nikgolas

Hi there,
My wife (will be at 23nd of September) and me are planning a honeymoon trip at the United States at mid Octomber,we want to start our trip from New York and we have about 20-25 days and more or less $12000 for our trip.We would appreciate any trip ideas or any suggestions.
Some help for us , we are 30-33 years old from Greece, we never been to States, we travel a lot around Europe and have been to some tropical places in the Indian Ocean which we liked a lot,we also like museums but we are not crazy about them and we enjoy good food and good wine.

Thanks in advance
Effie -Nikos

gail

What a great idea. Some questions - do you generally like cities, or more rural areas? What kind of activities do you like - restaurants, history or hiking, outdoor sports? Or a mix of both.

Will you be renting a car or taking bus/train/plane between places.

The weather in the northern part of the US can be cool at that time of year, the southern coast may have hurricanes - but it is generally a nice weather time thruout. Any temperature preferences (like do you hate cold weather)

Do you have any preference for natural wonders (like Grand Canyon) or man-made things - like interesting cities?

Do you want to see a few areas in depth or get an overview of the US - is it important, for instance, that you get to the West Coast.

Finally, is there anyplace in particular that you have heard about that you really must see (like you have always wanted to see Las Vegas, for example).

nikgolas

Thank you Gail for your quick response
I'll try to cover everything you ask: we prefer cities than rural areas but we would like to see National wonders like Grand Canyon, we are not funs of hiking but we would like to rent a car if its safe enough,we like trying understand the history of the places we visit but we don't like spending the entire holiday in museums.
Because of the place we come from (Greece) we are not very comfortable with the very cold weather (under zero C)and finally we understand that is not possible to see a lot of things in that short period of time but we would like to take back with us the generall idea of that complicated nation-and yes we also think that is very important to visit West Coast

Thanks again
Effie -Nikos

nytraveler

Because of your interests and the possibiity of very cold (to you) weather (and heavy snow) in some of the more northern areas I would suggest that you pick several cities and fly between them. You can then rent cars to do day trips - or short 2/3 day trips from some of those cities.

Based on your interests I would reco New York, Washington DC, possibly Boston, San Francisco and San Diego as definites. You will probably also want to stop in Las Vegas and can see Grand Canyon from there - but be aware that by late October it can be getting chilly.

From Boston you can take a day trip to Lexington/Concord where the American Revolution started.

From New York you can take a day trip up the Hudson Valley (beautiful leaf changing time in October) to see the mansions of some of the oldest Dutch patroon families as well as FDRs home.

From Washington DC you can do a car trip to Colonial Williamsburg and can see the homes of Washington and Jefferson - our first and third (I think) presidents. You could also go a little further south to see Savannah or Charleston - to get a feel for the old South, then fly west from there.

I'm not recoing Florida since I assume you get lots of beaches and hot weather at home.

From San Francisco you can see the Napa wine country as well as some beautiful national park areas - if it's not too cold yet.

You should investigate air passes. I don;t know if they do them anymore but some of the airlines used to have low cost passes for foreign travelers that allow you to buy a certain # of legs within a single set fare.

For hotels you may want to consider Priceline for New York and other major cities. October is getting to be high season there and you can save a lot via this discount service (hundreds of dollars per night).

One thing to be aware of is that cross country car rentals are very expensive, especially for foreign visitors, since there can be high drop-off fees for using a different city, and insurance is very high (US nationals usually get free insurance coverage from their personal insurance or credit cards but european credit cards don;t offer this).

One other thought - train travel in the US is very poor, nothing like in europe - slow, late and does not serve many areas. The most efficient travel modes are air for any distance and car for local.

If you come back with specific questions of areas of interest people will be able to give more info.

mclaurie

Agree with most of what Nytraveler has said (I often do . If I were doing the trip, I'd pick Miami over Boston, for some fun, warmth and some nature (the Everglades). I agree you should fly between cities and rent cars for day trips where necessary. You could miss Las Vegas but I don't know where else you'd stop to see the Grand Canyon.

NYC
Washington DC
Savannah Ga.
Miami Fla.
Las Vegas Nev. (Grand Canyon)
Albuquerque/Santa Fe New Mexico
San Diego/Los Angeles
San Francisco

You might consider stopping in NYC both first and last OR maybe you could fly home from Boston that way getting a stop there.

mclaurie

PS., as you start to think this through, kayak.com is one website that's good at finding best airfares. It includes some but I don't think all the discount airlines. There may also be some benefit to trying to buy this all on one ticket. Folks from the UK have reported this but not sure if it will work from Greece.

nikgolas

Thanks a lot
we are going to make a search about tickets, hotels ,car rentals and the specific areas you mentioned and we 'll be back soon with more questions.

Thanks a lot
Effie - Nikos

PS What do you think of the time of the year we think for our honeymoon?

GoTravel

I agree throwing in Miami because it is such a vibrant city culturally.

Definitely the Latin American capitol.

mclaurie

Time of year? It's lovely in most of the country. What's behind your question?

nytraveler

Late October/November is starting to get cold in the most northern parts. Later in the year will mean temps way below 0C and often lots of snow. But going much earlier will make it VERY hot and humid in the southern areas.

October/early November is actually a pretty good choice - except for a couple of places in the western mountains - where snow can come early.

gail

Fly into New York and spend 3-4 nights. Fly or take train to Washington, DC and spend 2-3 nights. (It makes me sad to not include Boston, but you can not see everything)

After that, fly south - if you want some time to relax at a beach after the first week, Florida, if not, go to Savannah or Charleston for a sense of the American South. This will take take another 3-4 days.

Already, half of your time is gone. Next, fly to west coast - either Los Angeles or San Francisco. Spend 3 days. Then fly to Las Vegas - I personally do not care for Las Vegas, but there is really nothing else like it in the world. While there, rent a car and spend 4-5 days driving to see Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce National Parks - gives you a sense of the wide open spaces of western US.

At this point, you have only a few days left. Pick something else you have heard about and want to see - the Pacific Northwest (Seattle), Chicago, Boston, or even another National Park (Yellowstone is in Wyoming and Montana).

That would be a rough framework to me - it would allow you to spend 3-5 nights in each place, so you do not feel like you wasted the entire trip in airports and unpacking. You would get an introduction into various geographies and parts of the US - bith city, rural, mountains, plains.

And I also tried to pick a route thru which airfare would be as low as possible.

Once you set up a rough itinerary, posters here will be happy to help with details, including hotels, what to see, how to save some money on airfare, which places you will need to rent a car and which you can get by on public transportation.

cab5s

As a non-Texan who lived in Texas for 5 years, I think it is definitely worth seeing. I recommend the San Antonio riverwalk as a relaxing beautiful place to spend a day or two enjoying margaritas and the Alamo.

cab5s

Also, make sure to check out Southwest airlines - it is a great way to get between many of the cities mentioned.

http://www.southwest.com/