Travelling America - Please Help
 

So my friend and i are planning a trip around america; People are all telling us different things, what they believe are must see's, others say arent worth seeing, what is true?!?!. We are wanting to go nov/dec next year for 4-5 weeks. Is there anything that is missing, are we spending to long or to little in one area?? Please help us, this is a rough idea of what we plan to do... Any site seeing ideas are also welcomed :)

- San Fran 4 nights
- Santa Barbra 1 night
- Beverly Hills 2 nights
- Santa Monica 2 nights
- Anaheim (Disneyland) 3 nights
- Las Vegas 4 nights
-Dallas (Is it necessaryy??) 2 nights
- Cancun 5 nights
-Miami 4 nights
-Bahamas Cruise 4 nights
-Washington DC 2 nights
-NYC 4 nights
-Boston 1 night
-Toronto 2 nights
-Honolulu 5 nights

First of all you are doing a lot of bouncing around and not spendng enough time anywher to see much.

Second, disneyland is a big fat waste of tine. If you must do Disney go to Disney World when you visit Miami - although it's not something I would do.

Finally, not sure where you are from but in Nov/Dec you are going to get chilly and possibly snowy weather in NYC, Boston and Toronto. Also - for NYC this is the busiest and most exepsnvie time of year. You don;t mentin your budget - but the trip you have planned - with somuch moving around - will be a very large budget.

And you seem to be spending an awful lot of time at beaches and resorts (Cancun and Bahamas are NOT the US). You can see beaches anywhere - why spend limited time in the US just sitting on a beach?

Start over and first think regionally and move to more details from there. Based on regions you have expressed interest in:
CALIFORNIA/NEVADA - 8 days - including Los Angeles, SF, Las Vegas
FLORIDA and CRUISE - 12 days: Miami, cruise, Orlando
MIDDLE ATLANTIC/NORTHEAST - 8-10 days (3 in DC, 3 in NY, 2 in Boston plus travel)
HAWAII on return for 4 days.

Not necessarily the trip I would plan - but there is no right answer. This list includes much of what you expressed interest in seeing.

I agree that there are far too many beaches - Cancun, Hawaii, cruise, Miami, plus some of your California time. Unless you want a beach tour, cut some of this.

Not sure why you want to go to Dallas. Toronto is not the US either - and you might want to add another week and see Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montreal - if you want to include a bit of Canada.

The reason you are getting mixed answers, and will continue to do so, from everyone is that as you know the US is a huge country - you can not even begin to see any portion of it in 4 weeks (would take 4 years). So decide what is calling you.

If you cross off Dallas, Toronto, Boston, Cancun, then you're starting to have a workable trip.

You're flying all over the place which will take a lot of time and money, for not much benefit that I can see.

When you have "1 night" and "2 night" in places, you aren't allowing any time to get yourself there, which will take at least 1/2 a day away, each time you change locations.

You should go to Hawaii when you're already in California, not do it from 'back east'.

So besides trimming your itinerary, you also need to look at a map and go in a more logical order geographically.

Thanks so much for your feedback so far!
Ironically enough, this is based on a sample itinerary provided by a travel agent.

We are interested in beaches, however the suggestion that there is quite alot of beach time is definitely valid, and also at that point in the year we are likely to encounter poor weather too.

The agent added Dallas between Vegas and Cancun - we perhaps wondered whether this was necessary as a stop over to get to Cancun? If anyone knows why this would be please let us know - we had no intention or particular interest in visitin Dallas.

How long would you suggest in each location listed? Generally, the remaining locations are places we do want to see - the Canadian part is simply an afterthought?

Thanks again!!

when to fit in California and Hawaii and the East coast depends in great part on where you are traveling from? If Asia I'd maybe start on the east coast and work my way back west ending in Hawaii. From Europe - I'd start in California or Hawaii and end up on the east coast.

In any case, four to five weeks is not long enough for everything you want to see/do. What you cut out is up to you, but cuts need to be made.

I completely agree with janisj about the order of things. The original list you provided has 45 sleeping nights - which is closer to 7 weeks than 5, so obviously you have to cut things out, plus you haven't considered how you are getting from place to place (well, maybe you've considered it, but you haven't told us!)

-San Fran 4 nights
- Santa Barbra 1 night
- Beverly Hills 2 nights
- Santa Monica 2 nights
- Anaheim (Disneyland) 3 nights
- Las Vegas 4 nights
-Dallas (Is it necessaryy??) 2 nights
- Cancun 5 nights
-Miami 4 nights
-Bahamas Cruise 4 nights
-Washington DC 2 nights
-NYC 4 nights
-Boston 1 night
-Toronto 2 nights
-Honolulu 5 nights

I have to agree with others - you are doing yourself a disservice by trying to cram too much into such a short period. November/December can be quite cold in some parts of the US so you have to decide if you want to spend some or all of your time in cold weather or confine your trip to areas with more moderate temperatures.

I would cut down on the number of cities/areas you plan on visiting. Spend more time in less places rather than less time in more places. You might want to start your trip by visiting the northeast - say 5 days each in Boston, New York and Washington, DC - all great cities with lots to see and do - and you'll still only scratch the surface. It's also apt to be somewhat warmer in those locations at the beginning of November as opposed to December.

From there fly down to Miami for 5 to 7 days some warmth and beach time possibly even renting a car and driving to the Florida Keys for a couple of days.

Then it's off to California to visit, San Francisco, Los Angles (Beverley Hills), Santa Barbara and Santa Monica - again spending 4 or 5 days in each place.

Skip going to Hawaii (it's a long flight0 unless you really feel the need to get some island time and don't even bother going to Las Vegas unless you really need the glitz of a gambling town.

I won't go to Dallas on this trip but if you felt the need to visit Texas consider going to San Antonio instead.

Remember, traveling between the various cities will be time consuming - you'll lose anywhere between 1/2 and a full day each time you move from city to city.

Good Luck planning your trip.

stephiejade: I didn't see you last post (we were on at the same time) but advice still applies.

Sorry, I hit "submit" too early.

If you really realistically have 5 weeks "on the ground",

San Fran 4 nights <red>cut to 3 nights</red>
- Santa Barbra 1 night <red>skip unless you are driving down the coast from SF to LA)</red>
- Beverly Hills 2 nights<red> Combine Beverly Hills and Santa Monica into 3 nights in LA (they're too close to each other to bother moving hotels)</red>
- Santa Monica 2 nights
- Anaheim (Disneyland) 3 nights <red>I love Disneyland, but 2 nights is plenty </red>
- Las Vegas 4 nights <red> one night every 10 years is enough for me - cut to 2 nights</red>
-Dallas (Is it necessaryy??) 2 nights <red>cut</red>
- Cancun 5 nights <red>cut</red>
-Miami 4 nights <red>3</red>
-Bahamas Cruise 4 nights
-Washington DC 2 nights <red>3</red>
-NYC 4 nights
-Boston 1 night<red>cut Boston, Toronto, Honolulu</red>-Toronto 2 nights
-Honolulu 5 nights

Remaining: 25 sleeping nights, which is closer to the time you said you'd be here. Also, will you need multiple entry visas for the trip you originally posted, and can you get them?

If you don't need the remaining time for traveling between places, you could add Hawaii back in from California. It's an easy 5-6 hour non-stop flight from either SF or LA to Honolulu.

If you must go to Cancun, can I suggest Playa del Carmen instead? It's under a 1 hour bus ride from Cancun and is alot more authentic than the row of resorts that you will see in Cancun. You can walk a block away from teh busy street in Playa and experience the real Mexican culture. There is also a 45 minute ferry that can take you to Cozumel.
If you are sold on Cancun, take a day trip to Isla Mujeres! It's only a 45 minuite ferry ride as well.

Also, let me know if you need suggestions for Honolulu. I was recently there-it's a good idea to rent a car and explore the rest of the island like the North Coast.

sf7307 has given you a really good framework to edit/reorganize/improve your itinerary.

"Ironically enough, this is based on a sample itinerary provided by a travel agent."

Fire your travel agent. This person is either clueless or sadistic. Seriously. The itinerary doesn't make any sense at all. What would be the point of going to Boston for 1 night enroute from NYC to Toronto? Just a waste of time and money because you won't have any time to actually see anything - maybe half a day for sightseeing, dinner, and breakfast, and then you are off.

"The agent added Dallas between Vegas and Cancun - we perhaps wondered whether this was necessary as a stop over to get to Cancun? If anyone knows why this would be please let us know - we had no intention or particular interest in visitin Dallas."

Yep, fire the agent. You have no interest in Dallas, yet this person suggests that you spend 2 nights there? You might change planes in Dallas to get to Cancun from LV depending on your airline - Dallas is a big airport and lots of routings go through there - but that doesn't mean that you should spend a couple nights in a place that you have no interest in.

I think that you need to really research what YOU are interested in rather than try this shotgun approach.

I would want more than one night if driving down Highway 1 from SF to LA - stay 1 night Monterey, 1 night in Cambria or Pismo Beach and 1 night Santa Barbara. There is so much to see along this coast and you cannot drive very fast (especially the section between Big Sur and Cambria) since the road is twisty.

I don't mean this to be ugly. This trip sounds stressful and no time for relaxation.

I would pick a few spots close in distance see those/enjoy yourself.

You still haven't said where you are coming from.

Do you like hiking/sports/wine/history/museums?

Have you been to the US before?

What is your budget?

<Ironically enough, this is based on a sample itinerary provided by a travel agent.>

Seriously, they do NOT know what they are doing. It's a ridiculous itinerary.

<We are interested in beaches...and also at that point in the year we are likely to encounter poor weather too.>

Did I miss it? What time of year is this trip? The weather's nice pretty much year-round in both Hawaii and Mexico.

Third line of original post - Nov/Dec

Oops, thanks sf7307.

Well then my statement holds. November and December are typically very nice weather in both Mexico and Hawaii. I'm not sure why you think it will be "poor weather"?