Road Tripping in the USA!
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Soldato
Ha I came to say exactly the same thing. Dark and rainy weather is the worst as the road markings vanish and the road surface becomes a mirror. Trucks don’t slow down either so they will fly past you at 70mph, coat your car in spray and reduce your visibility to zero.
Texas, over the festive period. I’ll do my very best to get to my destination by sunset, especially with two small kids in the car!
The weather should be dry, but drunks, wildlife and other potential obstacles on unlit roads doesn’t sound like my idea of fun.
I’ve no problem driving on unlit roads, but I’m not even going to begin to compare Texan Interstate with the Autobahn
-edit I’ve done torrential downpours on the interstate before and that was an experience. This was before all US cars had rear fog lights as well
The weather should be dry, but drunks, wildlife and other potential obstacles on unlit roads doesn’t sound like my idea of fun.
I’ve no problem driving on unlit roads, but I’m not even going to begin to compare Texan Interstate with the Autobahn
-edit I’ve done torrential downpours on the interstate before and that was an experience. This was before all US cars had rear fog lights as well
Soldato
Texas, over the festive period. I’ll do my very best to get to my destination by sunset, especially with two small kids in the car!
The weather should be dry, but drunks, wildlife and other potential obstacles on unlit roads doesn’t sound like my idea of fun.
I’ve no problem driving on unlit roads, but I’m not even going to begin to compare Texan Interstate with the Autobahn
I really wouldn’t worry about it. I find Texas a very easy state to drive in, and regularly drive there late at night with no issues at all. It’s certainly easier than driving on narrow British country lanes at night, which most of us do without any issues.
Soldato
I wouldn't worry about night driving personally, it's just the same as this side of the Atlantic tbh...in fact given you're in a LHD country anyway it'll be little to no different for you.
Caporegime
What about my interstate question peeps?
In the UK, when you enter the motorway slip road, you're supposed to speed up to match the speed of the traffic and merge seamlessly. But am I right in saying that you're supposed to give way on interstate on-ramps and even stop if the lane is too busy?
In the UK, when you enter the motorway slip road, you're supposed to speed up to match the speed of the traffic and merge seamlessly. But am I right in saying that you're supposed to give way on interstate on-ramps and even stop if the lane is too busy?
Soldato
Which is daft as you'll likely not encounter either of those on the roads...but when walking around during the day on the other hand... If you're that fussed about drunk people and/or people with guns, why even head to Texas/America?
I just treat them the same as the UK...given most of them merge in a similar way to the UK in my experience anyway. Not sure I've actually seen anyone stop to join the interstate unless it's an actual stop line (signed).
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
You're supposed to give way on UK sliproads too!? You have no right of way to just join the carriageway.
Caporegime
Aye but it's very rare you have to give way, you can go faster or slower and merge unless there's a traffic jam. I find most people move to another lane to let you in but in the USA people stick to their lanes like glue. Undertaking seems perfectly normal to them. And aren't the on-ramps a lot shorter than in the UK? I can't remember.
On ramp length varies wildly, just treat them as you would in the UK.
And undertaking great (most of the time), no more complaining about that slow person in the “fast” lane because you just go round them.
Soldato
Yeah definitely don’t stop on the on ramps. Maybe Tennessee has more courteous drivers but in my experience people tend to move over if they can
Soldato
Each state is different. Just join, no one cares here anyway.
Also... no one sticks to their lanes like glue, they move to the faster lane without signalling, then back again, then cut you off. There is zero lane discipline in most states.
Soldato
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Hi all,
For a while now I’ve been thinking about visiting the west coast of the US but would like to get around a bit whilst I’m there. The plan is to also take my parents as they haven’t been to that part of the US either.
Particular areas of interest would be the usual sorts of places including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Death Valley and potentially others I might have missed... I’ve seen other posts on here regarding road tripping which I hadn’t considered before. So really I have a few questions and it would be very helpful to get some advice from those who might have visited these locations as part of the same holiday.
Cheers!
For a while now I’ve been thinking about visiting the west coast of the US but would like to get around a bit whilst I’m there. The plan is to also take my parents as they haven’t been to that part of the US either.
Particular areas of interest would be the usual sorts of places including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Death Valley and potentially others I might have missed... I’ve seen other posts on here regarding road tripping which I hadn’t considered before. So really I have a few questions and it would be very helpful to get some advice from those who might have visited these locations as part of the same holiday.
- Would the most sensible option be to travel by car to all of these locations or would I take some internal flights?
- If I would be driving to all locations what percentage of time would be spent driving over the course of the holiday? I would have to consider how my parents would feel about this as I’m not sure they would want to be cooped up in a car for 75% of a holiday!
- Are these locations viable to visit in say two weeks? Would I need longer?
- Does anyone have any similar plans from trips they have been on in the past?
- For peace of mind I think hotels would have to be booked in advance, what’s typically the best way of doing this i.e. Comparison sites or direct?
- What sort of price would I be looking at say per person? I have absolutely no idea!
- What would be the recommended time of the year? Would March work in terms of weather etc?
Cheers!
Caporegime
Not much to add but San Fran to Las Vegas is about 570 miles which is a not insubstantial distance. Perfectly fine if you're driving chunks of it over a number of days but less appealing if you're doing it in a day.
All the major cities are total dumps - avoid at all costs. If you find that Alcatraz or that bendy street in SF hold any interest at all, then you need to misguidedly become a hermit and pointlessly ruminate until you finally go see a therapist to get you back to normal and thus realise that you need to get some standards. But if the desire to e.g. see Alcatraz just doesn't go away, just watch that Clint-Eastwood Alcatraz movie and get bored after 5 mins - job done.
Soldato
Huge thread in motors on this: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/road-tripping-in-the-usa.18227057/
Soldato
Booking in advance is fine but you do then restrict yourself to be at a certain place by a certain time for check-in which could mean you rush certain things or even miss out on seeing/doing something as you need to hit the road and get to the hotel.
It wouldn't hurt to book hotels on the fly, if you decide to stay in a city for the night then you can then book a hotel for the next city online the night before. Bear in mind you might not be paying the cheapest rate that way but if it's just a bed your wanting then the US have plenty of cheap places to stay. Leave space to be flexible or else you'll feel rushed and regimented.
Associate
I did this a couple of years ago and loved it! I'd recommend driving as you can hit all those places within a few hours of each other. I booked using expedia etc in advance without any issues.
LA is an absolute dump and the traffic is horrendous - do not spend a lot of time there
LA is an absolute dump and the traffic is horrendous - do not spend a lot of time there
I just did a West Coast fly drive in September for two weeks.
We flew into LA, spent 5 nights, then drove up the PCH stopping half way in a motel. We carried on and arrived in San Fran the next day and spent 4 nights there.
From there we drove to the bottom of the Yosemite, up and through the national park heading east. We stopped in another motel on the east side of the Yosemite, before carrying on to Death Valley and then into Vegas for 3 nights.
We stayed in AirBnB for LA and SF, which made it more manageable cost wise, hotels for every night would have been horrendously expensive. We had a rental for the entire two weeks so AirBnB was my only real option to park the car affordably. We didn't use the car at all in LA (expect for driving out of town to Six Flags) or SF and rarely in LV.
If I did it again, I would take three weeks to do the trip we did. You're thinking of San Diego also!
We did most of the "main" attractions and points of interest in each city. I would have loved more time in Yosemite and Death Valley.
I echo the above, LA is a bit of a dump, but I had never been to LA before so it's good to say I've done it.
In terms of driving, my partner and I shared most of it. It was her first time driving in the USA, she loved it. Driving wise, it wasn't that much in the grand scheme but each legs of the journey (certainly with the time and route we took) was a bit of a slog, 4-5 hours at a time.
I originally intended on doing the above in May but was advised against it due to the Tioga pass potentially being snowed in. Look it up, because if it's close it's a LOOOONNGGG way round and probably adds another day to the Yosemite part of your intinerary.
In terms of cost, we probably could have done it cheaper (for example we paid extra for a Mustang convertible) but we certainly could have spent more! I think I worked out, post holiday, it was about £3.5k each, about 7k all in.
I can give you more in depth details if you want, let me know.
We flew into LA, spent 5 nights, then drove up the PCH stopping half way in a motel. We carried on and arrived in San Fran the next day and spent 4 nights there.
From there we drove to the bottom of the Yosemite, up and through the national park heading east. We stopped in another motel on the east side of the Yosemite, before carrying on to Death Valley and then into Vegas for 3 nights.
We stayed in AirBnB for LA and SF, which made it more manageable cost wise, hotels for every night would have been horrendously expensive. We had a rental for the entire two weeks so AirBnB was my only real option to park the car affordably. We didn't use the car at all in LA (expect for driving out of town to Six Flags) or SF and rarely in LV.
If I did it again, I would take three weeks to do the trip we did. You're thinking of San Diego also!
We did most of the "main" attractions and points of interest in each city. I would have loved more time in Yosemite and Death Valley.
I echo the above, LA is a bit of a dump, but I had never been to LA before so it's good to say I've done it.
In terms of driving, my partner and I shared most of it. It was her first time driving in the USA, she loved it. Driving wise, it wasn't that much in the grand scheme but each legs of the journey (certainly with the time and route we took) was a bit of a slog, 4-5 hours at a time.
I originally intended on doing the above in May but was advised against it due to the Tioga pass potentially being snowed in. Look it up, because if it's close it's a LOOOONNGGG way round and probably adds another day to the Yosemite part of your intinerary.
In terms of cost, we probably could have done it cheaper (for example we paid extra for a Mustang convertible) but we certainly could have spent more! I think I worked out, post holiday, it was about £3.5k each, about 7k all in.
I can give you more in depth details if you want, let me know.
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