Hello Andreas,

that shouldn't be a problem. Sounds like an amazing trip. Let me work on a route for you. Meanwhile check out this post, where I already summarized some route planning tools that I usually use. Always a good read regarding this subject: road trip

Are you more of a city slicker or a nature lover? There are many possibilities for routes ranging from detours through some of the most spectacular Canadian landscapes and cities to the charming southern US states.

What are your preferences, what are you hoping to see and how comfortable are you driving long distances? Are you looking for budget options and ways to save money?

Andre

Travel Photos 

since im planing to visit some convention in las vegas later this year and i dont wanna take any domestic flights to see a bit from the country, here a few questions from me as well:
- how much should i plan per day for accomodation whats the average overnight rate for hostels, motels or b&b?
- food: whats the healty on-the-go choice except 'subway'?
- transport options: why is everyone so scared about overland buses? :)
used them in australia and new zealand, and didnt find it to bad. i really like very long tours, you get to know the other people in the bus, can play cards, share your travel experience or just read a book. or what about trains? how much would it cost for a trip from la or sf to vegas? im aware of the fact that the plane is faster, but im not in a hurry, and i hate all those paranoid security guys always at the airport...

Road trips and carpools!

Accomodation: Nobody stays in a motel or bb in Vegas. You can get awesome deals on the big casino hotels when you stay away from the peak travel season, holidays and weekends. I found good prices in the Flamingo, Harrahs, Paris and Bayleys. Those are not the classiest, but they are right where the action is and each of them was good. The Flamingo's had a dirty bathroom, so I'd give the others my preference. I like the buffet in Harrahs, but you can walk there from any of the others.

Food: You cannot go wrong with Thai. Americans love Thai food. You can get it everywhere. I also like Unamas and Baja Fresh. Its fresh and non-processed but can be heavy (calories). Other good Sandwich Chains are: Erics Deli, Quiznoz (famous for their toasted subs) and Togos (I don't like them too much). When I am on the road, I simply get french rolls in a Safeway, some Salami, Cheese and Cucumber and make my own sandwiches. Beats Burgers any time.

Maybe people are scared of busses since only people who cannot afford a car take them in this country. And since car driving is cheap, that probably means a certain type.

Don't know what it would cost with the train, but Caltrain should have a online presence where you can figure this out quite nicely.

A. 

Hello Andreas,

do you know which route you prefer? North or South

Also I think you should consider a third option. One way car rentals are usually quite a bit more expensive than round trips and flights to and from two different destinations also cost more. If you want to see both coasts, you could book a round trip to New York from your home town and a round trip from New York to California. Then you could:

Fly to New York -> Connect to San Francisco -> Road Trip in California -> Fly back to New York -> Road trip in New York, New England and Eastern Canada. Its a heck of a trip and you could easily do it in three weeks. Plus you don't have to drive through the central states. 

Let me know if you like this option and we can work out some trips for you. I live in California and have done many trips here and I have made two road trips back east. 

If you are hellbent on riding coast to coast, you can look at these options:

1.  New York, NY -> New Haven, CT -> Boston, MA -> Quebec, QC -> Montreal, QC -> Ottawa, ON -> Toronto, ON -> Niagara Falls -> Chicaco, IL -> Drive or Fly through Iowa and South Dakota quickly -> Wyoming (Yellowstone NP) -> Idaho (Boise and Craters of the Moon National Monument) -> Oregon (John Day Fossil Beds) -> Washington (Seattle, Redmond Microsoft) -> Oregon (Portland, Coast, Crater Lake) -> California: Shasta, Lassen Volcanic NP, Tahoe, Mono Lake, Bodie, Tioga Pass through Yosemite into San Francisco. 

In August I would prefer the northern route, since the south can be excruciatingly hot. Nevertheless, if you insist going south:

2. New YOrk, NY ->  Philadelphia, PA -> Baltimore, MD -> Washington, DC -> Great Smoky Mountains, TN -> Atlanta, GA -> Panama City, FL -> New Orleans, LA -> Baton Rouge, LA -> Port Arthur, LA -> Houston, TX -> San Antonio, TX -> Big Bend NP, TX (Don't stay in El Paso, I made that mistake once) ->

Now you have the choice going north or West:

2a: From Big Bend go to Albuquerque, NM and see White Sands NM (awesome strange place near a missile test site) and Bandelier National Monument (cool park). If you can make your way through Chaco Canyon you are in luck, but it requires some dirt road driving. Nevertheless may be worth seing the former capital of the Anasazi Indians which dominated North America for a long time:

Then go to Canyon de Chelly and Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and Los Angles

2b: If you go west you can take the southern route, see Saguaro NP (rather boring), Tombstone (made famous by the western movie) a real Titan 2 Tactical Nuclear Missile Site, the only one still in existence and now open to the public and the nearby museum. (not kidding, follow the link to see photos from my visit).

Anyways, we need some more information to hone in on specifics.

Andre

Travel Photographer 

Hi and thanks for the amazing info! Your idea of combining driving-flying-driving through the trip sounds very interesting.

We do prefer small towns / two lane highways / beautiful landscapes. Of course a couple of great cities like san francisco, vegas, etc are a must see too. Driving long but interesting (if possible) distances is not an issue. The heat issue is on our minds and any way to avoid too high temperatures during the trip is useful. Our budget is within certain limits but since its a dream trip come true we will spend for a worthy experience.   

So, until now the only certain part of the trip are the round trip tickets Athens-NY-Athens departing on the 1-Aug and returning on the 30-Aug.

As for the North or South, or coast to coast options, even though I don't consider myself a "cliche" tourist I would like to go coast to coast and the initial idea was to follow a rather diagonal route from NY to LA. However, I now see that the most important thing is to fill our 30 days with as much fun, experiences and views as possible without being too strict about the exact way to do it. So, coast to coast yes, but north or south doesn't really matter as long as we're at JFK on the 30th to catch our plane back!

I read your netbook article and can't agree more on its necessity. What about internet? Do I relly on the various wi-fi hotspots along the way, or should I get somekind of prepaid card? Which do you suggest? I also have gps (destinator with USA maps) on my PDA. Do you think it'll help or would it suggest different (faster but less interesting) ways to the various destinations?

On the mobile phone issue, I don't think I should use my Greek sim card for my calls in the US! What should I get, which company has a good national coverage?

I hope I did not ask too much, thank you for the great help

P.S. Do you thing the swine flu thingy should worry us?   

I guess we could swap locations for a while. I wouldn't mind spending my holidays in Greece. Maybe you can help me out with that later :D

Most central states get amazingly hot in the summer. I think in California we have the most pleasant weather. Even Washington DC can feel like a swamp in August with high humidity and hot temperatures. The East gets very hot in summer and very cold in winter. Louisianna, Texas and Arizona are no walk in the park either. The most pleasant weather will be near the coasts. Cars and Hotel rooms will be air conditioned, but long hikes may be hard on you. 

When you actually do go hiking, you should stay on the trails as much as possible to avoid encounters with rattlesnakes and other critters. We also have mountain lions (pumas) almost everywhere in California and Brown Bears. (A powerful pepper spray is the best defense). Many tourists from Europe (myself included some time ago) are completely oblivous to this, since Europeans are not used to this much wildlife. Each park will have current information at the headquarters / visitor center / ranger station. Always take twice as much water as you think you need and avoid the Deserts (I think the record in Death Valley is 140 degrees, in August you can probably expect 110-120). Watch your temperature gauge. You may need to turn off the AC to prevent the car from overheating when you go uphill.

I think you should compare the cost of driving one way vs. two trips and let me know which option you like best. Then we can put together an itinary. I believe as citizen of any country in the EU you won't need a visa to enter Canada. Most Rental Car agencies are o.k. with this, but not all. Make sure you check if you plan this. Also all rental car agencies won't allow you to drive on "unmaintained" roads and some wont even allow unpaved. That is the case, even when you rent a SUV. You can take your chances, but they may track you with a GPS or you can simply rent a fuel efficient smaller car. Hertz currently has good rates on a Toyata Prius Hybrid which could be fun.

Internet: Almost all of the hotels/motels have internet. Cheaper chains (Best Western, La Quinta, Motel6 ...) mostly have free interent, with more expensive Hotels (Holiday Inn, Clarion) its mostly hit and miss (some require pay) and expensive hotels usually charge. An exception is Las Vegas where Internet access always costs. You can also buy wifi access by the hour at Starbucks AT&T Hotspot (which you will find everywhere), Borders has T-Mobile Hotspot (Bookstore), Barnes and Noble (Bookstore). McDonalds and other restaurants also started offering Wifi. I think you should be able to buy access for a few dollars if you cannot find it free. I usually book hotel rooms for the next leg of my trip from a previous hotel. If I find out they have no Internet, I usually google for free hotspots nearby.

Telephone: Just buy $20 worth of Skype Out (www.skype.com) and use from your laptop or iPhone (via wifi). Try it before you leave to make sure it works. You can call Europe for a good rate too. For emergencies use your Greek Cellphone or buy a Go-phone (prepaid). Don't count on good reception everywhere, especially when you drive through desolate areas. Make sure you fill the tank and check the tires before you leave civilization.

Maps: Most gas station / Travel Centers have a United States Atlas for around $10. It's great to plan trips. I would plan the first leg on Goolge Maps and print it out and from then on go by Atlas. You only need a GPS in cities, since overland trips will mostly follow the only road available within a great distance ;-). I usually use a Garmin eTrex for hiking, loaded with topographic maps that you can find for free here:   The eTrex keeps exact track logs wherever I go and when I am back home I can load them into Google Earth. If I sync the time of the GPS with my camera, I can even geotag my photographs and show them on the map. Thats mostly for fun though. 

Swine Flu: I haven't seen a sick person. The media is exagerating, considering that it is no more deadly than a normal flu.  

Andre 

Whenever you decide to holiday in  Greece, ask away!

On the subject of driving one way vs. two trips, I'm leaning towards the driving one way option, as long as we manage to fill our 30 days with as much as possible.

I'll agree with you on the heat problem so let's design an itinerary with mostly northern and maybe few central waypoints before arriving to your beloved California which we really look forward to visiting and spending some days there. I already have a USA - CANADA - MEXICO road atlas so it will be easy to plan ahead

Lastly, which do you think should be our end city from which we'll fly back to NY?

Thanks again

P.S. You got me thinking with all the wildlife you mentioned... where can we find the pepper spray and antidote for snake bites?

Let me think about a nice route. I think 1. of my initial response could be nice, but needs lots more detail. 

If I were you, I would simply check if flights from L.A. or from San Francisco are cheaper. I would almost bet on L.A.

You can get the pepper spray in most outdoor shops (like REI or Bass Pro Shops). They may have different names back east. You cannot buy antivenom. I think it needs to be refrigerated and is made from real venom, so its very expensive. It needs to be administered by professionals.

If you use common sense, the chance of getting bitten is virtually nil and if it happens, don't panic and let someone drive you to a hospital. Take a photo of the snake, don't kill it. 

For mountain lions, you usually have to make yourself look tall (hold your backpack above your head and lift children up from the ground). Bears usually mind themselves in summer (plenty of food for them), but tourists sometimes get excited, approach the bear and spook the animal.

If you camp outside, store your food in bear proof containers at least a few hundred yards away from your tent and your car. Bears have ripped open cars to get to food while people were out hiking.

Andre

P.S.: Thanks for offering information on Greece! 

Make sure to visit the Utah national parks.  They've got some of the best hiking.  As far as thirty days being to much.  It all depends on who you're riding with.  haha, make sure you've got some luggage that wont overheat in the trunk as well.  Happened to me once, my trunk still reeks.  Eagle Creek Luggage offers a great backpack if you do have  a problem with something melting.  Don't get to caught up in the driving that you miss the surroundings.  Other than that think you've got good idea.  Maybe I can convince my family to do that with me sometime.

oh haha, almost forgot.  If you are going to be visiting Arches and those other desert National parks, make sure you've got plently of water.  Kind of a common sense piece of advice I know, but all the same.

Hi Andre,

Sorry for dissappearing for a while, I took a small vacation. And after returning I was pleasantly surprised by the wealth of info. So, I'm trying to analyze the root a bit.

For the moment I only have one question: should we follow two-lane highways or interstates? Will there be enough time if we take the more scenic two-lanes?

I'll be in touch 

P.S. Hi Brad Vanguard, thank you for all the usefull info

oh, haha you're quite welcome.

Accdg to MSNbc the Blue Ridge Parkway ranks second of the top ten Scenic Road Trips in the United States. stretches 469 miles along the southern Appalachian Mountains and links two national parks (Virginia’s Shenandoah and North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains). Perfect drive is during the spring and fall.
The Big Sur ranks the first which stretches at around 90 miles along the central coast from San Simeon to Carmel what makes it awesome is the redwood groves on one side and rocky beaches with sea lions on the other.

Hello everyone, I wish to visit America this year and since its already July my travel plans are almost immediate since I think the summers are the best time to be in America. By thoughts are that I'd like to visit New York while the US Tennis Open is in progress may be catch Roger Federer in action while the show is on in the Big Apple.

I want to make hotel reservation in a NYC Hotel and I have been searching the internet to find the best deals but room tariffs are being quoted at 199 USD + tax and I think if I can get in contact with a local travel agency they would be able to make reservations at lower prices.

Also I'm search NYC Hotels online website so I can make a direct reservation. Let me know your thoughts as I'll around to check my options.

Hi,

The best holidays are the ones we are most prepared for. Do yourself a favour; make it a habit to always know as much as you can about your destination before you travel. It’ll make all the difference in the world. Don’t forget the most important thing: your adventurous travel mind, see and learn as much as you can and have the time of your life.

Hello!Thanks for sharing. I've found lot of useful information here. My firnd and I want to road trip accros US in next year.It will be longer then 30 day. Tell me more how was your trip? Everything was alright?