Ollie93 Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Me and a friend from uni are thinking of going travelling around the USA in August/September for 4-5 weeks. Was wondering if anyone on here had been? Give me some nice places to visit/stay? Our budget will be pretty tight but just looking for some friendly advice. Cheers guys.
Sir Fynwy Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Give us some idea of where you are starting off from, I've been all over the U.S. it's a big place and you'll hardly scratch the surface in 5 weeks especially if you haven't got much money.
filbertway Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 My only advice is, if you go to LA, avoid Hollywood. It's awful.
MPH Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Also depends what kind of thing you're looking for what type of holiday you are after....
Jon the Hat Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 There are a few classic road trips to pick from in that timeframe, so pick the one which is most appealing to you. http://www.roadtripusa.com/ Personally I would recommend the Pacific coast one, with side trips to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Death Valley and Vegas. And if you can start in Vancouver for a few days that is well worth it as well.
Ollie93 Posted 9 April 2015 Author Posted 9 April 2015 Sorry I should of given some more information! I think we will fly to New York, spend a couple of days there and then move on. I guess we are after places which have decent night-life. Regarding what type of trip we are after, we will want to go out a lot, take in the local culture but have a good night out in the evening! We will eventually end up in Houston, Texas as we have a friend there who we will stay with for a bit. So I guess we will predominantly stick to the east(ish) coast.
Babylon Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 So I guess we will predominantly stick to the east(ish) coast. Well that rules out everywhere I was going to suggest If you want to party Miami would be an obvious one.
Jon the Hat Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Sorry I should of given some more information! I think we will fly to New York, spend a couple of days there and then move on. I guess we are after places which have decent night-life. Regarding what type of trip we are after, we will want to go out a lot, take in the local culture but have a good night out in the evening! We will eventually end up in Houston, Texas as we have a friend there who we will stay with for a bit. So I guess we will predominantly stick to the east(ish) coast. Houston is not very exciting. Within those constraints, I would suggest 3-4 days in NYC, then drive down to Washington D.C. for a couple of days (hit Adams Morgan and Georgetown for the nightlife, and National air and space museum). From there you have a fair drive or a quick flight to other highlights, I quite liked Memphis (visit Graceland, eat ribs) and New Orleans is a must. Florida is a bit meh until you hit Miami, Kennedy space centre of the Keys.
Stevosevic Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Need somewhere cheap to stay at affordable prices, try 'USA Hostels' in San Francisco and San Diego. I recommend those cities highly as well.
Stevosevic Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Personally I would recommend the Pacific coast one, with side trips to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Death Valley and Vegas. This
Rocket-Ron Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Do they still have inter railing with Amtrax? My now wife and myself went for 5 weeks back in 96. went all the way round started in New York 3 days before then got the tickets for a month then back to New York for a couple of days after. went to Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, New Orleans, LA, Vegas, San Francesco, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, then headed back to New York. Chicago. Philadelphia and Seattle were the best by a long way in my opinion!! Cost us about £2,500 (£1,250 each) for the whole trip, though I do appreciate that costs may have gone up in 20 years. The journey from New Orleans to LA was amazing, 3 days on a train through desert. gives a real appreciation just how big the country is. Go for it, will be one of the best things you'll ever do.
Bettsj2 Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 There are a few classic road trips to pick from in that timeframe, so pick the one which is most appealing to you. http://www.roadtripusa.com/ Personally I would recommend the Pacific coast one, with side trips to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Death Valley and Vegas. And if you can start in Vancouver for a few days that is well worth it as well. Oh hell yes.
Babylon Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Personally I would recommend the Pacific coast one, with side trips to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Death Valley and Vegas. Double this.... Especially San Fransisco.
David Guiza Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Went to NYC, Miami and Las Vegas when I was at Uni. NYC was as fantastic as I expected it to be, stayed in a hostel there just round the corner from Grand Central for a decent price and full of backpackers. Same as London in many respects, you can spend as much or as little as you like, seeing as there's so much option. We stuck to the local bars and cheap pizza places etc and barely spent a penny on food/drink, as we could have quite easily blown the whole budget at our first stop. Wouldn't suggest going to Miami on a tight budget, I wasn't a huge fan at all. Only plus side was that Heat were in the play offs at the time so the city was buzzing off of that. As above I would suggest the Pacific Coast, so much to see in a short space (by the US standards of course). Or possibly NYC, Washington and up to Canada.
Legend_in_blue Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Can't beat Route 66 in a Mustang convertible for a decent road trip.
Babylon Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Went to NYC, Miami and Las Vegas when I was at Uni. NYC was as fantastic as I expected it to be, stayed in a hostel there just round the corner from Grand Central for a decent price and full of backpackers. Same as London in many respects, you can spend as much or as little as you like, seeing as there's so much option. We stuck to the local bars and cheap pizza places etc and barely spent a penny on food/drink, as we could have quite easily blown the whole budget at our first stop. Wouldn't suggest going to Miami on a tight budget, I wasn't a huge fan at all. Only plus side was that Heat were in the play offs at the time so the city was buzzing off of that. As above I would suggest the Pacific Coast, so much to see in a short space (by the US standards of course). Or possibly NYC, Washington and up to Canada. Miami is a dump really... good for a few nights of getting wasted, but other than that and a beach there isn't much to do. Seemed to be full of dickheads as well, best part about the trip was seeing the Heat play, as you mentioned.
Jon the Hat Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Can't beat Route 66 in a Mustang convertible for a decent road trip. Route 66 was ok, and cool, but not as much fun as the Pacific coast. I loved Vancouver, San Francisco and San Diego. Man I need to hit the West Coast.
Ollie93 Posted 9 April 2015 Author Posted 9 April 2015 Thanks for all this lads! Really helpful! Would you say its cheaper to hire a car or get internal flights/buses?
Jon the Hat Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 No idea, we had a mate's brothers car to borrow, which was obviously a lot cheaper. You see the real USA if you drive I think, but there are some loooooong drives. I used to think driving through deserts was the most boring thing until I got to Louisiana and it became clear that endless forest was duller.
Merging Cultures Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Sorry I should of given some more information! I think we will fly to New York, spend a couple of days there and then move on. I guess we are after places which have decent night-life. Regarding what type of trip we are after, we will want to go out a lot, take in the local culture but have a good night out in the evening! We will eventually end up in Houston, Texas as we have a friend there who we will stay with for a bit. So I guess we will predominantly stick to the east(ish) coast. I'm out, I was married when I lived there...
Babylon Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Thanks for all this lads! Really helpful! Would you say its cheaper to hire a car or get internal flights/buses? I'd mix it up a bit, with a bit of research you can find what bits are nice to drive and what bits you might be better off jumping on a flight. Internal flights and trains etc are cheap compared to here. What would cost you £200 / £300 over here train wise probably costs $50/100.
Stadt Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 ****, I didn't realise there was 800 miles between NY and Chicago, I thought it was 3 or 4 hours not 12!
Detroit Blues Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 I live in Detroit and my brother lived in Houston and I've done a fair bit of traveling within the US, so I should be able to help you out a little: I feel like you'd have a lot more flexibility with a car rather than trying to take a bus or a train, but i'm not sure how much the price difference would be. My guess is that the more people you have the cheaper it would be for you to go in on a car and split gas than to each get separate bus/train tickets. It will also be faster to utilize a car because you wont make as many stops along the way. Washington D.C has a lot of good museums and landmarks that are free or relatively cheap to view. Florida is a dump. If you're not going to Disneyworld for a day, I would avoid it. You're going to end up in Texas so i'd definitely hit Austin while you're down there. Great bars, BBQ, live music. Houston is pretty mediocre but i'd say the #1 place in Houston that I'd suggest you go is the St. Arnolds brewery. There's a lot of really cool places to go out west, but with 4-5 weeks I dont know how much of the time you want to spend driving from coast to coast. America is huge, and from NYC to LA it is 3,000 miles. You could do a cool road trip out west, but you'll sink a considerable amount of time driving out there and then coming back to Texas. If it were me I'd try: NYC, D.C, Nashville and or Memphis, New Orleans, Austin, San Antonio and then Houston. All these places have great nightlife, weather (albeit very hot), and scenery. Hitting the south and the midwest will really stretch your dollar as it is much cheaper than the coasts. Let me know if you have any questions.
MPH Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 If you are looking for decent nightlife and are going down the east coast then avoid North Carolina. Specifically the Charlotte area.
Rocket-Ron Posted 9 April 2015 Posted 9 April 2015 Thanks for all this lads! Really helpful! Would you say its cheaper to hire a car or get internal flights/buses? How about this? http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/dec/03/driveaway-drive-across-us-canada-free-drive-out-courier
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