Road Tripping in the USA!
- Thread starter [TW]Fox
- Start date
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For US car rental Virgin came in significantly cheaper for me this year (just over £1000 compared with £1400 with the usual websites) and the same for a friend.
That means missing the PCH though! I'd say start from LA and then drive up to San Fran and continue on. It's a hard choice on what to cut out though as San Diego was a real highlight for us (more so than San Fran and LA) and Yosemite / Death Valley is obviously stunning.
[TW]Fox;27929609 said:
That means missing the PCH though! I'd say start from LA and then drive up to San Fran and continue on. It's a hard choice on what to cut out though as San Diego was a real highlight for us (more so than San Fran and LA) and Yosemite / Death Valley is obviously stunning.
Soldato
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- 18 Oct 2002
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- 8,968
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Thanks for the suggestions, they've been 5-6 times before, so have done SF, Vegas, PCH, Miami, NY, Washington etc, but wanted to see some of the more outside bits, I'll draw up a quick route from leaving north Cali and ending back in the south.
Chicago is a must as they fly into there, but could easily fly back out to the west coast when they needed to.
Chicago is a must as they fly into there, but could easily fly back out to the west coast when they needed to.
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I use Google flight search which does let you do multi city and flying from Copenhagen to Dulles to Honolulu to Lax and back to Copenhagen in £700. Doing it from any UK airport is well over a thousand. Does anyone know if hire companies will be renting out the new mustang in September?
Yes, the new Mustang is already on fleets and has been since late last year. The more time passes the more old Mustangs go off fleet, before long it will be entirely new Mustang.
I highly recommend driving through Yellowstone if you can work it into your trip. I did LA through Colorado up to south dakota for the sturgis rally (awesome fun btw and you can go see mount Rushmore while you're there. Then back across through Yellowstone, down along the mountains, cutting through the bottom right corner of Idaho (best bit of road in my entire life), down to salt Lake city and back again. Awesome ride.
The 89?
Yep, specifically this bit. When I rode it it had just been freshly tarmaced and it was one huge lane either way. Really long fast swooping turns that you can take at 80mph.
Before you get there you have an amazing ride down past the rockies, and a nice pit stop at Jackson Hole which is gorgeous and is a good place to grab breakfast at this little truck stop place. It's a shame that streetview is such horrible quality because it's just amazing. The ride down to SLC is a bit meh, but then you have more Utah to explore, and you could do Vegas on the way back down to LA, or cut across Nevada on the way to SF depending where you wanted to go. That's enough of the desert to get a feel for it, but Utah has prettier desert, and the stunning Bryce Canyon to see as well.
[TW]Fox;27931879 said:
Is there an easy way to find out what cars are likely to be at your rental place? Obviously I'm wondering if Alamo will have the new Mustang in Seattle on the 29th July
(So trying to find out if the stock there is 50% old Mustang, 25% new Mustang and 25% something else for example).
Okay. Glad you weren't talking about I15 through Idaho up to Idaho Falls haha. That's an incredibly boring drive (just like the route to SLC).
Southern Utah is amazing. I need to go back and spend some more time in Moab.
Where's the plan for your next trip?[TW]Fox;27932936 said:Just over 4 months to go
Is there an easy way to find out what cars are likely to be at your rental place? Obviously I'm wondering if Alamo will have the new Mustang in Seattle on the 29th July
Not really, it's luck of the draw but I'd imagine your chances are good.
Los Angeles > Vegas > Zion/Bryce > Salt Lake City > Arches/Moab/Canyonlands > Denver > Pikes Peak > Random Colorado > New Mexico > Monument Valley > Phoenix > Palm Springs > LA.
It's subject to change as I'm still working it out but the flights and car are booked
If you want any Palm Springs tips I've been there 5-6 times in the last couple years so have quite a few recommendations on places to stay and go
Also if you aren't in a massive rush, my preferred way to get to LAX if you're coming from Palm Springs direction is to take the Laurel Canyon exit from the 101 and drive up the hill to Mulholland Drive which then has some pretty cool views of L.A. Take Mulholland to Coldwater Canyon which comes out at Sunset right at the top of Beverly Hills which gives you the choice of either going up to the Sunset Strip or head down towards Santa Monica to hang out before you leave.
Also it may have improved by the time you arrive/leave but at the moment the 3rd St/touristy side of Santa Monica is an absolute nightmare traffic-wise due to construction of a light rail line closing one of the major roads near the pier (Colorado Ave) and they just recently shut the California incline for a year - if you had any plans on heading there on the last day I would head to the Main St area and stay east of Pico at all costs
Also if you aren't in a massive rush, my preferred way to get to LAX if you're coming from Palm Springs direction is to take the Laurel Canyon exit from the 101 and drive up the hill to Mulholland Drive which then has some pretty cool views of L.A. Take Mulholland to Coldwater Canyon which comes out at Sunset right at the top of Beverly Hills which gives you the choice of either going up to the Sunset Strip or head down towards Santa Monica to hang out before you leave.
Also it may have improved by the time you arrive/leave but at the moment the 3rd St/touristy side of Santa Monica is an absolute nightmare traffic-wise due to construction of a light rail line closing one of the major roads near the pier (Colorado Ave) and they just recently shut the California incline for a year - if you had any plans on heading there on the last day I would head to the Main St area and stay east of Pico at all costs
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I've finalised and booked most of our honeymoon this summer (driving clockwise, starting in Seattle);
(Google Maps would not let me add anymore points but I obviously go from Portland to Seattle to complete the loop).
(Location is where we sleep each night)
Anybody who's been to any of these places offer any advice or 'must do' things (like the tip about the 89 a few posts back).
(Google Maps would not let me add anymore points but I obviously go from Portland to Seattle to complete the loop).
(Location is where we sleep each night)
Anybody who's been to any of these places offer any advice or 'must do' things (like the tip about the 89 a few posts back).
Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Sep 2007
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- 11,099
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- West Yorkshire / Market Bosworth
The idea of a american road trip appeals to me but is it really necessary to plan your holiday via a excel spreadsheet?
Sounds a bit regimented.
Sounds a bit regimented.
How else do you suggest you put together a 2-4 week trip with as many as 20 different hotel stays
You can just randomly turn up places and book as you go - I tend to do this to leave the last few days or so open - but if you don't plan to some extent you'll miss stuff and end up driving within a few miles of really great stuff without realising, etc etc.
It's therefore perfectly logical to have some sort of plan - especially if you like to prebook accommodation before you go to ensure availability and make sure you stay in decent places.
I do that to get a rough idea of where I'm going.
What do you plan to see in SLC?