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Next year around Easter my girlfriend and I will be flying into Phoenix from Germany (where we are from and live) and plan on crossing the States towards the east and north ending up in NYC. I have friends in Phoenix, that's why we start there. My plan is to rent a car and drive to Santa Fee, NM, spend a day or two in a nice B&B and continue the journey to Texas. Now, Texas is huge and we only have two weeks for the whole trip so I am considering flying to Houston from Albuquerque to save some time. On the other hand, I was hoping to spend a night in a pretty little Texas town complete with downtown, court house etc. Any thoughts? The plan would then be to continue driving to New Orleans for a night there, followed by a couple of days in Gulf Shores, Alabama, before driving on to Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, NC from where we will take a plane to JFK. Finally a couple of days in NYC before flying home.
What do you think? The flights I have mentioned are already booked. I can still vary the stops along the way and need to decide if I want to cross Texas by car or by plane.
Pretty agressive for two weeks...a blitztour. I don't think it could be done. since one could spend too much time driving, and not see anything at the destinations.
But your trip is developing a sort of "Western/Southern" theme, seeing two distinct parts of the US.
You get the "Wild West" and Hispanic/Indian west with Arizona & NM, the the Cajun Country.Deep South with New Orleans, Savannah, and Charleston. You might be interested in that Albuquerque also has an old Spanish/Mexican area, too...
The idea of doing a mix of flying and driving would probably be the only way to pull this off, and even then you'd have to cut things. I personally would cut Texas entirely. I was not impressed with it from what I saw (which was the San Antonio area and the Texas panhandle)
I think you meant Charleston SC not NC, and yes combining a trip to Savannah and Charleston would make sense (im planning a trip to these two places myself). You can see some old Southern plantations in this "Low Country" between the two cities.
If you are pressed for time you could cut one of these places....but hard to say which one. Both are old colonial-era ports so both are perhaps similar. But they are different enough to make it difficult to choose.
For NYC, if you have a day or half a day take the boat tour around Manhattan. There is a guide aboard who gives a running commentary on what you are seeing. A good intro to this great city.
I dont know what interests you, but if you are interested in social history and city history the Tenement Musuem is a good tour. Take the the tour of the first floor tenement as it is restored to what the place was like in the 1930s and when it was built in the 1870s...when it was a German neighborhood (Kleine Deutschland) and when it was an Italian neighborhood.
You will be close to Little Italy here, and Chinatown, both interesting places that you can walk around in. This is an old fashioned pizza parlor that caters to tourists, walking distance from the tenement musuem
Very, very ambitious. I really believe most Europeans don't understand how big the US is. We drove from North Alabama to Albuquerque, the Grand Canyon, south through Phoenix and Tuscon AZ, east across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, and we were driving all but 2 days of two weeks. Eighty percent of it was on the interstate, which is no way to experience America.
I urge you to shorten your trip, mileage-wise! Pick a quarter-section of the country and spend more time in that area.
^
Agree! I think the thread parent has the flights booked already so he is going to have to plan around that.
Germany to Phoenix is the start.
...so he will have time to spend in AZ. I would focus on the Southwest then, and maybe skip the South. He could drive to NM and spend time in Santa Fe, Taos, and then Albuquerque, and then fly to NYC and spend two days there to see a big city and return. The road trip cross-country driving could be from AZ to NM...old Route 66 or something like that.
Almost four trips here, and you could do an entire week on any of these trips, minimum!
Thanks guys. Much appreciated. Yes, I guess you are right and I will have to modify my plan somewhat. The flights FRA-PHX, CHS-JFK and JFK-FRA are already booked. I probably should have mentioned that I know Arizona quite well. Have been there many times, most recently with the girlfriend. Have been to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Flagstaff, Tucson and more places. The only reason I want to start the trip there is to be able to meet my friends. I have crossed Texas off my list and also crossed Savannah, GA, going straight to Charleston instead.
Will be arriving in PHX on the 12th of April (late), then on the 14th to Santa Fe, NM by car, 16th by plane from ABQ to New Orleans, one evening in the French Quarter, next day to Gulf Shores Alabama by car, couple days on the beach, on the 20th to Charleston, SC, either by car or plane (sorry, got the Carolinas mixed up in my original post), and finally from there to NYC by plane on the 22nd for a couple days there before heading home on the 24th.
Still ambitious but doable I think. Of course I would prefer to have four weeks or more and I know we won't have nearly enough time to see all there is to see but I think this trip should allow us to sample some of the highlights of each of the places we visit and at least give us an impression of what they are like. We can always come back to the places we like most, for a longer stay next time. What do you think?
I think the NOLA and Charleston visits are probably a good idea Trying to think if a cross-country drive from Gulf Shores to Charleston is realistic.
My feeling is that you flyfrom NOLA to Charleston, and rent a car to see some of the "low country" outside of Charleston to sample the landscape & visit a plantation or two....like this one:
My idea is that you fly from city to city and use the city as a base for road trips into the countryside and back. You could spend half/day taking a loop drive out-&-back to explore the region around the city...then do city things..and fly to the next city. Exception is I would not rent a car in NYC!...use taxi or subway...
Thanks Dayton Sux. Wasn't planning on driving in NCY in any event. I am quite looking forward to the 6 or 7 hours drive from PHX to Santa Fe. I like driving in AZ. You are probably right regarding driving from Gulf Shores to Charleston. Thing is: Girlfriend doesn't like flying all that much. And there are no direct flights, I think.
Will let you all know how the the plan evolves. Oh, and thanks for the tips regarding things to do in NYC. Will check that museum out. And the pizza place.
Hello from NYC. The trip has been great so far. We enjoyed a day by the pool in the fabulous Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, met family and friends in PHX, flew to ABQ, drove to Santa Fe for one night, back to ABQ, flew to Houston, picked up a car and stopped in NOLA on the way to Gulf Shores, AL. Spent three days there. Nice beaches, but great weather only on our last day there. Got some outlet shopping done and relaxed for a day, drove on to Savannah and spent the night, then Charleston the next day. Beautiful city. From there we flew to JFK and now we are in the middle of the Manhattan hustle and bustle. Already walked around Broadway, 5t AV, Central Park etc. More today. Back home to Germany tomorrow.
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