Planning a trip ...

[Yug]

I'm looking into planning a trip over to the states with my younger sister, who has been dying to travel to America since she could talk pretty much. She turns 18 this weekend (dont get any ideas, and no, no pics :P ) , so i wanted to start to seriously look at a decent trip over.

Now Ive never been anywhere out of Australia myself either, so my question is, for a couple of Aussies who want to goto America for a few months and travel around a bit, where would you reccommend going, and in what season?

Rather get some honest opinions from people that live there rather than trust the pretty pictures in travel magazines.

[Vick]

Yug,
What do you enjoy? Tourist stuff, History, Clubs, Museums
What do you want to see? New York, Florida, the Southwest, Hollywood, Las Vegas - all the above, none of the above

Would help to have some info on what you enjoy, what you expect, what is a must do, what you don't want to do

[Yug]

Originally posted by Vick@Feb 15 2005, 04:02 PM
Yug,
What do you enjoy? Tourist stuff, History, Clubs, Museums
What do you want to see? New York, Florida, the Southwest, Hollywood, Las Vegas - all the above, none of the above

Would help to have some info on what you enjoy, what you expect, what is a must do, what you don't want to do
Good point ... ill talk to my sister a bit and find out from her too. Personally, New York and Las Vegas are a must for me. A bit of Touristy stuff yup, most of the main things. I suppose what im really after is information about places to go or things to see that aren't usually in the travel guides. I want to take things at a bit of a leisurely pace over there, as opposed to rushing, in a hurry going from place to place 'just to see the sights'.

[Bestat]

Colorado in the Spring and Summer is beyond words :) If you enjoy the outdoor, nature type of stuff. :) Lot's of tourist type stuff as well, but just driving through the state is breath-taking. If you do visit, make SURE to check out the Garden of the Gods, and the Royal Gorge.

[JoesHO]

Look for Sedona Arizona/ grand canyon / las vegas are all close to each other, then the southern california beaches ( I would suggest san diego over LA are their ( santa monica is a nice place for a beach atmosphere . as far as the west goes...

Now if you want history Stick to the east coast, i would suggest washington DC/ Virginia/ Maryland areas

If you do New york, be sure to hit boston and or philedelphia too.

Florida will most likely be too much like home so I would say try these spots...

I agree vail or aspen are excellent choices as well But then not much else close to them if you are trying to see many spots and mximize your travel time ....

avoid anywhere in the middle of the country LOL stick to the Northeast, adn the southwest to get the best bang for the buck time wise would be my suggesstion ...

[SykkBoy]

Originally posted by Bestat@Feb 15 2005, 07:33 PM
Colorado in the Spring and Summer is beyond words :) If you enjoy the outdoor, nature type of stuff. :) Lot's of tourist type stuff as well, but just driving through the state is breath-taking. If you do visit, make SURE to check out the Garden of the Gods, and the Royal Gorge.
definitely
and then swing over to Wyoming
I highly recomend some of the dude ranches, hiking trails, etc.
book through someone like the folks at Lander Llama http://www.landerllama.com/

it's not far from Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, etc.

we're taking a little family trip back there this summer (I grew up in the area, by my wife has only been there once and we didn't have enough time to really take everything in...

[Vick]

Some links to websites of these places would help too

[Yug]

Originally posted by Vick@Feb 15 2005, 06:57 PM
Some links to websites of these places would help too
For sure ...


Thanks for the response peeps, giving me alot of things to look into :)

[TheEnforcer]

What do you guys like to do? Wisconsin is a nice place to visit in the summer. Wisconsin Dells http://www.wisdells.com/ is a popular tourist destination that has the nations largest waterpark as well as other parks and attractions like that as well as great golf and other outdoor activities.

Spring Green has a place called the House on the Rock http://www.thehouseontherock.com/ which is a truly interesting and unique place to check out. They also have an outdoor Shakesphere style theater http://www.americanplayers.org/ which is absolutely INCREDIBLE and this summer will be showing 5 different plays including Macbeth and The Merry Wives of Windsor by Shakesphere and 3 other plays as well and they are always a great show!!


Baraboo is close by with the original home of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus http://www.circusworldmuseum.com/ with the museum and a big top circus that's fun for all ages. Devils Lake http://www.devilslakewisconsin.com/ is a natural lake that was created by the glaciers and is good for some hiking, camping, and swimming.


All three of those are close by and are very popular destinations in Wisconsin. You could easily stay in Baraboo or the Dells and do all of those activities and more if you rented a car. Baraboo and The Dells are about a 10-15 minute drive from each other. Spring Green is further away but close enough that you could drive there OR you could stay there first if you flew into Madison and then go to the Dells and Baraboo.


Much further away and you would likely fly into Milwaukee or preferably Green Bay and go see Door County http://doorcountyvacations.com/ http://www.doorcounty-wi.com/ which has some of the most beatutiful scenery and state parks you could ever hope to see. You can see one of the Great Lakes (Lake Michigan) and there are a TON of things to do in Door County especially in the outdoors type arena. Some of the best camping, fishing, golfing, boating, etc. you'll find anywhere in the country.


Northern Wisconsin http://www.northern-wisconsin.com/ has some insanely beautiful and rustic areas. Like Door County this area caters to the outdoors lover and beautiful scenery lovers. If you like fishing they have all sorts here and muskie fishing is a VERY porpular passtime as it is very exciting and challenging.