Hello, and thank you for such an amazing site. I live in the UK and searching for a spirit of Adventure!! I would like to fly from UK to New York. Then hire a camper van from there and travel across towards Arizona then Grand Canyon, then Las Vegas, then LA, then San Francisco then San Deigo. Anyone suggest possible routes they have travelled? Very open minded to try anything!!!
I would suggest that you try to travel as much as possible on the historic old Route 66 which in its day went from Chicago to Los Angeles. Today the route is interstate highways, but it goes through or near many towns with historical significance, and there are numerous attractions on or near the route. Google Route 66 and there will be lots of information about it.
The best and most interesting route will depend heavily on what time of year you plan on doing this. By late September snows in the higher elevations of the mountain states may surprise you. By November the threat of mountain snow may cause you to pick a more southerly route.
Please at least try to stay on the "Blue Highways". This is a slang term which refers to US numbered highways, e.g. US 83, US 6, US 30 and so on. These are the old highways that were the backbone of the country before being replaced by the Interstate system, which speeds you passed all the neat stuff. The label Blue Highways comes from a book written describing the author's trip around America using only these highways. Do you have some time? Check out: Blue Highways: A Journey Into America the author an unusual name that is explained: William Least Heat-Moon. The book was a best seller and is available in many incarnations. This book is unique in that it is a trip much like what you envision. It would be a good read for you. There are literally 100's of books on traveling what is left of Route 66 but they tend to be myopic and suffer from tunnel-vision.
I'll take a contrarian position and say that you need to evaluate how much time you have. The US is huge compared to your European experience. Depending on how much you want to do and how much time you have to spend, IMO the "blue highways" are nice to try, but your needs will best be met by staying on the interstates for the majority of your trip. As someone with far more eastern US experience than I ever would want, IMO there is nothing to be gained by getting off the interstates until you are west of the Appalachians or north of Massachusetts. If you're actually getting your rental RV anywhere near NY City, the best thing you can do is get as far away from there as possible! I have no idea whether you've ever been to the US before, but, if you really want to start on the East Coast I would fly to the Washington/Baltimore area or to Atlanta and start from there. The northeast US is not particularly RV friendly; believe me, we've been there many times. Frankly, if you're coming here to see scenery rather than historical stuff, you might want to consider flying to Denver and planning a tour of the major US national parks accessible from there. Joel
I guess the first question, already touched on by the previous posters is, what interests you most? Are you looking for scenery, and America's natural beauty? Are you looking for American history, and sites devoted to mostly human history? Are you looking for the unusual, and things off the beaten path? Do you want to experience America through local eateries, shops, and tourist attractions? Will you be traveling by yourself, with a significant other, kids? All these things will help define what areas you might want to visit, and how you might traverse the country. As said before, the country is large, and you can easily spend a month in just one state. Chris g.
jennyj007> I visited the UK and Ireland this time last year. I hired a car and spent three weeks traveling your marvelous country. So I will give you some suggestions based my trip. 1- The UK will fit inside my state of Texas so you can imagine the length of a trip from NYC to Arizona. But our interstates are the same as your M-designated motorways. Major secondary roads here are about the same as your upgraded A roads. Unless you wish to take a popular scenic route that we have in different geographical areas, I would suggest staying on the Interstate or major secondary roads. They will lead you anywhere you want to go and get off. 2- US campgrounds are far bigger than those in Europe with many more amenities. At the current exchange rate you can get into one that will more than suit your needs for about 20 British pounds. Many RVers like to occasionally camp in federal and state parks. Communing with trees and wildlife, as it were. 3- Fuel is cheaper here, but a Class C caravan is going to use about 45 liters per mile. 4- Do the research. I spent several weeks planing my trip. Here's a site that will give you some ideas: http://www.visittheusa.com/ There are many other sites and you can purchase Travel Guides. 5- Don't be shy. Everywhere I went, I would always ask the locals what I should see and do as part of my whole trip. It was always immeasurable advise. 6- Use a GPS device. Printed maps and driving an RV don't go together; especially, in high traffic areas. Even in a hire car, I can't tell you how many times the GPS saved my butt when negotiating round-a-bouts. And just so you know, here in America we have real biscuits and gravy as opposed to cookies and scones. You should try some. If you have specific questions you can PM me.
I would disagree with #6. We use printed maps for about 95% of our travel. Only a few times, when we are trying to find an RV park in the dark, or find a specific restaurant or attraction, do we use our GPS. I know this is not the norm, but it is certainly doable, even for someone from outside the country. I would recommend using both tools as each can fail you at certain times. There have been horror stories about foreigners being lead astray by their GPS, and being stranded on a little used road in the desert.
Not meaning to be a "wise-arse" here but in your post you ended by saying you'd like to "travel across towards Arizona then Grand Canyon, then Las Vegas, then LA, then San Francisco then San Diego". The first part is fine but when you hit California you'd probably want to go from Las Vegas to San Diego first and then up to LA and finish in San Francisco as that would save a huge amount of time and "backtracking". Have a great trip no matter what route you end up taking. So much to see in the U.S., it should be one that you will remember for years to come..................... Regards, BankShot.............(aka Terry)
I understand, but he's driving in the US on the "wrong side" of the road in a larger than normal vehicle that he may have never driven before. That and a map is a lot of multi-tasking. I said I had been to UK. I didn't say I was any good at metric conversion math.
