[sampod]

Just looking for some opinions really, I'm considering going America this year and was just wondering where people have been and what they thought as theres so many places to choose from! Any opinions welcome

[No Man]

Are you more interested in the cities or nature?

[sampod]

Cities probably

[jarralisa]

Have you looked at trek america? Im travelling with them next month so I don't have much to say yet as i've only been to florida but they have loads of different routes around america, might be worth a look so you can get some inspiration? Good luck though!

[Zerforax]

People consider a road trip across America (if you're old enough).

You can either do East to West (or vice versa) or can go down either the East or West coast.

[michaelo]

hey

i'm thinking of doing a similar trip next year and planning to do nyc to chicago to denver to san fran to l.a.

check out amtrak, it is a train company in the us and is probably the best way to get around from city to city

[fuzznbass]

I'm going to do a roadtrip- NYC to LA and back again, no specific route, avoid motorways and have a good time

[Cll_ws]

i'm going this summer too, travelling from place to place using Amtrak.

4 nights in New York
2 nights in New Jersey (for Warped Tour)
5 nights in Philadelphia (where i'm gonna go to the Villa v Phili Union game)
4 nights in Boston
2 nights in Niagara Falls
4 nights in Toronto
Back to NY to fly home

The trains are surprisingly cheap! And by staying in hostels for £15-£20 a night you can really keep the price down

[Vindobona]

I've been to Boston, New York City, Chicago, Orlando, Miami, and Seattle. Unfortunately I haven't managed to go to California yet.

I actually liked Chicago better than Boston (which might seem surprising to some) and was really amazed by Seattle as well. Such a nice atmosphere there.
NYC is obviously great, Miami Beach is good for relaxing and enjoying the sun, and Orlando has the theme parks.

[lareneg]

I really want to visit the USA this summer, but I'm trying to work out how to do it. I'm really tempted by the Greyhound Discovery Pass; it costs $564 for a 60-day pass, and gives you unlimited travel in both the USA and Canada.

The only thing is that I've heard very bad things about Greyhound. I'm a seasoned traveler: I've travelled on Interrail passes twice before (I met gun smugglers on one occasion, and made the mistake of forgetting to buy food before boarding a 28-hour long train), and I've been on a 26-hour Eurolines coach from Frankfurt to London, so I'm used to travelling a bit rough and I'm not expecting anything luxurious. However, there are so many horror stories about the Greyhound that I'm slightly concerned.

I'm just wondering how many of these stories are exaggerated / put out of context by people who are used to travelling by car or trains for shorter journies. I also suspect that people might be more friendly to a Brit than a fellow American, as I kept hearing: "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE FROM ENGLAND" when I visited Canada as a kid.

Has anybody travelled by Greyhound before? Can anybody suggest any alternatives that won't break the bank? I'd love to do Europe again, but I want something new. The second time Interrailing was nowhere near as exciting as the first, as there was a sense of familiarity and less unexpected twists.

[Emma_B]

(Original post by lareneg)
I really want to visit the USA this summer, but I'm trying to work out how to do it. I'm really tempted by the Greyhound Discovery Pass; it costs $564 for a 60-day pass, and gives you unlimited travel in both the USA and Canada.

The only thing is that I've heard very bad things about Greyhound. I'm a seasoned traveler: I've travelled on Interrail passes twice before (I met gun smugglers on one occasion, and made the mistake of forgetting to buy food before boarding a 28-hour long train), and I've been on a 26-hour Eurolines coach from Frankfurt to London, so I'm used to travelling a bit rough and I'm not expecting anything luxurious. However, there are so many horror stories about the Greyhound that I'm slightly concerned.

I'm just wondering how many of these stories are exaggerated / put out of context by people who are used to travelling by car or trains for shorter journies. I also suspect that people might be more friendly to a Brit than a fellow American, as I kept hearing: "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE FROM ENGLAND" when I visited Canada as a kid.

Has anybody travelled by Greyhound before? Can anybody suggest any alternatives that won't break the bank? I'd love to do Europe again, but I want something new. The second time Interrailing was nowhere near as exciting as the first, as there was a sense of familiarity and less unexpected twists.

I travelled around the USA with my boyfriend from August to November last year, and we used Greyhound, Megabus and Amtrak to get around. We didn't experience any problems with any of these services. I think that you get the odd 'weirdo' on any form of transport, and Greyhound is no exception, however, they didn't have any effect on our journey or anything, and most are just friendly people just looking for conversation really. Megabus was particularly cheaper for getting around the East coast (I don't think it's available on the West coast), we literally paid $4 each to get from Boston to New York, and I think it was $2 to get from New York to Philadelphia. Amtrak was definitely the more comfortable experience of the 3 due to the huuuge legroom that you get, and the more flexibility to move around or visit the onboard cafe etc, however, it wasn't any faster than getting a bus really as they seem to move pretty slow!

We travelled up the West coast and down the Easy coast and flew between each coast, so we didn't take any massively long journeys (longest was Santa Barbara to San Francisco, which took around 9 hours with stops), so I can't really comment on journeys that you would have to stay on overnight.

During our trip, we stayed at Los Angeles (Hollywood, Venice Beach and downtown), Las Vegas, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Washington DC, Orlando and Miami. I'm happy to give any advice regarding any of these destinations, based on my experiences there. Our trip cost us just over £4000 each for everything, including flights, accommodation, food, attraction tickets etc, and we booked everything ourself.

If you are mainly interested in visiting the cities, I would suggest that you just book it all yourself. If you want to visit the more rural areas and you won't be likely to be driving over there, a tour might be a better option, although I have no experience with this.

[Cll_ws]

(Original post by lareneg)
I really want to visit the USA this summer, but I'm trying to work out how to do it. I'm really tempted by the Greyhound Discovery Pass; it costs $564 for a 60-day pass, and gives you unlimited travel in both the USA and Canada.

The only thing is that I've heard very bad things about Greyhound. I'm a seasoned traveler: I've travelled on Interrail passes twice before (I met gun smugglers on one occasion, and made the mistake of forgetting to buy food before boarding a 28-hour long train), and I've been on a 26-hour Eurolines coach from Frankfurt to London, so I'm used to travelling a bit rough and I'm not expecting anything luxurious. However, there are so many horror stories about the Greyhound that I'm slightly concerned.

I'm just wondering how many of these stories are exaggerated / put out of context by people who are used to travelling by car or trains for shorter journies. I also suspect that people might be more friendly to a Brit than a fellow American, as I kept hearing: "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE FROM ENGLAND" when I visited Canada as a kid.

Has anybody travelled by Greyhound before? Can anybody suggest any alternatives that won't break the bank? I'd love to do Europe again, but I want something new. The second time Interrailing was nowhere near as exciting as the first, as there was a sense of familiarity and less unexpected twists.

I imagine it's totally fine, I haven't personally used it, but I know people that have and they've been totally fine and happy using it.
I think the only thing that some people mention is that some of the Greyhound Stations are in dodgy looking places, so to try and avoid having to hang around for too long at night, and maybe the odd late bus.

A guy did get beheaded once by another passenger (no joke), that kind of makes people think of the company for the wrong reasons!

[cocobubbles]

(Original post by Cll_ws)
I imagine it's totally fine, I haven't personally used it, but I know people that have and they've been totally fine and happy using it.
I think the only thing that some people mention is that some of the Greyhound Stations are in dodgy looking places, so to try and avoid having to hang around for too long at night, and maybe the odd late bus.

A guy did get beheaded once by another passenger (no joke), that kind of makes people think of the company for the wrong reasons!

I remember my friends telling me this story last summer a few months before I was planning to head off, and I didn't believe them at first! Although I think it was a Canadian Greyhound (I'm not sure why this makes a difference in my head haha....)

I used Megabus when in the US as it was so much cheaper than Greyhound. Like a previous poster said, I also got tickets from Boston to NY for like $4, and NY to DC for $2 or something ridiculous (and it was only 4 hours each way). Plus the US Megabus is way more comfortable than the UK ones! So I would definitely recommend them! For the rest of my journey I used plane (which actually was fairly cheap too), so I would advise everyone to shop around for the best deal

[Cll_ws]

(Original post by cocobubbles)
I remember my friends telling me this story last summer a few months before I was planning to head off, and I didn't believe them at first! Although I think it was a Canadian Greyhound (I'm not sure why this makes a difference in my head haha....)

I used Megabus when in the US as it was so much cheaper than Greyhound. Like a previous poster said, I also got tickets from Boston to NY for like $4, and NY to DC for $2 or something ridiculous (and it was only 4 hours each way). Plus the US Megabus is way more comfortable than the UK ones! So I would definitely recommend them! For the rest of my journey I used plane (which actually was fairly cheap too), so I would advise everyone to shop around for the best deal

haha I know, it's quite horrific!

I'm planning on just using Amtrak this summer. It does cost a bit more, but I was still quite surprised with how cheap it is compared to trains in the UK.
I don't mind paying £20 to go from NY to Philadelphia, or £35 to go from Philadelphia to Boston (two of the journeys i've got planned) if I know it's going to be fairly easy, reliable and quick!
The longest train journey i've got planned is New York to Toronto, which is around 11 hours long (although i will be stopping in Niagara Falls mid-way through for a couple of nights), but that's only £60 in total, which I didn't think was bad.
I feel like I know what i'm getting with trains haha

Although I didn't look into Megabus, so I might do that and see whether I can use that for a couple of the trips.

[M4LLY]

Well i've only been to NYC and Florida but i loved every minute of being there. You gotta try and explore these places

[cocobubbles]

(Original post by Cll_ws)
haha I know, it's quite horrific!

I'm planning on just using Amtrak this summer. It does cost a bit more, but I was still quite surprised with how cheap it is compared to trains in the UK.
I don't mind paying £20 to go from NY to Philadelphia, or £35 to go from Philadelphia to Boston (two of the journeys i've got planned) if I know it's going to be fairly easy, reliable and quick!
The longest train journey i've got planned is New York to Toronto, which is around 11 hours long (although i will be stopping in Niagara Falls mid-way through for a couple of nights), but that's only £60 in total, which I didn't think was bad.
I feel like I know what i'm getting with trains haha

Although I didn't look into Megabus, so I might do that and see whether I can use that for a couple of the trips.

I'm so so jealous, your trip so far sounds awesome!! £60 from NY to Toronto sounds a great deal to me! Are you thinking of planning it all yourself or getting any other organised trips? Where else are you thinking of stopping off? I'm so nosy haha, I love to hear holiday plans to get ideas for myself!

[gemini89]

(Original post by Cll_ws)
haha I know, it's quite horrific!

I'm planning on just using Amtrak this summer. It does cost a bit more, but I was still quite surprised with how cheap it is compared to trains in the UK.
I don't mind paying £20 to go from NY to Philadelphia, or £35 to go from Philadelphia to Boston (two of the journeys i've got planned) if I know it's going to be fairly easy, reliable and quick!
The longest train journey i've got planned is New York to Toronto, which is around 11 hours long (although i will be stopping in Niagara Falls mid-way through for a couple of nights), but that's only £60 in total, which I didn't think was bad.
I feel like I know what i'm getting with trains haha

Although I didn't look into Megabus, so I might do that and see whether I can use that for a couple of the trips.

One warning - Amtrak isn't fast. Around NYC/Washington D.C area. (and I thnk this includes Philadelphia) it's pretty quick due to it being a commuter area otherwise...it's generally really not. Prepare for delays - the cross country trains are regularly 12/14 hours late and more. My train from Chicago to San Francisco was 5 hours late in the end, which was considered pretty decent! At one point we were running 10 hours behind but they somehow made it up a bit. The problem is that passenger trains do not have priority in the US - freight trains do. And these freight trains can be literally miles long, causing the passenger trains to stop on the tracks for a LONG time.

If you're splitting your trips up and/or arrange it so that for the long train trips you're scheduled to arrive at a good time (i.e. morning/early afternoon, so that if it's delayed you won't be arriving in the early hours, in a potentially dodgy area of a city, which Amtrak stations unfortunately are sometimes!) then it'll be fine and you probably won't even notice any delays.

The prices are pretty good though, especially if you decide to get a sleeping carriage and share it with a friend/fellow traveller since all the food is included (although its not particularly good but never mind) and you have somewhere decent to sleep.

[lareneg]

(Original post by gemini89)
Prepare for delays - the cross country trains are regularly 12/14 hours late and more. My train from Chicago to San Francisco was 5 hours late in the end, which was considered pretty decent! At one point we were running 10 hours behind but they somehow made it up a bit.

Trains in Eastern Europe are the same. One train I was on left on time but arrived 8 hours late through a 6 hour journey (ie we left on time for a 6 hour ride and it took 14). Somehow.

[Cll_ws]

(Original post by cocobubbles)
I'm so so jealous, your trip so far sounds awesome!! £60 from NY to Toronto sounds a great deal to me! Are you thinking of planning it all yourself or getting any other organised trips? Where else are you thinking of stopping off? I'm so nosy haha, I love to hear holiday plans to get ideas for myself!

haha, don't worry. I'm just planning it all myself so far, but if I come across any organized trips that make things easier for me then I might look into them!
Nothings set in stone just yet as i'm still working out the best order to do things in, and whether I want to add any places in or take any out, but so far i'm going
New York - New Jersey - Philadelphia - Boston - Niagara Falls - Toronto - New York.
Between Boston and Niagara I have to stop over night in NY, and get the train from there.

The place in New Jersey is just a smallish town, i'm only stopping there for 2 nights for Warped Tour But it's one of the places I might cut out, if I decide to either not go to that much effort just to go to Warped Tour, or if I decide to go to another city for it, but the other options that might be possible are Chicago or Cleveland, which are a bit off course! Or Camden, NJ, which i've been told is one of the most dangerous and crime ridden cities in the US, so i'm unsure whether I wanna swing by there, especially on my own!
If I do decide to leave it in though, it's only half an hour away from a Six Flags theme park, which is a plus!

[Cll_ws]

(Original post by gemini89)
One warning - Amtrak isn't fast. Around NYC/Washington D.C area. (and I thnk this includes Philadelphia) it's pretty quick due to it being a commuter area otherwise...it's generally really not. Prepare for delays - the cross country trains are regularly 12/14 hours late and more. My train from Chicago to San Francisco was 5 hours late in the end, which was considered pretty decent! At one point we were running 10 hours behind but they somehow made it up a bit. The problem is that passenger trains do not have priority in the US - freight trains do. And these freight trains can be literally miles long, causing the passenger trains to stop on the tracks for a LONG time.

If you're splitting your trips up and/or arrange it so that for the long train trips you're scheduled to arrive at a good time (i.e. morning/early afternoon, so that if it's delayed you won't be arriving in the early hours, in a potentially dodgy area of a city, which Amtrak stations unfortunately are sometimes!) then it'll be fine and you probably won't even notice any delays.

The prices are pretty good though, especially if you decide to get a sleeping carriage and share it with a friend/fellow traveller since all the food is included (although its not particularly good but never mind) and you have somewhere decent to sleep.

Oh man, I was under the impression they just ran pretty consistently like trains here. Nearly all of the trains i've been planning on getting after doing some research are early morning trains, so that I can get to the next place as early in the day as possible, so hopefully I can avoid being stuck in a dodgy station late at night! But thanks for the heads up!