My Itinerary - Does it look ok? - USA and Canada in 10 weeks

[cavanor]

Does it look ok?


City


Los Angeles






Nights to spend

7 Las Vegas

2 Phoenix

3 Albequerqe

2 Amarillo

1 Dallas

2 Oaklahoma City

2 Springfield

2 St Louis

1 Nashville

2 Louiseville

1 Indianapolis

2 Cincinatti

2 Pittsburg

1 Washington

2 Philadelphia

2 New York

4 Montreal

3 Toronto

3 Detroit

2 Chicago

3 Kansas

2 Denver

2 Salt Lake City

3 Reno

2 Sanfrancisco

2 Sandiago

2 Tjiuana

2 Los Angeles

[cavanor]

Well it stuffed up the formatting,

should be


CITY Nights Stay
Los Angeles 7
Las Vegas 2
Phoenix 3
Albequerqe 2
Amarillo 1
Dallas 2
Oaklahoma City 2
Springfield 2
St Louis 1
Nashville 2
Louiseville 1
Indianapolis 2
Cincinatti 2
Pittsburg 1
Washington 2
Philadelphia 2
New York 4
Montreal 3
Toronto 3
Detroit 2
Chicago 3
Kansas 2
Denver 2
Salt Lake City 3
Reno 2
Sanfrancisco 2
Sandiago 2
Tjiuana 2
Los Angeles ?

[marc873]

So my first question is how are you getting from city to city? And how are you basing your days per city? I am from the states and so are a ton of other Tpunks, so if you give us your ideas and wants, we should be to easily help you out. 10 weeks is a long time, and you may want to slow down in some cities and maybe skip others. Oklahoma City? Not to offend anyone from there, but not too much to see. Would love to help, so keep us posted.

[space virgin]

When are you planning on going? Don't take this the wrong way, but there are probably a few places you could cut out to give yourself a little more time. In my opinion you could cut these out and really not miss much, and I'm also curious about your reasons for these particular places:

-Phoenix-- 3 days?? Ask TheJake about this...
-Amarillo, TX. Maybe it's just me, but... why? lol
-Springfield in which state? None of them are particularly exciting, unless you're going to visit family I guess... the Springfield that the show "The Simpsons" is based on (loosely) is the one in Oregon. FYI.
-Indianapolis? to coincide with the Indy 500 maybe? That would rule.
-Cincinnati- ?
-And last but not least: Detroit? Heh, that's the first time I've ever heard of anyone deliberately going there.

10 weeks isn't really that much time and your itinerary is incredibly fast-paced over long distances. You'll be happier if you have a little less movement and a little more time in the, um, more interesting places. Oh, and Seattle totally rules.

[cavanor]

Well my brother and I are buying a car and sharing the journey, I agree that some places I probably wont spend as much time in as I've allocated and some I will probably skip altogether, basically Im trying not to do more then 400ish miles per day driving and have allocated a night in the nearest possible place of interest. Seattle is a good place to visit then?

[joe7f]

I'm an American and I will join my fellow tpunkers in that a few of the cities aren't real tourist destinations. That said, I think that is a great idea. People that visit the US and see New York, DC, and Disney World, haven't "seen" the US.

Be careful in Detroit and LA (and most big cities for that matter) as crime can be high.

--Joey

[cavanor]

Thats what I was thinking, id rather see the real country then just all the tourist traps (hopefully I'll see them too), I think i'll drive through detroit, keep driving and find a cheap motel a bit out of it :P

[Esterina]

Great road trip project you have there ! I won't repeat what has been said, but I was wondering why not Boston ? Among the prettiest city in the U.S. and cool to hang out in.

Have a blast !

[cavanor]

I was thinking of boston, Im landing in LA, february 21 and coming back to australia on May 4th. This is just road trip plan beta 1 so I can happily make revisions.

[lost in texas]

Originally Posted by cavanor

Amarillo 1
Dallas 2

As a native Texan, I'd like to offer my recommendations, for what they're worth: There is virtually nothing to see in Amarillo you won't see see driving along the interstate. No offense to anyone from there, it's just not that interesting. If you're going to spend 3 days in Texas, I would suggest you see Austin and/or San Antonio.

--Austin: My favorite part of the state. Huge college population with great downtown nightlife, live music, and cultural events. You could easily spend a few days here alone. http://www.austintexas.org/

--San Antonio: Lots of cool stuff to do here too. The Riverwalk is incredible, and this historic Alamo mission is located here (where a major battle for Texas independence was fought).

Dallas is cool, don't get me wrong (I lived there for several years), but I think you guys would have a lot more fun and find more to do in SA or Austin. Both of these are fairly close too, so you could visit both without driving too far. It's a relatively short part of your trip, but I know you want to make the best of it... let me know if I can answer specifics.

Good luck!

[cavanor]

Thanks guys, keep the suggestions coming, this is my first time out of Australia and its all new to me!

[space virgin]

Yes, Seattle is definitely worth a visit! But it is quite a ways up in the far left corner of the country. There's a lot to see around here that definitely counts as being 'off the beaten path'.

[BigE]

Originally Posted by cavanor

I was thinking of boston, Im landing in LA, february 21 and coming back to australia on May 4th. This is just road trip plan beta 1 so I can happily make revisions.

As an American that has been to most of the country, I would head south to San Diego, drive along the southern half of the U.S. to the Southeast, and then head up north, up to Boston, then head west out to Seattle, then south to LA for your return trip. The country is big and, unlike Europe, it is fairly easy to find places to stay for a reasonable price. Instead of focusing on staying in the cities, focus on the highways you will be driving.

[tumblezweedz]

I assume you based your decisions on looking at a map, and to be sure, if you only are spending the night in a place like Amarillo, it's not a bad idea. But, really, not worth spending much in the way of time there.

Having lived in the high plains of eastern New Mexico and West Texas and driven between there (Clovis) and Wichita, Kansas on numerous occasions, I can vouch for the fact that if you refuel at the last gas station on I-40 in New Mexico, it is possible to drive all the way across the top part of Texas without stopping until you hit Oklahoma. I think it takes about 4 hours, if I recall, and I have to admit that there is very little in Texas that would encourage me to stop. Now, all you Texans, I know you love San Antonio and Austin - so does my husband - but it's not everyone's cup of tea. Anyway, if you wanted to make a Texas stop, I'd agree on those two, but Dallas is just a great big city and Amarillo is...not.

I don't know if you plan to mostly drive on the interstates, but you might consider branching off onto the secondary roads for part of the journey. The interstates tend to get pretty old, pretty fast, with the same assortment of roadside fast food joints and cheap motels. Plus, in many places there are concrete side walls along the interstates, so you can't even see the countryside through which you're passing. The side roads take you past farmland and small towns that scream "the REAL America".

Kudos to you for opting to see more of the country than just the coasts, there are some great things to see in "flyover country", but you might want to focus your attention more on some of the natural attractions, rather than just the main cities along the route. Probably the most unusual thing in the southwest is to check out the canyon lands of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, with their spectacular scenery and fascinating ancient dwellings. In Arizona, instead of Phoenix, you might consider visiting Sedona and the Grand Canyon area, and in New Mexico, Santa Fe/Taos are more uniquely southwestern than Albuquerque. I guess what I'm saying is that a lot of US cities look more or less alike, and the smaller places often show more of the local appeal of the place.

For the record, if you stop off in Wichita, Kansas (perhaps in lieu of Oklahoma City?) you can check out the America's Cup yacht, America III (I think, can't remember the #). It is rather surreal, sitting by side of a river in the landlocked dead centre of the US, but that's where it is. And Wichita has a nice "old town centre" too.

Good luck with your planning, no doubt you'll be swamped with ideas about what to do and see! Oh, and the drive up the west coast from California to Vancouver BC (why not check out Canada's most beautiful city?) is pretty spectacular, as well. Any chance you can spend more than 10 weeks?

[lauren313]

I would skip a few days in LA, and add them on to San Francisco. We recently spent 3 days in LA and 6 in San Francisco, and that was perfect for us. I found that LA was only really good for doing stuff if you have a ton of money for shopping and transport and attractions, and the hostels don't seem to be up to much. On the other hand, San Francisco (in my opinion) has a lot more to do for less money, and the hostels seem to be much better.

I guess you could always split the LA time between the city and the beach areas though.

Same with San Diego actually. We stayed in Point Loma, which is about a 25 minute walk from the beach, and a 20 minute bus ride from the city, and the HI there was one of the nicest I ever stayed in. You could maybe add a day or two to ensure you get enough time to see the beachy areas and the city. We had 4 days there.

[cavanor]

On the way from LA to NY we tried to loosely base off route 66 but going over a map we have kind of veered off it a bit. Way back is just filling in the drive through the north a bit. Nothing is set in stone and I think when we get there we'll wing it a bit, its good to get suggestions though, I dont really want to spend all my time in cities and I think there will be more then a few, 'this place looks cool, lets stop and have a look around' type incidents.

[joe7f]

Oh I forgot to throw in my votes for Yellowstone National Park (closest town might be Cody, Wyoming) which isn't so much a part of the US as it is another planet that happens to be located entirely within our borders. I assume part of your Vegas trip will be to see the Grand Canyon right?

--Joey

[BigE]

Originally Posted by lauren313

I would skip a few days in LA, and add them on to San Francisco. We recently spent 3 days in LA and 6 in San Francisco, and that was perfect for us. I found that LA was only really good for doing stuff if you have a ton of money for shopping and transport and attractions, and the hostels don't seem to be up to much. On the other hand, San Francisco (in my opinion) has a lot more to do for less money, and the hostels seem to be much better.

I guess you could always split the LA time between the city and the beach areas though.

Same with San Diego actually. We stayed in Point Loma, which is about a 25 minute walk from the beach, and a 20 minute bus ride from the city, and the HI there was one of the nicest I ever stayed in. You could maybe add a day or two to ensure you get enough time to see the beachy areas and the city. We had 4 days there.

I agree! There isn't much in LA. SF is much better.

Originally Posted by joe7f

Oh I forgot to throw in my votes for Yellowstone National Park (closest town might be Cody, Wyoming) which isn't so much a part of the US as it is another planet that happens to be located entirely within our borders. I assume part of your Vegas trip will be to see the Grand Canyon right?

--Joey

I think one of the great things about the U.S. are the National Parks. Yellow Stone and the Grande Canyon are great.

[cavanor]

Pretty much sure Im going to do the canyon and hoover dam.

[iomaggio]

Looks like the itinerary is focused on cities more than anything else, which is OK, but you'd be missing out on a lot of nature. Consider hitting as many Nat'l Parks as are along the interstates you'll be traveling. And yes, both Boston and Seattle are amazing, don't skip 'em. If I were you I'd drive straight through Detroit without stopping and spend the extra time in Chicago. Don't skimp on New York or San Francisco (2 days each?), either. In my opinion, you'll find some of the nicest people in the world in the Southeast, though there's not a lot you'd want to see down there.

Happy travels.