Research
This is a little nerdy, but if you plan to visit cities in the United States, you could call up the urban planning departments. They might have some cool things to say and give interesting histories of neighborhoods, social problems, and solutions to problems. It's often more fun than the normal touristy stuff. For example, Detroit is a city with a lot of problems and is representative of problems in the U.S. so going through it is a very cool living museum exhibit.
Places to Drink
www.beertravelers.com
Transportation - Around the U.S. by Air, Train, and Bus
Comments:
If you plan your itinerary ahead of time, you can Southwest your way across the country. Southwest and ATA are very cheap airlines...you can travel faster across the country and for a very reasonable amount of money, provided you book ahead of time. It can be cheaper than the bus and a million times more convenient. Even if you rail/bus your way along the East Coast, use cheap air travel for major distances. It's faster and probably cheaper. For instance, if you fly into Boston/New York, you could explore Boston and NY and then get down to Washington, DC by rail/bus. Then possibly fly out of Baltimore (BWI Airport) to Chicago on Southwest or ATA. Stop over in Chicago for some sightseeing. From there, pick your poison with the airlines; the Midway Airport is pretty convenient. You could fly to Las Vegas, Florida, Seattle, southern California, and northern California, among other destinations. I think it may also be possible go to Portland, Oregon with one of these airlines. So a possible itinerary could be something like Boston-NY-DC (rail/bus). DC-Chicago-Las Vegas-Los Angeles-San Francisco-Seattle. Then fly out of Seattle to wherever you want to get back to. Check out www.southwest.com. You have to book way ahead of time to get those "fun fares." Also, they now go out to Hawaii!
The plane is a worthy option for those expanses of the country that are just as impressive from 30,000 feet as they are from 300 above sea level. The train would be fun, though.
When I went to the States, I flew from London Heathrow to Newark, then Washington, DC (I can't remember which airport) and Chicago O'Hare, and then back to LHR and it cost £1,500, but then I didn't shop around and that was the first price given to me. I found the constant checking in and out was a total pain and found myself wishing I'd taken the train.
Here's the North American Rail Pass, but I don't know of anyone who ever tried it. It takes too long to go across country! North Americans don't travel on trains much for a good reason - the rail system SUCKS.
My cousin from England did the Amtrak thing cross-country; he had a brilliant time, albeit there were delays which he said were quite bad. The trains were fairly clean, and the people weren't too sketchy. He said that the trains were definitely better on the coastlines - east and west - which is to be expected, I suppose.
I used a rail pass to travel from New York City's Penn Station to New Orleans and then on to Texas once. It was $300 of unlimited travel for 4 weeks, I think. Looking back now, I think I would travel by train again in the U.S. The train was very mellow and relaxing. Flying domestically in the U.S. sucks the big one. It's an ordeal, and they make you pay for your own booze, which they wave under your nose about three minutes before you arrive where you are meant to be going and never less than an hour after you ordered it. Jet Blue and Alaska Air are all right, but the shit you have to go through at the airport cancels out any benefits.
I haven't taken the train since two disastrous outings in graduate school. The Chicago Amtrak service was absolutely horrible ... constantly delayed and the train (which was the one that used to go from Chicago to New Orleans and had some fancy name) was constantly breaking down on the tracks (not to mention an average 1 hour delay). Eventually I learned my lesson and started taking a private charter bus that used to go directly from my university to the airport. In undergrad I used to take the Montreal-NY-Syracuse route to see my boyfriend at Cornell, and that was also a major pain in the ass (although at least the train wouldn't break down on the tracks) because it was so slooooow and constantly delayed.
Getting around the East Coast is easy by train. Crossing the country is less so. You might plan on flying between the East Coast and Chicago and then over to California. Renting a car in California would be an easy and fun way to go from San Diego up to San Francisco. Beautiful drives!
My opinion is that it's quite expensive to travel by rail on the East Coast, although check to see if you qualify for any discounts. Generally, though, the bus is cheaper.
Transportation - Road Trips Across the U.S.
Denny G's Road Trips - This guy followed the length of the old Route 66 on one of his trips.
www.roadtripusa.com - Route 7 on their map (U.S. Route 2) could be a trek to Alaska via the north country.
www.byways.org - You can request a free map of all the scenic byways.
roadsideamerica.com - A guide to the quirky America!
roadsidepeek.com
eccentricamerica.net
When considering a southern U.S. coast to coast route, one thing to keep in mind is that there is not much to see in Alabama. Start in Atlanta, then swing north to hit I-40. Go through the southern part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, then head west to Memphis for Graceland and Beale Street. From there head west through Arkansas and Oklahoma. All along I-40 there are the Indian reservations (Arapaho and others) which are very cool. Another option for this route is to go south from Memphis through Mississippi and take the Natchez Trace, a very lovely parkway, through the Mississippi Delta. If you plan to go through New Orleans, southern Louisiana is very lovely with lots of plantations and French/Creole sites to see. The western area and the panhandle of Texas are pretty scenic.
If San Francisco is the start point, head over to Tahoe. From Tahoe head northwest through Carson City, Marysville, CA, and over to Shasta City and I-5. Take I-5 up to Seattle, then head over toward southeast Washington and down through Idaho over to Yellowstone. From there head southeast to Denver and then through Colorado to New Mexico. Pick up I-40 at or east of Albuquerque. Head south to Dallas from I-40 with a possible stop at Jesse James' hideout in Oklahoma and then over to Baton Rouge and down to Louisiana and New Orleans. From there stick to the Gulf Coast and head to Florida. On the way back from Florida head over toward Jacksonville and hit the Amelia Island area. St. Mary's, Georgia would be nice as well. From there head north to Savannah and then northeast to Atlanta. From Atlanta head up to Tennessee and then west to Memphis (there's a road that cuts directly across the southern portion of the state). From Memphis hook back up to I-40, and then go through Arkansas and through Flagstaff, Arizona and then Las Vegas. From Las Vegas head south toward Los Angeles but then over to the coast and hit Highway 101 and ride that up to San Francisco.
Another loop that begins and ends in San Francisco would go north from San Francisco up towards Portland and/or Seattle, then east across Idaho/Montana, south into Wyoming, then east again to the Black Hills/Mt. Rushmore, through South Dakota - be sure to see Wall Drug and Badlands National Park - head for Chicago and cut south to Florida from there. Come back through New Orleans and Texas, and pick up the highway that follows old Route 66, since east to west is the best way to do Route 66. From old Route 66 in Texas, it's pretty much a straight shot to Los Angeles. It could be done in as little as two days if you did nothing but drive. There's some really cool stuff along the way that's worth seeing - historic66.com. Stop along the way to try the lamb stew at the Ranch Kitchen in Gallup, New Mexico and to stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. Maybe make a quick detour up to the Grand Canyon. Take the Pacific Coast Highway from L.A. to the San Francisco Bay to finish the trip.
Comments:
I've driven down a few chunks of Route 66 in Oklahoma. It wasn't mind-blowing, but the dusty little towns do have a unique look and atmosphere. Driving Texas from end to end is booooooring!
I can tell ya what road trips NOT to take. I'd highly advise against anything that goes through Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, etc. I really like following Route 66 along I-40, though I have only done the stretch that goes from Santa Fe, NM to Bakersfield, CA. You can often see old patches of Route 66 to the side. I do recommend stopping in Flagstaff. Pick up Navajo radio along the way.
I-80 travels from the east to the San Francisco Bay area, but there's not much to see through vast stretches of Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. Driving past the Great Salt Lake and across the Salt Flats is, in particular, an experience I do not recommend. It's not all bad, though. Not far from I-80 in Iowa is the "Field of Dreams" movie site (in Dyersville, on US 20), which is kinda cool. An hour-long detour from the interstate on Route 87 will take you to Alliance, Nebraska, home of Carhenge, a full-scale replica of Stonehenge made from old cars.
I-90 takes travelers west through South Dakota, which is a very worthy trip - Badlands National Park is amazing, as is Wall Drug in the nearby town of Wall. If you drive through the Badlands, there's a tiny little restaurant on the south side of the park (can't remember the name, but it's hard to miss) where they serve an Indian taco (standard taco ingredients served on frybread) that is wicked good. From there you can go on to Mount Rushmore and the in-progress Crazy Horse Monument. The Black Hills are beautiful and worth driving through. Stay on I-90 into Wyoming and you can visit Devil's Tower and imagine how life would have been different if aliens really did take Richard Dreyfuss away back in 1977.
Transportation - Road Trips in Eastern U.S. - Discussion and Suggestions
Starting from Boston, go north along the coast and return via inland routes in a big circle. In the summer there may be some crowds, and places like Bar Harbor, Maine and Ogunquit (although it's beautiful) are a little bit more crowded because they're closer to Massachusetts and are an easy day trip from there. Less touristy areas will not have as big crowds. Bar Harbor is also close to Arcadia National Park, a recommended stop. Boston is also five hours from Montreal, and from Maine you can drive through New Hampshire and Vermont. NH has the White Mountains, and VT has nature stuff on the way up to Montreal. Montreal would be a cool urban break from all the nature-lovey stuff so spend a couple of days there and then drive back down the coast of Maine. Maine has the advantage of the ocean, but there are some incredibly scenic drives through Vermont. The Canada-US border in VT is a really easy cross. Remember to bring your passport.
However, some people think New Hampshire and Vermont are sort of interchangeable and from Boston Vermont can easily be reached within a day so skip New Hampshire and spend a few days doing things in Vermont. Go up to Montreal (it is an hour and a half from Burlington, VT), and spend a couple days there. Then drive down to Boston through Maine. You can get the whole Green Mountains thing in VT, the big-city-Europe-lite-nightlife-thing in Montreal, and then the oceanside beauty of Maine. Driving down through Maine might be the most time-consuming part, and if you really prefer the ocean, you could easily return through Vermont.
Comments:
I do my road trips in the East; the scenery between the Midwest and New York is gorgeous. Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia are beautiful in the summer and fall. Some parts of Tennessee are frightening, but driving through the mist of the Smoky Mountains is really cool. Then North Carolina is kinda scrubby, but South Carolina is beautiful. I highly encourage using the back roads in South Carolina.
We spent our honeymoon on a New England road trip in the month of June, and we took another one several years later in July and loved both of them. It's been a long time since I've been there, but the countryside is beautiful. We didn't spend a lot of time in ME and didn't venture into Canada, but there's lots to see and do in the entire area. Our favorite part was the White Mountains in NH, and I have to disagree a bit about NH and VT being interchangeable. Maybe they're more so now, but we thought NH was more rugged, which we liked, and VT was a bit less so, although VT did have more of its own unique charm. Wherever you go, I think you'll enjoy it. We sure did.
My family traveled the coast of Maine when I was in high school. It was absolutely beautiful. Arcadia National Park is absolutely gorgeous. There's a spot where it's the first place where the sun hits the U.S. It's cool. I've spent a lot of time in Maine.
Transportation - Road Trips in Western U.S.
An idea for a summer (July and August) road trip is to fly in and out of San Francisco and make a circle through the west. From San Francisco, travel to Yosemite and over Tioga Pass (if making this trip before July, check to be sure Tioga Pass is open), then down the Owens Valley to the interstate and across to Las Vegas. From there travel into Utah for Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, then to Arizona for the Grand Canyon. Plan on driving from the Grand Canyon to Kingman, AZ in one day. That is about 250 miles, and Flagstaff is a town worth stopping in. It's in the mountains and will be cool in summer. Even Kingman is at something of an elevation and will be a little cooler than the Mojave Desert. The following day is your long-ass, get-it-done driving day. Leave Kingman around 4:30 - 5 in the morning (sunrise will be between 5:30 - 6 a.m.). The Mojave is absolutely spectacular at dawn, really wild and beautiful and staggeringly Not Hot. Cross the desert taking I-40 to Barstow, then take 58 west until just before Bakersfield where you turn off and take Route 233 west, crossing CA 99 at the junction with I-5. From there opt for speed over scenery and take I-5 north to CA 46 and on to Paso Robles. Spend the night in Paso Robles as opposed to continuing on to Cambria on the coast. It's bigger and has more food and lodging options. Also, the last part between Paso Robles and the coast will likely be a windy road that will be challenging with the sun full in your face (because it will be afternoon by then) and general tiredness. Then follow Route 46 west to Route 1, intersecting with the Pacific Coast Highway south of Cambria and up the coast.
An idea for a "Great American West Road Trip" starts and ends in Denver. These could be some of the stops:
CO - Rocky Mountain National Park
WY - Oregon Trail Ruts and Register Cliff near Guernsey
SD - Black Hills, Badlands National Park, Wall Drug
WY - Devil's Tower
MT - Little Bighorn Battlefield, continuing up to Billings in order to drive Route 212 over the Beartooth Pass and into Yellowstone National Park
WY - Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park
UT - Golden Spike National Historic Site, Salt Lake City, Bryce Canyon National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Zion Canyon National Park
AZ - Grand Canyon National Park (north and south rims)
UT - Monument Valley
Four Corners (UT, AZ, NM, CO)
CO - Mesa Verde National Park, Durango to Silverton over Route 550, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods, U.S. Air Force Academy, Denver
Comments:
A road trip that I am really looking forward to is one I call Great Parks of the American West via Secondary Roads. It'll be a mostly back roads trip to Glacier, Olympic, Yellowstone, and a few others - maybe the Grand Canyon, depending on how much time we have. I prefer to see as much undeveloped land as possible. Others find this boring.
Undeveloped land is great, a lot of the time. The undeveloped land I drove through in southern Wisconsin was beautiful, as were the broad stretches of forest in upstate New York and southern Ontario, the tunnel of greenery surrounding roads in North Carolina, and lots of other places. The Bonneville Salt Flats and miles and miles of Nevada scrub desert punctuated by signs saying "PRISON AREA - DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS" is not so great. I do like to see good scenery on a road trip - the Pacific Coast Highway is good for that - but the great thing about road trips is the opportunity to stop along the way and see bizarre and interesting things. I highly recommend roadsideamerica.com for a good guide to the weirdest crap in America.
One of my favorite pieces of art is at Denver International Airport on walls on either side of a broad corridor. It's entitled "America, Why I Love Her" and features two maps of the USA dotted with photographs of roadside attractions and oddities from around the nation. It's quite entertaining to stand and stare at for awhile - if you've got a long layover in Denver sometime, check it out.
Actually, I disagree, not necessarily with the Bonneville Salt Flats because I've not knowingly driven by them; however, I've been back and forth on I-80 several times and done some exploring on US 50 as well. I likes it a lot - no sign of humanity, not even billboards in many places.
I did some miles on I-40 from the Grand Canyon to the California border in April. The eastern part, I was not impressed with. The Navajo radio was pretty cool, as was taking a detour literally in Navajo country to check out the dinosaur tracks and fossils. The scenery was pretty awesome, but the locals were pretty aggressively seeking "donations" at the dinosaur site which was a bit of a bummer. Driving anywhere around Washington state is pretty interesting as well. The dry eastern part of the state is an amazing contrast to the rain forest on the west side.
Agreed re: Washington State, traveling east-west or west-east to get the contrasts of several types of scenery. The Coulee country in the east, caused by a giant flood when a lake burst, is interesting. The back of Oregon has some lovely drives and fascinating variations of scenery, such as in the John Day area. I also was very impressed with the forested hills and valleys on the road across northern California from Arcata to Redding; I expect that continues to be interesting as you go further east via Mt. Lassen.
Dudes, Highway 395 from Yosemite down through Death Valley is the most amazing stretch of road probably anywhere on earth.
I did the San Francisco to Monterey to San Luis Obispo trip via Routes 1 and 101. It was awesome. Driving around Sedona, Arizona is stunning as well.
San Luis Obispo is where I draw the line ... If you fly into Los Angeles, just head north and get the hell out of there. Go through Monterey to San Francisco on the 1 and 101. From SanFran head to Lake Tahoe and from there cut through northern California via Susanville and pop out onto I-5 near Shasta. Then head up I-5 to Eugene, over to Florence and up the Oregon coast into Washington. Work your way around Puget Sound and into Seattle and then head up to British Columbia. Then fly back to LA and don't leave the airport and then head home. Honorable mention for beauty has to go to northern Arizona/southern Utah/western New Mexico, aka Four Corners Area.
Just take the LONG road and ride Highway 1 all the way up the West Coast.
Routes 1 and 101 from southern California to San Francisco are awesome. I highly recommend them. Late September/early October is a lovely time for this, often with very little fog and good warm temperatures, unlike most of the rest of the year. The route from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon via Sedona and Flagstaff are excellent as well. You'd be surprised at how scenic it is.
Transportation - Trains
Amtrak
Comments:
I got an Amtrak from New York City to New Orleans about ten years ago. It was a bit of a nightmare from what I remember. I had a sleeper for the first part of the trip and then coach for the rest. I think I left Penn Station in the early evening and arrived in New Orleans the following night. I don't remember too much about it as I drank most of the way down to help with the boredom. What I do recall was that it was cramped, boring and noisy, and the rest of the carriage was filled with freaks. The only good thing about it was that I got to see some of the countryside and a lot of states I hadn't been in before, but I suppose if you are from the U.S., it might not have that novelty factor. Coming into New Orleans that evening across Lake Ponchartrain was quite spectacular, though, and nearly made up for the rest of it. I got back on after a few days, intending to go from New Orleans to Los Angeles, but I stuck it out about six hours and jumped off in Houston. I flew back to New York City.
I've gone from San Francisco to Massachusetts and from Massachusetts to Los Angeles on the train. I was in coach, which got uncomfortable and probably smelly at times, but I really enjoyed myself. West of Chicago, you can sit in the observation car and just watch amazing scenery pass before your eyes.
I actually had an Amtrak Pass for one month a few years ago. It got me from San Francisco to Savannah with many stops across the top of the U.S., some of Canada and down the East Coast. The western train going from San Diego to Seattle is freakin' beautiful and nice, as is the train on the north. The East Coast train wasn't as nice at it was really full.
I've done Carbondale-near to Milwaukee (through Chicago). That's the only time I've used Amtrak outside the northeast corridor.
I've been on Amtrak from Fresno, California to Seattle, Washington in just a regular passenger seat. It was long but a pretty ride. This was some years ago, though.
I've only been from Fredericksburg, VA to Boston, MA. It was hell. It was also the day before Thanksgiving. Ugh. It was hellishly crowded, and it took 12 hours. Driving takes 9 or less, and to fly it's an hour and some change. And then we found it would have been cheaper to fly ...
One time I was traveling with my mom, and we met people who taught us card games. Another time I just wandered the train like a ghost and enjoyed the solitude. In high school I also took the train from Seattle to San Francisco and had a little romantic encounter.
Rail travel from Washington, DC to New York is frequent, easy, and comfortable.
Advice: bring your own food and drink. Have a flask for the occasional cheap buzz when needed, and be prepared to chill. Having your own food will save you a shitload of money.
This is a little nerdy, but if you plan to visit cities in the United States, you could call up the urban planning departments. They might have some cool things to say and give interesting histories of neighborhoods, social problems, and solutions to problems. It's often more fun than the normal touristy stuff. For example, Detroit is a city with a lot of problems and is representative of problems in the U.S. so going through it is a very cool living museum exhibit.
Places to Drink
www.beertravelers.com
Transportation - Around the U.S. by Air, Train, and Bus
Comments:
If you plan your itinerary ahead of time, you can Southwest your way across the country. Southwest and ATA are very cheap airlines...you can travel faster across the country and for a very reasonable amount of money, provided you book ahead of time. It can be cheaper than the bus and a million times more convenient. Even if you rail/bus your way along the East Coast, use cheap air travel for major distances. It's faster and probably cheaper. For instance, if you fly into Boston/New York, you could explore Boston and NY and then get down to Washington, DC by rail/bus. Then possibly fly out of Baltimore (BWI Airport) to Chicago on Southwest or ATA. Stop over in Chicago for some sightseeing. From there, pick your poison with the airlines; the Midway Airport is pretty convenient. You could fly to Las Vegas, Florida, Seattle, southern California, and northern California, among other destinations. I think it may also be possible go to Portland, Oregon with one of these airlines. So a possible itinerary could be something like Boston-NY-DC (rail/bus). DC-Chicago-Las Vegas-Los Angeles-San Francisco-Seattle. Then fly out of Seattle to wherever you want to get back to. Check out www.southwest.com. You have to book way ahead of time to get those "fun fares." Also, they now go out to Hawaii!
The plane is a worthy option for those expanses of the country that are just as impressive from 30,000 feet as they are from 300 above sea level. The train would be fun, though.
When I went to the States, I flew from London Heathrow to Newark, then Washington, DC (I can't remember which airport) and Chicago O'Hare, and then back to LHR and it cost £1,500, but then I didn't shop around and that was the first price given to me. I found the constant checking in and out was a total pain and found myself wishing I'd taken the train.
Here's the North American Rail Pass, but I don't know of anyone who ever tried it. It takes too long to go across country! North Americans don't travel on trains much for a good reason - the rail system SUCKS.
My cousin from England did the Amtrak thing cross-country; he had a brilliant time, albeit there were delays which he said were quite bad. The trains were fairly clean, and the people weren't too sketchy. He said that the trains were definitely better on the coastlines - east and west - which is to be expected, I suppose.
I used a rail pass to travel from New York City's Penn Station to New Orleans and then on to Texas once. It was $300 of unlimited travel for 4 weeks, I think. Looking back now, I think I would travel by train again in the U.S. The train was very mellow and relaxing. Flying domestically in the U.S. sucks the big one. It's an ordeal, and they make you pay for your own booze, which they wave under your nose about three minutes before you arrive where you are meant to be going and never less than an hour after you ordered it. Jet Blue and Alaska Air are all right, but the shit you have to go through at the airport cancels out any benefits.
I haven't taken the train since two disastrous outings in graduate school. The Chicago Amtrak service was absolutely horrible ... constantly delayed and the train (which was the one that used to go from Chicago to New Orleans and had some fancy name) was constantly breaking down on the tracks (not to mention an average 1 hour delay). Eventually I learned my lesson and started taking a private charter bus that used to go directly from my university to the airport. In undergrad I used to take the Montreal-NY-Syracuse route to see my boyfriend at Cornell, and that was also a major pain in the ass (although at least the train wouldn't break down on the tracks) because it was so slooooow and constantly delayed.
Getting around the East Coast is easy by train. Crossing the country is less so. You might plan on flying between the East Coast and Chicago and then over to California. Renting a car in California would be an easy and fun way to go from San Diego up to San Francisco. Beautiful drives!
My opinion is that it's quite expensive to travel by rail on the East Coast, although check to see if you qualify for any discounts. Generally, though, the bus is cheaper.
Transportation - Road Trips Across the U.S.
Denny G's Road Trips - This guy followed the length of the old Route 66 on one of his trips.
www.roadtripusa.com - Route 7 on their map (U.S. Route 2) could be a trek to Alaska via the north country.
www.byways.org - You can request a free map of all the scenic byways.
roadsideamerica.com - A guide to the quirky America!
roadsidepeek.com
eccentricamerica.net
When considering a southern U.S. coast to coast route, one thing to keep in mind is that there is not much to see in Alabama. Start in Atlanta, then swing north to hit I-40. Go through the southern part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, then head west to Memphis for Graceland and Beale Street. From there head west through Arkansas and Oklahoma. All along I-40 there are the Indian reservations (Arapaho and others) which are very cool. Another option for this route is to go south from Memphis through Mississippi and take the Natchez Trace, a very lovely parkway, through the Mississippi Delta. If you plan to go through New Orleans, southern Louisiana is very lovely with lots of plantations and French/Creole sites to see. The western area and the panhandle of Texas are pretty scenic.
If San Francisco is the start point, head over to Tahoe. From Tahoe head northwest through Carson City, Marysville, CA, and over to Shasta City and I-5. Take I-5 up to Seattle, then head over toward southeast Washington and down through Idaho over to Yellowstone. From there head southeast to Denver and then through Colorado to New Mexico. Pick up I-40 at or east of Albuquerque. Head south to Dallas from I-40 with a possible stop at Jesse James' hideout in Oklahoma and then over to Baton Rouge and down to Louisiana and New Orleans. From there stick to the Gulf Coast and head to Florida. On the way back from Florida head over toward Jacksonville and hit the Amelia Island area. St. Mary's, Georgia would be nice as well. From there head north to Savannah and then northeast to Atlanta. From Atlanta head up to Tennessee and then west to Memphis (there's a road that cuts directly across the southern portion of the state). From Memphis hook back up to I-40, and then go through Arkansas and through Flagstaff, Arizona and then Las Vegas. From Las Vegas head south toward Los Angeles but then over to the coast and hit Highway 101 and ride that up to San Francisco.
Another loop that begins and ends in San Francisco would go north from San Francisco up towards Portland and/or Seattle, then east across Idaho/Montana, south into Wyoming, then east again to the Black Hills/Mt. Rushmore, through South Dakota - be sure to see Wall Drug and Badlands National Park - head for Chicago and cut south to Florida from there. Come back through New Orleans and Texas, and pick up the highway that follows old Route 66, since east to west is the best way to do Route 66. From old Route 66 in Texas, it's pretty much a straight shot to Los Angeles. It could be done in as little as two days if you did nothing but drive. There's some really cool stuff along the way that's worth seeing - historic66.com. Stop along the way to try the lamb stew at the Ranch Kitchen in Gallup, New Mexico and to stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. Maybe make a quick detour up to the Grand Canyon. Take the Pacific Coast Highway from L.A. to the San Francisco Bay to finish the trip.
Comments:
I've driven down a few chunks of Route 66 in Oklahoma. It wasn't mind-blowing, but the dusty little towns do have a unique look and atmosphere. Driving Texas from end to end is booooooring!
I can tell ya what road trips NOT to take. I'd highly advise against anything that goes through Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, etc. I really like following Route 66 along I-40, though I have only done the stretch that goes from Santa Fe, NM to Bakersfield, CA. You can often see old patches of Route 66 to the side. I do recommend stopping in Flagstaff. Pick up Navajo radio along the way.
I-80 travels from the east to the San Francisco Bay area, but there's not much to see through vast stretches of Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. Driving past the Great Salt Lake and across the Salt Flats is, in particular, an experience I do not recommend. It's not all bad, though. Not far from I-80 in Iowa is the "Field of Dreams" movie site (in Dyersville, on US 20), which is kinda cool. An hour-long detour from the interstate on Route 87 will take you to Alliance, Nebraska, home of Carhenge, a full-scale replica of Stonehenge made from old cars.
I-90 takes travelers west through South Dakota, which is a very worthy trip - Badlands National Park is amazing, as is Wall Drug in the nearby town of Wall. If you drive through the Badlands, there's a tiny little restaurant on the south side of the park (can't remember the name, but it's hard to miss) where they serve an Indian taco (standard taco ingredients served on frybread) that is wicked good. From there you can go on to Mount Rushmore and the in-progress Crazy Horse Monument. The Black Hills are beautiful and worth driving through. Stay on I-90 into Wyoming and you can visit Devil's Tower and imagine how life would have been different if aliens really did take Richard Dreyfuss away back in 1977.
Transportation - Road Trips in Eastern U.S. - Discussion and Suggestions
Starting from Boston, go north along the coast and return via inland routes in a big circle. In the summer there may be some crowds, and places like Bar Harbor, Maine and Ogunquit (although it's beautiful) are a little bit more crowded because they're closer to Massachusetts and are an easy day trip from there. Less touristy areas will not have as big crowds. Bar Harbor is also close to Arcadia National Park, a recommended stop. Boston is also five hours from Montreal, and from Maine you can drive through New Hampshire and Vermont. NH has the White Mountains, and VT has nature stuff on the way up to Montreal. Montreal would be a cool urban break from all the nature-lovey stuff so spend a couple of days there and then drive back down the coast of Maine. Maine has the advantage of the ocean, but there are some incredibly scenic drives through Vermont. The Canada-US border in VT is a really easy cross. Remember to bring your passport.
However, some people think New Hampshire and Vermont are sort of interchangeable and from Boston Vermont can easily be reached within a day so skip New Hampshire and spend a few days doing things in Vermont. Go up to Montreal (it is an hour and a half from Burlington, VT), and spend a couple days there. Then drive down to Boston through Maine. You can get the whole Green Mountains thing in VT, the big-city-Europe-lite-nightlife-thing in Montreal, and then the oceanside beauty of Maine. Driving down through Maine might be the most time-consuming part, and if you really prefer the ocean, you could easily return through Vermont.
Comments:
I do my road trips in the East; the scenery between the Midwest and New York is gorgeous. Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia are beautiful in the summer and fall. Some parts of Tennessee are frightening, but driving through the mist of the Smoky Mountains is really cool. Then North Carolina is kinda scrubby, but South Carolina is beautiful. I highly encourage using the back roads in South Carolina.
We spent our honeymoon on a New England road trip in the month of June, and we took another one several years later in July and loved both of them. It's been a long time since I've been there, but the countryside is beautiful. We didn't spend a lot of time in ME and didn't venture into Canada, but there's lots to see and do in the entire area. Our favorite part was the White Mountains in NH, and I have to disagree a bit about NH and VT being interchangeable. Maybe they're more so now, but we thought NH was more rugged, which we liked, and VT was a bit less so, although VT did have more of its own unique charm. Wherever you go, I think you'll enjoy it. We sure did.
My family traveled the coast of Maine when I was in high school. It was absolutely beautiful. Arcadia National Park is absolutely gorgeous. There's a spot where it's the first place where the sun hits the U.S. It's cool. I've spent a lot of time in Maine.
Transportation - Road Trips in Western U.S.
An idea for a summer (July and August) road trip is to fly in and out of San Francisco and make a circle through the west. From San Francisco, travel to Yosemite and over Tioga Pass (if making this trip before July, check to be sure Tioga Pass is open), then down the Owens Valley to the interstate and across to Las Vegas. From there travel into Utah for Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, then to Arizona for the Grand Canyon. Plan on driving from the Grand Canyon to Kingman, AZ in one day. That is about 250 miles, and Flagstaff is a town worth stopping in. It's in the mountains and will be cool in summer. Even Kingman is at something of an elevation and will be a little cooler than the Mojave Desert. The following day is your long-ass, get-it-done driving day. Leave Kingman around 4:30 - 5 in the morning (sunrise will be between 5:30 - 6 a.m.). The Mojave is absolutely spectacular at dawn, really wild and beautiful and staggeringly Not Hot. Cross the desert taking I-40 to Barstow, then take 58 west until just before Bakersfield where you turn off and take Route 233 west, crossing CA 99 at the junction with I-5. From there opt for speed over scenery and take I-5 north to CA 46 and on to Paso Robles. Spend the night in Paso Robles as opposed to continuing on to Cambria on the coast. It's bigger and has more food and lodging options. Also, the last part between Paso Robles and the coast will likely be a windy road that will be challenging with the sun full in your face (because it will be afternoon by then) and general tiredness. Then follow Route 46 west to Route 1, intersecting with the Pacific Coast Highway south of Cambria and up the coast.
An idea for a "Great American West Road Trip" starts and ends in Denver. These could be some of the stops:
CO - Rocky Mountain National Park
WY - Oregon Trail Ruts and Register Cliff near Guernsey
SD - Black Hills, Badlands National Park, Wall Drug
WY - Devil's Tower
MT - Little Bighorn Battlefield, continuing up to Billings in order to drive Route 212 over the Beartooth Pass and into Yellowstone National Park
WY - Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park
UT - Golden Spike National Historic Site, Salt Lake City, Bryce Canyon National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Zion Canyon National Park
AZ - Grand Canyon National Park (north and south rims)
UT - Monument Valley
Four Corners (UT, AZ, NM, CO)
CO - Mesa Verde National Park, Durango to Silverton over Route 550, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods, U.S. Air Force Academy, Denver
Comments:
A road trip that I am really looking forward to is one I call Great Parks of the American West via Secondary Roads. It'll be a mostly back roads trip to Glacier, Olympic, Yellowstone, and a few others - maybe the Grand Canyon, depending on how much time we have. I prefer to see as much undeveloped land as possible. Others find this boring.
Undeveloped land is great, a lot of the time. The undeveloped land I drove through in southern Wisconsin was beautiful, as were the broad stretches of forest in upstate New York and southern Ontario, the tunnel of greenery surrounding roads in North Carolina, and lots of other places. The Bonneville Salt Flats and miles and miles of Nevada scrub desert punctuated by signs saying "PRISON AREA - DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS" is not so great. I do like to see good scenery on a road trip - the Pacific Coast Highway is good for that - but the great thing about road trips is the opportunity to stop along the way and see bizarre and interesting things. I highly recommend roadsideamerica.com for a good guide to the weirdest crap in America.
One of my favorite pieces of art is at Denver International Airport on walls on either side of a broad corridor. It's entitled "America, Why I Love Her" and features two maps of the USA dotted with photographs of roadside attractions and oddities from around the nation. It's quite entertaining to stand and stare at for awhile - if you've got a long layover in Denver sometime, check it out.
Actually, I disagree, not necessarily with the Bonneville Salt Flats because I've not knowingly driven by them; however, I've been back and forth on I-80 several times and done some exploring on US 50 as well. I likes it a lot - no sign of humanity, not even billboards in many places.
I did some miles on I-40 from the Grand Canyon to the California border in April. The eastern part, I was not impressed with. The Navajo radio was pretty cool, as was taking a detour literally in Navajo country to check out the dinosaur tracks and fossils. The scenery was pretty awesome, but the locals were pretty aggressively seeking "donations" at the dinosaur site which was a bit of a bummer. Driving anywhere around Washington state is pretty interesting as well. The dry eastern part of the state is an amazing contrast to the rain forest on the west side.
Agreed re: Washington State, traveling east-west or west-east to get the contrasts of several types of scenery. The Coulee country in the east, caused by a giant flood when a lake burst, is interesting. The back of Oregon has some lovely drives and fascinating variations of scenery, such as in the John Day area. I also was very impressed with the forested hills and valleys on the road across northern California from Arcata to Redding; I expect that continues to be interesting as you go further east via Mt. Lassen.
Dudes, Highway 395 from Yosemite down through Death Valley is the most amazing stretch of road probably anywhere on earth.
I did the San Francisco to Monterey to San Luis Obispo trip via Routes 1 and 101. It was awesome. Driving around Sedona, Arizona is stunning as well.
San Luis Obispo is where I draw the line ... If you fly into Los Angeles, just head north and get the hell out of there. Go through Monterey to San Francisco on the 1 and 101. From SanFran head to Lake Tahoe and from there cut through northern California via Susanville and pop out onto I-5 near Shasta. Then head up I-5 to Eugene, over to Florence and up the Oregon coast into Washington. Work your way around Puget Sound and into Seattle and then head up to British Columbia. Then fly back to LA and don't leave the airport and then head home. Honorable mention for beauty has to go to northern Arizona/southern Utah/western New Mexico, aka Four Corners Area.
Just take the LONG road and ride Highway 1 all the way up the West Coast.
Routes 1 and 101 from southern California to San Francisco are awesome. I highly recommend them. Late September/early October is a lovely time for this, often with very little fog and good warm temperatures, unlike most of the rest of the year. The route from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon via Sedona and Flagstaff are excellent as well. You'd be surprised at how scenic it is.
Transportation - Trains
Amtrak
Comments:
I got an Amtrak from New York City to New Orleans about ten years ago. It was a bit of a nightmare from what I remember. I had a sleeper for the first part of the trip and then coach for the rest. I think I left Penn Station in the early evening and arrived in New Orleans the following night. I don't remember too much about it as I drank most of the way down to help with the boredom. What I do recall was that it was cramped, boring and noisy, and the rest of the carriage was filled with freaks. The only good thing about it was that I got to see some of the countryside and a lot of states I hadn't been in before, but I suppose if you are from the U.S., it might not have that novelty factor. Coming into New Orleans that evening across Lake Ponchartrain was quite spectacular, though, and nearly made up for the rest of it. I got back on after a few days, intending to go from New Orleans to Los Angeles, but I stuck it out about six hours and jumped off in Houston. I flew back to New York City.
I've gone from San Francisco to Massachusetts and from Massachusetts to Los Angeles on the train. I was in coach, which got uncomfortable and probably smelly at times, but I really enjoyed myself. West of Chicago, you can sit in the observation car and just watch amazing scenery pass before your eyes.
I actually had an Amtrak Pass for one month a few years ago. It got me from San Francisco to Savannah with many stops across the top of the U.S., some of Canada and down the East Coast. The western train going from San Diego to Seattle is freakin' beautiful and nice, as is the train on the north. The East Coast train wasn't as nice at it was really full.
I've done Carbondale-near to Milwaukee (through Chicago). That's the only time I've used Amtrak outside the northeast corridor.
I've been on Amtrak from Fresno, California to Seattle, Washington in just a regular passenger seat. It was long but a pretty ride. This was some years ago, though.
I've only been from Fredericksburg, VA to Boston, MA. It was hell. It was also the day before Thanksgiving. Ugh. It was hellishly crowded, and it took 12 hours. Driving takes 9 or less, and to fly it's an hour and some change. And then we found it would have been cheaper to fly ...
One time I was traveling with my mom, and we met people who taught us card games. Another time I just wandered the train like a ghost and enjoyed the solitude. In high school I also took the train from Seattle to San Francisco and had a little romantic encounter.
Rail travel from Washington, DC to New York is frequent, easy, and comfortable.
Advice: bring your own food and drink. Have a flask for the occasional cheap buzz when needed, and be prepared to chill. Having your own food will save you a shitload of money.
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General