Our next summer trip
 

Last August my wife and I and our four youth children had made a trip , driving from San Francisco to Vancouver Canada across the pacific and from Vancouver to Chicago passing through the Yellowstone park , it was a beautiful trip and we had a great adventure.Next summer we are planing to drive from Washington, D.C. To niagara fall, Canda, Chicago , and New York from where we will take our flight back to home. We will be having 20 days for this trip.
Any ideas or suggestion for the best routs and places to visit .
Thanks in advance and best regards,
Elgohari and family.

Way, way too much driving time between the places you want to see. Do either DC or Chicago, not both in 20 days. With seeing Niagra Falls, visit only two other places, DC and NY or Chicago and NY. Even then, they are both way far apart and lots much driving.

If you really want another city, which IMHO, you really do not have time for, but you could visit Boston instead of Chicago. It will be much cooler in Summer, is beautiful and has lots to do.

There is also a lot to do in DC.

In Summer, why not some Beach time somewhere on the coast between D.C. And NY?

If you feel Chicago is a must (it would not be for me), skip D.C. and from Chicago, you could go to one of the Great Lakes.

Cut this trip by half.

I somewhat agree... you are planning a trip with too much driving... Consider starting in Chicago driving east to Niagara Falls and Toronto, then drive across New York State through the Finger Lakes to Boston, and finish in New York City...

Save Washington for a separate southern trip including virginia, the Carolinas, Nashville, Memphis and the eastern coast...

Fly to Toronto or Buffalo NY. See Niagara Falls. Do not plan on driving across Pennsylvania between Washington DC and Niagara Falls. Take one of several Empire Service trains from Buffalo or Niagara Falls to New York City (Penn Station).
When you are done seeing NYC, either take a train to Washington DC or fly to Chicago.
If you are interested in American history, Philadelphia would be a good stop between New York City and Washington DC.
If you feel that Washington DC has to be your first stop, the route could be reversed and then fly to Chicago from Buffalo.

I agree it is probably too much driving and would drop Chicago since you mentioned you had seen it before.

Good information so far. In any case, your order has you back tracking to Chicago. NY city is between DC and Niagra, so if you are driving from Vancouver maybe do Chicago to Niagra to NY city to DC and fly home from there.

I would guess that would involve a big drop fee for the car if you plan to do a one way drive.

Driving in the east can be a bit more hectic than driving in the northwest. You will not need a car in NY city or DC, but it would be nice to have one to explore areas outside the cities, like the coasts, mountains, historic areas etc.

Are you flying into Vancouver or do you live there? if you are flying, I would fly a bit farther, to DC or NYC.

Niagra is the outlier, IMO. Leave it out and consolidate your trip.

Seems to me Chicago is as much of an outlier as Niagra. From Niagra, see some of the finger lakes. If you see NYC, then choose places closer to there - Boston or DC.

The OP's profile says they're located in Egypt.

I don't think it's too much driving with 20 days. Obviously a lot depends on how much time they plan to stay in the various locations. Google maps puts this route - https://goo.gl/maps/WeBT2ZLnpK82 - at under 30 hours wheels turning, and even allowing for Google's (frequent) under-estimation of how long it takes to drive places, over 20 days you're not looking at some sort of death march, especially if you don't mind paying for toll roads.

In scenery terms - if that's important - it's going to be nothing like as scenic as your prior trip, but presumably you know that.

I'd probably visit Washington but take the train to New York and pick up the vehicle there, in order to avoid what might be a very high one-way surcharge. I'd also make sure that the rental car's insurance covers travel into Canada. Again, since you went through all this on your previous trip, it shouldn't be too difficult to arrange.

If they did the last trip in the same amount of time, I think it would be fine.

But personally, I’d see more of the Great Lakes, Canada, Vermont, Maine. DC is unpleasant in the summer, there’s plenty of scenic stuff up north to keep you occupied.

You can easily do DC, NYC and NF - stopping for a couple of days either at the shore between DC and NYC - or the countryside (Finger Lakes are lovely) between NYC and NF for a great 20 days. Rent a car only for the segment that you are stopping between cities since in DC and NYC a car is worse than useless - it is a very expensive (more than $150 a day rental an parking - not driving at all) PIA.

So fly into DC and then hop a plane in Buffalo back to NYC to head for home.

Agree that trying to add Chicago is just too far and a real outlier.

OR - do Chicago instead of DC - but I think the former has way more to see and do.

Thank you all for your great ideas , I will put that in my mind befor and during that trip.

Forget Chicago and add in Detroit. Detroit is still no Chicago, but it has really come alive in the last five years. Plus Greenfield Village has some of the most preserved American History in the country. And you can take a tour of the auto plant. Bicycling has gotten huge. Restaurants are fabulous. It would still give you a midwestern big city, minus 12 hours of driving.

No one has asked the poster what he wants to see in the USA.
Cities? National Parks? Water?

If the tables were turned and we were pondering a trip to Egypt, wouldn't the poster want to know...what did we want to see: pyramids? Suez Canal? Mediterannean? Sand? Cairo?

I see from your previous posts that you like long drives, maybe head down to Shenandoah National Park and then the north entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The OP probably did that trip in 2018, before COVID struck. They seem to be heading for the DC area this year, in a week or two, so might like the last recommendation.

This ghread is 4 years old.

It seem a good idea to go this way.
any suggestions: how many days we need to go through Blue Bridge Parkway, where to stop and where to stay?
thanks in advance

You need to start a new thread with this question or add it to one I think you already have that your are going to be in DC. Do not add to this thread or you will get answers to your last trip.

Lake Michigan was the flattest, most calm tonight that I've ever seen it. No waves, just small ripples, as far as the eye could see.