Hi, Just thought I’d post my itinerary up and see what people thought. I’ve never been to the US. I haven’t booked anything yet – haven’t even bought my flight to the US but will very soon.
05-Jan Atlanta 06-Jan Atlanta then bus to Orlando 07-Jan Orlando 08-Jan Orlando then fly to Cayman Islands 09-Jan Caymans (I have a friend there, so no accommodation costs etc) 10-Jan Caymans 11-Jan Caymans 12-Jan Caymans 13-Jan Caymans 14-Jan Caymans then fly back to Orlando 15-Jan Orlando 16-Jan Orlando 17-Jan Orlando then drive down to Miami 18-Jan Miami 19-Jan Miami 20-Jan Miami 21-Jan Miami then fly to Washington DC 22-Jan Washington 23-Jan Washington then bus to New York 24-Jan New York 25-Jan New York 26-Jan New York 27-Jan New York 28-Jan New York 29-Jan New York then bus to Boston 30-Jan Boston 31-Jan Boston 1-Feb Boston then bus back to NY and then fly to LA 2-Feb LA 3-Feb LA 4-Fed LA then fly back home to Sydney. Any opinions? Doable? I've estimated this trip will cost US$10k doing the normal touristy stuff (and also a skydive in Orlando and learning the scuba-dive in Caymans) and staying in cheap hotels or hostels. |
Looks pretty do-able, though you need to check the bus schedules, cause some of those legs (like Atlanta to Orlando, I think you're pushing it if you want to do anything at all in Orlando besides hit the airport)
You're also gonna have to be careful about jet lag for the first few days, though... might mess up your time in atlanta... Price wise, $10k makes that itinerary pretty comfy, I'd say.... |
Skip ATL. I live here and unless it's just a place to go down to FL I wouldn't go. There's really nothing to see here. Haha
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Oh yea and the buses are really scary in these parts of the country. Especially the one in Downtown. I seriously thought I was going to get mugged and we left our car for 5 minutes and I thought it was going to be gone. Scary Scary. I would think about flying directly to Orlando, West Palm, Miami or Ft. Lauderdale |
I disagree. I lived there for 5 years...
You can hit all of the sites in one day, though. World of Coca-Cola, CNN Center (next to Coca-Cola) and the ML King Memorial all reside in Atlanta. The new aquarium is also the biggest in the WORLD (with a whale shark!) and can be done in a couple hours. Other than that, have fun in FL :) Foo :cheers: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(glitterhairdye @ Oct 22 2006, 02:22 PM) [snapback]143044[/snapback]</div> Quote:
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unless washington is really really something you want to do and you've got your days planned you can do that in just one day really... i spent 3 there with school and i think we could of done it in a day for the most part. you can always take a night train to new york from there.
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Flying right now between is pricing at $138, while the lowest bus prices at $55. Now, I've taken Greyhound all too often and it is not the most pleasant of experiences in most of the US, but if you took an overnight bus and tried to sleep, you'd probably make out fine.
BUT...believe it or not, it's pricing out CHEAPER to fly from Atlanta to Grand Cayman and then back to Orlando than it is to fly roundtrip from Orlando ($514 versus $541, both on American Airlines) - so if I were you, I'd bump up arriving in the Caymans a day or two earlier and just skip the bus down to Orlando altogether. If you need instructions on how to book that type of flight, let me know. Definitely do Atlanta, it's worth a day. There's the things foofiter mentioned, plus Atlanta was also the site of the '96 Summer Olympics. In Orlando, the one hostel there was a really great time - I posted a review in the Recommended section, so check it out. Since I'm guessing you're traveling solo, it's a great way to meet people because otherwise if you book into a hotel it's more difficult to find people to "hang out with." The pub down the way, Coconut Willy's, IS frequented by people who work at the various parks in Orlando too, so you can make friends and then might get you in free if you want to do Disney, Universal, etc. Between Orlando and Miami, you say that you're driving...are you driving with someone? Renting a car? Between Miami and DC, it would cost slightly more to take the train ($113 versus $75), but it can be a very scenic & comfortable ride and adds another facet to your trip. You might consider adding Chicago for even just a day or two. By cutting out the first Orlando stop by flying directly to Grand Cayman and bumping that up a few days, that'll give you more time later in your schedule that could be used to go to Chicago. You can catch a cheap flight from the NY area to Chicago for around $80 and half of that would have been spent on the price difference between flying to LA from NY versus Chicago ($150 versus $110). All in all, just suggestions but your itinerary looks great. Enjoy your time in the US! |
Sounds like a decent itinerary though xanthuos makes some good points about flying between ATL and Cayman or Florida. Definitely check out AirTran. They fly to nearly all the places you mentioned and are usually the cheapest airline.
Also, another Atlantan here just wondering why a Sydneysider is first flying into Atlanta? Just makes the most sense starting on the east coast and going to the Caribbean? Very curious. It always seems weird to me when I'm in the Atlanta airport and I hear foreigners around me. :lol: |
Thanks for everyone's responses (especially xanthuos)! All good points. I'll be refining my itinerary in the next week or so. I have so much studying to do for exams in November... but yeah, I don't want to leave booking the main airfare tickets too late.
The reason why I choose Atlanta? My dates for Caymans are fixed to my friend's holidays so I thought if I get to the US a little earlier I could see Atlanta (especially great American icons of Coca Cola World and CNN Studios) as it's part of / close to US departure points for Caymans. I've been discussing my itinerary with friends and colleagues and they're quite concerned about some aspects of my travel plans - in particular when I'm travelling by myself. I'll be with other friends for 2nd Orlando visit, Miami, Washington and NY only. But they're concerned about travelling alone in cities like Atlanta, Chicago and any other city which I may add to my list and are telling some pretty scary stories about being robbed. I'm a 25 year old guy - but I'm no tough guy. I've been to Europe & Canada - it may just be the fact we are saturated with American crime TV shows - but now I must admit I'm actually feeling nervous about travelling by myself. I know every city in the world has "bad" areas... but the stories I'm hearing are like "I won't make it out without getting mugged", "you can't compare US cities to European cities" and "you'll be eaten alive in cities like Chicago and Atlanta". Sorry if I rambled on... I need some sleep. Thanks again! |
You'll be fine. I agree; if I were a foreigner, based on the media I would probably think every American owns a gun and I couldn't set foot in the country alone. :lol:
Basically just use common sense and you shouldn't have any problems. :cheers: |
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(foofiter @ Oct 22 2006, 04:40 PM) [snapback]143051[/snapback]</div>
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jaboba46 @ Oct 22 2006, 07:16 PM) [snapback]143070[/snapback]</div> Quote:
Overall, looks like a good trip! :thumbup: |
chicago isn't scary... its nice downtown and by the lake... i've never had problems.... so come on by and have fun....
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Obiter @ Oct 22 2006, 05:57 AM) [snapback]143014[/snapback]</div>
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So many days in NYC...why not spend at least one in Philadelphia. Break up that bus ride from Wash to NYC. There is tons of stuff, the National Constitution Center, Franklin Institute, South Street, City Hall, Penn's Landing, Art Museum to name a few. I'm telling you, the Iladelph is worth at least a day.
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jaboba46 @ Oct 22 2006, 06:16 PM) [snapback]143070[/snapback]</div>
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not if you like museums! |
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