Road Tripping in the USA!

Soldato
Joined
1 Apr 2003
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Northamptonshire
Some tips and comments from my recent trip to the US:

- worth booking a car with satellite radio if possible

- Comfort Suites is a good ‘go to’ brand for a standard hotel

- B&Bs are worth seeking out and mixing in with other accommodations. Our experience of these has led to meeting some interesting people, some of which we’ve kept in touch with afterwards. Also, very often the properties themselves can be very interesting

- Always worth talking to people. One they hear your accent they will almost always strike up a conversation. For example, a chance meeting in an IHOP in Lincoln, Nebraska with the owner of a Trans Am converted 2011 Camaro led to an invite to a small town car show in the middle of nowhere with some great cars and people

- A good satnav is worth the investment (we finally bought a new Garmin in Walmart once the one I had previously bought (see my previous post) packed up.

- do not turn on data roaming on O2! I did see T-Mobile advertising a SIM designed for holidays makes for $30 which could be useful - something I might try next time.

YMMV of course :)
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Jul 2008
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2,530
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Birmingham
I've never written up my trip but we did

Houston - Austin (F1 GP) - Dallas - Little Rock - Memphis - Nashville - Chatanooga - Pigeon Forge (Great Smoky Mountains) - Atlanta - Pensacola - New Orleans - Houston

Plus loads of other stops along the way including Bowling Green, Jack Daniels.

Proper mix of people. scenery and things to see/do along the way.

Highlight of the Smokeys was this little family whilst out on a hike. - There was no zoom used on this picture....

Great post - I do love reading some of the routes people have taken. I'm yet to do it I'm afraid, definitely on my bucket list - Lynchburg would be worth of a visit on it's own ;)

That said, not sure it's a trip to do with a 3 year old and 9 month old (hence the no spare cash!) :D
 
Soldato
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1 Jul 2008
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Birmingham
will Yellowstone roads be open in early May I wonder.

No experience apart from family being caught a few back at Yosemite Tioga Road , but I would say it's risky - they did have record snow last year I believe :). The Tioga Road in Yosemite opened May 21st this year.

I would love to be able to link to some Yellowstone snow pack site, but it seems I'm useless at finding one.
 
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Soldato
Joined
20 May 2010
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4,256
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Englishman in the USA
I've never written up my trip but we did

Houston - Austin (F1 GP) - Dallas - Little Rock - Memphis - Nashville - Chatanooga - Pigeon Forge (Great Smoky Mountains) - Atlanta - Pensacola - New Orleans - Houston

Plus loads of other stops along the way including Bowling Green, Jack Daniels.

Proper mix of people. scenery and things to see/do along the way.

Highlight of the Smokeys was this little family whilst out on a hike. - There was no zoom used on this picture....

rOsLrEV.jpg
That’s a pretty good route, you’ll have driven right through the town I live in. It’s a pity you didn’t make out to Asheville, it’s a really nice little town and the Biltmore is pretty interesting too.

Did you rent a cabin up in the Smokies? Some of them have some impressive views!
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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5,367
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Dublin, Ireland
Hi folks,
Has anyone booked their car with Virgin Holidays?
I'm keen on them as they are the cheapest and use Alamo which appear to allow you to pick your car from the class when there.
They seem to demand a UK address (which I have access to) but I have an Irish licence. I don't see anything in the T&Cs that dictates I must have a UK licence or be a UK resident.
 
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Soldato
Joined
25 Feb 2004
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18,137
Location
Hampshire
That’s a pretty good route, you’ll have driven right through the town I live in. It’s a pity you didn’t make out to Asheville, it’s a really nice little town and the Biltmore is pretty interesting too.

Did you rent a cabin up in the Smokies? Some of them have some impressive views!

I did look at going out that way but just didn't have time, was pretty non stop for 3 and a bit weeks to get that stuff in.

We stayed in Pigeon Forge, budget was a bit limited and booked late so not much available for the time of year we were there with it being halloween and fall time.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
5,367
Location
Dublin, Ireland
Hi folks,
Has anyone booked their car with Virgin Holidays?
I'm keen on them as they are the cheapest and use Alamo which appear to allow you to pick your car from the class when there.
They seem to demand a UK address (which I have access to) but I have an Irish licence. I don't see anything in the T&Cs that dictates I must have a UK licence or be a UK resident.
I wasn't able to complete the booking but that was a good thing as after lots of digging I found it 20% cheaper with rentcars.com with Alamo :D
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Nov 2006
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6,113
Location
Nottingham
Anyone every been to Lake Tahoe? Worth going to? Looks like there is a lot of stuff to do, but would always prefer first hand reviews.

I Was thinking of doing the following next September.

Vegas 4 nights
Yosemite 3 nights
Lake Tahoe 8 nights
Vegas 1 night

Will be hiring a car from Vegas .
 
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Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
33,392
Location
West Yorks
does anybody know what the going rate is for a flight from London to LAX ?

Looking at going July next year so wanted to know when watching the flights at what point we should pull the trigger. Not sure what's a good deal at the minute and what's not
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Aug 2006
Posts
8,312
Assuming outside of summer holidays, £500-600 is about average, £400 is very good.

I can see some flights around £300 for June - July next year, personally I would be snapping them up now.
 
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