places to stay for my brother in law

[Joey Camb]

he has produced a list of places he would like to go - I have very limited knowledge of USA geography is there any particular order you would recommend?
Texas - Houston, San Antonio, Dallas
Alabama, Florida (orlando) Miami, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Monument Valley, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, California, Los Angeles

 

[Bommelhoeve]

Add Niagara Falls and you have the grand circle tour of the USA. Start anywhere the cheapest flight brings you....

 

[OnTheShore]

he has produced a list of places he would like to go - I have very limited knowledge of USA geography is there any particular order you would recommend?
Texas - Houston, San Antonio, Dallas
Alabama, Florida (orlando) Miami, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Monument Valley, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, California, Los Angeles.

Get a map of the US, put a pin at each of these locations, and then it will become obvious how to connect the dots.
I will pick New York as the starting and ending point, because that is probably going to be the best deal for flights in and out. Then whether you go clockwise or counter-clockwise depends on the time of year.
counter-clockwise (my natural tendency): New York - Detroit - Chicago - Yellowstone - San Francisco - Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Grand Canyon - Monument Valley - San Antonio - Dallas - Houston - Alabama (what city?) - Orlando or Miami - Miami or Orlando (you have to go past Orlando to get to Miami, and will pass it again on your way back from Miami) - Washington, DC - Philadelphia - New York

 

[Innkeep]

Have him look at the AmTrack routing and schedules. Amtrack is the national passenger train service. That may help him pick his itinerary.

 

[gillumhouse]

he has produced a list of places he would like to go - I have very limited knowledge of USA geography is there any particular order you would recommend?
Texas - Houston, San Antonio, Dallas
Alabama, Florida (orlando) Miami, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Monument Valley, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, California, Los Angeles.

he has produced a list of places he would like to go - I have very limited knowledge of USA geography is there any particular order you would recommend?
Texas - Houston, San Antonio, Dallas
Alabama, Florida (orlando) Miami, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Monument Valley, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, California, Los Angeles

Some of these will no be doable without driving. I looked at Amtrak last night (letter will hit mail soon) for $879 he can get a pass (this is a pass that allows him for make reservations that will create the tickets needed) that will give him 45 days to use his pass to travel any Amtrak - routes around the Country in 18 segments. IF he took the train called City of New Orleans that goes from New Orleans to Chicago via Memphis, if he stopped in Memphis and then the next day got the next train to Chicago, he would use 2 segments but a ticket from New Orleans to Chicago would be one.
Do a goo gle on Amtrak to see what he will nee as in Passport, etc.. Now that I have an idea of what he wants to see/do, I will check it out for you if you wish to do a "plan"

 

[gillumhouse]

he has produced a list of places he would like to go - I have very limited knowledge of USA geography is there any particular order you would recommend?
Texas - Houston, San Antonio, Dallas
Alabama, Florida (orlando) Miami, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Monument Valley, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, California, Los Angeles.

dupe

 

[Joey Camb]

he has produced a list of places he would like to go - I have very limited knowledge of USA geography is there any particular order you would recommend?
Texas - Houston, San Antonio, Dallas
Alabama, Florida (orlando) Miami, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Monument Valley, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, California, Los Angeles.

Get a map of the US, put a pin at each of these locations, and then it will become obvious how to connect the dots.
I will pick New York as the starting and ending point, because that is probably going to be the best deal for flights in and out. Then whether you go clockwise or counter-clockwise depends on the time of year.
counter-clockwise (my natural tendency): New York - Detroit - Chicago - Yellowstone - San Francisco - Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Grand Canyon - Monument Valley - San Antonio - Dallas - Houston - Alabama (what city?) - Orlando or Miami - Miami or Orlando (you have to go past Orlando to get to Miami, and will pass it again on your way back from Miami) - Washington, DC - Philadelphia - New York
.

trouble is he's starting in New Orleans as he is starting with a WWE event which he has a package ie hotel, tickets and so on so that's kind of set, which I know is kind of in the middle which isn't fabulous ie you have to go one way and then back for the rest of the places - but there we are.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Train service in the U.S. is not even on the same page as train travel in the U.K. or EU. There are no high speed and it takes forever to get anywhere. The trains rarely are on schedule.
He really needs to pare down his trip. The places he wants to go would be like someone wanting to travel the entire continent of Europe! It's too much!

 

[OnTheShore]

he has produced a list of places he would like to go - I have very limited knowledge of USA geography is there any particular order you would recommend?
Texas - Houston, San Antonio, Dallas
Alabama, Florida (orlando) Miami, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Monument Valley, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, California, Los Angeles.

Get a map of the US, put a pin at each of these locations, and then it will become obvious how to connect the dots.
I will pick New York as the starting and ending point, because that is probably going to be the best deal for flights in and out. Then whether you go clockwise or counter-clockwise depends on the time of year.
counter-clockwise (my natural tendency): New York - Detroit - Chicago - Yellowstone - San Francisco - Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Grand Canyon - Monument Valley - San Antonio - Dallas - Houston - Alabama (what city?) - Orlando or Miami - Miami or Orlando (you have to go past Orlando to get to Miami, and will pass it again on your way back from Miami) - Washington, DC - Philadelphia - New York
.

trouble is he's starting in New Orleans as he is starting with a WWE event which he has a package ie hotel, tickets and so on so that's kind of set, which I know is kind of in the middle which isn't fabulous ie you have to go one way and then back for the rest of the places - but there we are.
.

No, either way it is still a loop:
counter-clockwise: New Orleans - Orlando/Miami - Washington, DC - Philadelphia - New York - Detroit - Chicago, etc... ending up back in New Orleans after Houston.
Or clockwise: New Orleans - Houston - Dallas - San Antonio - Monument Valley, etc... ending up back in New Orleans after New York - Phliadelphia -Washington DC - Orlando/Miami
But as others have said, if you go just by train you will be limited by where the train goes. Take a look also at bus service, I think the two major networks are still Greyhound and Trailways.
In either case he may have to think about arranging his travel by a hub-and-spoke system rather than direct place to place in continuous loop. That would be even more the case if you add any air flights into the mix!
ETA: too bad he doesn't drive; easiest approach might be to buy a cheap used car and then sell it when done (just saw some young German tourists do that on a car show on TV....)

 

[OnTheShore]

Train service in the U.S. is not even on the same page as train travel in the U.K. or EU. There are no high speed and it takes forever to get anywhere. The trains rarely are on schedule.
He really needs to pare down his trip. The places he wants to go would be like someone wanting to travel the entire continent of Europe! It's too much!.

It's a bit over 8,000 miles of driving to do the whole loop, so at an average speed of 50 mph, that would take at least 160 hours, or four 40-hour weeks (driving 8 hours/day, 5 days/week)
http://goo.gl/maps/7dhmY

 

[gillumhouse]

he has produced a list of places he would like to go - I have very limited knowledge of USA geography is there any particular order you would recommend?
Texas - Houston, San Antonio, Dallas
Alabama, Florida (orlando) Miami, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Monument Valley, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, California, Los Angeles.

Get a map of the US, put a pin at each of these locations, and then it will become obvious how to connect the dots.
I will pick New York as the starting and ending point, because that is probably going to be the best deal for flights in and out. Then whether you go clockwise or counter-clockwise depends on the time of year.
counter-clockwise (my natural tendency): New York - Detroit - Chicago - Yellowstone - San Francisco - Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Grand Canyon - Monument Valley - San Antonio - Dallas - Houston - Alabama (what city?) - Orlando or Miami - Miami or Orlando (you have to go past Orlando to get to Miami, and will pass it again on your way back from Miami) - Washington, DC - Philadelphia - New York
.

trouble is he's starting in New Orleans as he is starting with a WWE event which he has a package ie hotel, tickets and so on so that's kind of set, which I know is kind of in the middle which isn't fabulous ie you have to go one way and then back for the rest of the places - but there we are.
.

No, either way it is still a loop:
counter-clockwise: New Orleans - Orlando/Miami - Washington, DC - Philadelphia - New York - Detroit - Chicago, etc... ending up back in New Orleans after Houston.
Or clockwise: New Orleans - Houston - Dallas - San Antonio - Monument Valley, etc... ending up back in New Orleans after New York - Phliadelphia -Washington DC - Orlando/Miami
But as others have said, if you go just by train you will be limited by where the train goes. Take a look also at bus service, I think the two major networks are still Greyhound and Trailways.
In either case he may have to think about arranging his travel by a hub-and-spoke system rather than direct place to place in continuous loop. That would be even more the case if you add any air flights into the mix!
ETA: too bad he doesn't drive; easiest approach might be to buy a cheap used car and then sell it when done (just saw some young German tourists do that on a car show on TV....)
.

The Amtrak pass can be a combo of train and bus (Grey...). I have e-mailed a list of the places with train service. Monument Valley will be a no-go unless he drives. Same with Yellowstone. He would be better off choosing a region or east of the Mississippi or west of.I do not think people from other Continents realize the sheer size of the USA. For instance, just going from north to south in Illinois, you are talking over 400 miles.Pennsylvania east to west is also a huge distance. Texas in any direction is too much to think about.

 

[Generic]

Have him look at the AmTrack routing and schedules. Amtrack is the national passenger train service. That may help him pick his itinerary..

For some of those cities there is also Megabus (the rest would be Greyhound) If you book well in advance, you can get fares for under $9, even with the fees.

 

[EmptyNest]

Have him look at the AmTrack routing and schedules. Amtrack is the national passenger train service. That may help him pick his itinerary..

For some of those cities there is also Megabus (the rest would be Greyhound) If you book well in advance, you can get fares for under $9, even with the fees.
.

Oh Lord, don't trust those busses! They have all sorts of issues and warnings around here. You know the saying "you get what you pay for" I would not choose them even if they were free.

 

[Arks]

I have Swedish friends who always dreamed of traveling the USA on "Greydog", so they booked a trip a few years ago. After a couple of days they got off the bus and switched to the trains.
They weren't exactly wild about our trains, either, but they hated our buses and I don't blame them. Not only were there a lot of stops and delays, but they said the buses were old, dirty, and didn't exactly carry the type people they're used to being around. And realize that it's unusual for Swedes to make any sort of social class judgement.

 

[Generic]

Have him look at the AmTrack routing and schedules. Amtrack is the national passenger train service. That may help him pick his itinerary..

For some of those cities there is also Megabus (the rest would be Greyhound) If you book well in advance, you can get fares for under $9, even with the fees.
.

Oh Lord, don't trust those busses! They have all sorts of issues and warnings around here. You know the saying "you get what you pay for" I would not choose them even if they were free.
.

Depends on the route. There are plenty of excellent routes with new buses around here, with free wifi and outlets. I guess it depends on where.

 

[Silverspoon]

Tell him to definitely visit Boston. It's such a great city for young people. We're about 1 hour from there, in the country, but he's more than welcome to visit us too!.

Tell him to definitely visit Boston. It's such a great city for young people. We're about 1 hour from there, in the country, but he's more than welcome to visit us too!

We are also an hour from Boston. Where are you? We are in Rockport.
.

Tell him to definitely visit Boston. It's such a great city for young people. We're about 1 hour from there, in the country, but he's more than welcome to visit us too!

We are also an hour from Boston. Where are you? We are in Rockport.

We are in North central Mass, right on the NH border.
.

I used to live in N. Central MA and still visit friends in Petersham. Are you near there?

 

[gillumhouse]

Have him look at the AmTrack routing and schedules. Amtrack is the national passenger train service. That may help him pick his itinerary..

For some of those cities there is also Megabus (the rest would be Greyhound) If you book well in advance, you can get fares for under $9, even with the fees.
.

Oh Lord, don't trust those busses! They have all sorts of issues and warnings around here. You know the saying "you get what you pay for" I would not choose them even if they were free.
.

Depends on the route. There are plenty of excellent routes with new buses around here, with free wifi and outlets. I guess it depends on where.
.

Depends on the route. There are plenty of excellent routes with new buses around here, with free wifi and outlets. I guess it depends on where.

I wondered that YOU had mentioned bus and now I understand. You have never experienced the Dog in the USA. Those who choose that mode of transportation (Usually - not all) are those who have no car or no license and for the most part, no working relationship with Ivory or Dial.
I think one reason they have almost disappeared from the highways is because those who used to consider them as a mode of travel are afraid to the extra passengers/guests they may get OFF with at the end of the journey as well as the possibility of what could be sitting next to them. Just saying I have more respect for my olfactory nerves than to consider the Dog these days.

 

[Arks]

Have him look at the AmTrack routing and schedules. Amtrack is the national passenger train service. That may help him pick his itinerary..

For some of those cities there is also Megabus (the rest would be Greyhound) If you book well in advance, you can get fares for under $9, even with the fees.
.

Oh Lord, don't trust those busses! They have all sorts of issues and warnings around here. You know the saying "you get what you pay for" I would not choose them even if they were free.
.

Depends on the route. There are plenty of excellent routes with new buses around here, with free wifi and outlets. I guess it depends on where.
.

Depends on the route. There are plenty of excellent routes with new buses around here, with free wifi and outlets. I guess it depends on where.

I wondered that YOU had mentioned bus and now I understand. You have never experienced the Dog in the USA. Those who choose that mode of transportation (Usually - not all) are those who have no car or no license and for the most part, no working relationship with Ivory or Dial.
I think one reason they have almost disappeared from the highways is because those who used to consider them as a mode of travel are afraid to the extra passengers/guests they may get OFF with at the end of the journey as well as the possibility of what could be sitting next to them. Just saying I have more respect for my olfactory nerves than to consider the Dog these days.
.

...no working relationship with Ivory or Dial.

I think one reason they have almost disappeared from the highways is because...

Hadn't thought about it but that's right. I haven't seen a bus on the highway in YEARS! When I was a kid I used Continental Trailways a lot to go visit my sister who was in college in Little Rock. Sure couldn't do that today. No buses even come through this area.

 

[gillumhouse]

Have him look at the AmTrack routing and schedules. Amtrack is the national passenger train service. That may help him pick his itinerary..

For some of those cities there is also Megabus (the rest would be Greyhound) If you book well in advance, you can get fares for under $9, even with the fees.
.

Oh Lord, don't trust those busses! They have all sorts of issues and warnings around here. You know the saying "you get what you pay for" I would not choose them even if they were free.
.

Depends on the route. There are plenty of excellent routes with new buses around here, with free wifi and outlets. I guess it depends on where.
.

Depends on the route. There are plenty of excellent routes with new buses around here, with free wifi and outlets. I guess it depends on where.

I wondered that YOU had mentioned bus and now I understand. You have never experienced the Dog in the USA. Those who choose that mode of transportation (Usually - not all) are those who have no car or no license and for the most part, no working relationship with Ivory or Dial.
I think one reason they have almost disappeared from the highways is because those who used to consider them as a mode of travel are afraid to the extra passengers/guests they may get OFF with at the end of the journey as well as the possibility of what could be sitting next to them. Just saying I have more respect for my olfactory nerves than to consider the Dog these days.
.

...no working relationship with Ivory or Dial.

I think one reason they have almost disappeared from the highways is because...

Hadn't thought about it but that's right. I haven't seen a bus on the highway in YEARS! When I was a kid I used Continental Trailways a lot to go visit my sister who was in college in Little Rock. Sure couldn't do that today. No buses even come through this area.
.

In my youth, trains did not go to the small cities and buses were the only way to get to see Aunt Maude or Grandma..... They were also cheaper than anything else. Then everyone and hes brother could afford a car, women started driving (women could travel alone safely on a bus back then), and buses stopped running.