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| Author | Message / Information |
| John999181 Quote | Reply | | Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA posted on: 10/15/2005 7:08:39 PM Hi all, I'm after a bit of advice. After spending a year backpacking around Australia alone, I now have the bug and have decided to visit the states, although it is only for 3 weeks over the Christmas period. My plan is to start at New York, head to Boston, into Canada, down to Toronto, Niagra falls, Washington DC then back to New York. Will the States be similar to Australia where there is a backpacking community so when I go to the Hostels it'll be full of people like myself? Just that I'm a bit worried on travelling alone. Though I know if it's anything like Australia then I'll be fine as it was easy to meet people when I was staying in the hostels. Do alot of backpackers use the greyhound buses too or do they travel via rail? If anyone has any suggestions or advice i'd be more grateful. Thanks John UK |
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vera
moderator Quote | Reply | |
Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/15/2005 8:04:56 PM Hey there...well, I had a long reply to ya and then my dog hit my circuit breaker switch for my puter and WHAMMO, everything goes off. So to sum it up shortly, I think you'll find that the area of the US you'll be in is traveler friendly...that is, in being able to get around. Look to the train routes for some of the journey and think of renting a car as the cold weather will likely make bus travel about 10 times longer than it is...and it's already 5 times TOO long. Hostels will be around. It won't be like Oz. You'll have a blast. Americans are usually enthused to have travellers around as none of us (except the 10% with passports...presumably) ever travel. You'll have a great time! I'd be wary of any helicopter rides at Niagra though as many have troubles with ice on the blades during this time of year.  Please, ask on! |
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wendles
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Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/16/2005 4:06:24 PM Rail travel from DC to New York is frequent, easy, and comfortable. I assume the same about NY-Boston? though I haven't personally travelled that route. Not only are Americans pretty enthused about English-speaking travellers, you should be able to meet other travellers in the hostels. I've always managed to and I'm not even the best about talking to strangers. A lot of regulars on this board have tons of experience and suggestions for DC, NYC, and Toronto. Any city-specific info you're looking for? Some NYC hostels can be really dodgy. I've stayed at the Chelsea Star and enjoyed it - it's secure, clean, and in a pretty convenient location. The website pushes the goofy private rooms, but they have dorm beds as well. |
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monkeywearingchaps
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Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/17/2005 2:42:30 PM My opinion is that it's quite expensive to travel by rail on the East Coast (don't know if that has changed and/or if you would get any discounts). Generally the bus is cheaper. If you plan your itinerary ahead of time you could actually Southwest your way across the country for about the same amount of money. |
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John999181
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Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/17/2005 3:53:53 PM Thanks for all the advice.... Now you have me thinking... Now I have in my head to travel East to West coast by rail, stopping off places in between like Chicago, Kansas City or Denver depending on my route..... Back to the drawing board. Suggestions on which routes to take would be helpful..... Thanks again |
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monkeywearingchaps
Quote | Reply | This message was updated on 10/17/2005 4:17:09 PM by monkeywearingchaps |
Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/17/2005 4:10:14 PM Southwest and ATA are very cheap airlines...you could actually travel faster across the country and for a very reasonable amount of money, provided you book ahead of time. Cheap as in a flight from Philadelphia to Manchester, NH was once had for 19$. Not kidding you. That's cheaper than the bus and a million times more convenient. My suggestion is that even if you rail/bus your way along the East Coast that you use cheap air travel for major distances. Faster and probably cheaper. For instance, if you fly into Boston/NY, you could explore the Boston and NY and then get down to DC by rail/bus. Then possibly fly out of Baltimore (BWI airport) to Chicago on Southwest/ATA (another low-cost airline). Stop over in Chi-town for some sight-seeing. From there, pick your poison (Midway airport is pretty convenient). You could fly to Las Vegas, Florida, Seattle, Southern California, Northern California...among other destinations (I think they may also go to Portland, Oregon). So a possible itinerary could be something like Boston-NY-DC (rail/bus). DC-Chicago-Las Vegas-Los Angeles-San Francisco-Seattle. Then fly out of Seattle to whatever you want to get back to... Incidentally, I haven't taken the train since two disastrous outings in graduate school. The Chicago Amtrak service was absolutely horrible...constantly delayed and the train (which was the one that used to go from Chicago to New Orleans and had some fancy name) was constantly breaking down on the tracks (not to mention an average 1 hour delay). Eventually I learned my lesson and started taking a private charter bus that used to go directly from my university to the airport. In undergrad I used to take the Montreal-NY-Syracuse route to see my boyfriend at Cornell and that was also a major pain in the ass (although at least the train wouldn't break down on the tracks) because it was so slooooow and constantly delayed. www.southwest.com You have to book way ahead of time to get those "fun fares" though. I know the Vegas/Los Angeles one is about 30-40$ which is about the average fun fare cost for a 1-hour flight time. Also, they now go out to Hawaii! Have fun in the U.S. and Canada! |
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vera
moderator Quote | Reply | |
Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/17/2005 11:52:35 PM The plane is a worthy option for those expanses of the country that are just as impressive from 30,000 feet as they are from 300 above sea level. The train would be fun though. What is your budget like? That would help. What is your time available for travelling? |
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lost_sheep
Resident London Expert Quote | Reply | |
Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/18/2005 12:52:39 PM When I went to the states, I flew from London Heathrow to Newark, then DC (I can't remember which airport) and Chicago O'Hare and then back to LHR and it cost £1,500. But then I didn't shop around and that was the first price given to me. I found the constant checking in and out was a total pain and found myself wishing I'd taken the train. |
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apyf
Quote | Reply | This message was updated on 10/18/2005 7:31:47 PM by apyf |
Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/18/2005 7:29:32 PM I came across this North American Rail Pass. But I don't know of anyone who ever tried it. It takes too long to go cross country! North Americans don't travel on trains much for a good reason, the rail systems SUCKS. |
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Half Man Half Biscuit
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Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/19/2005 9:20:57 AM I used a rail pass to travel from Penn Station to New Orleans and then on to Texas once. $300 unlimited travel for 4 weeks I think Houston broke my spirit though and I decided to go back to London on my first night there It was about 13 years ago,looking back now I think I would travel by train again in the US. I used the train there last year and it was very mellow and relaxing.Flying domestically in the US sucks the big one It's an ordeal,and they make you pay for your own booze,which they wave under your nose about 3 minutes before you arrive where you are meant to be going,and never less than an hour after you ordered it Jet Blue and Alaska are alright,but the shit you have to go through at the airport cancels out any benefits |
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Wab
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Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/19/2005 11:23:30 AM quote: Australia and NZ are ludicrously well-endowed with backpacker infractructure (all the WHV fruit pickers have to live somewhere). |
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John999181
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Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/22/2005 12:46:05 PM Thanks for the great advice off all of yous it has ALL came in handy as I'm using bits from everyone.... I'm almost sorted now for my trip. Instead of staying North East, I'm now starting on the East (Xmas Eve)and flying home to UK from the West (9 Jan 06). Looking to see New York, Washington and Boston in 6 days where I'll be using train/bus. I'm then flying from Albany to Denver on 30th December with a cheap airfare and spending New Year 40mile from Denver with family I never knew I had. From there I'm flying to Las Vegas for 2 nights, again with a cheap flight and the accomodation is cheap as it is a weekday. I guess they think I'm going to send all my money in the casinos..... From there i'll be heading to LA, then maybe up to San Fransisco, time permitting.... Can't wait.... Thanks again.... Advice and tips would still be welcomed..... |
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wendles
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Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/24/2005 9:46:59 AM Wow. That's a helluva lot of ground to cover in two weeks. So if you're taking about 2 days each in DC, New York, and Boston, do you have an idea of what you want to see in each city? Were you planning on doing anything outside of the cities? I'm impressed by your whirlwind speed. If it was me, I'd end up lopping off one of the three Northeast cities, but I'm kind of lazy.  I don't think you'll have time for both LA and San Francisco. If you have to pick one, I will argue for SF, because you can see tons of the city in a couple of days and get around easily on public transport. Man, I need a beer just *thinking* about your itinerary. So what kinds of things do you want to do on this trip? A rough idea of your taste/interests can help us give you tips. |
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John999181
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Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/25/2005 12:29:46 PM Yes, it is alot of ground to cover in the just over 2 weeks..... I done similar in Australia a few year back. Although I spent a year there, I left it late to go from West back to East coast for my return flight. What I did there is stop off at ceratins places for a night or two. Sometimes I got to cities in the morning and was on the bus again in the same evening meaning I had a day to see as much as possible and that i just slept on the bus as it travelled through the night to my next destination. I would love to spend more time in the states but having a 4 year old son, I would hate to leave him for longer than the 2 weeks. Even though I don't live with him I'd miss him like crazy, so 2 weeks it is. When I'm arraving at places like NY, Boston, Washington etc, I'm hoping to take it as much as I can while I'm there. Looking up on the net and in my Lonely Planet Book on the tourist spots to visit. At nights I'm hoping to just chill. Maybe grab a meal then a couple of beers, then bed, ready for the following day of chasing about site seeing, visiting museums and getting as many pics as poss..... Not sure if I would be doing anything outside the cities yet. If things were worth doing/seeing then I would consider it as my trip is not set in stone as yet other than I fly into the East Coast on 24 December then return from West Coast on 9 January. I was looking to maybe book certains legs of my trip to make sure there was availability on certain modes of transport, plus I can get cheaper airfares if i book in advance.... Your right about not having enough time for both LA and San Francisco so would be looking to choose one or the other. How does the weather vary across the country? I know that NY will be cold and possibly snow, though does that apply with West Coast too. It'll be a shock to my system after doing this then having to return back to work a few days later. Never the less.... I can't wait as I'm really looking forward to it. Only thing is having to have my christmas dinner alone in New York.... Any Offers... Ha Ha |
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monkeywearingchaps
Quote | Reply | This message was updated on 10/25/2005 1:09:14 PM by monkeywearingchaps |
Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 10/25/2005 1:05:25 PM L.A. has gotten increasingly metro-able, actually...but I think getting down to the beach is still pretty hard and I'm not certain the metro system goes out into Santa Monica. I will agree with wendles and say it's really spread out, though. However, you can metro to Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, Chinatown, Koreatown, Long Beach, Los Feliz (I think even Silverlake), and Pasadena, among other neighborhoods. If you decide on SoCal/Las Vegas...read my trip reports/sight-seeing activities on "Golluming around SoCal/Vegas" below. I moved to L.A. for work and my bf moved to Vegas for work so we visit each other constantly and hang around the cities mostly as residential tourists. I'm going to update within the next few days with some restaurant reviews and stuff to do in Vegas. I'm originally from Boston, too...in fact many of us live/have travelled in the cities you're looking at so feel free to ask what the crap tourist traps are and whatnot (if you're dubious about something) . I hope you're having fun planning your trip! |
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stage rat
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Uk Traveler backpacking around North East USA
replied on: 11/8/2005 12:11:53 PM You mentioned wanting to visit museums, and for DC I can tell you to just head straight for "The Mall," where most of the Smithsonian museums are located. But you'll be tight on time, and I'm not the only one who's visited (or lived in) DC or NY--if you tell us exactly what you want to see, we can propose specific museums for you and good areas for photos. Do you want architecture, people, nature, etc.? |
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