USA roadtrip - ideas please

[cloudybay27]

DH and I have decided we would like to take the kids on a USA trip next year, they will be 7.5 & 5 by then and we think it's a good time to do Disney? Could wait another year if it's too early for the 5yr old....

Anyway we want to make a big trip of it and other than the obvious day or two at Disney and Universal what are the other things we should be seeing?? We will have between 3-4 weeks. Would prefer to go to the West side (california etc) as we have both been to Florida and NYC amongst others before.

Budget will probably be about £15k, we are not expecting it to be cheap but would like to splash out on a couple of nice places to stay with the rest being average. I've based this budget on a month in Oz last year which cost us £12k but not sure if that is a good guide or not!

Personally I think it’s a bit young for a road trip and they won’t remember much. I assume you will have to go in the heat of the summer if you are based in the UK.

I would probably opt for Boston and New England or San Franscisco and go North for redwoods and Washington State Parks and Oregon. South for the coastal scenery and cities. Inland can be ultra hot. I would avoid the theme parks, but that’s just me. Hot queues just don’t appeal! I might be unique in that!

There are plenty of motels in California and lively little seaside towns. Great scenery too. San Francisco has lovely hotels and is fun.

We didn’t think much of San Diego. There is plenty to do around LA and staying in Santa Monica is a treat. It’s expensive though! We also stayed in Carmel and that’s fabulous too. The children would love seeing the whales off Monterey if they are about.

If you have that much time there are LOADS of things you could do. Just off the top of my head;

California coast including Big Sur, Monterey, Carmel, San Francisco, LA etc

Yosemite
Muir Woods
Grand Canyon
Monument Valley
A good chunk of Route 66
Death Valley (although it's hellish in the summer!)
Mojave desert
Joshua Tree

Pick a few things you really want to do and then plan a circular route as that will make car hire much cheaper. Use Roadtrippers.com to create routes and it will give you ideas of things to do close to the route and also give you an idea of how much petrol will cost.

California is hot in the summer, particularly inland. If that's a factor then consider New England as an alternative. Lots of lovely places and plenty to do.

Thanks Bubbles, yes we discussed it last night actually and are now thinking of Easter the following year so the DCs will then be 8 and 5.5yrs which might be a better age? i am guessing this would be a much better time weather wise and not so stiflingly hot?

My parents took me as an 8 yr old and highlights were Disney, Yosemiti, San Fran, Monterey from what I can remember and Hollywood. I guess I would like to do all of those plus a few more if we can do. Not bothered about Vegas, I have never been, DH has but it doesn't appeal to me with the kids! I will look up your suggestions Rusholme. I think we will only have 3 weeks if we go at Easter.

We had a 3 week trip a few years ago. Loved it.

San Fran 3 nts
Yosemite - 3 nts
Carmel - 3 nts
Santa Barbara- 4 nts
Laguna 3nts
Santa Monica 2nts
New York 4 nts.

Seriously just lol at s map and a tough idea of where you want to go/ how many miles a day etc. You will see on Google there will be marked some interesting things do aim for some of those but don't be too detailed then just go.

My oh and me spent 2 weeks in california oregon and navada. Car hire and fuel is stupidly cheap so we traveled from la via sabfrancisco with a rough idea to get to portland and back to la for our flight home. We took the coastal road north then went inland on the way south to see crater lake (frickin amazing) rio and Vegas. You will see lots of crazy and stunning things on the way that will make you stop. At one point we just saw on the map 'ghost town' and where like yeah let's go. That was great!! We would look at our route a day or too in advance and choose our next stop abd book hotel etc. Best trip ever and we are planning to do the same in a few years once our son is older. X

Arggg sorry typos I'm on my phone one handed feeding a baby!

Our best holiday was a 3 week road trip when our twins were 11 yrs old. Seemed to be exactly the right age. We did LA, San Diego, Scottsdale, Grand Canyon. Lake Powell. Monument Valley, Zion, Bryce, Las Vegas, Yosemite, San Fran.
It was a fab 3 weeks. Very hot, great hotels, fantastic sights. We talk about it often.

I would personally say it is too young at 5, as a pp said, they wont remember it at all. My two are 18 and 20, we often talk about places we visited when they were younger (admittedly not US but still...) they cant remember any of it pre 7/8, even eurodisney. Not a thing. It's as if they never went.

We did W USA last year and had a fab time, but it was very hot and even at 17, the youngest was struggling with the heat and the travelling. She sometimes missed sights as she fell asleep in the car.

Did a mega road trip (3500 miles) for the total eclipse last year with DD (then 6). She hasn’t stopped talking about it yet. She loves a road trip!

I disagree, my DD went to Disney at 3 and 4 and still remembers it. I think those are perfect ages.

One of my favourite hols was Queensland with a 2 and 5 yr old. They might not remember it that great but we had such a lovely time, perfect ad our first more independent adventurous holidays.

Yosemite in April can be issue as they often have snow through to May so you would not be able to visit certain areas.

Last year some of the campgrounds only opened in mid July due to the snow!