Tell your dear cousin to meet you somewhere. Houston is sea of concrete and highways. But as said, fly to and from it if you must.
Forget Atlanta. Forget Niagra Falls.
Travel down the east coast, by car, from Washington, having seen NYC and taken the train to DC.
There are amusement parks (Six Flags somewhere near Richmond/Williamsburg?), beaches, places to see birds, outlets and then you get to Orlando.

Tell your dear cousin to meet you somewhere. Houston is sea of concrete and highways. But as said, fly to and from it if you must.
Forget Atlanta. Forget Niagra Falls.
Travel down the east coast, by car, from Washington, having seen NYC and taken the train to DC.
There are amusement parks (Six Flags somewhere near Richmond/Williamsburg?), beaches, places to see birds, outlets and then you get to Orlando.

Thank you all

Agreed on following points
1. Train from NYC to DC
2. Rent a car from WC and head to Florida
3. Fly to Houston ( the aunt is so close to my daughter that I may not be able to miss her out). This is the only reason to go to Houston
4. Atlanta was considered so as to break the long drive from DC to Orlando, any other suggestions

Coming from a far off place I don't think we can consider leaving out Niagra fall (hahaha)

If I skip Houston then which other place could you recommend.

Your itinerary at present for sure involves a few flights. At very least, Miami--> Houston and Houston --> NYC. Even though I just went to Atlanta and had a pleasant time there, I would recommend Charleston or Savannah instead as an intermediate place with nearby beaches between DC and Orlando; both very charming, historic slices of America with some terrific places to eat. Savannah and Charleston are more on the way driving to Orlando than Atlanta (assuming you were considering driving south of DC rather than flying/taking the train?). Miami is a good distance south of Orlando but a unique slice of the USA, with a significant Latin and Caribbean flavour, so if you wanted to do that for the experience, I think that's ok. Niagara Falls for 2 days at the end is tricky, as the falls are much closer to Toronto, Canada than New York City. Driving/taking the train from NYC would take the lion's share of a day, so unless you're content with travelling all day, seeing the falls and turn around the next and do a long drive/train back, flying again would be the only way I think you could enjoyably do that.

Hope you have a great trip once you piece it all together! Daniel

Given what you last said, it appears you would want to fly from Houston to Buffalo, rent a car there, see the falls, and drive to NYC.

Welcome to the USA and have a nice trip.

If you are still trying to include Niagara Falls, I do not see how you possibly have time to drive to Orlando unless you use the time you had reserved for the beach.

If you do drive, Charleston would be an excellent stop.

If you really want a stop between Washington DC and Orlando, skip Atlanta and spend a night in or near Charleston SC.
You only drive through a short part of coastal Georgia on I-95 before you get to Jacksonville Florida.
There are several trains per day from Buffalo to New York if that would work better than driving the New York State Thruway.

If they are flying into Buffalo they will need to rent a car to get to the Falls, esp the Canadian side. Be sure that you have any necessary visas to enter Canada and reenter the US - and do allow time for that. Usually reentering the US takes only 20 minutes or so but sometimes the lines of cars are very long.

It is not at all impossible for you to leave Niagra out. PLEASE do.

I don't think you can leave here with any conception of having visited the U.S. Without seeing a bit of the west--I have lived both places and will definitely stay west forever.

The OP already has too many places for their limited time. Adding a western segment of the trip would mean either doubling the length of the trip - or completely abandoning what they have - including visits to relatives.

Agree there is a lot to see in the west - but everyone cannot go there on every trip - and some people prefer cities to wilderness.

Exactly, NYtraveler. One area at a time and not all.

Exactly, NYtraveler. One area at a time and not all.

Gretchen said it twice ;) so I probably don't need to pile on -- but there isn't enough time for what is already on the OP's plate. Don't start reinventing the wheel and suggesting other destinations.

(That is like someone asking about visiting Germany and replying 'you need to go to Greece instead'.)

Sort of like NY NY--so nice they named it twice!! LOL

Thank you all again

Believe me or not, i dont mind a few days in WILDERNESS. Maybe a small village, but need to be SCENIC. Am not much into history, but very interested in NATURAL BEAUTY

I guess i have 25days and i can adjust a bit for Natural beauty

But want to stay towards the Eastern side, though would have loved to go the West also, but its too far and also i guess budget would be a matter of concern.

& For those who suggested me not to visit Niagara falls, well for people coming for far off and hearing so much about it, then i guess it would be a blunder to miss it and i wont be going into canada as for this i will have to have Canada visa too which would be another long process

Keep suggesting

I am suggesting skipping Niagra Falls because it is 'way out of the way of the rest of your trip--not unlike Houston, but you need to go there. There are MANY people in the US who have never seen it me. ONE person mentions it (and it is really funny because she says "since you will be in NY, go see Niagra Falls"--it is a LONG way IN New YOrk state to get to Niagra!)
AND maybe someone will comment on which side of the falls is the most scenic--US or Canadian. I am thinking it is the latter?

Here is a possible modification of previous plans:

Day 1, arrive NY, travel to NJ
Days 2, 3, 4, NJ
Day 5, train to DC -
Days 6, 7, DC
Day 8, fly to Orlando
Days 9, 10, 11, Orlando
Day 12, 13,14 rent car, travel to beach
Day 15, fly to Houston from Florida
Days 16, 17, 18, Houston
Day 19, fly to Buffalo, NY,
Day 20, rent car go to Niagra Falls
Day 21, fly NYC
Days 22, 23, 24, 25, NY

An alternative would be to fly to Buffalo from NJ then fly to Houston, then fly to Orlando do the parks and beach then fly to DC then train to NYC with similar days in each spot.

Most people would say the Canadian side of the falls is more picturesque. But if someone's determined that the trip won't be complete without visiting the falls, I say let it go. There's a point at which we go from suggestions to itinerary police.

Ok seems good

If I can leave Houston out, which other place should I include.

Any thing towards Natural beauty and scenic