Travel & Holidays Travelling Overland in the US

Not at all but I would make sure you're well prepared in terms of clothes. I wasted a few hours on our first day as I was a bit too optimistic about how the weather was going to be lol. Are you interested in going on Christmas Day itself? If that's not a must, I think early December can be a bit less chilly and you still get to experience all the Christmas events, activities, decorations, etc.

 

Yes the intent is to get there mid Dec or so. Whether or not I can do it affordably that time of year will be another problem. NYC is so damn expensive.

 

Yep, December is generally pretty expensive. I would recommend booking a cancellable rate you're reasonably happy with and keep looking until close to the day to see if you can find better deals

 

NY in December/January.......you're dreaming (and that's from someone who lives in NY).

My sister in law had a similar bright idea....wanted to come to NY "for the Christmas lights", was lucky to get off the sofa more than 2/3 hours a day and when she was out it was always....fsk fsk fsk its cold....can we go and get a coffee, can we go and get hot chocolate - I don't want to go t the art gallery, I don't want to see a museum, how do you guys shop with these crowds....etc etc.

I think I have about 4 photos of her outside the whole 2 week trip.

Its different when you live/go to work here. You have the right clothing, the right attitude etc etc but as a tourism destination...? Come in the Spring or the Fall - you'll enjoy it far more.

 

Yep, im not sure why its a thing but people from the Midwest seem to love coming to NY to shop in the first 3 weeks of December.

 

OK, decision now is to go down in April - will only have 3 weeks so it has to be an East Coast only trip. That means, NYC, DC, then drive from DC to Florida (maybe even down to the Keys) via Savannah etc.

Anyone been to Key West? Waste of time? Average beaches?

May even drive to New Orleans time permitting. Will theme park it towards the end for a week. Still a rush though I think.

 

Definitely include New Orleans. We were there earlier this year and loved it. On the top of my list to go back to again. Haven't been to the Florida Keys so no feedback on that

 

We spent 5 months driving around the US last year but were there for the summer months. Arrived in Florida in May spent a week in theme parks then drove down to the keys. Beaches as an aussie are meh. We went for the diving but when we got there a tropical storm was coming in from the south and they had 3m seas so no boats going out.

Drove all the way back up the east coast. Drove the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia which is incredible. Did all the major stops on the East Coast up to Acadia National Park in Maine. That took us like 7 or 8 weeks. So yeah better idea to fly a bit and spend more time in specific spots.

You can spend 3 days in Museums in DC without seeing half of the stuff.

If its your first time in NY check out the city pass. Its great value for all the touristy stuff you want to do. Rockefeller centre, Empire state, WTC memorial, bus tours etc. Generally the 3 day passes are best value i think.

Florida to keys back up to miami took us about 10 days but only a few of those were driving

 

Xmas in NYC is great
Really Christmasy with the decorations , ice skating , Rockefeller Center/Xmas tree , cool weather ..

 

They can fine you and they do. I know this from personal experience
When hiring the car, fine gets deducted from your credit card..... damn

 

When driving the US, be prepared to be cut off frequently and be comfortable with doing 10-20mph over the speed limit.
Enjoy turning right on red at intersections too!

 

Yes, I love that rule, turning right on red at intersection.... we should have this in Australia.

 

OK just booked a ridiculously cheap one-way airfare from Shanghai to LAX in December 2019 - AUD 240 pp.

Now have to work out how to get to Shanghai cheaply...spend a few days there to sightsee (I'm not Chinese), and the harder part is getting home from the Us to Oz in late January without costing a bomb.

Which also means, we'll be spending about 4 weeks in the US from late December to late Jan.

I'm thinking NY, Washington and Florida/theme parks to finish...which also implies we'll be in NYC in late December/early Jan, which is supposedly a very expensive time to be there. Decisions, decisions.