Travel USA travel tips and tricks

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sivart said:
Look I would highly recommend the drive if you go up to Yosemite for a bit, that place is amazing. Also the drive has lots of factory outlets along the way (I hate shopping, but over there it was so cheap I did enjoy it). So if you want to see either of those go for it, if not stick to the coast.

I personally stayed away from the coastal route as plenty of people had told me it was similar to the GOR, and I was looking for something different
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It is somewhat similar to the GOR south of SF, but definitely not north from SF.

Bakersfield is meh - the whole of the Inner empire between I-5 and US 99 is flat and dry. I drive thru Bakersfield a lot from Prescott Arizona to visit family in Santa Rosa CA, but only because it is on my direct route.
 
alex_is_on_fire said:
Have always planned to do the GOR on the way home from a footy weekend, but never got around to it. So, I think the wife wants to do that route unless the roads will freak her out. Might do them anyway. :p

Yeah, we have done the factory outlets a number of times and yes - for anyone who has not done them before - they are dirt cheap. We will do them again. I think the wife has planned on going to the Outlet mall close to Santa Barbara, Camarillo premium outlets.

Highly recommend the North (the one outside) Premium outlet mall in Vegas and the orange Country (the OC mall) in Anaheim. Very good.
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Yeah I stopped in some good ones in Barstow and almost every second city-town through California have them. I agree the Vegas one is pretty good as well.

However I must say the best one is in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, we stopped on our drive from Miami to Orlando as the locals had recommended it, geez it was huge
 
alex_is_on_fire said:
So I guess, it's a good idea to skip Bakersfield and go along the Coast?

We were considering going via Bakersfield but if it's "pretty s**t" we should give it a miss.



As a late teen (19) a few of my mates and I did the drive from Vancouver to LA via Seattle, Portland and SF. That was a number of years ago but don't feel the need to return to Seattle or Portland. They were great cities but they don't fill our needs at this time.

I've heard the Coast road from SF to LA via Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara can be quite steep and intimidating doing the drive? Any truth or just an urban legend.
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It's not intimidating, but you need to concentrate. It's no worse than the GOR, driving-wise.
 

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sivart said:
Yeah I stopped in some good ones in Barstow and almost every second city-town through California have them. I agree the Vegas one is pretty good as well.

However I must say the best one is in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, we stopped on our drive from Miami to Orlando as the locals had recommended it, geez it was huge
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We stopped at the sawgrass shopping mall in Fort Lauderdale but only stayed for like an hour. We were all shopped out by that point and was looking for something very specific.

We have been to the states a number of times now and our first point of call for shopping is the premium outlet malls. So cheap.
 
MrKK said:
:confused: at going to Vegas to relax, it's just about impossible there. 6 nights isn't too long if you want to do it properly IMO (and not long enough if you're a degen like me :))

Rest of the itinerary looks great. Washington museums are great - you could spend a day in each of them if that's your thing. I particularly enjoyed the Museum of American History with the original star-spangled banner.
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I'll rephrase the relax comment.. Considering the amount of time i have in vegas and the activities i have planned i will have some spare time without having an agenda :thumbsu:
 
Richo is God said:
I'm after some recommendations for a hostel in SF. Cheers
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Looking for quality or cost? I've stayed at the USA Hostels ($40+) and an indy called The Amsterdam ($23). Both in a great spot downtown near Taylor & Powell. USA was by far superior, but the cheap, cosy dinginess of the indy was my first American hostel so there's a soft spot there. Plus it was run by some Indian guy who tried to tell me my $1 coins were only quarters.

There's plenty down near Fisherman's Wharf, but I loved central SF itself more than any of the surrounding attractions on the bay.
 
DrVanNostrand said:
Looking for quality or cost? I've stayed at the USA Hostels ($40+) and an indy called The Amsterdam ($23). Both in a great spot downtown near Taylor & Powell. USA was by far superior, but the cheap, cosy dinginess of the indy was my first American hostel so there's a soft spot there. Plus it was run by some Indian guy who tried to tell me my $1 coins were only quarters.

There's plenty down near Fisherman's Wharf, but I loved central SF itself more than any of the surrounding attractions on the bay.
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Its the last leg of our trip so probably cost, but still want to be in a good location
 
DrVanNostrand said:
Looking for quality or cost? I've stayed at the USA Hostels ($40+) and an indy called The Amsterdam ($23). Both in a great spot downtown near Taylor & Powell. USA was by far superior, but the cheap, cosy dinginess of the indy was my first American hostel so there's a soft spot there. Plus it was run by some Indian guy who tried to tell me my $1 coins were only quarters.

There's plenty down near Fisherman's Wharf, but I loved central SF itself more than any of the surrounding attractions on the bay.
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Which one did you stay in DC?
 
Tannehill17 said:
Which one did you stay in DC?
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Duo Housing on 11th NW. Would highly recommend, but some strange policies like no shoes, charging your credit card three days in advance and a lengthy check-in process. Unique guest base as well, I met mostly Chinese tour groups and snooty trust-fund Americans looking to brown-nose their way into some elite university. It's a bit further away from the main attractions than the other hostels, but much closer to U St. (great nights out to be had there) and places where the local hang out. Great burger place called Bolt Burger two blocks away.
 

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kaiserchief13 said:
Probably bus.
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I much prefer Nashville to Memphis, but it's all subjective.
Pity you are busing - if driving south from DC you could get onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for a day or so, then do a one-way drop-off at Knoxville or Nashville and catch the bus from there. But more expensive than a bus ride, unfortunately...
 
MrKK said:
Washington museums are great - you could spend a day in each of them if that's your thing. I particularly enjoyed the Museum of American History with the original star-spangled banner.
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2nd.
The holocaust museum is pretty intense, but well worth it. I spent about 4 hours in there and would highly recommend
 
So I leave on Wednesday for 7 months (3 months in the USA) and just trying to figure out my packing situation. Is a sleeping bag worth taking if I am staying in hostels and unlikely to do much if any camping? Also any other tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers everyone
 
trueblue_91 said:
So I leave on Wednesday for 7 months (3 months in the USA) and just trying to figure out my packing situation. Is a sleeping bag worth taking if I am staying in hostels and unlikely to do much if any camping? Also any other tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers everyone
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Don't take it. Most hostels ban sleeping bags outright; the hostels over there are great quality, and it's just another thing you'd have to lug around that you won't need.
 
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