Best way to do a tour of the USA? Have considered renting a car, Greyhound buses....?

Question

Best way to do a tour of the USA? Have considered renting a car, Greyhound buses....?

Answer 1

Greyhound buses are a great way to save money on travel, but they're not the most comfortable sleeping arrangements, so give yourself a few nights of rest in an actual bed for every night you spend on a bus.



Other than that, it sounds like you have a great trip planned already! Enjoy.

Answer 2

I personally think the best thing for you to do is drive from San Francisco to Las Vegas and then Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. There isn't that much between San Francisco and Las Vegas (it's mostly all I-5 freeway), but it's a nice drive with some nice scenery through central California, and if Los Angeles is on your list of places to visit, you could also visit LA before heading east to Las Vegas. Santa Monica, Long Beach, Hollywood, and the Getty Center are the only places worth visiting in Los Angeles (in my opinion). After Las Vegas, head south to the Grand Canyon ... it's a great drive through some of the nicest parts of the southwest desert on US Route 93, and you get to go over the famous Hoover Dam on the way. After visiting the Grand Canyon, head south to Flagstaff where you can drop off the rental car at the airport and then fly to the next eastward city you've planned to visit OR you could continue further east into New Mexico on I-40 freeway and visit historic Sante Fe which is a beautiful city. From Sante Fe, you'd then head south to Albuquerque to drop off the rental car and fly east. You could even fly out of Sante Fe but the only air service from there is on American Airlines to Dallas, where you'd have to connect for your next flight. That would probably pretty pricey so it's better to use the low cost airlines like Southwest, JetBlue, etc.



If you do plan to fly, don't use American, United or Continental to go anywhere because they charge nearly twice the cost of what the low cost airlines do. It just isn't worth it unless you absolutely need the extras like meals, in flight movies, etc. You can easily get flights for $60/£35 per person or even lower on Southwest between a lot of cities. Try to fly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays because the airfares are nearly always cheaper on those days and there's less delays, less travelers, etc.



I can assure you that the old Route 66 between between Flagstaff and Oklahoma City is extremely boring and a very long drive. The majority of it is actually I-40 which is considered "Historic Route 66" ... it's just a standard freeway built over what used to be Route 66. Most of those old 50's and 60's style restaurants / drive in's on Route 66 you see in movies are long gone and anything that's left of that sort is abandoned. Albuquerque, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, etc ... there's nothing in those places at all. It's just flat land and big box stores, so you may want to skip those places and do as I suggested above, and fly directly to Chicago (which is a city worth visiting) from either Flagstaff or Sante Fe/Albuquerque. You could then take Greyhound from Chicago to New York or just rent a car again and drive which takes about 12 hours and stop at a hotel somewhere in Ohio or Pennsylvania if you get tired. If you do that make sure you use a car rental agency in Chicago that has locations IN Manhattan where you can drop off the car, as you wouldn't want to be dropping it off at a place in some of the rougher areas around NYC. There's also the option of taking the train (Amtrak) from Chicago to NY, which takes a lot longer but it's less expensive and more relaxing. Definitely take the Acela train from NYC to Boston, which is the only high speed train service in the US. It's up to you how you do it but hopefully you'll find the above helpful. Have a safe trip.

Answer 3

Well, I wouldn't take a bus cross-country if you PAID me - any amount!! Sleeping on a bus?? Sounds like a prescription for being cranky and miserable. Don't know whether they have any fare plan that lets you stop overnight in places or not. Greyhound is the major bus system in the US.



If your point is to just get across the country, a train would be much more comfortable, because you could get a sleeper. And in the summer, I think Amtrak has a special deal whereby you can go across the country and make stops overnight so that you can actually visit some places rather than just riding past them. Check Amtrak's website.



Going by car would be a long, long, long drive with lots of boring parts in between the "interesting stuff". The US is much larger than many Europeans imagine.



There is such a thing as a "round-the-world" airfare, which allows you to fly unlimited legs as long as you keep going in more-or-less the same direction [west to east in your case]. You might want to ask your travel agent about that, or do a search on that. You could then hit the major cities, depending on your interests.



San Francisco is a terrific city with lots to see and do. You could see the redwoods north of the city and visit the Napa Valley on a one or two-day trip. The drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to LA [well not the last part] is beautiful, if nerve-wracking. I wouldn't suggest spending any time in LA, unless it's a "must" for you. It's hard to get around and traffic is horrendous. If you were going to fly out of the area, I'd suggest you look into alternate airports, e.g. Ontario.



Las Vegas or Phoenix [or Flagstaff] will give you access to the Grand Canyon and some of the other areas of beautiful landscapes in Utah/Nevada/Arizona, but this would involve a lot of driving. [Check out the distances by using Mapquest or Yahoo maps or Google maps. Check out Google Earth for some great views of any of these locales.] Some people love Vegas, and there are some great restaurants and shows there, but it's very gaudy and over-the-top.



Most of the middle of the country is farmland or mountains. You would drive for long distances between anything really interesting, unless you're a die-hard history or small-town buff.



Chicago is a great city, with lots to see and do. It's easy to get around without a car, as it has very good public transportation [as does San Francisco, BTW]. You could easily spend two or three days there.



Other cities you might want to add to your list are Washington DC, New York City [of course] and Boston. Please note that Niagara Falls is nowhere near NYC - it's about as far away as you can get and still be in NY state. Buffalo would be your airport if you want to go there. If you did want to see Niagara Falls [and the Canadian side is much nicer], you could rent a car in Buffalo, drive through the beautiful Finger Lakes area of central NY state, down through the Poconos or Catskills to somewhere outside of NYC where you could return the car that's near a train station and take the train into the city. There is great, fast train service on Amtrak [called Acela] between DC, Philly, NYC and Boston.



There are some great guidebooks out there [e.g. Fodor's, Frommer's, Lonely Planet] and websites full of info [those three have on-line guides and there's also BudgetTravel.com and TripAdvisor.com].



Your trip is a major undertaking and you'll need to do lots of research or work with a knowledgeable travel agent. But it sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Good luck!

Answer 4

This is only my opinion but the absolute last way I would want to see the US is in a Greyhound Bus!! You get every kind of person on the busses, including drunks, bums, and loud obnoxious people! Plus the buses stop evey 20 or 30 minutes, it seems, so it takes for ever to get anywhere. The bathroom facilities on a bus are the pits, the bus stations in some cities are in the ghettos and it's an all around bummer.

Go to Priceline ( http://www.priceline.com/ )and bid on a car. You can get a better (and cheaper) rate for a car that way and you won't have to go the bus route!! I know some people will disagree but this has been my experience and I will NEVER ride on a bus again!!

Good luck and enjoy your travels

Answer 5

From San Francisco To Flagstaff To Oklahoma City is one of the most boring "see nothing "routes you could take.. Its just blah desert and flatlands.

Route 66 video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knOtegjXWdg&feature=related



Driving from SF thru Salt Lake City,Utah to Denver Colorado is gorgeous inspiring scenery. Maybe go down to Sante Fe, New Mexico Its worth the trip), then catch Route 66, if you want.



SF TO Las Vegas- Sante Fe to Denver isnt as steep but beautiful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygSgCn3Bo8o&feature=fvw



I live on Route 66 and its mostly just a historical route, but not a huge deal.



Oklahoma Kansas Texas Nebraska are long long long drives of not much to look at.

Very flat and tiring to drive. I usually drive them at night. Texas is a gigantic state, so there's no choice with that.



As long as its between May-Sept I'd drive from SF to Denver. The mountains are very, very high.. and breathtaking



Then let the bus drive you the rest of the way. This is farm land . You can nod out quite often.



Buses stop a lot, so it will be a lot longer on a bus



Go on http://www.youtube.com and get an idea about some of these place on video.

Answer 6

I would drive, look for a car with unlimited mileage. When I did my Euro-Trip, the rental company offered that. I drove 5,000 KM in 10 days. I can't imagine what that would have cost if I paid by the mile. If you are going for three months consider going back to San Francisco. You could drive back through Pennsylvania, see the Liberty Bell then into the Chicago and all that greatness, drive across the norther part of the US, then back down the west coast, Washington and Oregon.

Answer 7

Consider an Amtrak USA Rail Pass and head from S.F. to Los Angeles > Las Vegas > Chicago > Washington D.C > New York > Boston

http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak/selectpass



The Western US is all about the scenery and National Parks. The Greyhound bus will not take you there. It will drop you in the inner city and you'll need a car. Route 66 doesn't really exist any more. The remaining parts are overrated and pretty boring. If you drive a car here is a suggested itinerary.



From San Francisco go to Yosemite National Park

http://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm

Drive through the park across Route 120 and Tioga Pass, the highest vehicle pass in CA, climb thousands of feet on a mountain road and reach the Alpine meadows of Yosemite.

From there head to Lee Vining and Mono Lake.

The lake is in a caldera of an extinct volcano.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=mono+lake&sll=37.88786,-119.281311&sspn=1.604034,1.790771&gl=us&ie=UTF8&ll=37.956109,-119.215393&spn=0.774205,0.895386&z=10





From there take U.S. Route 395 south to I-15 and head to east to Las Vegas.



Route 395 runs along a fault line along the Sierras and you'll get a view of Mt. Whitney. The geology is pretty wierd. You pass through the Owns Valley. It is is a graben; a downdropped block of land between two vertical faults. The rock formations are really stange.



Spend some time in Vegas and get up at dawn and head north to the canyon country of Southern Utah.



Do the "Great Circle Tour" to see Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches National Parks and the Grand Canyon. Bryce is one of the most fantastic sights in the southwestern U.S.

http://www.nps.gov/brca/

http://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm



At Bryce Canyon everyone stays at Ruby's Inn.

http://www.rubysinn.com/



You can cross the Colorado River at Lake Powell

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4HPIA_enUS314US314&q=lake+powell+az&um=1&ie=UTF-8&split=0&gl=us&ei=SPibSvXTHZKyswOMn9yUDg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1



Utah Route 12 is one of the most scenic roads in the country. Red Canyon and Big Thunder Road in Dixie National Forest is the inspiration for Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain (see the picture I took in link below)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RedRockUtah.jpg

http://www.utah.com/byways/highway_12.htm

http://scenicbyway12.com/



Also check out the Hoover Dam tour, It's right outside Las Vegas.

http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/service/DamTour.html



Head to Phoenix or back to Las Vegas and take a plane to Chicago.



Chicago is one of the cultural centers of the country. There are tons of things to do there.



Art Institute of Chicago

Adler Planetarium

Shedd Aquarium

Field Museum

Museum of Science and Industry

Architecture river boat tour

The new glass bottom Sears Tower viewing platform

Navy Pier

Major League Baseball

Shopping along Michigan Ave.

Great restaurants (Harry Caray's)

Theater

Shows



BTW The Art Institute has one of the largest collections of Impressionism in North America as well as an incredible medieval armor collection. Don't miss it.

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/eurptg



The Architecture river boat tour is a great way to see the city and learn about it's history. You get a spectacular view of dozens of skyscrapers and other important buildings. It's a relaxing 90 minute tour on the river in the heart of the city.

http://www.cruisechicago.com/tours.php



Here are some other links to attractions.

http://www.chicagotraveler.com/chicagos-largest-attractions.htm

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/a-glass-bottom-skydeck-for-sears-tower.html



From Chicago head to Washington, New York and Boston.



Walk the Freedom Trail in Boston. It takes you everywhere you want to go, including the North End, which has the best Italian food in the world. The gelato is to die for. Other stops include Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, Faneuil Hall, Old Ironsides (U.S.S. Constitution), and Bunker Hill. The tour of U.S.S. Constitution is really neat. Faneuil Hall is where everyone goes to meet, shop, and hang out. (Lots of street theater and other interesting things.)

http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/

http://www.aviewoncities.com/boston/freedomtrail.htm



The Museum of Fine Arts has a great collection

http://www.mfa.org/



There is a real interesting museum at Harvard. They have a botanical collection reproduced in blown glass. It's pretty amazing. Take a walk around the campus and Harvard Square.

http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/on_exhibit/the_glass_flowers.html



For seafood go to one of the many Legal Seafood locations.

http://shop.legalseafoods.com/?source=google&page=homepage/pd/1



Boston cream pie and Parker House rolls were created at The Parker House Hotel. Stop by for dinner. BTW you can order dinners rolls to go and they sell slices of the pie in the gift shop.

http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/BostonParkerHouse.aspx



BTW if you plan to go to more than one National Park, buy the annual pass. It allows a car an it's occupants into any National Park. it's cheaper then paying regular admission and it's good for a year.

http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm