USA travel advice...

[Blue Oval84]

Need your advice guys, I'm in the very fortunate position of having enough hhonors points available to spend several nights in pretty much any Hilton hotel or resort that takes my fancy. So, with that in mind, I'd like to do an awesome American holiday that I would never normally consider or be able to afford.

I'll only get one shot at booking this trip as I'll never have points to use in this sort of quantity ever again I reckon!

I'd like the advice of any PH'ers who have travelled the states a little more extensively than me, my initial thoughts are-

Start off at one of the resort hotels in Orlando for three or four days, take in the theme parks, some of the sights, then hit the road in a nice rental (have ALWAYS wanted to drive a Camaro since the moment I clapped eyes on it) and drive up to NYC where I could dump the rental, spend three or four days taking in the sights and then fly home. The obvious question that this raises is where the hell do I do an overnight stay between FL and NYC? Is there anything in that 1000 miles worth stopping for?

I'm sure someone on here can think of a better way o do it, I'm open to any advice as I'll be gutted if I book a poor itinerary

Alternatively, what's the west coast like? Should I be thinking of doing California instead? I have always fancied seeing San Francisco, the wine country may be worth a look too...

Any advice appreciated

[Grenoble]

California from SF as a base.

Or Seattle and Vancouver in the summer.

Florida is a dump.

[Nickyboy]

The only Camaro worth renting is the SS from the Hertz Adrenaline collection but you cant do one way rentals, at least not from Florida to NYC

As for stops along the way, Charleston SC is defo worth a visit, drop in and get a viewing of my old boys place while its for sale. Also DC for a couple of days i would recommend.

[davepoth]

Don't bother with Florida IMO. As has been said, California/Nevada sounds about ideal if you want the real "American" experience. SF-LA-LV-SF and fly home, avoiding pesky one way rental charges.

Driving up the east coast can feel a bit like driving a really long version of the M1 at times.

[Blue Oval84]

Hmm, well I have done NYC before I suppose so maybe I will investigate the East Coast a little more thoroughly, will report back with my latest planned excursion. I'm properly excited about the thoughts of booking this, although haven't even figured out who to take yet lol

[surveyor]

We've just done NYC and gone on to Florida. Tried to make it a road trip , but the one way rental cost vs the cost of flights really did make it a no-brainer.

If your doing Florida (I would but I love it here) the Doubletree by Hilton at Seaworld is pretty pleasant and within walking distance of that park, I-drive is a short hop etc.

Hilton Clearwater Beach resort is OK - but not really special.

[steveatesh]

Perhaps your starting point should be to decide what do you want most from the holiday - visiting typical tourist haunts, off the beaten track ( but avoiding wrong turn country) or a bit if a mix. Some friends of ours went out to Vegas, stayed a couple nights in hotels then took a nice hire car up to Yellowstone national park, saw the Grand Canyon and the sky walk or whatever it's called, saw a grizzly bear or two, and had a generally amazing time. Didn't see anybody running around with chain saws which was a bonus of course.

Just something else to add to your thoughts, but hey, what a great problem to have!

[LooneyTunes]

davepoth said:

avoiding pesky one way rental charges.

It's well worth checking these out against actual itineraries - a lot of my rentals in the US have been one ways (major rental hub --> major rental hub) and there's often been little, if any, one way charge.

This has been for more mundane motors though, where there fleet probably self-balances somewhat.

[steveo3002]

yeah orlando isnt the real america

could do a big loop around cali /nevada and drop the car back at the same place to save on fee's

Edited by steveo3002 on Thursday 21st March 11:32

[LuS1fer]

From Florida, you could go north 750 miles and visit the Corvette museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky via Nashville. Never done it mind....

[Matt Harper]

Allow me to chip in my two'penneth on this. I live in Central Florida and would like to correct a couple of inaccuracies. To say that "Florida is a dump" is like stating that "England is full of Cockneys". Similarly, "Orlando isn't real America" - that should read, "The attractions area around Kissimmee that is full of British tourists, isn't real America".

Consider this suggestion, which I've done, albeit a couple of years ago.
Orlando - Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach - St Augistine
St Augustine - Jacksonville (don't stop in Jax)
Jacksonville via I-10 and I-75 - Atlanta
Stay in Buckhead (north ATL)
Buckhead GA - Knoxville TN (if time available seek out The Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap - USA's most awesome road)
Knoxville NW toward Virginia via The Blue Ridge Parkway/Appalachian Trail
Take your pick of DC, Philadelphia (careful here) or Chesapeake Bay
Then on to NYC via Allentown PA.

This route gives you a little bit of almost everything. Theme parks of Orlando (if that's your gig), Atlantic coast to one of the most beautiful and oldest settlements in the country (St Aug), the vibrancy (and traffic!) of ATL, with the safety and full-on party that is Buckhead. Tennessee is hokey but beautiful and the Blue Ridge Mountains are gorgeous if you avoid winter. You also get to see the nation's Capital and the grit of industrial PA, before winding up in Manhattan.

West coast is great too - but Las Vegas really is a dump. Sonoma and Nappa are wonderful (for a couple of days), the Grand Canyon, majestic - but essentially a very big hole in the desert and the PCH is a road by the sea, which is lovely, but relatively unchanging. West coast will also cost you twice as much in points and cash.

Regarding your rental - as stated anything unusual or premium will be either horribly expensive or not possible to rent one way. Current 6 cyl Camaros and Mustangs have 300+hp and are comfortable (for a couple) and affordable.

[Grenoble]

SF
Napa/Sonoma
Out to Tahoe
Yosemite
Across to the coast
Carmel
Santa Barbera
Santa Cruz
Big Sur/Point Lobos
Monterey
(I forget the exact order of the last few)
SF

Vegas: hole
LA: hole, thought the beaches can be fun for a day

[so called]

Check out Homewoods Suites by Hilton.
Nice places to stay.

[Blue Oval84]

Guys thanks so much for the suggestions.

I've put two draft routes together, although I should add that the fly-drive idea is still in competition with a week lying on the beach in Mauritius (yes I know I need to figure out what the hell I want to do!)

West Coast
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=San+Francisco...

East Coast
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Orlando,+FL,+...

To be honest, East Coast is probably my preferred option for cost reasons but am continuing to dig!

[davepoth]

What's the cost difference going to be? Only a couple of hundred I bet, and I think the holiday would be worse. Your route in the East takes you through a lot of not very much IMO. The road from Knoxville to NY especially is very dull, and there's about 11 hours of it. Unless there are a lot of things you want to see on the way it's not much of a holiday.

[Rollin]

I've driven from New York to New Orleans before. Stayed in small towns in Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana as well as the more obvious cities in those states. There was plenty to see and do, although for us (as a group of early 20s blokes) it was mainly a 2 week piss up ending at Mardi Gras. Met some great people and some proper crazies but that's the whole point for me. I've also done a fair few trips around Florida and wouldn't describe it as a dump at all. I wouldn't set foot in a theme park though.

[sooperscoop]

Blue Oval84 said:

West Coast
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=San+Francisco...

To be honest, East Coast is probably my preferred option for cost reasons but am continuing to dig!

West Coast over East, every time. Although your route uses the wrong road, you need to travel up the coast on route 1, not 101.

[GavinPearson]

I have been to both Disney World (FL) & Disneyland (CA) in the past 2 years.

Orlando FL has fantastic weather all year round and for a family with kids who like theme parks it's an unbeatable place to have a holiday. A short drive takes you to Kennedy Space Center, you can go to Daytona, down to Miami & the Keys over to Tampa - it's a great place to go in the winter.

Personally I would pick California to visit instead. San Francisco is very nice, the National Parks Yosemite & Sequoia are very scenic, San Diego is lovely, Lake Tahoe has fantastic skiing, and my experience of
Disneyland is that it basically has the best bits of Disney World jammed into two sites - California Adventure & Disneyland.

If you are going out that way I would seriously consider going to the Grand Canyon.

Think of it this way, while America doesn't really have a lot of history, it has more than enough Geography to make up for any perceived shortcomings.

[ChrisBMW]

It depends what you want out of the holiday, if you want good driving and scenery then I would agree the west coast is where you should head. However I disagree with Florida being classed as a dump, my family and I have been going there every year for the past 11 years and have never had a bad holiday quite the opposite as its probably our favourite holiday destination and if theme parks are your thing there is nowhere better, their counterparts in California are just not the same.

[ViperDave]

sooperscoop said:

Blue Oval84 said:

West Coast
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=San+Francisco...

To be honest, East Coast is probably my preferred option for cost reasons but am continuing to dig!

West Coast over East, every time. Although your route uses the wrong road, you need to travel up the coast on route 1, not 101.

I'd also suggest from Tahoe you go south on 395 and through Yosemite, Probably take an extra day or two but much nicer route. Whilst the I5 is good for getting north south quickly i cant recall enjoying using either the I5 or 99 in central ca, its boring flat fields of raisins and the sun is constantly in your eyes or roasting you through the window, and its not much better in the rain either.