Lower 48 Road Trip

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Hey guys,

Currently thinking about doing a bit of travelling and the main trip that both myself and the gf want to do is visit the lower 48 states.
Now this isn't going to be an easy thing as its a huge trip in its entirety, but i think it would be truly amazing!

But first i have a few questions!

Has anyone on here done this trip? If so, how much did it roughly cost you?

With regards to the route which one will take, is there a best route to take? Which are the 'boring' states that can just be driven through for convenience?


So many questions that I could ask but I'll hold back just for now to see if there is actually anyone here that has done it haha!

Thanks guys!
Em
 
I went coast-to-coast and it cost me about £8k and three weeks but then again I am not one to skimp in cheap motels unless necessary. :p

I flew to Atlanta and then nipped down to Florida and went across the northern states (why I don't know - actually it was probably due to the scenic areas / National Parks that way) to San Francisco and then down to Las Vegas.
 
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As for the route, mark on a map the places you want to go to and then join the dots. You can see a lot of places by driving in a circle from coast to coast and then back again, doing the northern states on one stretch and southern places on the other.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like your trying to see all the 48 states as if you're ticking them off a list. I would go by cities/national parks as that's what you're actually going to see right?

Look at these for a rough guide:
http://www.trekamerica.co.uk/tours/tl.html
http://www.trekamerica.co.uk/tours/gl.html

Use one of those routes and then add in the extra places you want to see.
 
Back in 1999 my cousin and I did a road trip that took in 28 states and 3 Canadian Provences. We didn't stay in all 28 states, as some we just passed through without stopping.

Our route in approximate order of states was:
New York
New Jersey
Ontario (Canada)
Quebec (Canada)
Michigan
Minnesota
Wisconsin
South Dakota
Wyoming (pass through)
Colorado
New Mexico
Texas
Arizona
Nevada
California
Florida by plane (just me)
Hawaii by air (just my cousin)
Oregon
Washington
British Columbia (Canada)
Utah (pass through)
Nebraska (pass through)
Iowa (pass through)
Ilinois (pass through)
Indiana (pass through)
Ohio (pass through)
Pennsylvania (pass through)
Connecticut (pass through)
Massachusetts
New Hampshire (pass through)
Vermont (pass through)

We started on the East coast, went up to Canada, came down the middle of the USA to Texas, then off to the west coast. We passed through a lot of states at the end as we did a 48 hour non-stop drive from San Jose, CA to New York, NY. Then another couple of thousand miles going from NYC - Ottawa - Boston - Toronto - NYC in 4 days, making farewell visits to relatives and friends.

The first half of the journey from our start at NYC to LA was done on our motorbikes that we had shipped over (on the QE2). In LA I crashed and wrote off my bike and we finished the rest of the tour using hire cars and vans. We did about 5,000 miles on the bikes and then about another 5,000 in the cars and vans.

Our intended budget for the 110 days was ~$100 (~£65) each per day to cover motel, food and fuel. After I crashed my bike that escalated because of the hire cars, but lodging costs were reduced as we stayed longer with relatives and friends. We did originally intend to use campsites, but motels were so cheap (as low as $30/night) that we never camped out.

We had to get special permission from the US embassy as a normal visa was only valid for a maximum consecutive 90 days.

I don't know exactly how much it cost me in total but it was probably nearly £20,000, but that includes the extra expenses and the loss I took on the bike after the accident, and the cost of cruising on the QE2. I think my cousin spent about £7,000, including cruise and he still had a bike at the end!
 
Doing it in bits due to work etc. Last year was California, Nevada and Arizona, this year is New York to Key West and Miami.
 
Boring states? I90 cuts through a few, like the Dakotas, Wyoming, Iowa; nothing much to see there, at all. Trust me, been there, done that.
I think its best as someone said above to work out some destinations, cities or landmarks and then make the route from that.



Disclaimer, no part of the USA is utterly 'boring', but there are most certainly places and drives that are a complete waste of time and seemingly endless.
 
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Watching this thread with interest as I would like to do this kinda trip alone within the next year.

OP I lived in Colorado for 4 years...make sure you go through there, absolutely epic scenery. Lots of mountain driving of course and theres parts of it where its obvious some drivers are "flat-landers" so brush up on the mtn techniques! :D
 
qqg3 said:
Boring states? I90 cuts through a few, like the Dakotas, Wyoming, Iowa; nothing much to see there, at all. Trust me, been there, done that.
Click to expand...

Hehehe, I deliberately went north to see the Badlands in South Dakota and Devil's Tower (Close Encounters :p) in Wyoming. Both mesmerising places. Then that night I got snowed in for four days unable to go anywhere. :D
 
Surely you would need months and months for this unless you are just going to take photos at the State signs.

Spent 2 weeks in California, Arizona and Nevada and New York.
2 Weeks for Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Illinois.
2 Weeks for District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, Pensilvania, New North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida.
Also Spent nearly 2 Weeks just in Florida doing Miami - Key West - Gulf Coast and the parks etc.

There is a lot to see, and it would be a shame to rush through without seeing some of the absolutley amazing sights there are.
 
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This should take forever if you want to do it properly, otherwise you'd just be spending an awfully long time in the car passing through everywhere.
There are a ton of places that probably wouldn't pop up on the average 'to-do list', but it depends how long you have. Going to the more out of the way places would be your best bet, (along with the more grander attractions).
 
qqg3 said:
Boring states? I90 cuts through a few, like the Dakotas, Wyoming, Iowa; nothing much to see there, at all. Trust me, been there, done that.
I think its best as someone said above to work out some destinations, cities or landmarks and then make the route from that.
Click to expand...

Badlands National Park (SD)
Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument (SD)
Deadwood (SD)
Yellowstone Park (WY)

Can't miss out cowboy country from a US roadtrip! :D Scenic and of historical significance.
 
I did 32 (I think) states a couple of years ago. We wanted something a bit spontaneous so did sod all planning. On one side this was really fun and left us lost/scared/confused half the time, the other side is that this is quite an expensive way to do things.

We started in NYC, and after a few days in Boston, we went down the East Coast and then clockwise round the country. Unfortunately we had to make a couple of decisions which meant us missing a few places (Texas, Nashville, etc.) but I'd thoroughly recommend spending as much time as possible in North and South Carolina, Colorado, Oregon, and a few other out of the way places.

It took us four months - being lazy and not sticking to a plan - and it cost a bomb, as we weren't prepared. Worth bearing in mind that it took us about 3 months to get from NYC to LA, and the 3 weeks to go from LA back to NYC.

Good luck!
 
Bumhucker said:
Badlands National Park (SD)
Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument (SD)
Deadwood (SD)
Yellowstone Park (WY)

Can't miss out cowboy country from a US roadtrip! :D Scenic and of historical significance.
Click to expand...

And Devils Tower as said above, but these are just a few attractions, nowhere near anything else, at all.

In all respects, these aren't the first things to pop up on a visitors to-do list when visiting States. If you can get there, then hells yea, go for it. But its a lot of driving!

Yellowstone Park is listed everywhere, go north instead and visit Glacier National Park in Montana (it straddles the Canadian border). Anybody who knows what they're talking about knows the latter is a better place to visit. Less driving between things and it doesn't smell so bad for starters!

Also, the parking at Mt Rushmore seems to be going up by a buck every year, cheeky beggars.
 
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Don't just visit a state purely for the sake of driving through it. Your best bet would be to just goto the places you would like to visit. Having driven down to georgia and spending the best part of 22 hrs in the car I was glad to arrive. New york was a pain in the ass to get through. It bottle necks at the george washington bridge. We hit it at midnight on a Friday and it was stand still traffic.
Came back through the blue ridge mountains to scranton and it was a much more pleasant dtive.

Cut your hotel/motel bills by using the room saver magazine that's free at all the rest stops. Its also online roomsaver.com

My last bit of advice, stear clear of anyone with quebec and massachuetts plates. They can't drive for toffee.
 
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