How do i go about taking a road trip in the US?

Question

I'm in my first year of uni and my friend and i both really want to go for a road trip across the U.S after university. We are from london so i'm not sure if we would need visas or something like that, or if we treat it as a normal holiday. We want to go to as many places as possible. is there anything special you need? and also are there any rental places that allow you do that sort of thing with a car, or would we need to buy one maybe. Is it even possible for us to do it? thanks :)

Answer 1

Many car rental agencies will not rent to anyone under 25 years old. You will need to search for one that you can rent from, and afford. After university, you are only allowed to stay in the U.S. for 60 days before you return to your home country. You must be very careful not to overstay, or you will be banned from re-entering the U.S. Now, the U.S. is HUGE, and you do not want to spend most of your time in the car. it would be best NOT to try to cover too much territory. You could drive straight across the U.S. on a major highway, visiting places along the way. Or , you could pick one region of the U.S. and cover it completely...like the northeast, or the mountain west. You need to plan so that you end in the city you want to fly from. You need to be flexible...stay in one place longer than planned if you really like it, and drop another place if needed due to time. If you find you cannot rent a car, how about using the train...Amtrak? You have plenty of time to refine your plans and use the map site below to figure travel time and distances, and decide what area you want to spend your time in.

Answer 2

About all you need are:

* money

* a car or similar vehicle

* more money



Once you are in the U.S., visas are not needed except near the Mexican border (30 to 50 miles) where there are immigration spot checks, especially in Texas and Arizona.



Do not underestimate the size of the U.S. Driving flat out/non-stop from NYC, it is 75 hours to the west coast (Seattle), if not stopping for food or fuel. Doing it in a week is quite rushed and rather miserable to endure. Most people take a few days to stop in interesting places, especially the fantastic national parks in the Rockies: Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Zion, Glacier, Teton, Bryce. The first three are only superficially experienced in a one day visit. To do justice, plan on at least two days at each. A comfortable once-across-the-country road trip with lots of visits to interesting sites would be in the 10 to 14 day range, though you probably wouldn't get tired even after 30 or 40 days. (More likely to run out of money.)



If you have money to burn, you can rent ("hire") an auto. As another answerer suggests, you'll have trouble arranging that with the major rental companies if you are under 25. This is less likely to be an obstacle for a UK national (U.S. drivers 16 to 25 are the most threatening demographic for an auto). There are companies like http://www.rentawreck.com/ which are far more friendly to 18 to 24-year-olds.



But if you'll be staying in the U.S. before or after, it probably makes more economic sense to buy a vehicle. You don't have to be a citizen, though auto insurance is likely to be a significant expensive. Check your local classified advertisements for a well used vehicle, and shop around extensively for insurance—there is a huge range of rates even for basic coverage. If you are in the west, there are unlikely to be problems with rust (caused by road salt) like there are in the north and east; a good used car can be as little as $2000 to $4000, but expect to put in another $500+ to make it cross-country worthy. In salt-road areas, inspect carefully for structural problems. After driving it for a year or two, you can likely sell it for almost as much as you paid for it.

Answer 3

No special visas needed.



You can rent a car from anywhere, although it might be dear. A british drivers license should be acceptable.



You cannot really buy a car, cannot register it.



You can do it though, you just need to search and haggle for a good car rental.

Many road trip options. I would start on the east coast and drive to california.



An interesting drive would be to drive ALL of route 50, which goes from Ocean City Maryland to San Francisco California. Check it out on Google.

Answer 4

If you're looking at hiring a car, I'd recommend Lynx Car Hire to you from personal experience.