Itinerary help
 

Hi,

My husband and I are planning a trip to America and are wanting some great advice!

There will be me, my husband and our 3 children travelling the kids will be around 5, 7 & 9 depending on when we decide to go.

We are thinking of travelling in September/October (not this year) and have no time frame in mind yet.

We love history and nature and of course fun things to do with the kids :)

Roughly we are thinking we would like to visit LA, San Fran, San Diego, Vegas, Grand Canyon & possibly doing one of those cowboy ranch stay things somewhere along the way. We would also like to visit some national parks if anyone can recommend their favourites. We are also thinking a visit to NY/ Washington but only for a few days as I have already been there and of thinking of driving from there down south stopping along the way to see everything interesting and eventually ending up in Orlando for the theme parks and then doing a Bahamas/Caribbean cruise. Is Miami worth a visit?

We are also thinking that we would like to go to Mexico and Hawaii as well & possibly an Alaskan cruise as well.

So I guess what Im after is the best places to spend our time on over there and how long we should spend in each place and what there is to do in each place and along the way?

What is your favourite thing that you have done/seen/visited while in America give us any ideas :)

Oh and also possibly thinking of going to the ballooning festival in Albuquerque if we can time it right, is it worth going to or only if your really into ballooning??

Thanks so much for your help!!

Let's address the cruises first. If you plan on coming in Sept - Oct then you will want to do the Alaska cruise first because the season ends around mid Sept. Sept & Oct is high hurricane season for a Bahamas/Caribbean cruise so I'm not sure if you're going to want to take a chance of booking a cruise during those months. http://www.world-weather-travellers-...ne-season.html

Yosemite National Park in CA, Zion National Park and Bryce National Parks in Utah as well as Glen Canyon National Recreational area (Lake Powell) on the UT/AZ border are all worth seeing.

LA, San Fran, San Diego, Vegas, Grand Canyon and a few other national parks in the west are very do able but it's a long way from there to Washington DC and NY! From the Grand Canyon to DC is 2300 miles and that's going to take 4 straight days of driving 575 miles a day. You might consider flying from Las Vegas to DC or NY.

Utahtea

From your lists it seems like you would need to be here for at least 3 months. And since that is not the case, and the 3rd month would bring you into bad weather.

So YOU really need to make some choices about what it's most important you see.

Agree that your time frame is not ideal for Alaska - so I would cut that.

A Carib cruise I would only do at the end of your trip - you might still get a hurricane but it's less likely then.

The national parks in the western mountain areas may also get bad weather, esp after the first couple weeks of yuor trip. I'm not sure how early some passes through the mountains close - but I was in denver on business once in early Sept and there was 10 or 11 inches of snow already. It did melt - was not the full start of winter - but Denver isn't that high or deep in the mountains.

As for starting in NYC and driving south - and seeing everything interesting on the way - that would also be 3 to 4 weeks if 're going to Key. I hate to say it but if you've been to both places before I would drop them and start from VA south instead. And you'll have to decide if you're going to hug the coast or if you also want to see the inland areas, which are totally different.

Where is home? What's the budget for this journey? Do your children travel well -- by plane and by car? (I am remembering car trips with many repetitions of, "Are we there yet?")

While your dates avoid the busy times around US schools' summer vacations, it is getting late in the year for some destinations.

Perhaps you would zero in on one section of the US? You could do some things within the southwest: Arizona, Nevada, California -- and Hawaii in autumn. You could do NYC and Washington DC, then Orlando. Autumn is hurricane season in the Caribbean. Summer is best for the northwest and Alaska. You don't need to hop around as much as you've listed within California, for instance. And Vegas???

How long exactly is this trip? Will you be here for two entire months? (4 weeks? 6 weeks? 8 week?).


I tallied up: LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Vegas, ranch stay, New York , Washington, Orlando, cruise, Miami, Albaquerque, Mexico, Hawaii.

That's 10 cities (nowhere near each other), 2 activities, and an entire extra country (Mexico). I don't think you can do all that in only a month or two, even at a fast pace and with unlimited budget.

My suggestion is to narrow things down. You could do San Diego, LA, Grand Canyon, Vegas, San Francisco, and pair that with Hawaii or Mexico.

OR do NY, Washington DC, Orlando, Miami, Caribbean cruise, would be a seperate trip.

It will be hot and humid on the East Coast, have been to Virginia in August so I know.
As others have pointed out, it is hurrican season in the Caribbean.
Have been to Albuquerque but not the balloon festival, you have to get up really early like dawn to see them, how well do your children handle being awakened at the crack of dawn and how long does it take to get them moving? If interested in New Mexico you might be better off in Santa Fe which is an hour's drive from ABQ and in the mountains so cooler. Lots of festivals happening in August and early September and think the Santa Fe opera may still be on then.
Otherwise Aug/Sep is a great time to visit California and drive Highway 1. I would however fly rather than drive to Las Vegas as it is a very boring drive with little to see.

I live in Albuquerque, and the Balloon Fiesta is fantastic! You do have to get up early, but it's worth it.

Albuquerque also has a variety of things which appeal to young kids, more so than Santa Fe. The zoo, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, the Rio Grande Nature Center (walks and cool critters to see. Our weather at the end of September/early October is lovely, too.

I would skip Las Vegas with kids your age. It's really more of an adult destination. However, as utahtea mentioned, it would be a good place to maybe spend a night and then fly to the east coast.

Lee Ann

;)

That is all really great info, thank you! Hmm Maybe we will drop Alaska cruise, NY, Washington & Hawaii and concentrate on other areas, getting to excited and wanting to do to much at once lol. We don't have a budget or a time frame around 8 weeks I would say. Do you think that April/May would be a better time to visit? We are just wanting to avoid peak time and don't want the weather to be to hot.

Any suggested itinerary's??

Aside from what we are thinking what is your favourite things to do in America? If you were telling someone something that they must do while on a holiday to America what would you say?

USA is one huge and diverse country. You could tour here for years and not see everything. I'd start by making a list, and prioritizing what are the things of most interest to YOU.

With only 8 weeks, I would still suggest picking *either* west coast/southwest/Hawaii or east coast/Caribbean and stick to that one general area instead of trying to see the entire country in two months.

I think you would love North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. It would make a great trip for your kids. I would not be too hot in March.

>>Do you think that April/May would be a better time to visit? We are just wanting to avoid peak time and don't want the weather to be to hot.<<

Your original time frame would be perfect for the west coast and southwest parks. It won't be too hot, and school will be in session, so prices are lower in many places.

Lee Ann

ND< SD and Neb won;t be too hot in March - but you might still run into late winter - including snow esp in the Dakotas.

It is hot in August, but by September, the East Coast cools down considerably and is usually very nice.

OK so if I narrow it down a bit say we fly into LA 5 days in LA (factoring a day of that will be the fly in day/recovering from jet lag)can you do San Diego as a day trip or do you really need a few nights there? Then drive up to San Fran stopping a few times along the way (how many stops do you recommend and where do you recommend stopping?)spend say 3 nights at San Fran then drive out to Yosemite NP for 2(?) nights? Then drive down to Las Vegas, where would you recommend stopping on the way? We would probably spend 2 nights in Vegas and drive out to Grand Canyon/hoover Dam for 2 nights. Then fly from Vegas to Memphis and drive down to Houston then across to New Orleans and then over to Orlando and down to Miami. We would want to stop at places along the way where do you recommend stopping and how long do you recommend in When does hurricane season finish? We really wanted to do a cruise & then after the cruise fly to Mexico to relax for a few days, where do you recommend going in Mexico? Any tips of how long to spend in each place and places to see things to do along this trip would be great thanks!

WHERE do you live? How long are your flights TO the US? Do you have an atlas or maps?

I have driven from LA to San Francisco. Long, long drive. Your kids will be bored. Your kids will enjoy Disneyland. LA itself is not appealing; smoggy with terrible traffic. San Diego is 125 miles south of LA (and next door to Mexico).

Why would you go from LA to San Francisco and then south again to Vegas? The southwest is very HOT in autumn. Why Vegas *at all*?

I am beginning to think you are coming from the UK. Travel agents there are crazy about sending people to Vegas...to drive all over creation in the heat. They are also big on Rte. 1 up the coast of California. (They seem to have no concept of the vast *distances* in this huge country.)

LA
San Diego
San Fran
Yosemite
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon/hoover Dam
Memphis
Houston
New Orleans
Orlando
Miami.
Cruise Caribbean
Fly to Mexico

...I'm sorry but that's still an absolutely CRAZY plan for an 8 week itinerary. Especially driving it all (except Mexico).

You should map this out, put actual driving miles to it, and figure out how many hours you will be IN the car and ON the road. Maybe that will make it clearer to you what we're all trying to say?

I'm assuming they're from Australia since they seem to be traveling in sort of what would be their summer vacation for school kids - would not think they would take kids out of school for 8 weeks.

But agree that they have not looked at actual mileage or driving distances/times (and probably not allowed time for traffic in/near cities) - or plotted this out on a map - or they would see they are bouncing around all over the place (unless the plan on flying some of these legs).

From Las Vegas to Memphis makes sense only by air. But going back to Huston and why - then east again to NO then FL, then cruise, then Mexico (and where?). Again this is a REALLY long trip with a LOT of places, esp with 3 small kids. When will they have time to get to parks with playgrounds and just run around and play. No play/down time for them for 8 weeks?

<can you do San Diego as a day trip or do you really need a few nights there?>

2 hour drive between LA & San Diego, so yes it could be a "day trip" if you only want to see a couple things.