Hi all,
As it is known amongst us that Charlton Life not only provides up to the minute information on Andy Delort, but we are better than TripAdvisor when it comes to travel advice.
It's the time of year to start thinking of holidays... For me I want to take 3 weeks from work this year as a "well done" to completing my part-time degree.
I've always fancied the states and in particular the Mrs wants to visit NYC. Initially I was tempted by Canada but wasnt sure of a route to take over a 3 week period.
I thought of travelling from Washington DC to Miami Beach by car hire using coastal routes where possible but have read various posts saying the one way car hire is not worth it? We will both be 27 at the time of hire. Have any lifers rented a car in the states and have any tips to pass on? Is it worth driving or are the distances too far? I've planned around 14 days from Washington to Miami which Google maps says is a 16 hour drive, 1100 miles.
I'd love to visit Tennessee and New Oreleans (just for the food) but I think these are out of my range due to time.
0
Comments
There was a similar thread on here a while back with a lot of good info, so you might want to research that.
I went to the States this year with two friends (we were all 25) but travelled the opposite side and went from San Francisco up to Portland and Seattle and ended our trip in whistler and Vancouver in Canada. This like your trip was around 1100 miles according to google maps but in the end was around 1500 miles with odd trips here and there.
I would personally recommend getting a car when you are out there just for the ease of travelling wherever you want...you may find you enjoy certain areas more than others so you can stay longer or leave earlier depending on how you feel, fuel is very cheap out there so once you have paid the initial rental fee of the car then its pretty inexpensive from there.
A couple of things to look out for: The first being the insurances and recovery they try and make you buy when you are at the desk to collect your car when you already have it from when you hired the car. The second is if you are going to a major city like Washington DC then you will only need to hire your car from when you leave there as when I went I picked the car up straight from the airport and then incurred the cost of hotel parking ($30 a night) for 3 days while we were in San Francisco. The same goes for when you drop it off in Miami, if you don't think you'll need it then drop it off when you arrive and use the Public transport around the city.
We hired a 4x4 just for the fact that we had 3 big suitcases and wanted some room in the back for the third person, If you are going just the two of you then get a mustang convertible and enjoy the Sun.
For organising your trip we booked our first few nights Hotel in the City we arrived in and then just enjoyed the freedom from there to go where we wanted based on recommendations from locals who knew the areas. I also used a site called Lonely Planet to do some research and there are some really good threads on there to have a read of.
I'm looking to do the East coast in 2016 from New York to Miami so make sure you post with what you found.
If you haven't visited New York then you must, that is simple. You won't need a car at all. If you are interested in history then you will need to be in Washington (take a train from Penn Station, I think) but you could always fly from New York to, say, Nashville, drive down the Mississippi to New Orleans and then across to Florida. What time of year are you taking this trip?
If I was you, with a couple of weeks to kill, I'd head inland from DC (toward Front Royal), visit the Luray Caverns, take in the Shanandoah part of the Appalachians, then head down the Blue Ridge Parkway, all the way to Gatlinberg (which is a very touristy town). There are lots of side trips you can do off the Parkway which you can research to see if they suit? Blowing Rock, Chimney Rock, Natural Bridge, Grandfather Mountain, Asheville (for the Biltmore Estate), Cherokee, etc.
From there, you are near to Atlanta, and/or could head over to New Awlins if you wanted quite easily. From NO, it's only a days drive to Florida, and you could even drive down the west coast taking in Tampa/St Pete, Naples, Sanibel Island, and even the Keys before heading to Miami.
One word of caution, driving on interstate highways you can easily clock up 60 or 70 miles an hour averages, but you won't see much (not always a bad thing!). Best to base a days trip at around 250-300 miles max, as that usually leaves plenty of sightseeing opportunity. However, in state or national parks, the speed limit is about 35mph, on twisty roads, with many photo opps, so base a days drive out at 100 - 150 miles max, or you will be knackered!
I normally also take out the CDW option, as we have had a few bumps and grazes over the years.
Oh, and Miami, bits are ok. Stay in South Beach though. The drive to the Keys is fun but in mid summer don't expect to be alone.
Having driven across the US countless times know from police freinds that they usually set their radar at 10 mph above the speed limit except for school zones Witch is usually 25mph.
Should you be unfortunate to be pulled over REMAIN in your vehicle until the officer comes to your door most likely they will write a warning if they see a British license unless you are driving reckless.
Road manners vary from state to state st Midwest States you can pass left right anyway you can it is a free for all until they see a cop you can turn right on red after Complete stop and in my state Indiana you can turn Left on red if it is one way.
So just be aware what you can do in one state my illegal in another a good indication is watching what local drivers do.i
As you cross into one state to another the majority have Welcome Cen@/ters at the state line free maps hotel bookings. Etc.
Avoid the main interstate highways as much as possible. Yes they are direct and driving is easy but you might as well be driving along the M1, M6 or M4. Get off the main drag and see as much of the USA as you can, a diverse, generally friendly and fascinating country.
Whatever, enjoy the trip(s) of a lifetime
Last time I flew into DC we visited the Manassas National Battlefield Park (Bull Run and all that) which is worth a visit.
Towards the south of your route, St Augustine in Fl is a great little town being the oldest continually inhabited European-established town in the US which means it actually has a historic district which is actually historic!
NYC- Peter Lugers Steakhouse (bring a lot of money)
NYC- Katz Deli (oldest deli in America)
NYC- (Brooklyn) The Chip Shop (not exactly what you think)
Philadelphia- Pat's Cheesesteaks
Philadelphia- The Franklin Fountain
DC- Ben's Chili Bowl
Atlanta- The Varsity
Miami- Joe's Stone Crab's
And if you really want a taste of America, stop at a waffle house. These are predominately down south. America's breakfast joint is the best way to put it.
Congrats on your degree and enjoy your trip. Sorry for going a little off topic.
Some great responses. I've had mixed bag reviews since putting out on here and to friends in the world of facebook about the NYC to Miami route. Problem being with around maximum of 20/22 days away, the last thing I want to do is spend my whole time in a car...Other routes people have advised is the same as @Stone post - the San Francisco to Vancouver.
Looking at my options online it appears the San Fran to Seattle route along the oregon coast looks good for a week stint, stopping off casually along the way, then getting a train to Vancouver to experience something different and spending 4 nights or so there before flying back. @stone feel free to get your lad to send me a PM if he has the time to discuss further.
@Rossman92 out of interest did you eat your way around the states? If so I guess you needed business class flights on the return leg!
With regard to the Miami idea, what's the objective? If for a nice beach, then consider the Outer Banks and save a lot of driving...
Personally I'd consider something that took in New York, Washington, Outer Banks/Ocracoke, Blue Ridge. .. nice variety and the city breaks give you a chance to have a break from driving for a couple of days. First road trip we did (80s) spent too long on the road. ..
The best two bits of driving were between San Francisco and LA. There's the beautiful Pacific coast highway, (route 1).
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g28926-d147161-Reviews-Pacific_Coast_Highway_Route_1-California.html
The other and in my opinion is even better. Presidio to Terlingua, in Texas. Known locally as the river road. It's 60 miles of rollercosting along the Rio Grande.
Here is some advice about the roads.
American drivers can be aggressive(in a driving sense), they drive very close behind one and other, they often don't indicate and will cut you up, some drivers head straight to the outside lane and will just cruise and lots of people use their mobile phones while driving. I lost count the amount of cars we got stuck behind as they were taping away on their phones (remember America has some very very long straight roads) Driving tends to be worse in cities. Don't let this put you off though, I had a lot of fun driving, you just have to be extra vigilant.
When hiring a car in America be aware of 'drop off fees' this applies when you pick up a car in one place and drop it off else where. It's normally $250/$300, however within California, Florida, (possibly Nevada) and I think one other state they'll waiver this fee.
It's a bit naughty, but if you want to avoid buying a Sat Nav you could do what we did.
Purchase one from Best Buy (they are all over the place) take it back within 14 and then just buy another one in the same store. We just alternated between Garmins and TomToms, at the end just take it back and you'll get a full refund.
Do you know what car you are getting? Book through 'Kayak' or 'ebookers' for best deals. Avoid compact or economy cars. Intermediate cars are often the same price and it's not unusual to get a free upgrade to a standard or full size car. These cars really make a difference when driving in America (it can be dull at times) Nebraska and New Mexico stick in my mind for that.
Parking in cities is usually expensive, lots of hotels provide valeted parking, but again this is normally VERY expensive. So think about that when booking accommodation.
Don't avoid New Orleans as another poster suggested. It's a wonderful place and very different to a lot of the USA as it's influences are drawn prominently from France and Spain. The food in New Orleans was some of the best I ate throughout the country.
One piece of advice I recommend is to research ahead where to stay. While we never saw or heard gun shots, or come to mention it any crime. There are sketchy places to avoid, areas of Memphis and Detroit were more than a little dodgy.
You'll have an amazing time, the food is way better than you think, the beer is way better than you think and the people will be way better than you think.
Have a great time, if you have any questions feel free to send me a message.
had a great time.
The Coastal highway 101 along Oregon and into Washington is a cracking drive passing through some very quaint American towns. But as someone has previously said the temperature on the coast can be anything up to 20 degrees cooler than just a few miles inland.
I've only been to NYC on the east, not sure about a road trip all the way from there down to Miami though. Hell of a long way and not sure how much of excitement there is on the route. We thought about doing a Florida drive last year but then opted against it in favour of the west coast which seemed to be much better.
So did 2.5 weeks in 2013 driving up the west side from San Diego to San Francisco (was 27 when I did that). That was superb and we took 5 days out of that to fly over to Vegas and back. That was fine but 3 weeks would be perfect to make sure you are doing it leisurely and have plenty of time where you want and not too much driving. San Diego was great, only thing to watch out for us doing the drive between there and LA - we stupidly did it on Labor Day Saturday and it's the busiest stretch of motorway in the us so it was chaos, but will be fine I think if you do it on a weekday outside of peak hours.
The drive up route 1 from LA to San Fran is class, as is San Fran. Lots of people hate LA but we had a good time there. If you do Vegas as well worth driving out to Death Valley for a day as well. Make sure your air cons working though.
I couldn't recommend that trip highly enough... Covers all bases, beaches, tourist sights, incredible scenery, partying, good food.