, but have you considered skipping LA entirely? Of the large cities you mentioned, I'd say SF, LV, NO and Miami are good choices, but I don't get the allure of LA. Skipping it would allow you to drive from SF to LV via Yosemite and Death Valley.

I doubt you can work it in, but west Texas is not all wasteland. It may appear that way, but there are quite a few things to do, and it would certainly fit the bill for experiencing some small towns. Big Bend NP is great, and from there you can head east to San Antonio and Austin on your way to New Orleans.

The other thought I had was that you're shortchanging the Rockies by only staying 1 night in Durango, while spending a total of 5 nights in S. Utah/N. Arizona canyon country.

You could spend 4 weeks in any of these areas and not go wrong, so you're going to have to pick the big highlights and maybe skip some of the smaller things. Just keep in mind that whatever you cut, someone will tell you that it's a must-do, and whatever you add, someone will tell you that it's not as good as something else.

Skip LA? Not a chance. It's the whole world in one place, but unlike any other place in the world. Its sheer vastness makes it hard to &quot;get&quot;-- I've lived here 20 years and am still exploring. But there's a lot of allure and glamour. As someone else noted, it's a patchwork quilt of over 100 cities (including some large cities like Los Angeles itself, Long Beach, Santa Monica, etc.) over 4,800 square miles and two counties. Some extend the area to San Diego County, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties and Ventura County. Bigger than many countries.

Where to cut time? Texas. Hit a couple of smaller cities (Austin! Yeah!), skip the overgrown suburbs of Houston and Dallas, speed over to far more charming and interesting New Orleans.