Organising a driving trip to American, flying from Australia (Los Angeles: rental car, rental)

[boredwife]

A few friends are considering travelling around America, either by hire car or RV, but where do you start when flying over from Australia. I know we need to consider weather, places to see etc...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...we only have four weeks to do a bit of travelling to see America. So i would like to see as much as we can.

[FabianS]

Originally Posted by boredwife

A few friends are considering travelling around America, either by hire car or RV, but where do you start when flying over from Australia. I know we need to consider weather, places to see etc...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...we only have four weeks to do a bit of travelling to see America. So i would like to see as much as we can.

4 weeks is plenty of time. I'd recommend starting in late April or June.

Generally speaking I'd go DC > NYC > OHIO> CHICAGO > NEBRASKA > COLORADO (Aspen, Durango etc)> Grand Canyon > VEGAS > LA, (San Diego is great if you have the time)> SF > Home

That's a Northernish route, but you could try a Southern route like this:

DC > SC (Charleston) >Atlanta > FLORIDA (Disneyworld, Miami etc) > New Orleans > Texas (Austin, San Antonio) > Santa Fe > Grand Canyon > VEGAS > LA > SF > Home

Or you could reverse these courses. I'm not sure which coast is closer to Australia.

[Fontucky]

Fly into LAX. Choose your mode of transport. If it's Winter, head east via the southern route. If it's not, head North, then East.

Bring me some meat pies, Velvet Crumbles, rissole sangas and Toohey's Extra Dry.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I would say LA as well. Then again I live on the coast North of the LA area. Still it seems like the logical place to start coming from Australia.

Have you considered specific things that you would like to see? You could spend 4 weeks in Los Angeles and not see it all. You could also start there pick up many of the sites, Leave there for Las Vegas. Take a side trip to the Grand Canyon.

Like your country, the United States is large. So many things to see. I still have not seen it all. Plan ahead to get the most bang for your buck with this trip.

[Bulldogdad]

Google "USA by RV foreigners"

Start at LAX as recommened above especially during winter.

[iNviNciBL3]

You have so many options, i would fly to New England and wrap up your trip in San Diego and fly back home from San Diego.

I plan on doing the same route some day, basically i'd do a backward "L" starting in Boston - NYC - DC - Charleston - St Augustine - (head west) - New Orleans - maybe Houston - San Antonio - Silver City - Grand Canyon - Vegas - Los Angeles and San Diego.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Ten places to see in the United States before you die

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United States of America Things To Do - Attractions & Must See - VirtualTourist

Pops 10 Best Places To Visit In the United States - General Itineraries - The North American Continent - Epinions.com

What Are the 10 Best Places to Visit in the United States? | USA Today

[pch1013]

With all due respect to the East Coast, I wouldn't try to go all the way there during a 4-week vacation. Would you advise someone flying into Sydney to go all the way to Perth? (This assumes you'll drop off your rental car close to where you rented it... if you do want to do a one-way cross-country trip as others have suggested, you'll have to look into drop-off charges.)

But anyway, there's plenty to see in the western U.S. Depending on the time of year, you could do a loop from LA or SF, taking in the California coast, Crater Lake, Portland, Seattle, Olympic National Park, the Cascades, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, then nip on down to Texas and visit Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Big Bend, and up to New Mexico to see Santa Fe, the Four Corners, Monument Valley, the incredible national parks of southern Utah, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley (not in summer though), and Joshua Tree.

That could easily fill up four weeks.