Travelling round USA

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Original Poster:

766 posts

225 months

Friday 22nd May 2009
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Thinking about spending some time travelling around the US. Flying into LA, hiring a car and heading down to Mexico the back up/around to NY and flying back from there.

Anyone done a similar trip and care to share experiences?

sawman

4,997 posts

240 months

Friday 22nd May 2009
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Thats quite a big trip, how long are you taking?

Bear in mind that theres a lot of nothing very much in the middle of the states

Matt Harper

6,800 posts

211 months

Friday 22nd May 2009
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US car rental firms do not allow you to take their vehicles into Mexico.

Calculator

Original Poster:

766 posts

225 months

Friday 22nd May 2009
quotequote all
Looking at something for about 5/6 weeks.

GreigM

6,739 posts

259 months

Friday 22nd May 2009
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sawman said:
Thats quite a big trip, how long are you taking?

Bear in mind that theres a lot of nothing very much in the middle of the states
I'll second that - some of the most boring driving you can imagine is ahead of you, and speed limits are low (55mph in places for hundreds of miles at a time) and enthusiastically enforced by a large number of state troopers...and tickets can be expensive ($400 easy) and unless you never want to return to the USA then you have to pay them these days...

If you do decide to do it study your route carfully and plan the time of year - some roads in the middle are snow-bound for 9 months of the year and can surprise Brits on holiday...

h0b0

8,403 posts

206 months

Friday 22nd May 2009
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As others have said rental cars are not allowed into Mexico by most of the agencies. I have seen them go even further and not allow you to drive the car into states bordering mexico. Worth cheking out.

Also, the US can be very boring in the middle. You might want to check out Canada as it can be equally boring but nicer to look at. another idea is to come in the winter and do a tour of skiing locations from Whistler on the west coast to Mt Tremblant on the East coast via Vale.

sawman

4,997 posts

240 months

Saturday 23rd May 2009
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Calculator said:
Looking at something for about 5/6 weeks.
I'd be inclined to spend a couple of weeks on the west coast and then fly to the east and spend a week or so there.

autoholic

353 posts

221 months

Saturday 23rd May 2009
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My last trip was 7 weeks and we did a loop from LA. It was a big one though. Up got as far north as Montana and as far south as Big Bend National Park in Texas. I got stopped once by the Idaho Highway Patrol for doing 75 in a 70, he let me off but I think he only stopped me as I was in a brand new Mustang convertible with CA plates! Also got stopped by Border Patrol near the Rio Grande but no problems there either.

If you drop the car off somewhere different you will incur a charge, when I did Route 66 it was $500 but may be more now.

Advice is go for it but do your homework. I heard recently heard that some cities have now introduced tolls like the congestion charge.

It's a massive country but the Interstate system works well and you can cover large distances with ease, it's just not very exciting. I bought a Rand McNally road map in Wal-Mart, along with all my clothes, for just a few bucks.

See my blog for all the info you'll ever need!!!

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog...

Edited by autoholic on Saturday 23 May 11:34