Road Tripping in the USA!

SoliD · 2 Aug 2019 at 13:14

timmeh said:
Definitely look into spending a few days in a cabin in the Smokies if you’re out that way.

We didn't do the cabin due to cost/not settled dates but spent 4 days in Pigeon Forge, although very touristy was a great base to get into the park. Spent Halloween there, which was incredible. Definitely an experience everyone needs to see.

Depends how long you have, we had almost 3.5 weeks which got us doing Texas, Florida too and there were only a couple of days where we spent most of it in the car, but interspersed with stops so it didn't ever feel like you were a slave to driving.

Yucca · 2 Aug 2019 at 14:30

Peerzy said:
£3k is going to be very restrictive as you may end up spending nearly 1/3rd of that on flights. Realistically your best bet will be searching for cheap Norwegian Air flights (they fly to about 7 or 8 places in the US now) and then building a 7-10 night trip around that.

£600 for flights, £400 for car hire and £1000 for hotels would leave you with about £100 a day to eat, shop, travel, explore and visit places which is do-able.

I suspect Florida will be the cheapest flights but don't rule out LA coming close - 7-10 nights in and out of LA could be really fun. 3 nights in San Diego, 3 nights in Palm Springs and then a few nights in LA / Santa Barbara.

Were looking to do one more big adventure/sight seeing holiday before having kids. Due to zika and the advice not to travel to many countries if looking to get pregnant our options are very limited. Sough America, Carribean, most of Africa and half of Asia are out. So the best we have come up with is 2 weeks in Sri Lanka or road trip in America. Very limited choice!!!

From what you have said a road trip in America sounds very restrictive on our budget and 10 days is not really enough for us to feel we have 'traveled'. If we were to do the sounthern states rather than West Coast would that be cheaper?

geekman · 2 Aug 2019 at 15:07

Yucca said:
Were looking to do one more big adventure/sight seeing holiday before having kids. Due to zika and the advice not to travel to many countries if looking to get pregnant our options are very limited. Sough America, Carribean, most of Africa and half of Asia are out. So the best we have come up with is 2 weeks in Sri Lanka or road trip in America. Very limited choice!!!

From what you have said a road trip in America sounds very restrictive on our budget and 10 days is not really enough for us to feel we have 'traveled'. If we were to do the sounthern states rather than West Coast would that be cheaper?

The cheapest flights I’ve found are Miami (Fort Lauderdale) - London with Norwegian, although last time I flew that route they were still subcontracting them which doesn’t make for the greatest flying experience.

If you can find the flights cheap enough, I’d be tempted to fly into Miami and do the southern states: if you stay in cheap hotels / Airbnb’s it should be easily doable on your budget, and outside Miami, virtually everything is cheaper than it would be on the west coast.

Peerzy · 2 Aug 2019 at 22:27

The problem with the US compared with say 'travelling in Asia' is the hotel prices, you'll need to easily budget £100 a night for something half decent anywhere in the US now so 10 nights is going to be 1/3rd of your budget on hotels. Another 1/3rd on flights and car hire for the same period and that leaves you with £1k to enjoy yourself.

Norwegian to Fort Lauderdale will probably be the cheapest flights but I actually think there was / is some sort of Zika scare going on there as well. LA is then probably your only other option due to the amount of companies that fly there.

Friends of mine have been to various parts of Asia and stayed in lovely hotels for £20-£30 a night so your money will go a lot further there (but flights will probably be more). £1500 each really isn't a great budget and the GBP is taking a hammering at the moment anyway so I don't think more than 10 nights anywhere long haul is going to be really possible.

uncle_rufus · 2 Aug 2019 at 22:33

Yucca said:
From what you have said a road trip in America sounds very restrictive on our budget and 10 days is not really enough for us to feel we have 'traveled'. If we were to do the sounthern states rather than West Coast would that be cheaper?

Weirdly you're in a super similar position to Mrs.Rufus and I (i.e. wanting to avoid Zika) - as such the Southern States are probably a bit too close for comfort, there have definitely been some cases in Florida for instance (we actually avoided a transfer in Miami for this reason; super paranoid but it's one of those things where you'd never forgive yourself if you were unlucky)

[TW]Fox · 3 Aug 2019 at 09:01

The other big issue is exchange rates. Everything US trip related is more expensive because of that, too.

We just about managed a California trip on 3k but it was 9 years ago at $1.60 : £1.

timmeh · 4 Aug 2019 at 15:29

$1.21 : £1 now. Ouch. I didn’t realise it had got that bad.

Shadowness · 4 Aug 2019 at 18:56

Yup......certainly going to feel that when we go to California in a few weeks

Kutter · 9 Aug 2019 at 13:32

Heading back down to Georgia from New Hampshire tonight. Took me around 26 hours driving up here. I had to sleep on the way up as i had just finished work before i left, plus i had my dog. Usually takes about 21 hours going down the blueridge parkway.
If anyones ever driving up north from the south dont go 95. The tolls are rediculous and its just as quick going the blueridge route and no tolls.

VincentHanna · 23 Aug 2019 at 21:04

Need some advice - has anyone won a significant amount of money in Vegas before?

I won $1800 last night on the slots downtown, but they took 30% as tax there and then, and gave me a form and said I would have to reclaim it but I've no idea where to start.

The hotel I'm staying at weren't too helpful either.

SoliD · 23 Aug 2019 at 21:20

Vaguely remember rotty went out there quite a bit. Maybe he can help.

VincentHanna · 23 Aug 2019 at 21:39

I fly back soon, so going to the IRS office is a no-no.

b0rn2sk8 · 23 Aug 2019 at 23:45

Gambling wins are taxed in the US iirc.

First link on google:

https://www.artiopartners.com/nonresident/gambling-winnings-tax-foreign-nationals/

VincentHanna · 24 Aug 2019 at 00:25

b0rn2sk8 said:
Gambling wins are taxed in the US iirc.

First link on google:

https://www.artiopartners.com/nonresident/gambling-winnings-tax-foreign-nationals/

They are, but the UK has an agreement so we are exempt

b0rn2sk8 · 24 Aug 2019 at 08:59

The link I posted tells you how to get it back, should have been clearer!

Rids · 25 Aug 2019 at 20:20

Been refining our itinary for our trip a bit follwing some of the helpful advice here:

Couple of questions - I currently have us driving from Monterey to Big Sur (short drive I know!) mid afternoon, and then doing two nights in Big Sur - effectively giving us a full day and half there. Is this overkill? Looks like there is a lot to do and would afford an opportunity for a relaxed evening the first night we're there before a full day sightseeing and hiking the next day.

Two nights in Santa Barbara - looks like there will be plenty to do, and would allow us to take advantage of the local wines on the first night without having to worry about an early morning drive the next day. Agree?

Four nights in San Diego - seems a lot at first glance, but then Mrs wants to do a day at the zoo and a day at Sea World so that leaves another day and a half for exploring the rest of the city, so we shouldn't run out of things to do.

Only real downside with my revised itineray (pending agreement on the above!) is that we end up hitting Vegas saturday morning, as much as I love Vegas my preference would tend towards midweek when its a bit quieter. Having said though, if I remember correctly it quietens down a bit Sunday evening onwards so we should only have one evening where its absolute packed, right?

uncle_rufus · 25 Aug 2019 at 21:56

Probably depends when you're going I'd have thought... we're off next month and I think just by virtue of being out of June-July-August things will be quite a bit less busy

[TW]Fox · 25 Aug 2019 at 22:49

Rids said:
effectively giving us a full day and half there. Is this overkill?

Yes. But sure why you'd really need much time there at all let alone 2 nights. The attraction here is driving the Pacific Coast Highway.

b0rn2sk8 · 25 Aug 2019 at 23:55

San Diego Zoo is just over 1/2 day if you get there for opening. The good thing is there is loads of attractions within walking distance in the rest of Balboa park and parking is free at the zoo. Spend some time taking in the culture.

I think most of the other attractions close at 5 so bare that in mind.

Rids · 26 Aug 2019 at 12:42

[TW]Fox said:
Yes. But sure why you'd really need much time there at all let alone 2 nights. The attraction here is driving the Pacific Coast Highway.

Fair enough, we're quite into walking / hiking so the plan was to take in some of the mid length hikes and there seem to be quite a few in the area - but conscious you've done the trip a couple of times before and probably have more exp/erience. If you don't mind me asking - assuming you had 6 days / 5 nights to get from San Fran to San Diego, and you're doing a full day of whale watching in Monterrey - how would you structure it? We're also planning on avoiding LA completely, I've been there before and didn't enjoy it, Mrs has no interest in going at all.