US Road Trip - Route opinions


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Hey guys, next year me and a few mates are doing a US road trip Starting in New York, ending in Los Angeles. We have booked a car already for 3 week period. All 3 of us can drive and are from the the UK but we are now planning fine details.

This is what we have planned so far:

- Arrive in New York and get car

- 2-3 Full days in NY

 

- Travel to Houston, Texas (via Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana) - No stops we can *really* think of on this leg other than Tennessee for Jack Daniels... Which should be a good stop for a night a few drinks.

- Spend 4-5 Days with my family there

 

- Travel To Las Vegas (via Dallas, Roswell and Phoenix) We want to catch a "football" game or similar in Dallas or Phoenix we think.

 

- *Between these two we want to visit the Grand Canyon but not sure if we should do it en route or spend an extra day in Vegas and spend one visiting?*

 

- Spend 2 nights in Vegas... Erm... Yeah, What happens in Vegas stays in vegas ;) 

 

- Travel to San Francisco 

 

- Spend a few days traveling down from San Francisco to Los Angeles before we fly home to the UK

Any Ideas/suggestions/improvements on what we have planned? Obviously the stops we are doing 100% are new york, Houston, Grand Canyon, Vegas and San fran/los Angeles.

Thanks in advance 
-Nicholas-c

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so, when are you planning to go, exactly? Weather is doing to dictate your driving, especially through mountains.

 

also, football runs in the fall and early winter. not sure you'll be able to catch a game.

 

Jack Daniels would be fun - couple things of note - the county is dry (no alcohol), and JD is in the middle of nowhere. you'll want to pass through in the morning, do the tour, and be on your way.

 

2 nights in las vegas... hmm.. have you been there before? you'll want more than 2 nights!! Also, since you'll have a car, i highly recommend you get out and see some of the State Parks outside of Las Vegas - Mt Charleston, Red Rock and Valley of Fire. Beautiful!!

 

the grand canyon is a great experience, and you can enjoy it in a single day. just get there in the morning, do some hiking (or walking), take some pictures. dont get roped in to tours, helicopter flights, or the Native American territory.

 

Dallas is a nice city, but not much to do, imo. No reason to visit Roswell, if you ask me. Phoenix is a nice city.

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so, when are you planning to go, exactly? Weather is doing to dictate your driving, especially through mountains.

 

also, football runs in the fall and early winter. not sure you'll be able to catch a game.

 

Jack Daniels would be fun - couple things of note - the county is dry (no alcohol), and JD is in the middle of nowhere. you'll want to pass through in the morning, do the tour, and be on your way.

 

2 nights in las vegas... hmm.. have you been there before? you'll want more than 2 nights!! Also, since you'll have a car, i highly recommend you get out and see some of the State Parks outside of Las Vegas - Mt Charleston, Red Rock and Valley of Fire. Beautiful!!

 

the grand canyon is a great experience, and you can enjoy it in a single day. just get there in the morning, do some hiking (or walking), take some pictures. dont get roped in to tours, helicopter flights, or the Native American territory.

 

Dallas is a nice city, but not much to do, imo. No reason to visit Roswell, if you ask me. Phoenix is a nice city.

 

Car is booked March 4th until March 25th. Expecting it to be "warm" but not hot and hopefully not bad weather cold/snow etc. 

For the football we aren't really bothered which sport as such but any american sport really.

The home of JD is a dry county... Gotta be kidding me? O.o Can always jump county I guess? It's about the right distance from NY for a sleep stop so.

 

With Vegas we want to do a Hangover style, In. Get Drunk. Gamble and etc get out. Not quite as extreme but if someone can recommend good stuff to do other than drink and gamble...

Dallas and roswell, Not really there to see anything as such that's just the route we are planning to vegas.

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Car is booked March 4th until March 25th. Expecting it to be "warm" but not hot and hopefully not bad weather cold/snow etc. 

For the football we aren't really bothered which sport as such but any american sport really.

The home of JD is a dry county... Gotta be kidding me? O.o Can always jump county I guess? It's about the right distance from NY for a sleep stop so.

 

With Vegas we want to do a Hangover style, In. Get Drunk. Gamble and etc get out. Not quite as extreme but if someone can recommend good stuff to do other than drink and gamble...

Dallas and roswell, Not really there to see anything as such that's just the route we are planning to vegas.

Hmm.. March is going to be tough for sports as both Football and Baseball havent started yet (baseball season started March 31st this year).  Have you considered any Theme Parks?  There are plenty in Texas, Ohio (a few in NJ/PA but you'd have to check their operating schedule since its early Spring). 

 

If you are taking Route 81 from NY its about 13 hrs to TN which is more than fine... splitting between 3 people should make it an easy ride (I think I did 10 hrs to NC). 

 

Route 81 takes you through Philly, Baltimore, DC area so plenty of things to see there.  After that.. I have no idea as I havent traveled off the East Coast but either way you'll have fun. 

 

If you want to do the tourist thing... make sure you visit Alcatraz in SF, book early and you can do the night tour which I heard was great.

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Car is booked March 4th until March 25th. Expecting it to be "warm" but not hot and hopefully not bad weather cold/snow etc. 

For the football we aren't really bothered which sport as such but any american sport really.

The home of JD is a dry county... Gotta be kidding me? O.o Can always jump county I guess? It's about the right distance from NY for a sleep stop so.

 

With Vegas we want to do a Hangover style, In. Get Drunk. Gamble and etc get out. Not quite as extreme but if someone can recommend good stuff to do other than drink and gamble...

Dallas and roswell, Not really there to see anything as such that's just the route we are planning to vegas.

 

 

Let's see, a group of lads in Vegas needing something to do apart from drinking and gambling.  

 

Adventure Dome at Circus Circus

Chippendales at Rio

Gentlemen of Sapphire at Sapphire

Thunder from Downunder at Excaliber

 

:laugh:

 

Apart from that, there's loads of stuff to do (at least the last time I was there).  It all depends on what you as a group wish to do.

 

http://thegunstorelasvegas.com/

 

http://www.skydivelasvegas.com/

 

http://www.stratospherehotel.com/Tower/Rides

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Since you're going in March, it won't be Football or Baseball season, but you could take a tour of the stadiums.  Yankee stadium is a neat one.

Also be sure to go to an authentic New York pizza place.   When I was there 2 summers ago, I went to a place called Motorino.  Very interesting stuff.  And if you want to speed through all the touristy stuff, you can do 8 hour tours that get you past all the lines and you'll be able to see everything in a day.  After that, you'll have the freedom to wander wherever.

 

Also, you could consider going up to Boston for a day.  There's a lot of neat history in that city, and there's the Sam Adams brewery, MIT, and Harvard.  Boston has a very very good night life.

 

Careful when going past Atlanta. They have some of the worst traffic jams in the country.  If you're not directly stopping there, take a wide detour around it. LA is even worse, so be prepared to sit in traffic for hours if you drive on Hwy 405.

New Orleans is a very interesting a wild city if you want a taste of the deep South.

 

Instead of Houston, maybe consider Austin instead.  Imo, it's a much better city and there is much more to do.  You might be able to take a tour of the Circuit of the Americas track that they finished a year ago.

 

Make sure you don't accidentally go into Juarez while you're passing through Texas.  Unless you want to get murdered.  :rofl:

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Let's see, a group of lads in Vegas needing something to do apart from drinking and gambling.  

 

Adventure Dome at Circus Circus

Chippendales at Rio

Gentlemen of Sapphire at Sapphire

Thunder from Downunder at Excaliber

 

:laugh:

 

Apart from that, there's loads of stuff to do (at least the last time I was there).  It all depends on what you as a group wish to do.

 

http://thegunstorelasvegas.com/

 

http://www.skydivelasvegas.com/

 

http://www.stratospherehotel.com/Tower/Rides

 

Oh yes!! Gun ranges. That's our kinda thing!

 

Something I Forgot to mention as well, We are hoping to jump on Route 66 at some point but not 100% sure where it travels, From what we can tell parallel with the L40?

 

 

Since you're going in March, it won't be Football or Baseball season, but you could take a tour of the stadiums.  Yankee stadium is a neat one.

Also be sure to go to an authentic New York pizza place.   When I was there 2 summers ago, I went to a place called Motorino.  Very interesting stuff.  And if you want to speed through all the touristy stuff, you can do 8 hour tours that get you past all the lines and you'll be able to see everything in a day.  After that, you'll have the freedom to wander wherever.

 

Also, you could consider going up to Boston for a day.  There's a lot of neat history in that city, and there's the Sam Adams brewery, MIT, and Harvard.  Boston has a very very good night life.

 

Careful when going past Atlanta. They have some of the worst traffic jams in the country.  If you're not directly stopping there, take a wide detour around it. LA is even worse, so be prepared to sit in traffic for hours if you drive on Hwy 405.

New Orleans is a very interesting a wild city if you want a taste of the deep South.

 

Instead of Houston, maybe consider Austin instead.  Imo, it's a much better city and there is much more to do.  You might be able to take a tour of the Circuit of the Americas track that they finished a year ago.

 

Make sure you don't accidentally go into Juarez while you're passing through Texas.  Unless you want to get murdered.   :rofl:

 
Got Family who live in Houston so it's kind of a must stop, We are thinking of heading north from houston to austin then dallas though? Google maps route suggested going via Juarez at one point... No thanks!
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Car is booked March 4th until March 25th. Expecting it to be "warm" but not hot and hopefully not bad weather cold/snow etc. 

For the football we aren't really bothered which sport as such but any american sport really.

The home of JD is a dry county... Gotta be kidding me? O.o Can always jump county I guess? It's about the right distance from NY for a sleep stop so.

 

With Vegas we want to do a Hangover style, In. Get Drunk. Gamble and etc get out. Not quite as extreme but if someone can recommend good stuff to do other than drink and gamble...

Dallas and roswell, Not really there to see anything as such that's just the route we are planning to vegas.

most of the US is still pretty cold in March. in the east, or midwest, we can get snow into april. Out west, expect the desert areas to be pretty chilly too. Because of its elevation, new mexico and northern arizona can easily get snow. I've been to LV in april and we had to wear jackets.

 

So more to do in LV - well i already mentioned the state parks. you really want to see at least one of those. LV has some amazing restaurants, both on and off the Strip. let me know if you want some recommendations. Also, there's all kinds of shows to see other than the, ahem, manly, ones listed above. i'm actually going out there next week. my buddy and i want to see one of the comedians that happens to be out there at the same time - Jerry Seinfeld, Dennis Miller, Bill Maher, or Tim Allen. I've seen several Cirque shows, as well as Blue Man Group. It's hard to go wrong. Downtown/Fremont St is fun for a night. you get a taste of the old Vegas. A lot of the casinos there have that old, dirty charm.

 

i realize that youre going to be in the US for 3 weeks, but youre taking on a LOT of driving. I'd make sure you have your route very well planned out. you'll also want some sort of backup in case weather is a problem. like i said, March can be a mixed bag.

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