Is it possible to do USA on the cheap.

[Pinkpeanut27]

We have done 2 yrs in USA and spent £££££, first year was Miami and NYC this year was Orlando and Washington.
Dream is to Do the west coast but we need to save a bit or that.
Has anyone one anywhere in USA cheap? I know the flights are expensive but I think we have picked the most expensive places to go.

Kids like a mixture of Beach and shopping - dd, and museums, out door spaces ( boys) sports etc.
It would be good if it was hot but 80 rather thr 90+ we had in flotida..

Any ideas?

I would say that to do the US cheaply you have to camp. We have done it twice taking the tent etc as baggage and hiring a minivan (don't be tempted by an SUV, they have less space). We camped half the time and did cheap(ish) motels the rest, you can get motel rooms with two queen beds where they will supply another rollaway bed, as they call them. Cheap hotels and motels often have laundry facilities. Camping, especially in National, or even better State Parks is cheap and sites are good. You have to book ahead for popular parks but you can do it online. We have done both the South West (Grand Canyon etc) and the North West on this basis.

The only problem with camping is it can be too hot in some places.

We have done an RV trip in California and that was neither cheap or comfortable.

Should also say I've done 4 transatlantic flights this year with Norwegian (to Boston) and they are OK, you get what you pay for. I think if you were on a route with Dreamliners rather than 767s it would be better, the small planes feel cramped for that length of flight. Don't pay for the food, its dire, take your own and be aware that you pay for everything even water on board. Entertainment is minimal.

Been to Michigan twice fantasitic state.

I think Cheap is below 10k
Dh has an unrealistic view of cheap ! He wants a 2 week holiday in tne sun for next to nothing , I have pointed out it will cost £2,500 to rent a 'suitable ' cottage in tne U.K. For 2 weeks and itveill not be hot .
Then I suggested touring uk cities staying in the cheap premier inn rooms and that got the thumbs down !
I think we looked into Europe last year and it was pretty expensive .

I like the idea of secondary cities .
Absolutely not camping ! I have a lazy family who generally don't help out on holiday so I'm not doing cooking and washing in tne tent . My older 2 teenagers argue if they are with in 6 feet of each other so that's another downside .
We hired an SUV this year and totally agree about space , they are huge externally and great for 4 but 5 lead to constsnt rows about the back seat .

Interested to know how you are doing NYC, Long Island and Boston for £4500. NYC is my absolute fav place I've ever been.
I prefer not to drive much but if it can't be avoided would but don't want a driving holiday .

Maine is stunning, especially up around Kennebunkport. In summer has great weather.

Boston is great, far better than NY in my opinion but not necessarily much cheaper. However if you shop around can get flights there for under £400 each. Easy to get to NH and Maine from there.

Could also look around Lake Winnepusakee in NH.ots of cabins etc up there.

I also really like Amesbury and Newburyport areas as well. Some lovely and uncrowded beaches. And temps in summer about what you're after. Very much of the tourist track, but could snag some bargains.

Can second Savannah, great city. Northern Florida I like as well, Jacksonville, st Augustine etc.

I was going to suggest Washington DC, but see that you have already been there. The museums & zoo were both free, plus we did a fantastic free walking tour, where you were encouraged to tip what you thought it was worth.

Biggrey I'm dying to get to Maine! (and Vt and NH) Been trying to get DH to pull our caravan to Acadia for years now but so far all he sees is all those miles between Nor Cal and Maine. I have managed to get him to GSMNP and WDW so I haven't given up hope yet!

pinkpeanut I'll be honest, I'm cheating a bit. There are currently flights to NYC for next year at just over £2k for 5 people, budget airline but all the same. I'm using some air miles to pay for hotel in NYC and air b n b ing on Boston so cutting costs that way. Also looking at going round north fork for Long Island rather than towards The Hamptons which is cheaper.

I would also suggest Nova Scotia, not the US, but loads to do and cheaper.

Washington was amazing and I'd like to go back as we only touched the surface .
I love all the ideas and will have a look into them all .

Anyone know when tne best time for flights is ?

Also how do you get cabins and houses out there . We have been through travel agents so far but tbh they get the bookings wrong every year so I don't know why we bother !'

@AcrossthePond55 thats a hell of a schlep from North Cali!

It's worth it though. Every time I go I end up weighing up land prices in NE Maine, it's my dream to have a few acres with ocean frontage and a cabin.... wouldn't even be that much money.

It's worth stopping at Kittery, good outlet shopping!

Oh, forgot to mention Tennessee. Up round Gatlinburg (has a bizarrely impressive aquarium) is nice plus tons of cabins to rent at very good prices!

We booked through these guys www.cabinsofthesmokymountains.com absolutely fine.

I say cabin... they pretty much all have hot tubs, games rooms, pools etc. Pretty plush.

I managed to get flights/hotel with breakfast included for 5K. This is for 2A 3C 4nights in New York and then flights to LA for 9 nights in Anaheim for Disney California. I booked on all in the BA website as a package holiday - hotel and flights was only marginally more expensive than flights only, was very surprised!

As regards temperature anything over 70 and mostly sunny would be great !!

Biggrey Love the Smokies. We thought Pigeon Forge was, um, something, to say the least. That huge Titanic sitting right on the street! What a hoot!

Gatlinburg was touristy but cute and great shops. We camped at Cade's Cove, what a beautiful place.

I've told DH that the CA to ME drive isn't much different than the CA to FL drive. It's only about 200 miles further to Kennebunkport than to Orlando. If you take in to consideration that we also drove from WDW to GSMNP we actually drove further on that trip than we would to Acadia. That particular 'road trip' was 7000 miles round trip.

@across in which case tell DH to put on his big boy pants and get driving! I would move to Kennebunkport in a heart beat....

Pigeon Forge was indeed... interesting... this was a conversation I had in a store with a guy about 20:

Store guy: hey y'all from England?
Me: Yup, just here on holiday
SG: that's awesome, near London?
M: yeah not far
SG: nice, always wanted to visit London it always looks great in the movies
M: haha, yeah it's not always like that but there is lots to do, you should definately visit.
SG: yeah too many blacks and pakis though, it ain't right.
Me: ooook.... (moving in the direction of away...) you have a nice day now, I need to grab some food.
SG: Y'all have a good day now [cheery grin]

It was just the casual way it was thrown in that just blew my mind. And that's my enduring memory of PF.... that and the laser quest.

10K should be easy.

Even quite expensive flights would be half of that. Car rental would be the next cost.

Then you need to look up some cheap motel type places. If you go for any of the chains they will be OK. They may be basic, but they'll be clean. If you stay far enough south they will all have pools as well (although they will be basic as well).

If you're prepared to put in the time, start looking now. Decide on a few places you want to go, then just search for hotels/motels in that area, and look at car rental months in advance. flights come out about 10/11 months ahead, and don't tend to get any cheaper than their original price, I've found. The days of finding great deals seem to be closing in. We plan several months ahead for trips home to the UK to try and keep the costs manageable. But it is worth looking at smaller, more local airports rather than big hubs as your destination.

I think we are looking nearer to 5 k of truth be told !

Another Smokies, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg lover!

fistbump

You need to get on Homeexchange.com
If you can handle a family staying in your house for a few weeks then you only have to pay for flights and your food. Most people will also let you use the car that's left at the house! It's something I'm considering so that we can travel as a family and experience life as a local. I live in a very pretty part of California, it's in the Sierra foothills and it's hot! Lake Tahoe is an hour up the road and San Francisco about three hours by car.

Double fist bump with Biggrey and Bizzy.

We didn't run into any of that casual racism when we were down South in any of the 'deep South' states we were in. But we have obvious West Coast/California accents so perhaps the rednecks there knew we were from a blue state. LOL

Now when I visited my BFF in Texas....that was a different experience all together! With the exception of the Austin area, I heard things said that left my jaw on the floor.

Surprised to hear the term 'paki' was used. That's not a commonly used epithet in the US. At least not in the states I frequent.

Biggrey I told DH you said to get off his happy ass and start driving east. He went .

OP for US $6400.00, that's a pretty tight budget for 2 adults, 3 kids. For the heck of it, I checked cheap fares from Heathrow to Boston MA, around $600.00, so for 5 that's around $3000.00. The cheapest chain motel would probably be Motel 6 and two rooms would probably run $120-160/nite in a secondary city, so figure $1000-ish for 7 nites. It's real basic. No fridge, micro, or coffee maker. You can usually get a fridge for around $7.00 extra/night but no micros. Some of them are in sketchy areas so you have to pick with care. Then add in takeaway/eating out and snacks for 5 on top of that. Now add in a rental SUV or van for, say, one week at around $350.00-400.00 + the cost of gas and insurance. Just the costs I could 'figure' total around $4400.00 and that leaves around $2000.00 for food, attractions, fuel/insurance, and souvenirs.

Are used to live in the US and my family is still there. It's actually one of the places where I have traveled the least, since I was there until I was only 19 and only would go back for a few months to visit my mother. I have, however, found some very good hostels and I tend to do things that aren't so touristy but that a local person would like to do. Often times, if you look in local papers, there are free events or very low cost events on offer, just as there are in the UK. You could look into these.

I have only been to San Francisco and San Diego on the West Coast. Again, I did want locals did. In San Francisco, there are some absolutely great restaurants that are family run and have a really delicious food and very cheap prices. I do a lot of work in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese food is excellent and everywhere, as is the Mexican food. The library in San Francisco is great too. Worth a visit. Again, look at Twitter and in local newspapers for events going on . There are restaurants that light kids eat free and there are frequent promotions if you know where to find them. So I would do that.

Have you considered house sitting? [email protected]

Thanks for all the information , loads for me to think about and research .
We have literally just returned from the States and had a wonderful time .