Going to the USA...travel advice :-)

October and November me and my GF is planning a trip to the USA. The duration of the trip is going to be around 45 days. So far we're planning on doing a cross-country journey, something like this (very rough):

New York
Niagara Falls
(Chicago/Detroit)
St Louis
Route 66'ish, covering among other things:
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas
Ending in Los Angeles

Do you have any suggestions on what would be best to use for transport? It shouldn't be too expensive. So far we're thinking about getting Greyhound discovery passes.

What things along that (rough) route do you think we should see? (none of us has ever been to the US before, we're both from Denmark).

How is that route covered by hostels, motels and hotels (in general)?

Take a tour of the sears tower in Chicago
If you go through Cincinnati, eat skyline chili!
In Pheonix AZ, if you like arcades, go to the Pheonix mall and go to gameworks! You buy points to use on games and a swipe card so ur paying barely anything for a couple hours of phone.
Las Vegas, go through at night on the strip!

Thats my recommendations

Welcome to the good ole US of A!



America is really, really BIG. It's beautiful. I would suggest a different itinerary, personally. My highlights of America are:

Miami, Florida. Stay in the Youth Hostel in South Beach. Swim in the crystal blue waters. Watch the sexy people on Ocean Drive at an outdoor cafe. Enjoy the delicious spicy Latin foods.

New York City--hang out in Greenwich Village, SoHo, GREAT art museums, wonderful cuisine (though very expensive). Times Square at night.

I think the most beautiful states are probably the Florida coast line (either side, the sand on the west coast is soft and white as sugar and the water is clear turquoise blue.)

North Carolina coast line at Outer Banks is remarkable as well--beautiful deep blue water, wildlife (wild horses) and fresh air, lots of history (Pirates, Lost Colony, etc.)

Colorado and Montana are REALLY beautiful states. I have heard that Denver/Boulder areas are like heaven on earth. They look a bit like the Garden of Eden.

Southwest: Painted desert. So beautiful, surely walk the Las Vegas strip and see the free shows,

In New Mexico I highly recommend the White Sands National Park (Monument?) It's dunes of sand white as snow. Remarkable. Sedona, Arizona, the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park (?) Utah is beautiful, too.

As for California, I personally HATE Los Angeles. It's a huge, enormous area full of weirdos. Not nice weirdos like me--drug addict, hookers, con artists, etc. Hollywood Boulevard, Mann's Chinese Theatre, the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum are fun. I highly recommend the Ivy in Beverly Hills (very expensive, many stars and celebrities of all stripes go there.) Go to Rodeo Drive in Bev Hills but just to window shop and see the celebs. I also really like Venice Beach for the freak show and fun, and Melrose boutiques for buying cool clothes and stuff.

If you want to see natural beauty in Californa, I highly recommend driving up the coast line to Big Sur and Santa Cruz area. There is a world famous aquarium up there called the Monterey Aquarium. And San Francisco is also a premier US city with all kinds of international people and great food, great things to see (Ride the cable car and the world's most zig zagging street.).

I also am very partial to Oregon and Washington state. Seattle is so amazingly fun! Exciting place and lots of natural beauty--pine forests and Sequoia trees.

Also, I do NOT recommend Amtrak. They are HORRIBLE. Just Google search Amtrak reviews bad customer service and see what kind of letters come up. They have been bailed out again and again by our government because the union is so strong that the employees are incredibly RUDE to customers!

(I took a train ride from New Orleans, LA to DC and it was the ride from HELL. Surly employees, dirty, cramped sleeping car, etc. NOT worth the almost $1,000 us!)

If I were you I would rent a car with unlimited miles (mid to full size car) so that you can pull over whenever you see something interesting and stretch your legs. To my knowledge, in America, the Greyhound buses are usually used by 'lower income' people which may not be safe to sleep...don't know for sure. Look up reviews.

Oh yes, one more possibility I've heard of is hippie bus called The Green Turtle. Google it, it's a cross country sleeping bus with friendly people. I had one friend who did it and said it was super fun.

Enjoy America!

Thanks guys for all the nice feedback. Could be quite interesting to see lonelylifers, but then again we're two and I'm not sure what my GF thinks of the idea. Also it would take some time and dedication to arrange it. We like to travel with only a rather minimal planning ahead and with only rather few "must see"'s. The "must see"'s are really the things we are trying to determine now. Plus a strategy as far as motels, motels etc. and a method of transportation.

Can I ask, what kind of prices does motels and hotels have in the USA? (I know this probably will vary a lot depending on location)

Hi Bjarne,

I think the Youth Hostels are a good bet for big cities---BUT you have to reserve a space WELL in advance in areas such as NYC and Los Angeles and Miami--because they are so cheap and affordable to international travelers.

One 'affordable' chain of hotels I do highly recommend is 'Quality Inn' (Similar to Sleep Inn and Quality Inn and Suites, they are part of a chain).

They are usually very affordable. Clean, quiet. The average hotel room would be about 89$ US plus taxes, so approximately $100 per night for an affordable room, NOT including breakfast.

Hostels vary--check the American Youth Hostels site on Google---I paid about $20 for a dormitory style room in Miami, but once traveled with my boyfriend and paid about $45 for a private room in Miami.

Again, I just want to reiterate the importance of a rental car. Do you drive on the left or the right in Denmark? We drive on the right, so it might be a pain for you to feel comfortable. But driving through Route 66, there IS no other real, classic way to see that area. The advantages are numerous--in a bus you may see fascinating stuff and just pass right on by for the sake of time schedules.

A few other 'affordable' hotel chains that are DECENT is: "Red Roof Inn."--I've stayed at several--and they were usually clean and very reasonably priced.

I DO NOT recommend the Super 8 hotel--they can be terrible! We also have affordable chains such as Howard Johnson and a few others.

Oh, yes, I totally think it would be a GREAT idea to see a few of the sites with Lonely Lifers! It's more of an intercultural exchange that way--when you have locals show you around their cities, they show you the most wonderful hidden gems that are hard to find on your own, also they keep you safe and 'unlost'! Hope you and your gf meet many wonderful friends in the US through this site!

Welcome to America! Lonelygirl has alot of great suggestions the most paramount being the rental car. We do have nice tour buses but they are not run by grey hound and they are very scheduled and you would likely have to sign up for quite a few different ones for trip you are looking for. If you did come down the eastern sea board to get to route 66 you could stop off in the capital and hit the outer banks in NC as LG suggested. I'm not sure if you are interested in these types of things but kitty hawk is there and that was the location of the wright bros. first flight besides it a great very relaxing place. What type of interest do you two share? There is tons to see and knowing what you like to do would really help.

Don't overlook Kansas !

Hi Bjarne,

Achpoques ideas, along the trail you're heading are good ones. Take a couple days in Chicago for the aquarium, etc. LG is right about the rental car. In the long run, it will even be cheaper, but do get the insurance they offer. I'm going to disagree with the hostel portion, especially the Miami one (not that you're going in that direction). I stayed there, worst time, and scary. Not worth the potential stress. Hotel rates will vary depending on the state and city you're staying in. They will be generally cheap in October, but will go back up in November with the leaf-changing season starting. When planning for the cost of the hotel, plan on the high end, but don't be surprised when it's lower. When you enter each state, you'll see the welcome center/rest area. Often there are hotel coupon books available which you can use as you travel, with good direction maps. I'll also highly recommend stopping at some of the Indian reservations as you travel the route you're going. Granted, there are many touristy areas of the reservations, but so much more.