Road Tripping in the USA!

Got a car for a few days after a wedding in NY in September. Planning on driving up to Boston to go to a Red Sox game, have a look around the university. anyone else got an must visit places?
 
Spamalot said:
Got a car for a few days after a wedding in NY in September. Planning on driving up to Boston to go to a Red Sox game, have a look around the university. anyone else got an must visit places?
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We walked the Freedom Trail which was a great way to explore the main bits in a few hours. It gave us a good idea of the area and then we could go out to the bars and restaurants we'd seen that looked good.
 
Currently in Santa Monica right now.

Don't know if it's because it was midweek but the nightlife has been pretty tame. Even using Yelp to find bars and stuff. It's also pretty expensive (paid $25 last night for 1x cocktail and 1x sailor Jerry's and coke)

It's our last full day, So I am going to drive to the Griffith Observatory, but I'm not actually sure what else to do here!
 
I've found that bars and clubs have ridiculous covers over here too. The last one I went in was a pretty trashy place (all beer was served in 40oz bottles) and it was still $20/each to get in.
 
Has anyone tried Turo? Seems like a Air B n B style setup for renting cars in the US and you typically get 'interesting stuff' available.

Just wondered if anyone had any experience?
 
Joe T said:
I think you might have insurance issues with Turo, as 'locals' will use their own insurance I think?
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Insurance is listed in the app as being provided by Liberty mutual - and like most rental companies you then choose the level of cover you want.
 
Hi all

Going to Florida in April next year so wanting to rent at and return to Orlando International. Anybody got any advice/info on where they rented from and what they rented?

Last time we went to USA was California back in 2015 and we used netflights. It isn't coming up particularly cheap this time around though (not sure if this is just rubbish exchange rates).

A few other points:

- We have a 2 year old, better to take our car seat or get them to provide it? Is this costly?
- What car? In California we had a mustang and a challenger. We're probably wanting something more family friendly this time around. Possibly full-size class (Toyota Camry or similar)?
 
Got back from our road trip last week, it was amazing. The Mustang was ideal for the trip, found it had a reasonable amount of power and was comfortable for the longer drives. My daily is a DC5 so it felt luxurious in comparison.

Our route

Lax to Laguna beach. Spent two nights here, perfect way to kick off the trip. Took in a big coastal walk down at Crystal Cove state park, food at the Beachcomber cafe was delicious.

Laguna beach to San Diego. Spend 3 nights here, did the zoo, Middway tour spent a bit of time just wandering about. We spent most of our evenings over at Pacific Beach, nice chilled out place, great Mexican food. Pretty cool watching the sunset on the beach as the surfers were out. Definitely recommend Richard Walkers Pancake House, the baked apple pancake is amazing.

San Diego to Vegas. Spent 3 nights in Vegas. We didn't really enjoy Vegas at all, I'm glad we got to see it but I definitely would not go back. We had some nice food, did a show one night, hiked up by Red Rock Canyon. One massive regret was not planning things slightly better and spending a night or two at the Grand Canyon. Felt the tour was a bit rushed and didn't get enough time to explore. Vegas itself though...meh.

Vegas to Mammoth Lakes. Definitely more our thing. Spent two nights here, took in a couple of big hikes, scenery is stunning, really good food in the town. Loved it here, would have happily spent a week here just doing outdoorsey stuff.

Mammoth lakes to Yosemite. Spent two nights in Half Dome village in a canvas hut. The drive through the park was incredible. The scenery is just draw dropping. Again took in a couple of big hikes which had is stopping every few minutes to gawp at the views. Food options are limited in the site but ok for a couple of days. Bed was uncomfortable but there aren't many options in the park if you want to stay close to the main trails. Had the accomodation and food been better I'd happily spend a lot more time here. Over all felt Mammoth Lakes struck a good balance as you had comfortable accomodation and good food options in the town and the hiking is still awesome.

Yosemite to San Francisco. Spent 4 nights here and loved it. Spent one day pretty much just waking everywhere and stopping to eat. Did the Alcatraz tour which was a highlight and we both really enjoyed. Cycled the across the Golden Gate bridge, stopped in Saucalito for brunch then continued cycling round to Tiburon and got the Ferry back so SF. Was surprised how cold it got at times here. There was a lot of fog in the area too apparently worsened by the recent wild fires.

San Francisco to Morrow Bay. Just spent an overnight here but loved it. Quiet little beach / surfer town. BBQ place called the Brickhouse which was delicious. Could have happily enjoyed another couple of nights here.

Morrow Bay to Santa Barbara. Spent the last two nights here before flying home. Really lovely place, nice atmosphere, good food. One of the days we drove out to Six Flags Magic Mountain and had a laugh on all the rollercoasters. The park was so quiet we pretty much just walked straight on to everything.

Missed out a load of stuff, we stopped of at various places through the the drives and just had a brilliant time noseying about everywhere. Having the car just opens up so many options.

Been home just over a week now. Proper holiday blues kicked in. We are looking at our trip for next year already. Although not quite a road trip in the sense of this one we are going to spend 2-3 weeks in the Canadian Rockies. Most likely a week in Canmore then head to Jasper for a week then leave the last few days open before heading home. Some of the hikes over there look incredible.
 
I’m going to be driving from Monterrey, Mexico to Fort Lauderdale, Florida around Christmas. Any recommendations of places to stop at / see along the way?
 
richyfingers said:
Got back from our road trip last week, it was amazing. The Mustang was ideal for the trip, found it had a reasonable amount of power and was comfortable for the longer drives. My daily is a DC5 so it felt luxurious in comparison.

Our route

Lax to Laguna beach. Spent two nights here, perfect way to kick off the trip. Took in a big coastal walk down at Crystal Cove state park, food at the Beachcomber cafe was delicious.

Mammoth lakes to Yosemite. Spent two nights in Half Dome village in a canvas hut. The drive through the park was incredible. The scenery is just draw dropping. Again took in a couple of big hikes which had is stopping every few minutes to gawp at the views. Food options are limited in the site but ok for a couple of days. Bed was uncomfortable but there aren't many options in the park if you want to stay close to the main trails. Had the accomodation and food been better I'd happily spend a lot more time here. Over all felt Mammoth Lakes struck a good balance as you had comfortable accomodation and good food options in the town and the hiking is still awesome.

Been home just over a week now. Proper holiday blues kicked in. We are looking at our trip for next year already. Although not quite a road trip in the sense of this one we are going to spend 2-3 weeks in the Canadian Rockies. Most likely a week in Canmore then head to Jasper for a week then leave the last few days open before heading home. Some of the hikes over there look incredible.
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nice - not a sedantory trip then, need something to offset the predominately tasty food.
who was the car with, then, and any excess insurance ?
Are there no longer any (low price too) motels near park entrance ? - on spec, had found that gave reasonable access to the half dome trail.
 
Not the US, but hired this in Canada a couple of weeks ago.

They are just stupidly big, but was good fun. 5.7 liter Dodge Ram. Managed not to hit anything!

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Shame you didn’t get a ‘19, the interior is supposed to be a big step up from the 18’s.

Out of interest did it come with a tonneau cover?
 
jpaul said:
nice - not a sedantory trip then, need something to offset the predominately tasty food.
who was the car with, then, and any excess insurance ?
Are there no longer any (low price too) motels near park entrance ? - on spec, had found that gave reasonable access to the half dome trail.
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Definitely not, made us both feel much better about the ridiculous amount of food we consumed.

Car was booked through CarHire3000, no extra insurances, everything was included.

Not too sure on accomodation outside the park, sure there are plenty of options but be prepared for at least an hours drive into some of the main trails in the park. If your going during peak times apparently there can be quite a queue to get into the park.
 
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