Best way to visit Colorado, Louisiana, Alaska, Lake Tahoe and Lake Michigan within one trip to the states?

Question

I would like to go the states (from a month up to three months) and I'd like to visit
Colorado (Maroon Peak area),
Louisiana (New Orleans),
Alaska (not sure where yet, possibly Fairbanks area- recommendations welcome),
and possibly
Lake Tahoe,
Lake Michigan (if worth it?).

This idea is in the early stages so very open to suggestions. My question would be what route would make most sense (what order and flying from where to where)? Or would getting buses/trains make sense in some stages?

Most likely I will be flying from Dublin so I could get a direct flight to New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte NC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Hartford CT, Boston, Washington, Orlando, San Fransisco, Las Vegas, Atlanta or Minneapolis. New York would be the cheapest and least painful in terms of flying hours.


Thanks! :)

Answer 1

This would be my trip design:

1. Fly into San Francisco

2. Puddle jump to Reno, Nevada

3. Shuttle to Lake Tahoe

4. Reverse steps 1-3

5. Fly to Alaska (Fairbanks?)

6. Fly to Seattle (easiest place to get to from Alaska)

7. Fly to New Orleans (or Colorado, but I'd break up the outdoorsy with the city)

8. Fly to Denver

9. Shuttle to Aspen / Maroon Peak

10. Reverse steps 8-9

11. Fly to Chicago

12. Take CTA train (like a subway), to Lake Michigan

Answer 2

I'd recommend you plan this trip for late June. The longest days. In Alaska it's daylight for almost 24 hours a day.



Chicago is on Lake Michigan. I'd suggest you fly there first. From Chicago you can get cheapish flights to Denver. Maroon Bells is near Aspen Colorado. Aspen is a good 2-3 hour drive from Denver. You can fly to Aspen from Denver, but it will be on a small commuter plane and might be the priciest flight you take. You might be able to get a bus, which might be fun as you will be driving though the heart of the Colorado rockies to get there. Once you are in Aspen you will need to find some sort of tour/guide to get you out to Maroon Bells.



For Alaska I'd highly recommend taking a cruise or taking the Alaska Marine Highway ferry from Bellingham Washington. You will get to see what I consider the best of Alaska from the comfort of a moving pub. The ferry stops at all the towns along the SE peninsula of Alaska. You can get off the ferry if you want spend a day or two and catch the next ferry coming through. Get off the ferry in Skagway, take the train to White Horse in the Yukon. The train will take you through the area where the Yukon Gold rush happened. Once in White Horse fly to Fairbanks, then find a way to get to Denali National Park.



Then you either go back to Fairbanks or to Anchorage to get a flight out.



I'd suggest you consider going to the desert southwest too. Arizona - Grand Canyon, Sedona, Phoenix and the surrounding desert is really something you should see once in your life. To bad you don't drive, as my suggestion would be to fly from Alaska to Phoenix and then drive from Phoenix to Sedona to the Grand Canyon to Lake Tahoe via Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Death Valley and take CA Hwy 395 up to Lake Tahoe. If you've ever been a fan of old cowboy and indian movies you will be driving though areas where those movies were filmed. When I did that drive I kept getting these deja vu sensations - I've seen this place before.....?



From Lake Tahoe go to San Francisco and fly back. San Francisco is my favorite city in the USA. You could spend a solid week in San Francisco and not do it justice.

Answer 3

You might as well just catch a flight to your first destination. It will be cheaper than renting a car and driving (which could take days, so you would also be paying for hotel rooms). You are going to have to fly to Alaska anyway.

If you go to Alaska, I would recommend Anchorage. There is more to do there, it is usually cheaper to fly there, and there is more within a couple hours' drive from there than Fairbanks. Also, go in the summer. While it is more expensive, there is a lot more tourist-oriented stuff open in the summer than in the winter. Unless, of course, you want to do winter stuff. If you want to see the northern lights in winter, then I would recommend Fairbanks over Anchorage, and head out to Chena Hot Springs.

I'm not sure what your interest in Maroon Peak is. I would say head to Denver or Colorado Springs and use that as a base to hit things in the area.



Keep in mind that trains and busses in the US are a lot different than what you find in Europe. Intercity busses are generally only used by people on the lower end of the economic scale. We have one passenger train company, Amtrak, and its service is relatively limited. However, if in Alaska, and you have the time, you might want to use the Alaska RR to go between Fairbanks and Anchorage. If you can handle driving on the right side of the road and can afford it, you might want to just rent a car and drive, or fly between cities.



UPDATE: Since driving is out of the question, I would say your best options are flying between cities or possibly Amtrak. Trying to go cross country by bus would be miserable. However, not having a car is going to limit your options at a few locations. You would have to research tours that will get you around each place. You can probably get around New Orleans pretty easily, and there are plenty of tours in Alaska to get you around.

Answer 4

As a couple of people on here have said, you want to fly from NY to New Orleans first. This is an out of the way place, but unique. Flying from there to Denver is your only option, but getting up into the mountains and out of the city is almost impossible by any other way than renting and driving your own car. You will for certain want to see Rocky Mountain National park, but it is nearly a two hour drive at high speeds away from Denver. Lake Tahoe is a flight from Denver to Los Angeles, California and a bus trip up to the city. It has hotels that retrieve passengers from LAX airport, but the trip is a long way from LA up the Sierra mountain chain. Lake Michigan is a backtrack back to LA and back to Chicago, Illinois. This is thousands of miles away. Flight is your only option when time a factor. It takes more than half a week to travel at high speeds from LA to Chicago in a car. Your best bet may be to skip New Orleans on this trip and just go from NY to Chicago and then to Denver and then to Lake Tahoe. From there you may want to take a flight to Seattle, Washington and a smaller flight or a bus to Bellingham, Washington to catch the Alaska state ferry. This is a great way to see Alaska and the "inside passage" They have cabins on board as well as restaurants. Cruise companies out of Los Angeles may also be an option, but they are a lesser way to see Alaska. Another option for seeing Alaska is to fly to Anchorage and rent a car, I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but it's the best way to see the U.S. The state owned trains from Seward to Fairbanks are running from about June to September, but there is little in the way of public transportation in Alaska and the distances are vast. Please consider getting a drivers license and renting a car. It will make getting around much easier. You can then fly to your destination and rent a car to get to much more places in a shorter amount of time for much less money. A valid U.K. drivers license is valid in the U.S. and any rental company will gladly rent you a car.

Answer 5

Fly to each airport, and rent a car. And do Alaska before it gets snowed in.

Answer 6

I am also travelling lover and I also visited all these places in my these tours and have really amazing time there.