Travelling in USA

[Storage]

I'll be studying in univeristy in Illinois next fall semester through exchange program and I was thinking of travelling around in US before the school starts. So now I do need some information about pretty much anything. I'm thinking of travelling for about a month and a half there starting in mid-way july or something if the school starts in early september(which I'm not sure). I will be starting my trip from New York and finish in Chicago as from there I will continue to the city my school is in.

How expensive is it to fly around in US? In Europe when you know where to buy the tickets and pick right dates you can fly around for 20 euros/30 dollars. Is it much more expensive when you know what to do? After googling something I've pretty much come up with few websites for flight companies, but haven't really looked into them well enough.

Then again, how about travelling by bus or train? If I understood correctly the train-service sucks which means my favorite way of travelling is out of question. I just love interrail pass in Europe, but if trains aren't close to as good as here I won't even think about travelling in them. But buses I hear work very well and take you everywhere. I found this one, http://www.discoverypass.com/ , and $500 for 30 day pass seems well priced. However sitting in bus for 16 hours sounds insane so if any of you have done this kind of thing there, tell me how it feels. My longest bus-trips have been ~10 hours in Turkey, but it was alright. Travelling by car is out of question as I'm travelling alone.

As for things to see, I have listed something so far natural sights/cities: Yosemite park(near San Fransico right?), Yellowstone, Grand Canyon(apparently somewhat "close" to Las Vegas?), New York, Washington DC, Boston, New Orleans, Miami, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, Chicago, Toronto, Niagara Falls. I've been in Los Angeles before and it didn't really strike me that much so I'll pass it this time. What other cities/natural wonders are really worth seeing? I have limited time, but I'm sure I can sqeeze in alot more. As for Canada and Mexico, I already listed Toronto and Niagara Falls, but is there anything else to see there? I'm fairly proud of my knowledge in history and geography, but Canada is kind of a blackhole for me. And I'm not entirely sure what kind of visa will I apply so I'm not sure if I get to travel from one country to another, which might leave atleast Mexico out. But feel free to add some stuff from Mexico to thats accessible from US, I might at some point during the year buy a plane ticket to Mexico city if I have time, but its all speculation now. Oh and Texas, I want to see some real rednecks so whats the right place for that? Dallas?

Overall is it any more dangerous travel in USA compared to Europe? (pickpockets, muggling, train/bus stations) I mean if I fail to get a place to sleep for a night in a city(run out of money, hostels full etc.) and decide to take a nap in train station will I get killed? I've done this several times in different cities in Europe and its always been safe.

I've also understood hostel-culture isn't as developed in US as it is in Europe, but they exist so I guess those are my first choice( hostelworld.com and hihostels.com ). I haven't looked into that deeply enough yet, but what other choices are there. In movies people always stay in motels, but they are located more like outside cities right?

Well it got a bit long, but I hope atleast someone reads it.

And finally if I happen to get to some city someone lives in and wants to meet up, I'm all in for that as I've met quite a few subspacers already. If you don't know me just ask some old-Mambo what I'm like as I've met quite a few of them.

Anything suggested is very much appreciated as it'll be practically new continent for me and my knowledge about it is very limited.

[404 Not Found]

East Coast can be done easily by Rail. Amtrak can take you all over and the cities are not that far from one another.

Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Wilmington, DE, Baltimore, Wash. D.C. many other cities in between too, but rail will get you around the North east Corridor easily.

Niagra Falls from the Canadian side is much nicer than the U.S. side.

There are quite a few Hostels to stay overnight at, as the police will most likely kick you out of a train station. I know Philadelphia has one on in the Old City are of which is great for dining, live music as well as historical sites. D.C. has a few too that are in good locations. Also check some B & B's out. As for flying, you can get some really cheap airfares to Florida in the summer, as most people are not looking to vacation in the heat. FL is more of a winter vacation spot, so if you decide to stop in Miami in the summer, there should be some great deals!

If you stop in Philly, drop me an email.

[DankNuggets]

traveling by rail or by bus sucks ass, but if you can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars per plane ticket, be prepared to suffer. I wouldn't recommend traveling too far by rail (I know amtrak stops by here at 4 in the morning and it takes ~12? hrs to get here from NY) and that's still on the east coast. If you took a train to FL, it would be pretty unbearable. As for sleeping in a bus station, you will get kicked out most likely, but you could find a motel for 50-100 a night depending on where you are.

[Money]

with the price of gas and all that u might wanna stick to the rail up in that area..

[Kid Kaos]

The more western you travel the more spread out major cities will get. But If you do make it down to California San Fracisco is probably the most beautiful city the United States has to offer as far as the sights. Yosemite park is actually about 3 to 4 hours north of SF but is very beautiful aswell. If you do go I suggest climbing Half Dome, the worlds largest rock.

[Vykromond]

Air travel is much more expensive in the US than it is in Europe due to heavy regulation of the industry. I also wouldn't recommend sleeping in train or bus stations, it's not safe in most major cities and the police will give you a hard time.

[404 Not Found]

traveling by rail or by bus sucks ass, but if you can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars per plane ticket, be prepared to suffer. I wouldn't recommend traveling too far by rail (I know amtrak stops by here at 4 in the morning and it takes ~12? hrs to get here from NY) and that's still on the east coast. If you took a train to FL, it would be pretty unbearable. As for sleeping in a bus station, you will get kicked out most likely, but you could find a motel for 50-100 a night depending on where you are.

From Philly by Amtrak, it takes 1 hour to get to NYC, 2 hour 15 mins to get to Baltimore, 2 hours and 45 mins to get to D.C. That's not all that bad.

If you are in Boston, it will take 4 hrs to get to NYC, but you can always make short trips and hit Providence, or Hartford to split up the travel time.

I do agree on it being a pain in the ass to go from the East Coast Northern Corridor to S. Carolina.

Plane flights are $59 each way from Philly to Orlando at the moment...Southwest Airlines. There are ways to jump around when there is a great distance between the cities you want to visit. For the cities that are in close prox., I still say take a train.

[Storage]

Good stuff guys thanks. I actually wasn't really planning to sleep in train stations, just thinking if the situation would come up. (It has happened a few times in Europe for me).

Its sad to hear planetickets are expensive because it kind of was my intention to fly to major cities, and then check the neighboring cities/sights there on my bus or something else. East coast is really sounding nicer all the time and definately gonna be around there quite a bit. I thinking flying still might be the only solution to make it to San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas, New Orleans and stuff. Browing flights (www.expedia.com) and all the flights I find are between $100 and $200 which might be a bit too expensive for me.

Amtrak actually sounds pretty good. Northeast railpass 15 days for $300 peak time sounds reasonable. With that I could see all the big cities around there and then so onwards to other parts of the country. Using Acela Express it only takes 3 hours from NY to Washington.

[Money]

make sure to visit the south! come roast with us.

[404 Not Found]

Its sad to hear planetickets are expensive because it kind of was my intention to fly to major cities, and then check the neighboring cities/sights there on my bus or something else ....all the flights I find are between $100 and $200 which might be a bit too expensive for me.

Expedia will not give you the best deals. Check the airlines websites out 1st hand. Southwest and JetBlue for instance has a deal $149 from Boston to Las vegas, $114 roundtrip from NY (JFK) to New Orleans, not bad.

Southwest Airlines:

• Fly Nonstop Between Denver, CO and select West Coast cities for $69 or $79 one-way! Book 14 days in advance and by June 4, 2008.

• Fly between Philly and Florida for $64 one-way! Book 14 days in advance and by June 4, 2008.

• Fly nonstop for $79 one-way between Austin, TX and select cities with 14-day advance purchase!

• Why Drive When You Can Fly for Only $29 One-way? Available on non-stop service to/from select cities with 21-day advance purchase.

There are some real good deals....don't rely on expedia or hotels.com type sites.

[Vatican Assassin]

The more western you travel the more spread out major cities will get. But If you do make it down to California San Fracisco is probably the most beautiful city the United States has to offer as far as the sights. Yosemite park is actually about 3 to 4 hours north of SF but is very beautiful aswell. If you do go I suggest climbing Half Dome, the worlds largest rock.

actually it's 3 hours east, he's trying to trick you into going to oregon!

[Vatican Assassin]

Air travel is much more expensive in the US than it is in Europe due to heavy regulation of the industry. I also wouldn't recommend sleeping in train or bus stations, it's not safe in most major cities and the police will give you a hard time.

Actually its more expensive due to deregulation. If you want a taste of the true American experience do what I did a few weeks ago and book your next flight with United Airlines. I got the ticket a month in advance, but my two friends and I were each told that they had over-booked the flight, as they always do in oreder to make sure they don't miss out on a single dollar due to a cancellation and empy seat. So now, though we were 3 hours early for the flight, we are being told about the next available flight and which hotels they can put us up in the mean time. This from the one employee manning the 8 stations. Luckily we got on the flight, though not everyone did, and then we got the option of paying $5 dollars for boxed sandwhich while i read a newspaper saying that United was buying Air West Airlines. Not enough money to feed its customers but enough to buy out another competitor.

[MirrorriM]

Like 404 said, going directly to a company's site can help with finding deals, but I also like to check out kayak.com, which basically gathers plant ticket information from all the different airlines and puts it on one page. It wont show you the airline's special deals though, which are on their actual website.

[Cops]

Niagra Falls from the Canadian side is much nicer than the U.S. side.

truth, Buffalo looks like shit on the other side.

[Storage]

Expedia will not give you the best deals. Check the airlines websites out 1st hand. Southwest and JetBlue for instance has a deal $149 from Boston to Las vegas, $114 roundtrip from NY (JFK) to New Orleans, not bad.

Southwest Airlines:

• Fly Nonstop Between Denver, CO and select West Coast cities for $69 or $79 one-way! Book 14 days in advance and by June 4, 2008.

• Fly between Philly and Florida for $64 one-way! Book 14 days in advance and by June 4, 2008.

• Fly nonstop for $79 one-way between Austin, TX and select cities with 14-day advance purchase!

• Why Drive When You Can Fly for Only $29 One-way? Available on non-stop service to/from select cities with 21-day advance purchase.

There are some real good deals....don't rely on expedia or hotels.com type sites.

This is really good stuff actually. I had no idea there are that kind of special price tickets. Some these I'm really taking into consideration and will be searching more similiar kind of stuff. Thanks.