US Roadtrip suggestion/Advice!

[sat1983]

We'd love to go on a road trip in the US- but trying to work out what it would cost us.

We're not looking to stay in any fancy hotels or anything but would like to go for around 3 weeks.

Either West or East coast- what should be budget for car hire/food/hotels etc?

We spent nearly £5k last year to stay in San Fran/Chicago and that was nothing fancy, surely this road trip can be done for less?

[sat1983]

K50 DEL said:

I do a 3 week road trip around the USA every 2 years, picking a different start point each time (always circular routes to save one-way flight pricing)

2014 - http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.ph...

2012 - http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.ph...

2010 - http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.ph...

2008 - http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.ph...

As a guide, this year:

5,500 miles driven
$744 fuel
$600 car hire (Hyundai Tucson)
$79 per night average hotel cost - this varies wildly, obviously a night in New York will cost way more, some places $50 gets you a decent place.
$35 per day budget for food - we did breakfast at the hotel, lunch was a picnic created with things bought from Walmart, dinner was in a restaurant on the way to the night stop - no alcohol obviously.
$100 per day sightseeing - we cram a lot into our days so there's a fair amount of entrance fees etc, if you're more relaxed then this cost will be less.
$100 per day incidentals, this covered souvenirs and anything else

Excellent! Looking forward to reading your blogs! Love that sort of thing! We're thinking of booking this:

http://www.theamericanroadtripcompany.co.uk/roadtr...

Does it seem reasonable value for money?

[sat1983]

Rich_AR said:

I did one earlier this year on a motorbike. Chicago to San Francisco, circa 4500 miles. Lots of fun, winging the hotels and finding amazing roads. Loved every minute of it.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...


Fuel is cheap (even more so on a bike), so didn't even think about that.
Hotels: I budgeted around $100-$130. Some were cheaper, so more expensive.
Bike rental was $2.5+ (not cheap) for 22 days
Food and stuff: $100 per day (spent alot less at times)

Edited by Rich_AR on Monday 3rd November 04:54

Those pictures looks amazing! We thought about just planning our own trip but very often I find it just ends up costing more? Would like a nice rental car though don't get me wrong!