Hello, fellow travelers!

My husband and I have both taken time off to do a Pacific Highway, CA road trip this August. Simultaneously, we have been looked for a new house for a quite a few months and, finally, we found the one we like. For financial reasons, it looks like our CA road trip have to wait. We live in New jersey and the house is in New jersey as well.

I was wondering whether there are any other destinations on the East coast that might be worth visiting instead of our road trip... And if yes, how much shall we expect to shell out (approximately) for accommodation, entertainment, etc.

Fodor is suggesting Catskills, Montauk, Martha's Vineyard, and Atlantic city.

Any suggestions from my fellow travelers? Thank you!

Cape Cod.

Providence/Newport RI, Maryland Shore, Cape May come to mind.

Further north - Camden /Rockland Maine is really nice too.

Prices will depend on type of accommodations. Run the gamut, but it is season, so keep that in mind.

It depends on your interests. If you like history and culture, you could go to Philadelphia and Washington DC. Other options include the seaside, Niagara Falls, the Finger Lakes, the Adirondacks, etc.

HTtY

Cape Ann, Mass, is a nice place for a relaxing getaway imo. From there you can easily visit Portsmouth, NH, southern Maine coast or make forays into Boston.

The Berkshires area in western Mass is also nice place to base yourself and to explore in the summer.

If you have passports and could afford the gas, the 7-9 hr drive (?) to Montreal could make for a fun and romantic excursion.

You will have to do extensive research to get a ballpark of expenses for your dates wherever you decide to go.

How many days can you afford to be away from your new home?
You'll be paying for the home for 20-30 years. What can you set aside for a trip?
If you really want to get to California you can each get a 15 day USA Rail Pass ($439 each). The drawback is 3 consecutive nights on the train in coach seats. The good thing is that you are not paying for a hotel room on those nights.
From Trenton, take the Cardinal to Chicago and spend a couple hours in Chicago before boarding the California Zephyr all the way to Sacramento. Rent the car in California for 9 days and then take the Zephyr back to Chicago and the Capitol Limited back to Washington and a Northeast Regional back to Trenton.
The Rail Pass covers 8 segments so you could stop for a 24 hours in Glenwood Springs Colorado either going to or returning from California. Rental cars in Sacramento are a bit cheaper than from SFO.
The same trip paying standard Amtrak fare is over $1300 for 2 adults.

Speaking for California, we very much regret that you cannot come.

That said, you can combine a visit to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket all in one trip, and possibly add in some other parts of New England as well, such as parts of Maine or do Boston. Lots of choices up in New England.

If you do travel as far as Montreal, then think about adding in Ottawa and Quebec. The three cities are very different one from the other.

Have a great trip and congratulations on getting a new home!

THANK you so much for all of your responses! Unfortunately, the offer fell through Any suggestions for cheaper airfare to CA? Thank you again!

I don't know where your "home" airport is, but Jetblue often has good non-stop flights from Boston or New York, especially the red-eye.

The only other airline that has close to good rates is Southwest, but that always involves at least one stop.

Or you can go on skyscanner and check for possible good rates, especially if your dates are flexible. I like skyscanner because the rates include all taxes and fees, so you get a realistic picture of total costs, not just the airfare. At least that website used to do so, but things always change, so do check carefully that the cost is the total cost. Also check the number of stops, it's no use wasting time on 4 stops!

Where along the Cal coast were you planning on visiting? You might also save some coins by staying in some of the more interesting youth hostels like the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel, but that's another thread.

Good luck!

Airfares are sky-high lately. Sign up for Kayak fare alerts, and good luck!

Definitely be open to redeye flights, but the prices may still be higher than you like. We are doing a non flight trip this summer after last summer's prices even with a redeye. We do like Southwest because of the luggage allowance. Use Priceline or Hotwire for some of your lodgings to save elsewhere.

Sorry the house option fell through.

I recently found fares on United for $380 EWR to SFO. I thought that was a great deal. Play around with which days of the week you arrive and depart. Often mid week and/or Saturday night stays make a big difference.