Travel Ideas

[Cassy & Shaun]

We are in the early stages of planing a 8 week holiday to the USA we are from Australia.

We are after some places to go, we have been to DL,WDW, Memphis, Nashville and Atlanta.

We will be going to NY, SF & LA.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks in advance

 

[Freyja]

Wow. That´s amazing and something we dream of doing at some point to ;-)

 

[ols386]

You may want to consider visiting Boston. It has a ton of historial attractions, nice parks, shopping, and a lots of great eateries. If you stay in the financial/downtown section, you can walk to many points of interest, or you can always take the subway. Harvard is a beautiful campus, and is worth visiting and walking through it. Boston Harbor is nice also, and offers some nice excursions.

I hope you have a wonderful visit to the U.S.!!

 

[golfgal]

8 weeks will give you a lot of time so you can see quite a bit in that time frame. Keep in mind that the US is pretty big and driving from NY to LA is a week of driving just to get there, stopping to sleep of course.

If you take a more northern route you can visit all of the Great Lakes, several national parks and a lot of open country while hitting some major cities along the way (Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City). If you take a more southern route, you could tour some Civil War sites and see some of the southern major cities-more of an "urban" tour.

It really comes down to what you want to do the most. If it were me I would take the northern route and visit Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Badlands/Black Hills (including Mount Rushmore) then over to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, and down along the west cost to LA.

Then on the way back to NY, hit some of the southern sites, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Texas, then drive up the East Coast back to NY. This is assuming you are arriving in NY-reverse the route if you are flying into LA .

You won't get a lot of time in any one place but you can pretty much see "all" of the US this way, plan 4 weeks out, 4 weeks back and you will see a LOT.

 

[Pluto 2]

well if you are driving and you already going to ny than stop in philadelphia than to baltimore and washington dc. than start heading west. go see the grandcanyon, go to las vegas.

 

[mrsv98]

We are in the early stages of planing a 8 week holiday to the USA we are from Australia.

We are after some places to go, we have been to DL,WDW, Memphis, Nashville and Atlanta.

We will be going to NY, SF & LA.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks in advance

What time of year are you visiting? That can really make a difference in terms of recommending places to visit. For example, if you are coming June - Sept, then I would definitely say Chicago, upper Midwest, maybe Mackinaw Island. But if you came in the late fall-early spring, no way! OTOH, if you want to visit the dessert states then fall and winter are best. The SE is wonderful in the winter but horribly humid in summer.

Give us some details, it is fun to plan, even when it is only vicariously!

 

[dislaney]

I would add Chicago on to that list as well. What an awesome trip you are going to have, no matter where you go!~

 

[cc1013]

Like others have mentioned, I would recommend Chicago and Las Vegas. Both are great cities with tons to do!

 

[serendipity]

NY:
NYC: Museums – Natural Museum of History, the Met, MOMA (if you like modern art), Broadway, 5th Avenue, Central Park, The Bronx Zoo, China Town, Little Italy, Hoboken (take the PATH train) for the view of NYC, a nice dinner, and a cake from Carlos’ Bakery (e.g. “Cake Boss”), Times Square, Radio City Music Hall/Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building. If you like nightclubs go to Webster Hall.
PA: Take a trip to Philadelphia (two hours from NYC by train or car): Liberty Bell, the art museum, Chestnut and Walnut Streets. If you like nightclubs go to Van Gogh or Egypt.
From PA take a train to DC (Another two hours): White House, the Smithsonian museums (so many), site of Lincoln’s assassination, the National Mall (which isn’t a shopping mall by the way), so much more to see. If you like nightclubs go to Lotus.
Should you want to or have time to continue south Shenandoah National Park is a couple of hours away by car but IMHO not nearly as striking as the national parks on the West Coast

LA:
Hollywood
Disneyland
Venice Beach
Beverly Hills
San Diego

From LA you will be three hours from Las Vegas should you want to drive there. It’s a drive through the desert, but it somewhat interesting. If you do go to Vegas you will be a couple of hours from the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and Bryce National Park which are all absolutely breathtaking

San Fran:

You will be very close to Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park and Lake Tahoe.

Enjoy!

 

[serendipity]

Couple of additional suggestions:

If you have time, you may want to seriously consider going to Montana/Wyoming and visiting Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone. Both are breathtaking. You can do both in about one week.

Seattle/Olympic National Park are breathtaking as well.

Should you travel from the Northeast, South, and across stop in New Orleans and Texas.

Should you travel North from the Northeast I'd recommend Boston/Salem, Lake George, Acadia National Park in Maine, and Stowe National Park in Vermont. Then you'd also be close to Montreal in Canada where ze speak francaise.

 

[DSNY4ever]

My parents did an East Coast US cruise about 2 years ago and they LOVED it! It took them to some costal cities in Maine, I know they went to Boston too and some stops up in Canada (Quebec, I think). You could look up the price and consider adding that in.

Other lovely places- Yellowstone, Yosemite, San Diego, The Monterey/Carmel area (close to San Francisco). You could go see the Grand Canyon. Lake Tahoe is wonderful (right near me!).

I hope you have an amazing trip- and please let us know if you do a trip report, I'd love to hear what 8 weeks if traveling the US was like!

 

[SnowWhite607]

New orleans!

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

since you are hitting NY, how about making Mass, NH and Vermont maine a stop also!! There is a lot of history in Mass! Come on up to Salem Mass, and be one with the Witches!! lol

 

[love2disney]

For the east coast you can do NY City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Niagara Falls, Then Orlando and move onto west coast. If you are not doing Las Vegas do Atlantic citgy near NJ.

There is a site gotobus.com look at their multi day USA tour schedules for ideas.

 

[love2disney]

For the east coast you can do NY City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Niagara Falls, Then Orlando and move onto west coast. If you are not doing Las Vegas do Atlantic citgy near NJ.

There is a site gotobus.com look at their multi day USA tour schedules for ideas.

 

[joyjoy]

Along with the great cities others have mentioned, I highly recommend you visit at least one or two National Parks. Grand Canyou, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Redwood Forest, Great Smoky Mountains, Padre Island... any of these would be great, and there are lots more.

 

[heatherleigh]

I suggest Las Vegas, since you will be on the west side anyway. Scottsdale is always a favorite destination of mine as well, which is also in the vicinity.

 

[minkydog]

2 months is a long time, you could see a lot. Since you're already planning on seeing stuff on both coasts you'll probably want to concentrate on those areas. Yosemite National Park is very doable from LA or SF, as is Las Vegas. (Personally, I don't like Las Vegas, but if you like drinking and gambling that might be your thing.)

Like another poster said, try to make time to see at least 1 or 2 national parks. My hands-down favorited is Yellowstone, in Wyoming. Yeah, not near anything on your list, but if you go there you will be amazed. It's like nothing you've ever seen before. Warning, though--once you go there you'll dream about going back!

And come to think of it, you *could* make it over to the Grand Canyon. It's about 8 hours or so from LA. It's fabulous!

 

[Handbag Lady]

Palm Springs, San Diego, Yosemite, The Grand Canyon, Catalina Island, Balboa Island, Boston, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York State, Memphis (never been myself!).

 

[Green Tea]

Spend some time in Arizona. It is just a beautiful state. Phoenix has great resorts, Tucson has Saguaro cacti, The Grand Canyon, the red rocks of Sedona. It is just so interesting and beautiful.