u.s trip help

[Red88]

If you come to Tucson I may be able to get you a place to stay for a night or two. I'm definitely vouching for Tucson, there's quite a bit to do here as a tourist. Suguaro Natl park has some amazing trails, as does Mount Lemon. The Air and Space Museum, shit, I even enjoy going there still. The Desert Museum is loads of fun for the young ones. Four hours from the Grand Canyon, four from Lake Havasu, five-six hours from Vegas. Sixty minutes from Mexico. It's a kickass hub for road trips, let me tell you.

[e30e]

If you do any parts of Arizona, make sure you do in the early Spring or late Fall or you will get roasted, had Irish friends visit in July, they were dying.

[ben312]

unless your into the big cities and huge crowds, stay away from NYC. i lived there a few years ago and it wasn't fun getting around then. there is plenty of stuff to do and its really fun, but if you don't like crowds or traffic then stay outta NYC or LA. chicgo was fun when i went last year. north east is beautiful and full of history. southwest is cool, but a long way from the UK and its hot lol.

[whiltebeitel]

You've got to at least go through the Appalachian mountains near southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. Great views, friendly people, great driving roads (Tail of the Dragon, Blue Ridge Parkway) and pretty moderate weather.

[TwoJ's]

Unless you are set on it, I would recommend avoiding the East coast. The better side of the country has much better geography, and there are a ton of places that you can see in one road trip. I think the most geographically diverse state (Washington) would be a cool place for a Brit to see, but there isn't really as much touristy stuff to do here as there is in the southwestern part of the country. It would be a good place to see, but if you are on a road trip, it is out of the way relative to the rest of the stuff you would probably want to see.

Lake Havasu is really cool. That was one of the stops on my last spring break road trip. But when I was there is was a basically a huge party, so I wouldn't go out of your way to take the kids there. But if you are coming to the US, you really should go to Vegas. Contrary to popular belief, there is a ton of family oriented stuff to do there. And then you are pretty close to LA, grand Canyon etc. Havasu is close too, so if you really wanted, you could go visit the relatives there and use their boat to wakeboard/ski/tube or whatever.

[Patches]

well im from wisconsin, so id have to say go to the wisconsin dells

[2002maniac]

Fly into LAX, drive to death valley, Las Vegas, Zions national park, Arches, moab, lake powell, grand canyon, san diego, and back to LA.

[Massive Lee]

I've travelled many, many time from the East to the West Coasts in my e30s, 2002 or by motorcycle. The Southwest has always been fabulous. It felt like freedom, and every single rock or cactus is wonderfull. But when driving back East, every single time, I found it depressing. Landscapes are boring, peoples are lame and agressive. Each time the same happened. So, if a Brit wants to tour a part of the US, bring kids and wants memories for decades, I'd stick to the Southwest.

[mikeedler]

route 66--Chicago to Cali. every eoropean knows about it. its a nice view/drive and you really can experience the "difference" in the areas. the midwest is where I am from and love.

[Massive Lee]

On Route 66 (or whatever remains of his mythical road), funs begins in Oklahoma. The highway is parallel to old Route 66, which stll has sections that can be visited. The last time I travelled there, my biggest deception was to want to stop for dinner at New Mexico's much famous Club Cafe (remember Jan and Dean's TV show?), just to see an empty building. Europeans will be shocked to see how America treats some of their historical landmarks.

[daniel]

On Route 66 (or whatever remains of his mythical road), funs begins in Oklahoma.

tulsa, oklahoma is a nice town (where i grew up). but it's true, not much remains of route 66. you can drive through some small towns and get a taste of it, but most of it is interstate now. if you plan ahead you can hit some really interesting stretches of route 66 in new mexico and arizona. and if you go to winslow, arizona, you can relive the jackson browne song "take it easy".

[chadthestampede]

I've travelled many, many time from the East to the West Coasts in my e30s, 2002 or by motorcycle. The Southwest has always been fabulous. It felt like freedom, and every single rock or cactus is wonderfull. But when driving back East, every single time, I found it depressing. Landscapes are boring, peoples are lame and agressive. Each time the same happened. So, if a Brit wants to tour a part of the US, bring kids and wants memories for decades, I'd stick to the Southwest.

I actually kind of agree with this. The East definitely has a lot of interesting landmarks, but they are often far between. NYC is nothing special, unless you like annoying, loud, belligerent people and waiting a lot. Whereas the southwest has incredible landscapes, and a real feeling of freedom. It's all big sky country.

I haven't been much into the PNW, but going up around Yellowstone and such is incredible as well. Colorado is beautiful in parts as well. Red Rocks by Denver and the Garden of the Gods an hour or so south. West of Denver is an very cool drive on 70 and then into Utah, where there is an interesting combination of nothingness and amazing scenery.

I'd say stick to the Western US, you can go up and down and hit all the landscapes. That's the stuff worth seeing, imo, not all the man made landmarks.

[daniel]

I actually kind of agree with this. The East definitely has a lot of interesting landmarks, but they are often far between. NYC is nothing special, unless you like annoying, loud, belligerent people and waiting a lot. Whereas the southwest has incredible landscapes, and a real feeling of freedom. It's all big sky country.

I haven't been much into the PNW, but going up around Yellowstone and such is incredible as well. Colorado is beautiful in parts as well. Red Rocks by Denver and the Garden of the Gods an hour or so south. West of Denver is an very cool drive on 70 and then into Utah, where there is an interesting combination of nothingness and amazing scenery.

I'd say stick to the Western US, you can go up and down and hit all the landscapes. That's the stuff worth seeing, imo, not all the man made landmarks.

you speak much truth. for someone coming from europe, where manmade landmarks are several hundred years old or even older, seeing a 200 year old building in boston or whatever is not that big of a deal.

[shiftbmw]

I'd suggest you take a little time to see wine country in the SF Bay. From there you can go northeast and get into the Sierras as well.

[e30:)]

drive up the west coast on 101... its an awsome drive. well for me it was