..on holiday. Going to be travelling around a bit. The cities and main tourist destinations aside, eg Vegas, Grand Canyon, NYC etc. Can anyone recommend any hidden or lesser known gems? Going in Sept.
Not really a hidden gem but if your in California then try to visit Yosemite National Park.. plenty of Day Trips (10/11 hours though) go out there from San Francisco if your in the area
Madonna Inn, St Louis Obispo. Half way between LA and San Francisco - the campest hotel in the world, check it out on line mate, it's a must! Oh and make sure you take in a baseball game at AT & T park in San Francisco, great stadium, great team...
Agree on the Madonna Inn. We stayed in the caveman room. Most ridiculous hotel room I have ever stayed in. Great steakhouse at the hotel as well. I would give a special mention to Charleston SC, Boston as my favourite city (if you go to one ballpark then it must be Fenway or Wrigley in Chicago). New England as a whole is stunning. Maine and Vermont are beautiful.
America is all about the driving and coming across the little gems. My advise, spend a bit extra to get a convertable, if only for driving around California. The other thing is forget the freeways if possible and stick to the smaller roads, that's where the cool places are and it never seems to take much longer anyway.
I would recommend the drive up the pacific coast highway from Santa Monica to San Francisco. Take your time and stop off at all if the smaller towns. Places like Monteray, Carmel etc...
Not really a hidden gem but if your in California then try to visit Yosemite National Park.. plenty of Day Trips (10/11 hours though) go out there from San Francisco if your in the area
Second this, if theres once place I could go back to it is Yosemite National Park. Amazing. Was 14 when I went so didnt really appreciate it then but wow!
We drove up from LA took quite a long time but well worth it!
San Francisco - Alcatraz, Trolley tours, a couple hour drive from wine country in the Sonoma Valley and Redwood forests
Yosemite - unbelievable natural beauty
Colorado - choose a small town in the Rocky Mountains or base yourself in Colorado Springs. Excellent hiking. One of my favorite places to relax
Pacific coast highway - drive from LA to SF. Quaint small towns with good shopping
Portland Oregon - not much to see but really good restaurants and breweries
Charleston, SC or Savannah GA - traditional southern towns, beaches, golf, low country seafood boil right on the beach.
Washington DC - museums Philly - revolutionary war sites/museums Boston - excessive drinking and waking up with an annoying girl with a bad accent
There are a lot of small towns throughout the central parts of the country where there is not much to see but have a good atmosphere and really friendly people.
Avoid Florida in the summer. Too humid. Too crowded with Disney tourists or beach goers
When in new York check out the highline in chelsea you can access it via 23rd on 10th I lived across the road last year....nice place for a walk down towards Greenwich village...!!! Theres also a great meatball place in Chelsea would defo recommend. Ill find address and let you know
Try out the summer temperatures in Death Valley. Zion and Bryce Canyons in Utah are better and more accessible than their Grand cousin in Arizona imo. Further afield there's Yellowstone but also great other stuff in Wyoming and Montana. The Little Bighorn Battlefield site in Montana is superb as is the Devil's Tower in Wyoming (made famous by the Close Encounters movie). The Badlands National Park in S. Dakota is good too. (Check out the Crazy Horse Memorial in SD and Wall Drug if you go there. walldrug.com/) If in Arizona, go to the Petrified Forest NP which includes the Painted Desert which has its own badlands. If you're heading up to Oregon/Washington State, do Crater Lake in Oregon and Mt St Helens in Washington. Check out the Sequoia National Forest on the way back for some rather large trees! Top tip: if you're visiting more than just a couple of National Parks, it is cheaper to buy an annual pass for $80 at your first park (that's for the vehicle rather than per person.) My suggestion if you are doing loads of parks/out of the way places would be to ignore the advice about the convertible and get a 4x4 SUV instead. Much more practical. In most areas of the southern USA in September it will be way to hot to have the roof down anyway when trundling around at low speeds so it's not worth it. The SUV will get you into the more inaccessible places like, say, down the Apache Pass in the Chiricahua Mtns to Fort Bowie in Arizona. If you've got the time/inclination, think about the cliff dwellings and pueblos in New Mexico which are fascinating.
Drove through it in 1989 and have a great photo of a huge brown bear at the roadside.
Other highlights for us were St Luis Obispo ( thanks for the reminder, Algarve!) , the Hamptons on Long Island NY( very upmarket but interesting to view how the "other half" live) & Le Brea Tar Pits in LA which are pretty unique.
Forgot to say, Tombstone in Arizona is good, (we have those blue plaques saying so and so lived here Tombstone has similar signs explaining where everyone got shot). There's also the Boot Hill cemetery and the OK Corral. As for other "wild west" towns, I was marginally disappointed with Deadwood - but if you're in S. Dakota anyway.....
Forgot to say, Tombstone in Arizona is good, (we have those blue plaques saying so and so lived here Tombstone has similar signs explaining where everyone got shot). There's also the Boot Hill cemetery and the OK Corral. As for other "wild west" towns, I was marginally disappointed with Deadwood - but if you're in S. Dakota anyway.....
I was just about to recommend Tombstone as I was surprised how much I enjoyed the place (not into the wild west era) apart from the Crystal Palace bar (l think they said the longest bar in ....?.
If you are heading out that way, then Lake Tahoe is a must absolutely stunning and not far from Carson City.
If you are doing the PCH then continue up past SF to Mendocino and Eureka. Eureka itself is not that great but it is very close to Ferndale, which is an old cowboy time. It looks just like it did 100 years ago except for the paved roads.
I would also recommend the Aquarium in Monterey and whale watching out of Monterey or Moss Landing in California or out of Boston, MA.
I was at Lake Tahoe with Mrs cafcfan, taking in the scenery when this huge member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Hell's Angels (proudly wearing his colors) came over to me and offered to take our photo - I thought, oh, how can I refuse - crap - there goes the camera. But he was really friendly and took a fairly decent piccy too! Do we look nervous or what?
Go to as many national parks as possible. USA is a gorgeous country and after spending 6 weeks doing the same kind of thing as you it's easy to see why so many americans dont have passports and hardly leave the country. San Fran, Chicago and New Orleans are great cities to go to. D.C is pretty impressive and has a central london vibe to it with all the monuments etc. NYC is great and la is a bit intense but interesting. Deffo wouldnt spend more than a few days there though. Always wanted to go to new england and sept is an awesome time for it. Vegas, like LA is pretty intense so only spend a few days there too.
Have fun though! It really is one of the greatest country's on earth, even though their people (who are lovely) try their best to screw it up
On the California theme. If you like wine, especially red, take a trip to the Gold Country. Amador County. It's about a 3 hour drive from SF so you'd probably want to stay overnight for a night or two. Wonderful red wines (especially Zinfandel). Beautiful rolling countryside and a real get-away-from-it-all feel. A lot more low key than Napa but better wines IMO.
If you're not into wine then it is California Gold Rush country so lots of history in that regard. Mines to tour etc, etc.
And, to top it all, there's a wonderful Zagat rated restaurant in the back of beyond in a small place called Plymouth.
Spent 3 summers in the USA while at Uni and stayed on for a year and three quarters after graduating. Have also been back quite a few times since on various hols. Have been to every state bar Hawaii and Alaska.
A few points. 1) It's a huge country. Travelling can take up silly amounts of time. 2) I found the cities pretty boring and expensive. Places to travel to and get out quick. 3) For me the National and State parks are the jewels of the USA.
Always reluctant to recommend places as what I like is probably very different to what others may like and there's not enough info to base any recommendations on e.g do you want young and lively or older and quiet, city or country, etc? That said, there are some good shouts already in the thread and food for thought.
I would never hire a convertible as suggested. It'll be fun for the first morning but from that point on will be too hot, too cold, too rainy, too insecty...
If you are driving make sure you take parking fees into account with your budgeting if you are staying downtown in the larger citys. I recently got stung for $34 a night in Seattle and it often makes a difference when comparing hotel costs.
Moab, in Utah is a great base. You have Canyonlands and Arches NP's very close by, and Monument Valley, Natural Bridges NM, and Capitol Reef NP a day's drive away. Lots of good stops en route too - the Mogi Dugway will set the pulse running, Goosenecks SP, Newspaper Rock, The Needles, Dead Horse Point, Goblin Valley, Devil's Garden, etc etc. Zion NP and Bryce NP are on the way if coming from Vegas and if coming from Denver, you have to cross the Rockies which also gives great views. If further north, Hell's Canyon in Oregon is worth a visit - the deepest canyon in the world. Great for jet boat rides!!! The Columbia River Gorge is fab for waterfalls, as is the area around the North Umpqua River, not far from Crater Lake (which is simply beautiful). Yellowstone NP was amazing - too many superlatives, and took thousands of photos! Geysers, wildlife, waterfalls, flora, lovely lakes, and steaming springs.
Williams and Kingman are worth a stop if you take the 66 through AZ. Just got back after 3 weeks out there, 2 on the West Coast, and travelled a fair chunk of the 66 on route to Vegas from the Grand Canyon. If you do the Grand Canyon I would recommend the South Rim. The North West section is the part Vegas uses as part of their daily tours, not as good as the South Rim.
Driving around the small towns of the American South is terrific fun; New Orleans itself is always entertaining, with bars and music in the French Quarter and grand colonial mansions on Canal Street. Take the tram to a leafy suburb called Desire. The best ribeye steak I have ever eaten was at Rueben's Catfish House, in the woods just outside Columbus, Mississippi. Enjoy!
Comments
Was 14 when I went so didnt really appreciate it then but wow!
We drove up from LA took quite a long time but well worth it!
Also stumbled upon this 'Ghost' Town (Oatman) on Route 66 - HIGHLY recommended...
If you are going further north, then the Boeing Factory at Everett is a must plus Mount St Helens.
San Francisco - Alcatraz, Trolley tours, a couple hour drive from wine country in the Sonoma Valley and Redwood forests
Yosemite - unbelievable natural beauty
Colorado - choose a small town in the Rocky Mountains or base yourself in Colorado Springs. Excellent hiking. One of my favorite places to relax
Pacific coast highway - drive from LA to SF. Quaint small towns with good shopping
Portland Oregon - not much to see but really good restaurants and breweries
Charleston, SC or Savannah GA - traditional southern towns, beaches, golf, low country seafood boil right on the beach.
Washington DC - museums
Philly - revolutionary war sites/museums
Boston - excessive drinking and waking up with an annoying girl with a bad accent
There are a lot of small towns throughout the central parts of the country where there is not much to see but have a good atmosphere and really friendly people.
Avoid Florida in the summer. Too humid. Too crowded with Disney tourists or beach goers
Zion and Bryce Canyons in Utah are better and more accessible than their Grand cousin in Arizona imo.
Further afield there's Yellowstone but also great other stuff in Wyoming and Montana. The Little Bighorn Battlefield site in Montana is superb as is the Devil's Tower in Wyoming (made famous by the Close Encounters movie).
The Badlands National Park in S. Dakota is good too. (Check out the Crazy Horse Memorial in SD and Wall Drug if you go there. walldrug.com/)
If in Arizona, go to the Petrified Forest NP which includes the Painted Desert which has its own badlands.
If you're heading up to Oregon/Washington State, do Crater Lake in Oregon and Mt St Helens in Washington. Check out the Sequoia National Forest on the way back for some rather large trees!
Top tip: if you're visiting more than just a couple of National Parks, it is cheaper to buy an annual pass for $80 at your first park (that's for the vehicle rather than per person.)
My suggestion if you are doing loads of parks/out of the way places would be to ignore the advice about the convertible and get a 4x4 SUV instead. Much more practical. In most areas of the southern USA in September it will be way to hot to have the roof down anyway when trundling around at low speeds so it's not worth it. The SUV will get you into the more inaccessible places like, say, down the Apache Pass in the Chiricahua Mtns to Fort Bowie in Arizona.
If you've got the time/inclination, think about the cliff dwellings and pueblos in New Mexico which are fascinating.
Drove through it in 1989 and have a great photo of a huge brown bear at the roadside.
Other highlights for us were St Luis Obispo ( thanks for the reminder, Algarve!) , the Hamptons on Long Island NY( very upmarket but interesting to view how the "other half" live) & Le Brea Tar Pits in LA which are pretty unique.
Enjoy & take care !
As for other "wild west" towns, I was marginally disappointed with Deadwood - but if you're in S. Dakota anyway.....
If you are doing the PCH then continue up past SF to Mendocino and Eureka. Eureka itself is not that great but it is very close to Ferndale, which is an old cowboy time. It looks just like it did 100 years ago except for the paved roads.
I would also recommend the Aquarium in Monterey and whale watching out of Monterey or Moss Landing in California or out of Boston, MA.
Have fun though! It really is one of the greatest country's on earth, even though their people (who are lovely) try their best to screw it up
If you're not into wine then it is California Gold Rush country so lots of history in that regard. Mines to tour etc, etc.
And, to top it all, there's a wonderful Zagat rated restaurant in the back of beyond in a small place called Plymouth.
A few points.
1) It's a huge country. Travelling can take up silly amounts of time.
2) I found the cities pretty boring and expensive. Places to travel to and get out quick.
3) For me the National and State parks are the jewels of the USA.
Are you going to rent a car, bus or fly?
I would never hire a convertible as suggested. It'll be fun for the first morning but from that point on will be too hot, too cold, too rainy, too insecty...
If you are driving make sure you take parking fees into account with your budgeting if you are staying downtown in the larger citys. I recently got stung for $34 a night in Seattle and it often makes a difference when comparing hotel costs.
If further north, Hell's Canyon in Oregon is worth a visit - the deepest canyon in the world. Great for jet boat rides!!! The Columbia River Gorge is fab for waterfalls, as is the area around the North Umpqua River, not far from Crater Lake (which is simply beautiful).
Yellowstone NP was amazing - too many superlatives, and took thousands of photos! Geysers, wildlife, waterfalls, flora, lovely lakes, and steaming springs.