Road Tripping in the USA!

[Capt Doufos]

Hey everyone, wondering what everyones current opinions are on needing to get a US SIM /e-SIM for data? Haven't done a road trip since 2016 and don't remember really struggling back then. This trip is more theme park oriented so wondering if data might be more useful. They don't look particularly cheap.

Just to close the loop on this one, I ended up buying a UK Three Mobile PAYG Voice SIM Pack - 10G (1 Month) from amazon for £10. They support US roaming, there are larger packs but the roaming caps at 12GB. Popped it in the phones when we got there and it worked fine.

 

[On Holiday]

For what it's worth, roaming from a UK provider/SIM means your traffic is being tunnelled back to the UK. So if you're in Los Angeles, accessing a website or service hosted in Los Angeles, you'll be going US -> UK -> US again.

If your devices have e-SIMs, look at Airalo.

 

[planty]

Another vote for airalo, used it when we were out there last month and it was flawless.

 

[PishY]

I’ve driven from San Francisco to los angles, then to vegas! Route One down the cost was an amazing drive! Took longer but the sights were incredible! We stayed over at piano beach to break the drive up!

Highly recommend doing that!

 

[geekman]

Thought I'd post some experience of our trip over the last few weeks. We spent a week in NYC, rented a car from there, drove to Quebec, Saint-Hippolyte, Montreal, Niagra Falls, Boston, Rockport, Salem, New Haven, then back to NYC where we currently are.

I booked the cheapest car but they upgraded me to a Camry which was actually quite nice - 2.5 NA engine and torque converter automatic which was much nicer than the usual modern cheap car combo of small turbo engine + CVT transmission. Bizarre spec though - electric drivers seat but manual passenger seat, adaptive cruise and high beam assist but no blind spot monitoring and a traditional ignition key. I drove it 2404 miles in total and averaged 41MPG which was a mix of city driving and highway driving at 85-90.

I did what I always do when driving in places I don't regularly drive in: just followed the faster drivers and used Waze which allowed us to make pretty good time. I think my luck may have ran out this time though as I didn't know that New York state has introduced white grand cherokee camera cars that they park next to the roadwork vehicles in construction zones. They conveniently look exactly the same as the cars the construction teams use and I'm pretty sure every car in front of me and several in the inside lane also got caught - we'd all slowed down for the construction zone but definitely not enough. I'll have to watch out more in construction zones in future which I guess is the point - it must be making them an absolute fortune as well.

This is what they look like:

Apart from that, everything went really well - there wasn't a huge amount of snow which was good as the car had summer tyres on it. This year we're planning a roadtrip around Europe, but in 2025 we want to drive from Mexico to Alaska over a period of around 3 months so this was a very short trip in comparison!

 

[mjt]

Not USA at all, but I know nothing about renting campervans. Does anyone have any tips for campervan rental in Scandinavia and/or Germany?
Any web sites, forums, etc. to find reputable companies and good deals? TIA!

 

[Fr0dders]

We considered this - but what stopped us was a lot of rental places don't offer fully killed out campervans. You have to bring your own bedding etc.. which if you're flying and then getting straight onto the campervan can mean you need to bring everything with you.

When renting- check what sort of package you're getting. May not be a problem if you're intending to drive to Germany then swap to the campervan as you can bring everything you need with you. Just something to look out for when comparing prices from one rental company to another - check what they're including.

 

[mjt]

We considered this - but what stopped us was a lot of rental places don't offer fully killed out campervans. You have to bring your own bedding etc.. which if you're flying and then getting straight onto the campervan can mean you need to bring everything with you.

When renting- check what sort of package you're getting. May not be a problem if you're intending to drive to Germany then swap to the campervan as you can bring everything you need with you. Just something to look out for when comparing prices from one rental company to another - check what they're including.

Thanks for this. I did see that some have more than others, but I guess the whole point of renting is that you don't bring half your house with you on holiday..

 

[Fr0dders]

I went into getting price quotes as thinking it was like a hire car. One companys mid size is essentially the same as the other. Just pick the cheapest place with good enough feedback. But with RVs, they're probably the cheapest because you're renting an empty RV and they are expecting you to bring half your house with you. If you're driving to the pickup, it wouldn't be too bad, you could pack all the things you need and pack your boot like you're camping.

That doesn't work if you're flying. We were looking at RV rentals in florida and found https://www.korvrental.com/camper-rentals-fort-wilderness who provide.a full service with everything you need so you can just fly straight in. Compare them with https://suncoastrvrental.com/faqs/ who state the following

What should we bring?
Your list will be personal, depending on your trip. Consider one or two small grills (charcoal or propane), chairs, collapsable table, beddings, bicycle, dvd’s in case it rains, condiments, cooking utensils, place settings, bug repellant sun block, flashlight. We suggest you bring your own to save money, many of these items are available at an extra cost.

Sure, I'll make sure I pack all those in our suitcase ....

 

[Capt Doufos]

Been flip flopping on going to the USA for the Total Eclipse in April. I planned to do it well over 10 years ago but life happened. Texas on it's own didn't excite me that much after having done a number of 2 week road trips over there with many more scenic locations.

Whilst I was looking for more ameinable flight price options I found flights into Phoenix and Out of Austin so now we are taking our 2 Daughters on their first road trip. We will repeat some sections from our Honeymoon but that was back in 2008!

Rough plan is:

• Phoenix
• Sedona
• Flagstaff
• Williams
• Grand Canyon
• Meteor Crater
• Winslow
• Petrified Forest NP
• More Route 66 to Albquerque
• Socorro
• White Sands NP
• Roswell
• Carlsbad Caverns NP
• San Angelo
• Texas Hill Country for the Eclipse (Assuming conditions are ok there)
• San Antonio
• Austin

Nothing like deciding to do it a decade ago and rushing around last minute to make it happen.

 

[SoliD]

Don't dismiss Texas, it has some great towns and food! Really enjoyed Dallas and Austin from my week there. Sister went to Big Bend NP just over a year ago, said it was fantastic.

 

[geekman]

Don't dismiss Texas, it has some great towns and food! Really enjoyed Dallas and Austin from my week there. Sister went to Big Bend NP just over a year ago, said it was fantastic.

Agreed. San Antonio is a place you can see in a day or two, but Austin is really nice and has plenty to see.

@Capt Doufos if you're around that part of Texas you should definitely check out Gruene which is just off the highway between SA and Austin. It's a really nice old style town, not a big place but perfect to walk around and there's a nice restaurant down by the river. Not far from Canyon Lake either which is worth checking out.

 

[Capt Doufos]

Don't dismiss Texas, it has some great towns and food! Really enjoyed Dallas and Austin from my week there. Sister went to Big Bend NP just over a year ago, said it was fantastic.

I didn't dismiss it lightly, I have done some (lots) of research, but generally Cities don't exicite me too much I like being out seeing the awesome landscapes and the opportunity to get to some of the more out of the way National Parks is good one. Big Bend was a potential but we decided to do Carlsbad caverns instead which looks amazing. Big Bend is more suited for longer hikes I think and with 2 pre-teens we would struggle to do as much as we would like. I do want to see some of Hill Country though.

Agreed. San Antonio is a place you can see in a day or two, but Austin is really nice and has plenty to see.

@Capt Doufos if you're around that part of Texas you should definitely check out Gruene which is just off the highway between SA and Austin. It's a really nice old style town, not a big place but perfect to walk around and there's a nice restaurant down by the river. Not far from Canyon Lake either which is worth checking out.

Thanks, I will take a look. I am a massive BBQ fan but 2 of the family are Vegetarians so I might end up missing out on something like a BBQ Restuarant crawl around Lockhart. We will have 4.5 days in Texas but 1 will be taken up by the Eclipse.

 

[drew]

Been flip flopping on going to the USA for the Total Eclipse in April. I planned to do it well over 10 years ago but life happened. Texas on it's own didn't excite me that much after having done a number of 2 week road trips over there with many more scenic locations.

Whilst I was looking for more ameinable flight price options I found flights into Phoenix and Out of Austin so now we are taking our 2 Daughters on their first road trip. We will repeat some sections from our Honeymoon but that was back in 2008!

Rough plan is:

• Phoenix
• Sedona
• Flagstaff
• Williams
• Grand Canyon
• Meteor Crater
• Winslow
• Petrified Forest NP
• More Route 66 to Albquerque
• Socorro
• White Sands NP
• Roswell
• Carlsbad Caverns NP
• San Angelo
• Texas Hill Country for the Eclipse (Assuming conditions are ok there)
• San Antonio
• Austin

Nothing like deciding to do it a decade ago and rushing around last minute to make it happen.

When you drive from Sedona to Flagstaff you must go via Oak Creek Canyon.

Also Tucson is a cool place to visit, you have the Desert museum to visit, and 4th Ave. you can also get to Tombstone and back in a day, kitschy but amusing.
MIL lives there and i've spent the best part of 2 years there over the last 15.
There's also Jerome and Verde Canyon Railroad.

Go to Sante Fe or Silver City for NM vibe.

 

[Scougar]

So far I've managed Smokey Mountains, Maine (Bar Harbor), Colorado Mountains (plus Florida as a young adult). All worth visiting tbh. Really want to get out to Yellowstone and Zion though.

 

[geekman]

Any suggestions of stuff to see / do roughly along this route? I'll be doing it over a period of a few weeks so happy to deviate from it a few hours but don't want to get too far off course. It's a trip I've done twice before but I didn't have as much time then so basically just stopped at New Orleans, San Antonio, Tallahassee and a couple of other places. Would be nice to see things a bit off the beaten track this time.

Thanks in advance

 

[SoliD]

Really liked Pensacola on that route, nice and chilled and got to see the Blue Angels doing their practise at the airforce base there. we did a few other stops on our way from Pensacola to New Orleans, Mobile is worth a stop to see the USS Alabama, Gulf Coast Gator Ranch is good for a swamp tour. and space centre at Houston, bit of a whistle stop tour for us the last few days. Austin was great but we were only there for the F1 so at the circuit during the day then into the town in the evening for some food before going back to the hotel to collapse

 

[geekman]

Really liked Pensacola on that route, nice and chilled and got to see the Blue Angels doing their practise at the airforce base there. we did a few other stops on our way from Pensacola to New Orleans, Mobile is worth a stop to see the USS Alabama, Gulf Coast Gator Ranch is good for a swamp tour. and space centre at Houston, bit of a whistle stop tour for us the last few days. Austin was great but we were only there for the F1 so at the circuit during the day then into the town in the evening for some food before going back to the hotel to collapse

Thanks for those suggestions. I've stopped in Pensacola and Mobile before but only for a couple of hours to eat and fuel up, so it would definitely be nice to actually explore them this time.

I love Austin too but go 4-5 times per year so will probably give it a miss this time, likewise with Houston and San Antonio.

 

[Paracelsus]

edit: SoliD already mentioned Mobile, doh!

 

[geekman]

Thought I'd share a few pictures of my recent trip, @SoliD 's recommendations of Pensacola and the swamp tours were great, didn't get to spend as much time in Mobile as I'd have liked but I can leave it for next time.

I started in Monterrey, Mexico and did the Florida Keys, Miami, Everglades, Orlando, St. Augustine (really nice place, highly recommended), Daytona Beach, Pensacola, Mobile, New Orleans, San Antonio and Gruene over the course of around 3 weeks. Stats for the trip are below, definitely did more miles than last time as we took more stops / detours. The car performed well, I annoyingly had something hit the windscreen and fog light on the highway, causing a nasty chip and smashing the fog light itself but can't blame the car for that. MPG was decent considering it was fully loaded and I drove pretty fast where possible.

Overall a really enjoyable trip, can't wait for our even longer one next year.