Best places to visit in the US (camping, cost, hotel)
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In your experience or opinion, what are the best places to visit in the US that offer fun/unique things to do (while still being affordable)?
My friends and are we thinking about an eventual road trip next spring and were trying to think of some places to add to our list...
(We range in age from early 20s-early 30s, and are all "creative" types... writers, artists, photographers, etc). But we are also on a modest budget....
Please feel free to voice/share whatever you like.
That's a pretty general question in a huge country like the US.
What city/country will you be coming from, how many days do you have, and what is your budget?
"Affordable" means different things to different people.
That's a pretty general question in a huge country like the US.
What city/country will you be coming from, how many days do you have, and what is your budget?
"Affordable" means different things to different people.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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DC, Baltimore, Philly, NYC, Cape Cod, Boston
can all be done cheap and very fun.
DC has 1,000 miles of bike trails nearby, FREE museums / national sites, cemetery, good metro, good food...
Blossom time or Memorial Day is pretty impressive. DC is really great. We split up in AM, meet for lunch and share surprises in the afternoon. Our kids also loved our trips there, they were on their own once age 12+.
Join Hosteling (cheap individually, but pretty expensive when added up) Camping might be CHEAP, but takes a lot of gear., or a Guest Home directory (Servas, FREE Worldwide hosts). I have been 'farm hosted' for over 25 yrs and have had a great time! Especially in Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy... (Round the world from Oct 2015 until July 2016, VERY inexpensively)
In your experience or opinion, what are the best places to visit in the US that offer fun/unique things to do (while still being affordable)?
My friends and are we thinking about an eventual road trip next spring and were trying to think of some places to add to our list...
(We range in age from early 20s-early 30s, and are all "creative" types... writers, artists, photographers, etc). But we are also on a modest budget....
Please feel free to voice/share whatever you like.
1. The national parks. My favorite ones are Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Arches, and Yosemite.
2. The Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C. Air and Space Museum, National Archives, and Museum of American History are just a few of them. Also, all the monuments in Washington D.C. are essentially free of charge as well.
3. Beaches are generally inexpensive. My favorite ones are in Florida and Southern California.
4. You could have a nice trip driving the Blue Ridge Parkway from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee for the cost of the gasoline.
You don't say where in the country that you are. That information would help us put together some affordable destinations for you.
A National Parks 'America the Beautiful' annual pass runs $80 and covers admission (but not camping fees) to a really wide variety of NPS-administered sites for everyone in the vehicle. Have someone in your group buy one and sign the back of it at the first stop if you do the Parks trek.
Spring, even late spring ,is a little early for the best of Glacier and some of the other high elevation/northern tier parks. On the bright side, avoiding peak summer tourism times is a big help in finding cheaper lodging. Would probably either start in Vegas and do the classic Las Vegas-Zion NP-Grand Canyon-Flagstaff-Sedona-Las Vegas loop, or Denver to Las Vegas and stopping at Arches, Moab, Zion, etc. on the way.
Las Vegas hotel prices are all over the price depending on weekday vs. weekend and which circus (major convention) is in town that day. I'm neither a gambler nor a club&shows person, but it's worth 18-36 hours just because it's iconic and all.
A National Parks 'America the Beautiful' annual pass runs $80 and covers admission (but not camping fees) to a really wide variety of NPS-administered sites for everyone in the vehicle. Have someone in your group buy one and sign the back of it at the first stop if you do the Parks trek.
Spring, even late spring ,is a little early for the best of Glacier and some of the other high elevation/northern tier parks. On the bright side, avoiding peak summer tourism times is a big help in finding cheaper lodging. Would probably either start in Vegas and do the classic Las Vegas-Zion NP-Grand Canyon-Flagstaff-Sedona-Las Vegas loop, or Denver to Las Vegas and stopping at Arches, Moab, Zion, etc. on the way.
Las Vegas hotel prices are all over the price depending on weekday vs. weekend and which circus (major convention) is in town that day. I'm neither a gambler nor a club&shows person, but it's worth 18-36 hours just because it's iconic and all.
Great idea! Covers a lot of area and inexpensive. Doubting if they can do much of this in one week. They are going to lose many days driving.
OP how many of you and will each of you have at least $450.00? One vehicle?
I also loved the national parks, and I would highly recommend those to anyone coming to the US.
One 2-week tour I made was starting in Salt Lake city, covering Zion, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Page (AZ), Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches and then Rocky Mountains and all the way back to Salt Lake.
A second tour also included Yellowstone, Badlands, the Wind Cave, Mt. Rushmoore (which was actually rather disappointing) and some of the first parks.
A third tour started in Carlsbad, NM including Carlsbad Cave, Alamogordo, White Sands NM, Albuquerque (Sandia Peak), Santa Fe, some more national parks in this area and then Great Sand Dunes further north, last for that tour were Black Canyon and Colorado National Monument.
Even though I made 3 of this 2-weeks-each tours, I never get bored of the all the amazing nature, landscape and small towns. I could do that for months.
The $80 America the beautiful pass is highly recommended. I also liked the mountains of Colorado and included some stops in Vail or Aspen, they are often giving out great deals for luxury hotels in the summer to get at least some rooms filled.
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