Discussion
Has anyone here done a trip across the USA, from west to east, in an RV? Have you got any suggestions for places to book from?
I'm looking to take one from LA/San Diego to the east coast in June, and it's proving a bit of a challenge to find many places that'll do it all, let alone for a good price!
I'm looking to take one from LA/San Diego to the east coast in June, and it's proving a bit of a challenge to find many places that'll do it all, let alone for a good price!
Much will depend on what size RV you want and how many days you want to do it in. San Diego to New York is around 2800 miles and you don't want to be driving all the time so I would personally want at least three weeks to do it in. Most of the bigger companies should let you pick up and drop off in different locations but you may pay an extra fee for this. Have a look at www.usarvrentals.com for a quick idea of cost. It would definately be worth going for an unlimited mileage deal. Whilst fuel is cheaper in the US those RVs are heavy things and get rubbish mpg.
Hi there
Haven't done the cross country trip yet but plan too when we retire (3-4 month trip to all mainland states) but have RV'd in some Southern States (Florida - Georgia - S Carolina - Alabama).
The trick is to
- Do your research: I joined an on line RV forum based in the US and got loads of tips, hints etc. It is massive business out there with tons of people who live in them year round.
- Do your research regarding campsites/costs/facilities etc. I pre booked all our sites on the trip and didn't really have a bad one. Most sites I looked at did not have restaurants etc on them so make sure to take a BBQ or else drive out somewhere at night. We either had a large lunch (not difficult in the US) or BBQ'd. Oh...none of our sites had a bar either
so make sure to stock up on beer 
- Do your research on any sites that you select. There are some real good feedback consumer websites on the net (similar to Tripadvisor.com etc etc) that will help you decide on whether sites libve up to their billing or not.
- There is a 'bible' containing all the campsites in the US (well, most of them anyway) which is well worth buying. I cannot for the life of me remember its name now (I will update this thread if I do). It was well worth it as you could see what they publish and also keep it with you in case of emergencies (if you cannot get to your preferred location) or if you are winging it.
- Explore wireless internet connectivity if you are winging it so you can check out campsites.
- When working out your route/sites you may find it is worth joining one of the discount clubs for sites that exist in the US. Research the net and you should find them (one was called Good Sams I think...). These may be worth joining so that you get discounts on site prices/facilities etc. On a 2-3 week trip they should pay for themselves and some.
- There is a big outfit called KOA which tend to be over priced so be careful of them. It would be dead easy just to book loads of their sites but they are a little 'plastic' and do not offer any better facilities than any other.
We had a GREAT time and LOVED it. The place is tooled up for RV's. We had a 31 footer with 2 x slideout compartments...and this was just for the 3 of us!
I would always suggest going slightly larger than you want/need as we found that the price wasn't much different and the comfort was well worth it given how much time you spend in the thing. I didnt have any issues driving around in the thing as their roads are so wide compared to here. Where we went to a city (like Savannah, for example) we drove to a tour place and parked up and then used the tourbus to get around which saved worrying about driving/parking a large vehicle in city centres.
Feel free to drop me a PM if I can be of any help.
Cheers
Graham
Haven't done the cross country trip yet but plan too when we retire (3-4 month trip to all mainland states) but have RV'd in some Southern States (Florida - Georgia - S Carolina - Alabama).
The trick is to
- Do your research: I joined an on line RV forum based in the US and got loads of tips, hints etc. It is massive business out there with tons of people who live in them year round.
- Do your research regarding campsites/costs/facilities etc. I pre booked all our sites on the trip and didn't really have a bad one. Most sites I looked at did not have restaurants etc on them so make sure to take a BBQ or else drive out somewhere at night. We either had a large lunch (not difficult in the US) or BBQ'd. Oh...none of our sites had a bar either
so make sure to stock up on beer - Do your research on any sites that you select. There are some real good feedback consumer websites on the net (similar to Tripadvisor.com etc etc) that will help you decide on whether sites libve up to their billing or not.
- There is a 'bible' containing all the campsites in the US (well, most of them anyway) which is well worth buying. I cannot for the life of me remember its name now (I will update this thread if I do). It was well worth it as you could see what they publish and also keep it with you in case of emergencies (if you cannot get to your preferred location) or if you are winging it.
- Explore wireless internet connectivity if you are winging it so you can check out campsites.
- When working out your route/sites you may find it is worth joining one of the discount clubs for sites that exist in the US. Research the net and you should find them (one was called Good Sams I think...). These may be worth joining so that you get discounts on site prices/facilities etc. On a 2-3 week trip they should pay for themselves and some.
- There is a big outfit called KOA which tend to be over priced so be careful of them. It would be dead easy just to book loads of their sites but they are a little 'plastic' and do not offer any better facilities than any other.
We had a GREAT time and LOVED it. The place is tooled up for RV's. We had a 31 footer with 2 x slideout compartments...and this was just for the 3 of us!
I would always suggest going slightly larger than you want/need as we found that the price wasn't much different and the comfort was well worth it given how much time you spend in the thing. I didnt have any issues driving around in the thing as their roads are so wide compared to here. Where we went to a city (like Savannah, for example) we drove to a tour place and parked up and then used the tourbus to get around which saved worrying about driving/parking a large vehicle in city centres.
Feel free to drop me a PM if I can be of any help.
Cheers
Graham
Thanks for the responses. Sadly this isn't for a holiday (as such), although the advice is still useful as it's something I'd like to do at some point in the future anyway!
This just for a bicycle race, where the RV will be almost constantly on the move for a 7-day period with various people passed out and eating in it!
Do you know of any sites where there might be people willing to rent their own RVs out for the trip? (maybe they'd want to do their own one-way journey, only the other way!)
So far, we've only managed to find one place that is actually willing to give us a quote at all.
This just for a bicycle race, where the RV will be almost constantly on the move for a 7-day period with various people passed out and eating in it!
Do you know of any sites where there might be people willing to rent their own RVs out for the trip? (maybe they'd want to do their own one-way journey, only the other way!)
So far, we've only managed to find one place that is actually willing to give us a quote at all.
We did this trip in 12 days as a boys 50th holiday from Phoenix Arizona to Charleston South Carolina, fell out of one bar at night and woke up in a different golf course in the morning, expensive but was the holiday of a lifetime. www.nitelinergolftours.com
Try www.fetchrvrental.com its an agent that specialises in International visitors. Problem you have is the mileage and one way charges, they will double the cost of the rental.
Another option is http://www.moturis.com/oneway.cfm they do special deals for moving their rigs from site to site. Providing they have one going in the approximate direction you want then you can do it for as little as $300 inc mileage charges. You wont see offers for June for the next few weeks however.
Another option is http://www.moturis.com/oneway.cfm they do special deals for moving their rigs from site to site. Providing they have one going in the approximate direction you want then you can do it for as little as $300 inc mileage charges. You wont see offers for June for the next few weeks however.
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