Travel USA travel tips and tricks

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deltablues said:
Most posters here go to US major cities, as tourists. But there is a lot more to the USA than the big cities (I have posted about this earlier on this thread). Rent a car and get out into the real America - the scenery is amazingly varied, the travel costs are cheap (cheap gas/motels/food) and the country folk are friendly. Try sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway; Natchez Trace; Highway 1 (especially San Francisco to Portland OR); the Upper Mississippi Valley from Hastings Minnesota south along the river on the Wisconsin side; upper Michigan Peninsula and thru Traverse City; up-state New York; Gulf coast of Florida thru Appalachicola (sit in an oyster bar as they shuck fresh oysters just off the boats - $5.00 for a dozen and a $2.50 beer); Mt Rushmore area in SD; Amish country in Ohio; the rivers and country roads in Tennessee; horse country of Kentucky; parts of Route 66; Vermont; and many more.
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Bolded is the one piece of advice I give everyone who is planning a US holiday. So much of the tourism was built on road trips so take advantage of it.
 
MrKK said:
Bolded is the one piece of advice I give everyone who is planning a US holiday. So much of the tourism was built on road trips so take advantage of it.
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100% agree

The wife and I have taken some awesome road trips. We have driven from Seattle down the San Diego, Anaheim to Las Vegas, Orlando to Miami, San Francisco to Anaheim (that was awesome), New York to Washington DC via Philadelphia and Baltimore.

You see some of the most awesome places doing it that way. We found the best hamburger joint in Oxnard and a fantastic lolly shop in Santa Barbara on the drive from SFC to Anaheim.
 
alex_is_on_fire said:
100% agree

The wife and I have taken some awesome road trips. We have driven from Seattle down the San Diego, Anaheim to Las Vegas, Orlando to Miami, San Francisco to Anaheim (that was awesome), New York to Washington DC via Philadelphia and Baltimore.

You see some of the most awesome places doing it that way. We found the best hamburger joint in Oxnard and a fantastic lolly shop in Santa Barbara on the drive from SFC to Anaheim.
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Nice.
Here is a suggestion for you, as and when: from San Francisco (assuming you fly in to SFO) drive across to and thru Yosemite NP, then onto I-15 in Utah (or if you fly in to Las Vegas :eek: drive north-east along I-15) then turn east onto I-70. I-70 passes thru some epic Utah scenery - and then continue on I-70 into CO and the Rockies. En route you could turn south onto US 50 and then US 550 to Ouray CO, a great little town way up high in a valley, and not too touristy. Has a small Irish pub with a great Irish stew for 6 bucks (or did when I passed thru there a year or so ago en route from the Napa Valley to Cape Coral, FL.). From Ouray continue south up over the ranges (over 11,000') to Silverton and down to Durango. But not in winter, as high roads are closed.

PS If I had to choose between Yellowstone NP and Yosemite - Yellowstone every time. Not to be missed. Plus, if you regularly visit the US and rent a ride, buy a cheap Garmin GPS at Best Buy. Worth its weight in gold.
 

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Heading to the states in November, already organised the first few weeks of the trip which cant change.
Need some advice for the final 17 nights of the trip.

What is planned atm for these nights (can be changed):
Orlando 2 nights, Miami 2 nights, DC 2 nights, NYC 6 nights, CHI 2 nights, San Fran 3 nights - then down to LAX for flight home.

Want to visit all these places but might be too crammed and have to drop a place, but would prefer not too. Should I change any of that around?

Also, what's the best way to get from NO to Orlando? Was thinking overnight bus which saves money on accom. and flights, but might be easier to fly and save 10hrs approx and add an extra night above somewhere.
 
Jsmoove1 said:
Heading to the states in November, already organised the first few weeks of the trip which cant change.
Need some advice for the final 17 nights of the trip.

What is planned atm for these nights (can be changed):
Orlando 2 nights, Miami 2 nights, DC 2 nights, NYC 6 nights, CHI 2 nights, San Fran 3 nights - then down to LAX for flight home.

Want to visit all these places but might be too crammed and have to drop a place, but would prefer not too. Should I change any of that around?

Also, what's the best way to get from NO to Orlando? Was thinking overnight bus which saves money on accom. and flights, but might be easier to fly and save 10hrs approx and add an extra night above somewhere.
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If by NO you mean New Orleans - I would definitely not take a bus ride into or from New Orleans. Fly.
You can see most of what San Francisco has to offer in a day, day and a half. I have a post here in this thread somewhere about some SF tourist attractions. So one night there, maybe 2. Not 3.
November in Chicago. Very cold.:eek:
 
deltablues said:
If by NO you mean New Orleans - I would definitely not take a bus ride into or from New Orleans. Fly.
You can see most of what San Francisco has to offer in a day, day and a half. I have a post here in this thread somewhere about some SF tourist attractions. So one night there, maybe 2. Not 3.
November in Chicago. Very cold.:eek:
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Yeh you're probably right. Was just trying to cut down on the internal flights because we're already doing Miami-DC, NY-CHI, Chi-SanF, SanF-LAX.
Is that a lot of internal flights for a 5 week holiday in the US or not really?

Is there any easier way to do it? Wanted to drive but because of the limited time it isn't really possible.
 
Jsmoove1 said:
Yeh you're probably right. Was just trying to cut down on the internal flights because we're already doing Miami-DC, NY-CHI, Chi-SanF, SanF-LAX.
Is that a lot of internal flights for a 5 week holiday in the US or not really?

Is there any easier way to do it? Wanted to drive but because of the limited time it isn't really possible.
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4 internal flights in 5 weeks is not too much. Or 5 if including New Orleans. The flight times and airport hassles will mean you write off a good part of each flight day to travel - especially Chicago to SFO - unless you fly at night/late afternoon.

SFO-LAX is a short flight. Best way there tho is by car down the Pacific coast. You can do it in a day and half. Next visit maybe consider some driving - USA is more than big cities - see some earlier posts of mine here.
 
can do new orleans to orlando drive in a day easily. i pretty much did the same thing (in reverse) last year. i didnt leave orlando until 10 or 11am (i remember because i almost got charged an extra night because i was slightly late checking out) and drove to baton rouge (which is a little further than no) where i stayed the night before continuing to houston.

with all the hassle of the airports youre pretty much writing off a day anyway. plus you get to look at all the funny religious billboards they have down there.
 
deltablues said:
4 internal flights in 5 weeks is not too much. Or 5 if including New Orleans. The flight times and airport hassles will mean you write off a good part of each flight day to travel - especially Chicago to SFO - unless you fly at night/late afternoon.

SFO-LAX is a short flight. Best way there tho is by car down the Pacific coast. You can do it in a day and half. Next visit maybe consider some driving - USA is more than big cities - see some earlier posts of mine here.
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On that, do you think it is worth taking an overnight flight from CHI-SFO? To save time/money.
 
Jsmoove1 said:
On that, do you think it is worth taking an overnight flight from CHI-SFO? To save time/money.
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Just a quick look at Kayak - on Frontier dep ORD 8.30pm eta SFO 11.10pm local time; 4hr 40 min flight time; cost US$159. 00. Can't see any really late red-eye flights on that sector for a good price (in lieu of a hotel for the night).
 
Yeh sounds about right.
I'm thinking everything might be too crammed in if I account for travel as that will take up the best part of a day most trips.
So 2 nights at a destination really is only 1 full day, not sure if that's enough to cover most places and if I will be able to relax if I'm having to travel/fly every 2nd day for few parts of the trip.
 

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deltablues said:
If by NO you mean New Orleans - I would definitely not take a bus ride into or from New Orleans. Fly.
You can see most of what San Francisco has to offer in a day, day and a half. I have a post here in this thread somewhere about some SF tourist attractions. So one night there, maybe 2. Not 3.
November in Chicago. Very cold.:eek:
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Jsmoove1 said:
Yeh you're probably right. Was just trying to cut down on the internal flights because we're already doing Miami-DC, NY-CHI, Chi-SanF, SanF-LAX.
Is that a lot of internal flights for a 5 week holiday in the US or not really?

Is there any easier way to do it? Wanted to drive but because of the limited time it isn't really possible.
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San Francisco was one of my favourite places, and a favourite of many others I know... 1 day? Surely you jest.
 
mickelboy182 said:
San Francisco was one of my favourite places, and a favourite of many others I know... 1 day? Surely you jest.
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Need longer than 1 day. You can spend 1 day alone at Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz.

Then you have the Safari west African experience and the California academy of science.

The Yoda statue, the Golden Gate Bridge and a ride on a cable car. Lombard Street, Union Square, and a number of different sports you can attend.

5 days in San Francisco will keep you plenty busy.
 
mickelboy182 said:
San Francisco was one of my favourite places, and a favourite of many others I know... 1 day? Surely you jest.
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I guess I'm not a fan of big cities or touristy things any more - and for some reason SF has never grabbed me - altho I have visited there many times as I have family who lived there for 40 years (but now live in the Napa).

In my defense, I did actually provide a list of SF tourist attractions earlier in this thread - so OK, 2 days;)
 
deltablues said:
I guess I'm not a fan of big cities or touristy things any more - and for some reason SF has never grabbed me - altho I have visited there many times as I have family who lived there for 40 years (but now live in the Napa).

In my defense, I did actually provide a list of SF tourist attractions earlier in this thread - so OK, 2 days;)
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SF delivers on touristy stuff for about a 3 day stay.

But as a city it lacks a bit of a vibe... I don't hate the city, but I found it a little overrated.
 
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mattf83 said:
Cheers guys

It appeals to me as a city to visit, food, bars etc....I really want to go to Franklin BBQ amongst others.

Is there much else to do there? How long would you recommend to stay?
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We didn't get to franklins as we partied too much and getting up early and queuing for a few hours didn't
appeal to everyone. But from what I've heard it's worth it, but there are also a few others where you don't have to wait. La barbecue, Louie mueller, salt lick which is a bit further out of Austin.

Our stay there was planned around a Longhorns game on thanksgiving so it was mostly a football drinking trip. We toured the Longhorns stadium ($10) and it's very impressive. Walked around campus, went to state Capitol, walked to some dodgy area for Mexican during the day.

Food is great - BBQ, texmex and proper Mexican.
People are very friendly
6th street is where all the bars are, great live music and Cheap drinks ($1 800ml cans for example). Hit up Petes piano duelling bar for a great fun night
 
mattf83 said:
Cheers guys

It appeals to me as a city to visit, food, bars etc....I really want to go to Franklin BBQ amongst others.

Is there much else to do there? How long would you recommend to stay?
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I was there for 3 nights and really didn't love the place.

The night life is fun and you want to go to 6th street which is a younger crowd (lots of university students) but don't ignore Rainey St which is also a good option with plenty of bars and a slightly older crowd and not as 'trashy'.

If you love your meat then I'd say definitely go as they love their BBQ over there and pride themselves on it. Franklin BBQ is the most famous but there are also plenty of other good options. Franklin is a massive wait but I'd definitely recommend it. Opens up at 11:00am - I lined up from 8:30am and got food by about 2:00pm - so if you're going there don't plan on doing much else on that day because you won't get around to doing it.

Sounds absurd to wait around that long for meat and it's not for everyone but it was well well worth it. Hands down the best meat I've ever had. If you're not too fussed there are so many other options where you won't have to wait anywhere near that long.

There's also a lot of Mexican food around and generally it was pretty good.

During the day I didn't find there's much to do there at all and was quite bored. So many other places you can go and have a million things to do and never get around to all of it but that's not the case in Austin. Obviously not as developed as other cities so it's really up to you and all about what you're looking for in a city.
 
Have read from a lot of people that Franklins is good but not 3 hours in line good. Would have done it myself when I was there but he was closed for the whole week the 3 days I was there. I did drive out to the Salt Lick in Driftwood that is on a winery about 25 minute drive from Austin. That was well worth it with $20 all you can eat brisket, ribs and sausage plus sides. You won't have too much trouble finding good brisket in Texas where ever you go.
 
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