Eastern America driving holiday

IceBus said:
Any reason why you're not heading too far south? There's great stuff to see in North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.

The Appalachian Trail is also beautiful if you want to see some more natural beauty.
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Yep, AT is brilliant.

a1ex2001 said:
She had to have her way eventually after two years of your choice of driving holidays! :D

Slight aside, I looked into doing this sort of trip and was struggling with cars, really wanted a Mustang after having one in Vegas but they seem much harder to come by on the East coast, there were other options but not knowing a huge amount about American cars there is a serious risk of a dud. There is after all no point in going to the states and renting a focus.
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Isn't the whole idea of going to the US to see the sites and culture?

Personally you need around 4 days in Boston to see it reasonably properly. I was there for 3 and only saw most of it at a rush. The Freedom trail and USS Constitution for a bit of history, Whale watching tour for a bit of nature (about 4 hours and only $30, saw about half a dozen Humpbacks very close up) and then half a day round Harvard and it's museums etc. I managed to do the Freedom trail, constitution and Harvard in a day but it was pretty knackering and rushed (for example I literally rushed round the campus and didn't go inside anything). Then there's the other areas round it, which I guess you could stay in.

If you're interested in seeing the US, not just the cities then head up to Maine, proper "back country" with moose potentially seen from the road/on the road and loads of lakes and wilderness to play in, it's only a 4ish hour drive to Bangor in central Maine.
 
Many thanks for the advice. Since Hertz have seemingly sold out of Mustang convertibles for the dates/route we're planning, it looks like we're going to have to switch our attention to the west (which was my original preference anyway).

Now we'll be flying in to San Diego > LA > Santa Barbara > San Francisco > Bishop > Las Vegas > Palm Springs > San Diego. 15 day trip, pretty similar to what Fox detailed in his thread.

We're having to get the train down from the north west to London and fly from Heathrow with British Airways (direct flight) which comes in at £820pp return, car rental with Hertz has been quoted at £542 for 15 days. Followed the advice in Fox's thread closely and we're avoiding Vegas at weekends, whilst also making sure we're in San Francisco at the weekend to try and save on costs somewhat.

Budget has been set at an average of £50 per room per night between us, but I'm not that bothered about staying in 5* luxury so I hope that's achievable. Food and drink (excluding alcohol) has been set at around £30 per day, but I'm not too sure what places outside Vegas are like for food/drink costs.

All in all, we're looking at around £2,300 each which will cover our train, London hotel for a night, direct flights with BA to San Diego and back, Hertz rental cost, fuel, food/drink and accommodation. Obviously we'll need some spending money on top, but I can't really think of that much else I'll need cash for.

Does that seem like way too much or about right?

Again, many thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it.
 
Although I'd recommend the East Coast over West Coast, your route seems pretty solid.

My dad warned me that San Diego was a bit lifeless and rubbish, but I can only say the opposite - was one of my favourite places in the country. Santa Barbara is also really fun, but I'd be surprised if you managed to find hotels for £50. When we stayed in SB and SF we really struggled to find cheap hotels (we were there around mid-june) and most places were $100+ per night and then tax added on. But I'm sure Rich L would be able to give you better advice on costs round that way!

Oh, and always say you've got AAA - most cheap hotels/motels will give you a 10% discount and never ask to see your AAA card.
 
Ant84 said:
We're having to get the train down from the north west to London and fly from Heathrow with British Airways (direct flight) which comes in at £820pp return,
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That is monsterously expensive. Fly to LA instead - it's usually loads cheaper. I paid £470 pp return on Virgin Atlantic direct to LA. When you are doing the Triangle it makes no difference where you start/finish so it makes sense to start/finish at the cheapest place.


car rental with Hertz has been quoted at £542 for 15 days.
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Again - very very expensive. Mine is £420 - 10% Quidco cashback. Are you using a 10% discount code on that?

Budget has been set at an average of £50 per room per night between us,
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Thats exactly what I averaged :)
 
I think flights in general have gone through the roof for some reason. Cheapest one I could find to LA was £780 with Virgin Atlantic. I've heard more good things about San Diego than LA anyway, so for the sake of £40 extra I'd probably rather make that our starting point.

The £542 figure doesn't include cashback. I ran it through Topcashback but, since it's never 100% guaranteed, I didn't bother to factor it in just yet. £488 is the total when you include the cashback figure.

I read that you ate a lot at fast food places like Dominos (which is my usual diet too!). We'll probably be doing the same to keep costs down a bit, but how much did you find you were spending on food/drink on average?
 
I cant really remember though I did spend £1600 all in per person.

When are you going?

It really doesnt matter where you fly to - your route involves going past LA anyway! Landing at LA doesnt mean you can't spend time in San Diego. I reckon the hire car would be cheaper from LAX as well, and they've got a lot more choice at the LAX lot.
 
The prices quoted so far are based on flying out on August 7. We're flexible on dates though so easily altered if anything cheaper is available.

Unfortunately the cost from Hertz is exactly the same from LAX as it is from Lindbergh Airport in San Diego. Just looks like the cost for pretty much everything has shot up. I'd hold off for a year if I thought the prices would come down, but it would only be guesswork on my part.
 
Ouch, thats exactly why you are paying so much. August.

Can you go in September? Run the numbers for September and see what happens (Though flight prices in Sep are hardly outstanding at the moment). Just checked and it's £608 for Virgin Atlantic right now to LAX in September - thats a big saving on the huge prices you are paying, but it's still way over the £470 I paid.

Last month I posted a therad on bonkers airline prices - everything after March was £££, even New York wasn't under £500 for ANY date after March. Since then it's begun to fall again gradually and now you can get sensibly priced tickets up to the end of May, so who knows what'll happen as time goes on.

But August is always bad news, I never bother trying to book a trip in the school holidays. It's also ridiculously unbearably hot in places in August as well - September is still warm enough to have you thinking 'wow its hot' but not warm enough to trash the entire trip. We still hit 107f!
 
Blimey, the price difference is huge! I hadn't even thought of the school holidays, what a moron.

For the same trip in September, the flights come in at £640pp and the car is £110 cheaper in total. If we went in May, the flights are £453pp and the car is still £110 cheaper.

Looks like an absolute no-brainer to go in May then. Cheers Fox. Any further advice or anything else you'd do differently if you went on the same trip again?
 
No worries, I did think your prices were eyewateringly expensive. I'm a hugely price sensitive kinda guy, I never pay more than I have to :p

There isnt much I'd change, but I was dissapointed to have missed a musuem literally a few miles off the 101 Freeway north of LA where they house the plane they previously used as Airforce 1.

Also if you go DOWN Highway 1 rather than up it, you are on the right side to have uninterupted views and quickly pull over whenever you want. If you go up it, you have a lane of traffic between you and the views.
 
While you're in the Boston area, be sure to make a half-day stop in Salem and soak in some history.

Also, commonly overlooked is Colonial Williamsburg, the original capital of Virginia and basically where the modern dream of American freedom came into play. You will love all the British influence and style there. :)
 
Imho Quebec City is better than Montreal. The old city was much nicer. So if you're heading in that direction, it's only 2.5 hours north.
 
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