Road Tripping in the USA!

I was considering a Mustang for next year but the more I think about it the more I think I'll go for either 'luxury' or an enormous SUV like Joe T had recently.
 
Howard said:
I was considering a Mustang for next year but the more I think about it the more I think I'll go for either 'luxury' or an enormous SUV like Joe T had recently.
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There are some roof down experiences that added to our road trip.

Needs to be done once I think to tick the box.
 
Is anyone else finding that despite the rubbish exchange rate the cost of UK to US flights at the moment are really cheap? I'm keeping my eyes on a few dates in spring and summer near year and I'm seeing £500 return to SFO in school holidays?
 
Peerzy said:
Is anyone else finding that despite the rubbish exchange rate the cost of UK to US flights at the moment are really cheap? I'm keeping my eyes on a few dates in spring and summer near year and I'm seeing £500 return to SFO in school holidays?
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then snap them up as they will go up.
 
We are going to the States for the first time in late Feb, flying into LA, spending a couple of nights there and driving to Vegas.

Hired the obligatory Mustang, (should have read this thread first! :).

Thing is, I drive about 30K miles a year here and have for years, think I'm very set in my ways.

Bit nervous of driving in the States, are there any decent guides to look for?
 
Don't be nervous...it's easy. There's lots of road space, and Americans tend to have a very relaxed attitude to driving...people don't tend to drive very fast, and if you find yourself needing to make a last minute and lane change or something, they tend to be very accommodating. Not like in the UK, where you'd probably get a torrent of abuse.

Driving in LA can be a little daunting because it's so busy, but just remember to pay attention to what lane you are in at intersections - in most cases you can turn right on a red.

The great thing about American cities is that because of the grid layout, if you do get flustered and miss a turn, you can just take the next turn, go around the block and get back on track.
 
Conscript said:
Don't be nervous...it's easy. There's lots of road space, and Americans tend to have a very relaxed attitude to driving...people don't tend to drive very fast, and if you find yourself needing to make a last minute and lane change or something, they tend to be very accommodating. Not like in the UK, where you'd probably get a torrent of abuse.
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Where was this? This is pretty much the opposite of how it is around me. At least 10mph over the speed limit is expected too. Everyone drives flat out and constantly changing lanes into gaps with just enough room for their car.

Saying that though, I do find it a lot easier driving over here purely because the roads are huge and you have tonnes of space. Just remember to turn right on red and stop at all stop signs and you'll be fine.
 
timmeh said:
Where was this? This is pretty much the opposite of how it is around me. At least 10mph over the speed limit is expected too. Everyone drives flat out and constantly changing lanes into gaps with just enough room for their car.

Saying that though, I do find it a lot easier driving over here purely because the roads are huge and you have tonnes of space. Just remember to turn right on red and stop at all stop signs and you'll be fine.
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This. If you leave a gap big enough for a car in front of you.. someone will put a truck in it.
 
I was in California, Nevada and Arizona. There was lots of bad driving of course (phone use especially was rife), but I found there seemed to be less "attitude" on the roads. If you pull in front of someone here, it's hand gestures, flashing, "****ing ****er", etc...in America, people were switching lanes and stuff, but no one seemed to mind. Kind of hard to explain, it's just the impression I got.

As for speed...maybe on the freeways yes, people speed. But in town, everyone seemed to just pootle around. It felt much less hectic than I expected.
 
Has anyone done an East Coast trip? We're planning one for March/April and thinking of starting in Miami (seems to be cheapest flights) driving up Florida, spending a few days in Disney and then carrying on through South Carolina and up to Charlotte and then back down again.

From what I can see the price of car rentals is already much higher than west coast prices for some reason but other than that - has anyone done something similar and have any tips?
 
Conscript said:
Don't be nervous...it's easy. There's lots of road space, and Americans tend to have a very relaxed attitude to driving...people don't tend to drive very fast, and if you find yourself needing to make a last minute and lane change or something, they tend to be very accommodating. Not like in the UK, where you'd probably get a torrent of abuse.
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My experience is purely from California and a few years ago now but maybe they're relaxed because lane discipline appeared to be, at best, a vague concept that happens to other people. Worth being aware though that there might be car sharing lanes set aside for vehicles with more than one occupant - these might be operating all the time or only during certain hours of the day.

The road surface is also surprisingly bad as well for large stretches, I came back to the UK with a newfound respect for how good our roads are in general.

That said I did find driving in California both quite easy and pleasant for the most part.
 
The driving is worse in some ways and better in others.

I've driven more miles in the US than I have in the UK over the past 3 years and generally I find the main difference is the mindset. US drivers are not as well educated on the laws and the standard isn't as high, however everybody doesn't drive round like a militant thinking they are the best driver in the world and everybody else is a moron intent on slowing them down by 0.5seconds.

You don't tend to have the typical UK problems in the US such as people not letting you out, forcing you off the road because "it was their right of way" etc.... It's a lot more of a relaxed atmosphere I've found.

Personally I prefer the US way of driving. Nothing worse than someone sitting in a car and purposely not looking anywhere other than forward so that they don't make eye contact and thus don't have to let you out even though they've just completely blocked the junction for no reason.
 
I'm currently planning out a trip to the West Coast on 30th Sept. to 16th Oct. next year. (LA-SF-LV-SD-LA loop) Got a few questions which I'm sure have been answered but here we go anyway!

Got my eye on flights with Norweigan with are £450pp return to LAX at the moment, they seem reasonable and as far as I can tell from Seatguru the plane and seat size is the same as equivalent economy class with BA, unless anyone knows better?

We're 60/40 on renting a Mustang convertible as its our first road trip, is it the making of the PCH and Yosemite/Death Valley journey? Or will it not being summer make it a bit pointless?

And driving north on the PCH make that much difference to the experience? As ideally we want to spend the last portion of the trip in Vegas/ San Diego.

Hotel wise, is booking the first week and winging it the rest of the time viable, or is it worth booking Vegas (probably Planet Hollywood) in advance?

Back to route planning!
 
I went in September this year, did the same route but the correct way round (anticlockwise).

I had the mustang, it did add some really good things to the trip, roof down on the coast, at night on the strip and through yosemite was just breathtaking. Would I rent it again, nope. Ticked the box and it's done. But I would recommend you do rent one if this is your first trip to the west coast.

Hotels, I booked all mine in advance. Keep track of prices on hotels, some places were substantially cheaper in advance (San Fran, LA, Diego etc.) Vegas varied so much, but if you can get a nice suite for £80 a night then book it.
 
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