addvice for traveling in the usa ......please : )

hey ...
im planning to travel arcoss america next year around may, june jully time, and was hoping for any advice on how to go about making my way across the usa n where to stay, how much would be a sensible amount to take i dont mind camping, hostles or public transport or even walking the hole way ...just want to meet new ppl n see the sites.

any advice on any thing will be great .... places to see , where to stay wat to look out for, wat not to do ect ......

atm i want to go to new york city, wasington , las vegas, new orleans n see the grand canyon, mount rush more, n all the cool sites like that n monument valley ect ohh n L.A to

.......... but if any 1 else can recomend good places or sites to see please let me know

thanks
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Hi Chris!

To visit some of these locations your best bet is to periodically rent a car (Monument Valley especially, but also Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore), unless you are younger than 25 when you plan to travel because then car rentals fees are astromonically high in which case you would be better off trying to book transporation through a private company. Also, since you want to see places rather spaced out, you might consider booking a few one-way airline tickets through a domestic carrier (NYC to New Orleans, and then New Orleans to Vegas. In Vegas you could then drive to Grand Canyon, LA, maybe take a trip up to Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone NP....something like that). However tempting it is, do not try to hitch-hike on the major highways and interstates. It is not only illegal, but also pretty dangerous.

Camping in the summer of the US is a wonderful experience, particularly in all the national parks and forests. There are many free campsites in Black Hills National Forest (near Mount Rushmore) and cheaper campsites in the National Forests right outside the Grand Canyon if you don't want to pay as much to camp inside the park. Public transport can be difficult to arrange once you get out of the larger cities (and practically impossible to use to get to national parks unless you do some serious research ahead of time). If you like Monument Valley you might also consider a visit to nearby Mesa Verde (also near some great free camping in San Juan National Forest, but there's camping inside the park too).

When you say you want to see Washington, do you mean Washington DC or Washington State? If you mean Washington State then Seattle, Mt Rainier and/or Olympic National Forests are all beautiful. Your best time to visit would be July to get the best weather. Grand Canyon/Monument Valley is best visited in May/June because it won't be as hot.

The amount to budget depends on lots of things -- how you plan to get to point A to B, how often you want to camp vs. hostel vs. hotel, what you want to do in the cities (you could easily budget $50 or $300 for a day in NYC depending on your style). Camping can be free to $15/night, hostels are usually $20-25/night, car rentals $23/day and a optimistic average for gasoline would be $4.00/gallon. Reply to this