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I am from the United Kingdom and intend on visiting the United States next year. I have never visited before but I am extremely interested in your culture and have wanted to visit ever since I was about eight (I am currently 28!). My wife has been to New York before and as much as she enjoyed it would like to go somewhere different. I would like to go to New York one day but not this time. I want to go to a city, state or region that is rarely visited by tourists. I want to go somewhere "out of the ordinary." Presumably states like California and Florida are the most touristic but I want to know the states that are rarely visited. I was hoping you would be able to provide some potential tourist destinations for my wife and I.
Yes, please give us a bit more information about things that may intrigue you about the US, your interests, the length of your visit, whether or not you will be driving, or depending on public transportation, and ESPECIALLY the time of year of your upcoming visit.
I am embarrassed for not including that information. We are planning on coming in the summer of next year as we are both schoolteachers and have six weeks off for the summer holidays. I am very interested in history and my wife is just interested in general sightseeing. We also like nature but a full-on adventure holiday is not what we're looking for. We want a chilled out break exploring an area that isn't visited by many other Britons. Regards to transportation: we were thinking of hiring a car out there. The length of the visit is anywhere from two to four weeks. Thanks.
I am embarrassed for not including that information. We are planning on coming in the summer of next year as we are both schoolteachers and have six weeks off for the summer holidays. I am very interested in history and my wife is just interested in general sightseeing. We also like nature but a full-on adventure holiday is not what we're looking for. We want a chilled out break exploring an area that isn't visited by many other Britons. Regards to transportation: we were thinking of hiring a car out there. The length of the visit is anywhere from two to four weeks. Thanks.
I immediately thought of this idea:
Fly into Washington, DC and check out the very good museums and sights there for a couple of days. Then drive down to Mt Vernon, in northern Virginia. It's the home of George Washington and it's very interesting to see an example of a working farm from that era. You would spend one day there.
From there you could drive on to Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown, Virginia's Historic Triangle. Plan to spend about a day in each place, and then go on to Virginia Beach and it's awesome boardwalk for a bit of fun in the sun for a couple of days.
Then you could drive across Virginia to the Smoky Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley. That area is really spectacularly beautiful. You could venture south into North Carolina and Cade's Cove, Cherokee, and that area for some more history in an absolutely breath taking environment. You can also do some ziplining in the Smoky Mountains - that's a lot of fun! Maybe even some whitewater rafting!
You could go in any number of directions from there. West into Tennessee, into Nashville and Memphis for some southern hospitality, country and blue grass music, and some boot scootin'! Or you could drive south east and check out Charleston and Savannah - oh, and North Carolina's beautiful Outer Banks on the way there.
Just some ideas. Others will have more ideas, I'm sure!
Fly into Washington, DC and check out the very good museums and sights there for a couple of days. Then drive down to Mt Vernon, in northern Virginia. It's the home of George Washington and it's very interesting to see an example of a working farm from that era. You would spend one day there.
From there you could drive on to Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown, Virginia's Historic Triangle. Plan to spend about a day in each place, and then go on to Virginia Beach and it's awesome boardwalk for a bit of fun in the sun for a couple of days.
Then you could drive across Virginia to the Smoky Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley. That area is really spectacularly beautiful. You could venture south into North Carolina and Cade's Cove, Cherokee, and that area for some more history in an absolutely breath taking environment. You can also do some ziplining in the Smoky Mountains - that's a lot of fun! Maybe even some whitewater rafting!
You could go in any number of directions from there. West into Tennessee, into Nashville and Memphis for some southern hospitality, country and blue grass music, and some boot scootin'! Or you could drive south east and check out Charleston and Savannah - oh, and North Carolina's beautiful Outer Banks on the way there.
Just some ideas. Others will have more ideas, I'm sure!
Thanks for the ideas! Any others would be appreciated.
Fly to Boston- historic and walkable and with its own distinct flavor as a city. From there drive up into the state of Maine- explore the gorgeous coastline and ocean towns. Then head west through New Hampshire and Vermont into the Lake Champlain region.
From Lake Champlain drive across central New York state ( far from and very different than NYC). Head toward NY state's Finger Lakes region and its rolling hills. Stop at any or many of the vineyards in the area and/ or take in the pretty and vibrant college town of Ithaca, NY.
Keep heading west through Ohio and Indiana. You'll get a taste of the Mid West and a feel for the scope and the size of this country. Head to Chicago, much to see and do and spend some time there. Then head up the shore of Lake Superior. Eventually, if time remains, drive over to Minneapolis, another vibrant city.
It's one of the more temperature- wise cooler routes for summer time travel for someone from Great Britain, It covers a variety of terrain from ocean to mountains to lakes, from mountainous area to rolling hills to wide open farm land .
Since your wife has already been to New York, you might want to check out a totally different region. I'd recommend seeing the Pacific Northwest. There's interesting history in Seattle and Portland (and other places), and you have a nice mixture of gorgeous mountains, forest and marine scenery, great summer weather, and plenty of culture in the region. You could easily include a visit to Vancouver and Victoria BC.
That said, I think it's hard to go "wrong" on your trip. Just carefully plot out your mileage ahead of time so you make sure you aren't being too ambitious and spending too much time driving - unless you really enjoy it.
If you just want a simple town somewhere that is not a tourist type destination, there are plenty of those. You could throw a dart at Iowa, for instance, and go to the nearest town...
If you don't mind extreme (though dry) heat, you could visit Redding, CA. There is great fishing, and you could go for a free kayak tour on Whiskeytown Lake right outside of town. If it got too hot, you could head over to the coast to some of the small towns along the coast that are also right next to the redwood forests, like Crescent City, CA, or Brookings, OR. They are smaller, and not very touristy.
My first thought was Maine, too, if you wanted to also go to New York, as it would be easier to visit those two on the east coast. But, when I visited Maine, I actually met several Brits.
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