What itiniary would you recommend for a 3 week vacation to the USA?

[Hannah]

We are dreaming about a once in a lifetime family vacation in the next year or two.

If you were to plan for 3 weeks in the USA, what would your itiniary be?

I know this is a wide-open question, but for now anything goes.

[JFSinIL]

A week in and around Washington, D.C. touring the capital, the cool museums, Williamsburg, and other historic sites.

A week seeing the West - perhaps a few days in San Francisco and a few days in Yosemite, with a drive down Highway 1 to Big Sur area. Or drive through Custer State park, tour Jewel or Wind cave, spend a few days in Yellowstone. Drive through the Tetons, too.

A week either in Florida, doing beaches/theme parks or Southern California, same.

[DianeW88]

A week in and around Washington, D.C. touring the capital, the cool museums, Williamsburg, and other historic sites.

A week seeing the West - perhaps a few days in San Francisco and a few days in Yosemite, with a drive down Highway 1 to Big Sur area. Or drive through Custer State park, tour Jewel or Wind cave, spend a few days in Yellowstone. Drive through the Tetons, too.

A week either in Florida, doing beaches/theme parks or Southern California, same.

I agree and adding a few days in New York city would be fun, too. You could hit all the highlights and take in a Broadway show in two days.

[Lily_Grace]

My list would include both coasts, or if you have time for just one, the west. It's quite unique. I'd spend a few days in the redwoods (Sequoia or Yosemite National Parks), take in Disneyland, San Francisco, Columbia (gold rush town) and a drive down the coast, stopping at the missions as you make your way to L.A.

 

Or, if you have time for both, San Francisco, the redwoods, and on the opposite coast do Cape Canaveral and WDW. I'd skip D.C. unless you're covering American history, but NYC would be definitely interesting! (it's not one of my favorite U.S. cities, but it is unique)

[Wabi Sabi]

Depends: Once here would you rather hire a car to get from city to city or are you open to making multiple domestic flights?

[LibraryLover]

Wabi Sabi asks a good question. Also, when? Weather matters if you're driving. The US is honking big, with costly, limited train service. :( I wish we had a Eurail pass equivalent.

 

However, Mega Buses are *great*! When you book online a few days or weeks in advance, you can get dirt cheap rates. Very comfortable, clean, wonderful drivers, and many of the newest buses have hookups/charges for IPads, Nooks, DSs, Smartphones etc.

 

Southwest is our largest domestic airline, and depending where you are going, when you book, there are often good deals. Sometimes great deals.

 

I guess I would want the kids to see a Cape Code beach, visit Vermont, Maine, or New Hampshire, maybe Boston. Perhaps Niagara Falls, (and maybe step into CN, just to say you did if you never have). Absolutely NYC, DC, maybe the Virginias, or a Carolina beach, see some alligators lol. Nashville, Austin, or Dallas. Los Angeles. San Francisco. Grand Canyon, Yosemite. Perhaps Hoover Dam. I would choose Disney Land over Disney World, just from a proximity- to- other- destinations standpoint.

 

Flying in and out of Chicago is on my list of worst nightmares. Nothing is ever on time, plus the wind patterns in Chicago often make for bumpy take -offs and landings. . But I wouldn't hesitate to drive or take a bus, depending where I am.

 

You won't see all of this in 3 weeks, but many Americans have 'done' Europe in less. ;) Do you know the movie, "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium?" lol

 

Are you interested in skiing, or white water rafting? Camping in Yosemite or Big Sur? Kayaking in Maine with the LLBean folks, or the like? Are you more museums/theater people?

[creekland]

This really, really depends upon what you want to see. Some of my overseas friends and acquaintances just wanted to see cities. On their lists have been DC (most popular), LA & NY - once in a rare while, Chicago.

 

Others have wanted to see our National Parks. These have had Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Sequoia and places like that on their list.

 

Some want history. These have Boston, Williamsburg, Gettysburg, Charleston, St Augustine, and sometimes places in the west on their list.

 

One had visited our west, but then mentioned to me he thought it was eerily similar to Australia. He absolutely loved Adirondack State Park (NY), the St Lawrence River Valley (deep blue water w/islands), and Shenandoah telling me the green mountains around all were simply gorgeous to his eyes.

 

One thing that is absolutely true - it is impossible to see all the US can offer in 3 weeks. If you try, you'll see next to nothing as you'll be spending all your time on the road or in the air.

[Swimtaxi234]

I have traveled to 39 states and have lived in the south, north, east, west, and southwest parts of the country (military family). My favorite cities to visit are: Washington DC, Williamsburg, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, San Francisco, and San Diego.

 

If it is possible, I would try to visit one or more of our national parks.

[Sahamamama]

Hmmm.... I have mixed feelings about the usual recommendations -- Boston, New York, Washington, Los Angeles. On the one hand, each of these cities has so much to see and do that you could spend the whole three weeks in any one of them. On the other hand, an entire vacation of visiting urban areas might leave your children with the impression that the US is entirely urban. It isn't.

 

What do you enjoy doing in South Africa? Where do you like to go? The beach? Camping? Urban areas? What kind of vacation are you dreaming of creating? My husband and I recently realized why we've never toured NYC, even though we only live 2 hours away. We go away from the city when we travel -- the farther, the better. Our daily lives give us more than enough of the feeling of being in an urban area. So, we go where there is nothing to do except "look at trees." ;) Other people, who may live in the countryside, might want to travel towards the city.

 

If we lived in South Africa, I don't think we'd come all this way to sit in a park and look at the trees. We'd probably want to:

 

1. Tour Washington, DC for a week;

2. Visit Williamsburg, Jamestown-Yorktown, and Charlottesville (Virginia) for another week (for American Colonial history); and

3. Head to the mountains (Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee? Adirondacks in New York?) for some rural relaxation. :) There would still be enough to do in either region for when you grow tired of looking at trees.

 

It's really up to you what you see here, because we have it all. :patriot: Rugged coasts, sandy coasts, swamps, bayous, rivers, lakes, streams, and two oceans. Prairies, deserts, forests, tropical rainforests, mountains, chaparral, and pine barrens. Maine to Florida, California to Connecticut -- and everything in between. We have parks, cities, national monuments, museums, and universities. There's so much to see. Hope you have a great trip!

[wapiti]

I highly recommend planning a western leg that includes the Grand Canyon. It's easy to spend a week driving in the Southwest.

Other options: NYC any time; if good weather (especially if it's in the early fall), then New England; if you like beaches, where to go on the coasts would also depend on the season; a week driving through California from San Diego to San Francisco would be fun. If you like mountains, then consider hiking or skiing in the Rockies, depending on the time of year.

I'd probably plan three separate weeks, flying in between to the new region, and driving extensively during each week. Cities and other things are closer together in the Northeast, with shorter distances but sometimes lots of traffic. Planning day trips by not travelling on the major highway in/out of a downtown area during rush hour may be helpful.

The more detailed planning, the better. For weather, you just never know, but it seems to me that September is beautiful just about everywhere in the US - still warm, but the crowds of summer are gone. July/August is a very busy time for travelling within the US, as schools are out, so I'd try to avoid those months.

[justamouse]

This is a hard question.

 

America is just huge, and each section is almost like it's own country (as far as flavor of the region). So, what I would do is try to hit the largest attraction in each section. So, if I were you, I'd make a list of the regions and then ask whoever lived in those regions for their advice on what not to miss. That way you can get a real sense of who and what we are as a country.

[elfgivas]

what a great question!

 

we love to drive, so our out of country adventures usually involve a lot of distance.

but when we went to australia, we took a month on the west coast, and a month thru the center.... we still have the east coast, and south east to go.

 

for us, the usa is like that too. its really, really big, and there is so much to see. i'd suggest trying the east coast, or the west coast and a bit inland from each, on two separate times.

 

one idea:

you could fly into san diego. visit marineland, old san diego, etc. (youmight choose to miss the safari park ;)

you could take a fast day trip into mexico if you wanted. that's the day you land + two more

 

then, disneyland, hollywood, etc. that's three days more.

 

then you could go to yosemite national park. there are lodges, or you could bring a tent. that would be three more days.

then on to san francisco, and that's three days.

 

from there, you could go north (oregon, washington state) for your final week or

go inland, visit yellowstone and mesa verde or the dinosaur national monument.

 

and you're done. that would have a mix of playtime, city time, wilderness time, education/science/art/history time, etc....

 

there could be an equivalent itinerary for the east coast ...

 

hth,

ann

 

 

speaking very, very quietly, just between you and me, ;) , it has always startled me how much americans like washington dc. (washington is great, has lots of museums, and lots of history, but it tugs at the heartstrings of those for whom it is their history, perhaps a little more than for some of the rest of us....)

 

i would have many places on my list ahead of it, but ymmv. but then, i feel that way about ottawa canada, too. lots of great places in canada, ottawa's nice (i lived there for years), but there are so many places to go and see, that i wouldn't spend much time there at all.

[Dolphin]

If would pick a coast. I know more about the west, so I will give you that idea.

I would fly into Seattle. See that city and go north a little and see the killer whales (unless you have good opportunity for that in S. Africa).

I would then drive down to Portland (unless you are a Twilight fan, then you should head over to Forks and the Olympic Peninsula. You could also detour and see Mt. St. Helen's (our volcano). Spend a day or 2 in Portland as it is a cool and funky city. Powell's book store is not to be missed.

Then head out to Astoria on the coast. From there I would take the coast highway to San Fran. There are lots of fun places to stop along the way. You will also see Astoria and Cannon Beach (Goonies), the redwoods, etc...

Then from San Fran I would go straight to LA. Drive the sunset strip, have lunch on Rodeo drive, Disneyland, Universal studios, maybe see if you can get tickets to watch a sitcom being filmed.

From there, head inland, drive to Vegas, see the hoover dam, the take in the Grand Canyon and fly out of Phoenix AZ.

You would see a nice combo of 5 unique US cities, and just how different and big the US is, but I think that is doable in 3 weeks.

[LostSurprise]

It depends a lot on what you like as a family (camping? grand vistas? parks? museums? city skylines? food?). Whether you want to drive or fly. The US landscape is very diverse.

 

San Francisco..Redwoods..Napa..Sequioa and Kings Nat'l Park...Yosemite NP or down to LA going through Monterey on HWY 1 or on the train. That hits some beautiful country without too much driving.

 

Zi\pping along the east coast is fun too: New York, Washington, DC. There's enough of a train network there to get between them. New York-Washington DC will cover a good amount of the arts and culture of the US.

 

This is my most-impact-in-least time scenario.

 

If it were my own family and money were not an object I would probably do NY-WDC, fly to Montana, drive through Yellowstone, a little bit of the Colorado Rockies, Mesa Verde, maybe a few of Utah's great national parks, maybe the Grand Canyon, fly to San Francisco, see the Redwoods, trek over to Yosemite, take the coastal train up to Portland, take the Empire Builder train along the great northern prairies, stop in Chicago for a day or two, take another train down to New Orleans, and then fly home from there.

 

That would be total insanity for a 3 week tour, but I think it hits a lot of the most interesting geography and some of the cultural highlights. I don't mind driving thousands of miles though, I like variety, scenery and some camping. A lot of international travelers would prefer to stay in a large city and really do things rather than spend time waiting to see things. In terms of cities its hard to go wrong with New York, Washington, DC and San Francisco.

[J-rap]

I'd probably concentrate on either the west coast or the east coast. If you like history, museums and big cities, I'd do the east coast. If you like nature, hiking/camping and gorgeous landscapes, I'd the west coast. Of course there is some of each on both coasts, and both coasts have so much beauty and interesting sites. I'd definitely try and get in a national park.

[Mama Geek]

How about just spending the 3 weeks in Alaska, beautiful state and tons to do, it doesn't matter if it is summer or winter.

[IrishMum]

We did 3 weeks in the USA twice, form Australia. In 2010 we did California and FLorida, and in 2011 we did California. We based both holidays around theme parks, my boys love them. My blog has a post from each day we were there, if you are interested in a similar trip, and want to see how fantastic it was! The planning is half the fun. Let me know if you need any advice from a fellow foreigner. :001_smile:

[Hannah]

How about just spending the 3 weeks in Alaska, beautiful state and tons to do, it doesn't matter if it is summer or winter.

 

Now there's a thought!

 

Thank you for all the wonderful ideas everyone. We do like a variety of things, so mixing in a bit of everything is great. Here we like to take nature (we call it bush) vacations to get away and relax, but we also enjoy visiting family in the city and going to museums, exhibitions, shows, etc. Dh likes history, and dd has Disney top of her list :).

 

Please keep the ideas coming - looking up each place and dreaming about a vacation is great fun!

[Mama Geek]

I can give you all kinds of ideas in Alaska if you are interested. :001_smile:

[Laurie4b]

Since you'd like a mix: Boston is wonderful for both history and culture, New York City for culture, DC for the Smithsonian Museums.

I agree with Carolina beaches. I would choose one that still is not overly developed, like the Outer Banks, but you may prefer more "action." Some Carolina beaches are a reasonable drive from D.C.

 

We took a loop of a trip from the east coast through Colorado (Rocky Mountain National Park is amazing), down to the Grand Canyon, and took in Santa Fe, New Mexico (culture) on our way back to the east.

 

I would plan your trip for May or Sept-Oct. Most of the US is stinking hot in the summer.

[Laurie4b]

Since you'd like a mix: Boston is wonderful for both history and culture, New York City for culture, DC for the Smithsonian Museums.

I agree with Carolina beaches. I would choose one that still is not overly developed, like the Outer Banks, but you may prefer more "action." Some Carolina beaches are a reasonable drive from D.C.

 

We took a loop of a trip from the east coast through Colorado (Rocky Mountain National Park is amazing), down to the Grand Canyon, and took in Santa Fe, New Mexico (culture) on our way back to the east.

 

I would plan your trip for May or Sept-Oct. Most of the US is stinking hot in the summer.

[Unicorn.]

Whatever you do, don't plan on driving everywhere! It takes forever to get anywhere. :D

That said:

DC for the Smithonian, memorials, etc -3 days

NYC- maybe, maybe not, but 2 days tops

If you find yourself in Mass.- I highly recommend the Hancock Shaker Village. The round barn and it's purpose in the early agricultural system is amazing.

WDW- and a beach- at least 4 days

Virginiana- Williamsburg and Hiking

 

West- Yellowstone Nat'l Park, and The Grand Canyon. Yellowstone if I had to pick only one!

California coast or Seattle area.

 

hth

[creekland]

Thank you for all the wonderful ideas everyone. We do like a variety of things, so mixing in a bit of everything is great. Here we like to take nature (we call it bush) vacations to get away and relax, but we also enjoy visiting family in the city and going to museums, exhibitions, shows, etc. Dh likes history, and dd has Disney top of her list :).

 

Please keep the ideas coming - looking up each place and dreaming about a vacation is great fun!

 

 

Unless you have an unlimited budget to fly, I'd stick on the East Coast for just three weeks. If you flew into NYC or Boston (take your pick based upon which city you'd like to visit; NYC for financial and immigration "stuff," Boston for colonial history - either have modern city culture), then head north or west (pending city) to Adirondack State Park. There are several lodges around to choose one on a lake and relax for a night or two

 

http://www.saranaclakeinn.com/

 

or see the Olympic training sites at Lake Placid.

 

http://www.teamusa.org/For-Athletes/Olympic-Training-Centers-and-Sites/Lake-Placid.aspx

 

Then continue heading west until you reach the St Lawrence River. If you want, you can cross over to Canada at a city called Ogdensburg

 

http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/44568303.jpg

 

and get a little Canadian feel (plus better river views) until reaching the Thousand Islands area (there are actually 1864 islands in this area). Along the way there are plenty of parks to stop and enjoy the river. Brockville is one of my favorite Canadian towns.

 

http://www.visit1000...info/?page_id=4

 

From there I'd take interstate 81 south until Gettysburg for some Civil War history.

 

http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm

 

I'd continue I 81 south until reaching Skyline Drive (in VA). Here you'd need to decide if you want to take I 66 east into DC for a few days, or if you prefer more nature for your time... If DC, do that, then come back and take Skyline Drive south and see Shenandoah National Park. Luray Cavern can get crowded, but it's the best Cavern (most features) in the eastern US IMO.

 

http://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm

 

http://luraycaverns.com/

 

To see more rural US with some smaller cities, keep going south on I 81, then south on I 77. Then go east on I 26 into Charleston to see a very charming southern US city. Nearby Ft Sumter is also good for history.

 

http://www.nps.gov/fosu/index.htm

 

Go back to I 95 and head south. St Augustine in FL is our oldest continually occupied city.

 

http://www.oldcity.com/

 

There are beaches all around Florida. And... IMO, Disney World in Orlando really trumps Disneyland in CA due to the size. Disney World had oodles of room to put in several theme parks - all under the Disney banner (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, 2 water parks). Disneyland is constrained by the city. Allow at least 4 days for Disney.

 

You should be able to fly home from Orlando.

 

Edited to add more links.

Edited April 2, 2013 by creekland

[chicagoshannon]

I think I'd start historical and then end with Disney. I'd skip DC. I don't think it would be as interesting to someone not from the US. I think I'd spend a couple of days in New York. Then maybe travel to Pennsylvania, visit Philadelphia and Lancanster (the Amish). Then I'd travel to Gettysburg and Williamsburg, VA. After the historical leg of the trip I'd head south and visit stones caves. Mammoth Caves in Kentucky comes to mind. Then you could visit some plantations in Georgia. Finally head to Florida for beaches and theme parks.

 

If caves don't appeal, you could head to middle America for a few days. You could hit up Michigan or Wisconsin for Lake Michigan and then head to Chicago for some great museums.

[creekland]

ps You can google the cities along the way and find things in most of them that might interest you. Even Ogdensburg has a Frederick Remington Art museum (small place, but full of Remington's paintings and sculptures).

 

pps If you think you could settle for the "lesser" Disney park I could also create an itinerary doing some of our western national parks (Yellowstone, etc) that would end up in Disneyland and do some sight-seeing along the way - both historical and geographical. I centered on the east coast due to wanting "Disney," and to me, that means the better of the parks.

[Hannah]

 

pps If you think you could settle for the "lesser" Disney park I could also create an itinerary doing some of our western national parks (Yellowstone, etc) that would end up in Disneyland.

 

Does 'lesser' also mean less busy? Yellowstone is higher on the list for me than Disney, but we do want to give dd the experience.

[creekland]

 

Does 'lesser' also mean less busy? Yellowstone is higher on the list for me than Disney, but we do want to give dd the experience.

 

To me, it actually seems more crowded at Disneyland - probably because it is so much smaller and has a tougher time handling the crowds.

 

What time of the year would you be traveling? That can make a difference in crowds.

[lynn]

Depends what time of year you plan to be here. From my personal travel experience.

 

New England is known for it's fall colors and so worth seeing end of sept - oct.

 

It is best weather to travel the SW through NW US in June

 

Florida attractions are least busy After school starts in Sept - Early November then after New Year's through spring break.

 

HTH somewhat. I can give more details of what and where we have gone in these various regions.