Touring through US!?
May 3rd, 1999, 04:24 PM
#1
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Touring through US!?
We, 2 students from The Netherlands, are planning to travel all around the states in 4 weeks to finish off our great year of studiing here. We wanna see as much as possible in 4 weeks! Start from PA and finish in WI.
Has anyone done this before and has some great tips for us? What are the places to we really have to go to? We will go by car or amtrak. Thanks a lot!
Has anyone done this before and has some great tips for us? What are the places to we really have to go to? We will go by car or amtrak. Thanks a lot!
May 3rd, 1999, 09:51 PM
#2
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Hello,
I recently went on a two-week trip on the east coast - DC, NYC, and Boston. I had lots of and stayed in hostels.
Have you checked the Amtrak website? It's www.amtrak.com - they have great packages for foreign visitors. Amtrak is clean and comfortable, although slower than Greyhound.
Have a great time and e-mail me if you have any questions.
I recently went on a two-week trip on the east coast - DC, NYC, and Boston. I had lots of and stayed in hostels.
Have you checked the Amtrak website? It's www.amtrak.com - they have great packages for foreign visitors. Amtrak is clean and comfortable, although slower than Greyhound.
Have a great time and e-mail me if you have any questions.
May 4th, 1999, 04:41 AM
#3
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First tip -- realize the U.S. is a little bit bigger than the Netherlands! :^) While you could see SOME of both coasts in four weeks, you're MUCH better off choosing one (apparently you've chosen the East) and skipping the other.
Second tip -- decide WHAT about our country you most want to see. Scenic beauty? Ethnic and cultural diversity? Museums? Nightlife? General fast pace? An area good for one may not be good for others (New York City has NONE of the first but a LOT of all else).
THEN decide which places will provide you with what you're looking for. Let's say you want museums -- you'll probably choose Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington. But if you want scenery; then it's Acadia, north New Hampshire, Adirondacks, and Niagara Falls.
Based on your choice in last paragraph, decide how you'll be getting around. Auto rental (maximum flexibility but also maximum hassles)? Bus (cheap but not always around the best people)? Train (stress free but VERY limited)?
AFTER you've made the above choice (and only YOU can make them, based on YOUR preferences), then you can get REAL advice about the specific places you're interested in. Good luck and hope you have a great time!
Second tip -- decide WHAT about our country you most want to see. Scenic beauty? Ethnic and cultural diversity? Museums? Nightlife? General fast pace? An area good for one may not be good for others (New York City has NONE of the first but a LOT of all else).
THEN decide which places will provide you with what you're looking for. Let's say you want museums -- you'll probably choose Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington. But if you want scenery; then it's Acadia, north New Hampshire, Adirondacks, and Niagara Falls.
Based on your choice in last paragraph, decide how you'll be getting around. Auto rental (maximum flexibility but also maximum hassles)? Bus (cheap but not always around the best people)? Train (stress free but VERY limited)?
AFTER you've made the above choice (and only YOU can make them, based on YOUR preferences), then you can get REAL advice about the specific places you're interested in. Good luck and hope you have a great time!
May 4th, 1999, 07:07 AM
#4
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First, go to a bookstore and get a copy of "Let's Go USA." It is written BY students and largely for students and other budget travellers and has lots of advice about how to travel inexpensively.
Second, I disagree with the advice above that you should pick one coast. In 4 weeks you can see a lot! However, you will just be able to hit the high points of each region and won't be able to stay long in each place -- but it will be worth it! If you start from PA, if I were you I would make a circle going clockwise around the U.S. and ending in Wisconsin. If you haven't been to New York, go there for a couple of days, then head down to Washington, DC for a couple of days (Amtrak has frequent trains between the two and it only takes about 4 hours, or 5 hours by bus which is even cheaper). Then you should head south to Charleston, South Carolina for a couple of days to get a feel for the south and some of the history there. Next I would go to New Orleans, Louisiana which is a wonderful city with great architecture, excellent food, and fun nightlife. Head out west, stopping in San Antonio, Texas. Then New Mexico -- maybe Santa Fe. In Arizona, you HAVE to see the Grand Canyon. Then you can see Los Angeles for a couple of days. Head up the coast of California on Highway 1 to San Francisco (this is nine hours away). Head inland and stay a couple of nights in Yosemite National Park, and maybe stop for a night or two in Lake Tahoe. From there you can go to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming for a couple of nights, then go east through South Dakota and the Badlands (stop at Mt. Rushmore if you want), then head east back to Wisconsin. If you only spend a couple of nights in each of these places you can definitely do this itinerary in 28 days. Yes, it will be rushed but it will be worth it and you will meet lots of other travellers doing similar trips.
This itinerary leaves out a lot, obviously (most notably Boston-New England), but it also allows you to see a good bit of each area of the country in the briefest time possible. My one tip is that you won't mind travelling long distances between destinations as long as you stay at least two nights in each place (meaning that you have a day of rest in between each long journey). You can drive 12 hours as long as you don't have to get up and do the same thing the next day.
If you decide this is too ambitious and want to limit it to one end of the country or the other, I would strongly recommend you head out west and make sure you see California, especially San Francisco and Yosemite, and also make sure you see the Grand Canyon. I am from Michigan, have lived in North Carolina and now live in Washington, DC and have seen a lot of the country, and I can tell you that you won't really get a feel for what is unique about the U.S. unless you see the west.
Second, I disagree with the advice above that you should pick one coast. In 4 weeks you can see a lot! However, you will just be able to hit the high points of each region and won't be able to stay long in each place -- but it will be worth it! If you start from PA, if I were you I would make a circle going clockwise around the U.S. and ending in Wisconsin. If you haven't been to New York, go there for a couple of days, then head down to Washington, DC for a couple of days (Amtrak has frequent trains between the two and it only takes about 4 hours, or 5 hours by bus which is even cheaper). Then you should head south to Charleston, South Carolina for a couple of days to get a feel for the south and some of the history there. Next I would go to New Orleans, Louisiana which is a wonderful city with great architecture, excellent food, and fun nightlife. Head out west, stopping in San Antonio, Texas. Then New Mexico -- maybe Santa Fe. In Arizona, you HAVE to see the Grand Canyon. Then you can see Los Angeles for a couple of days. Head up the coast of California on Highway 1 to San Francisco (this is nine hours away). Head inland and stay a couple of nights in Yosemite National Park, and maybe stop for a night or two in Lake Tahoe. From there you can go to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming for a couple of nights, then go east through South Dakota and the Badlands (stop at Mt. Rushmore if you want), then head east back to Wisconsin. If you only spend a couple of nights in each of these places you can definitely do this itinerary in 28 days. Yes, it will be rushed but it will be worth it and you will meet lots of other travellers doing similar trips.
This itinerary leaves out a lot, obviously (most notably Boston-New England), but it also allows you to see a good bit of each area of the country in the briefest time possible. My one tip is that you won't mind travelling long distances between destinations as long as you stay at least two nights in each place (meaning that you have a day of rest in between each long journey). You can drive 12 hours as long as you don't have to get up and do the same thing the next day.
If you decide this is too ambitious and want to limit it to one end of the country or the other, I would strongly recommend you head out west and make sure you see California, especially San Francisco and Yosemite, and also make sure you see the Grand Canyon. I am from Michigan, have lived in North Carolina and now live in Washington, DC and have seen a lot of the country, and I can tell you that you won't really get a feel for what is unique about the U.S. unless you see the west.
May 25th, 1999, 10:18 AM
#5
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I've had some first hand experience at student travelling.I'm an Irish student and last summer,my boyfriend and I set off to see as much of the United States as we could in 3 weeks with limited resources.
We travelled on a 30 day student rail pass with Amtrak.(We were just outside the 15 day option)After having spent the summer in Delaware,we left from Wilmington,DE.We visited Washington,New Orleans,L.A.,Grand Canyon,Las Vegas,San Francisco,Chicago,Buffalo,Niagra Falls,Boston and ended up in New York for a few days.Granted,it was a flying visit but we gow to see everything we wanted to and could come home to tell tales of Bourbon St.in New Orleans,Hollywood,the Smithsonian Institute,Alcatraz,the Las Vegas strip,Sear's tower,the Empire state building and so on...
We were sooo tired afterwards but it was the best 3 weeks of my life and well worth every penny.
Before we began,we both sat down and decided what each of us would like to do or see and then we just tried to fit in as much as possible.
Amtrak is a good way to see the diverse scenery in the U.S.,from the deserts of Nevada,the bayous of Louisiana,the Rockies,and the countryside of New England.It also gives you a chane to recharge your batteries before the mad rush which inevitably will meet you at every stop.
Don't limit yourselves.You can see and do almost anything you want in 4 weeks.Make the most of it.You can sleep when you get home!!
If you enjoy youself even half as much as I did,you'll never forget it!
We travelled on a 30 day student rail pass with Amtrak.(We were just outside the 15 day option)After having spent the summer in Delaware,we left from Wilmington,DE.We visited Washington,New Orleans,L.A.,Grand Canyon,Las Vegas,San Francisco,Chicago,Buffalo,Niagra Falls,Boston and ended up in New York for a few days.Granted,it was a flying visit but we gow to see everything we wanted to and could come home to tell tales of Bourbon St.in New Orleans,Hollywood,the Smithsonian Institute,Alcatraz,the Las Vegas strip,Sear's tower,the Empire state building and so on...
We were sooo tired afterwards but it was the best 3 weeks of my life and well worth every penny.
Before we began,we both sat down and decided what each of us would like to do or see and then we just tried to fit in as much as possible.
Amtrak is a good way to see the diverse scenery in the U.S.,from the deserts of Nevada,the bayous of Louisiana,the Rockies,and the countryside of New England.It also gives you a chane to recharge your batteries before the mad rush which inevitably will meet you at every stop.
Don't limit yourselves.You can see and do almost anything you want in 4 weeks.Make the most of it.You can sleep when you get home!!
If you enjoy youself even half as much as I did,you'll never forget it!
