Non-USA residents: Where would you go in the USA?

[Belrix]

I just returned from a week's vacation in one of the USA's big national parks. As usual, there were many visitors speaking languages other than English. I can assume, pretty safely, that most were foreign visitors.

So - I was wondering. Suppose you won an all-expense, two-week vacation to the US. You can visit where you wanted & travel how you wanted.

Where would you go? How would you like to travel? We saw visitors in rented RV's (Dutch (they had a flag in the window)), staying in hotels, & the Germans's across from us in the camp ground.

Are you a Broadway/New York visitor? Wonders of the american west? Museum junkie?

Speculate away!

[Cunctator]

I think I'd visit Boston and then ramble about the New England states.

[GorillaMan]

Things I dream about doing:


New York. Trouble is, I'm sure it'll be just like Rome or Paris in that I would know I need to spend a month, a year or a lifetime to get to know the place.

Alaska has an undefinable attraction, despite my lack of knowledge.

I'd really like to spend a summer driving Route 66, in the time-isn't-a-constraint way, taking whatever detours I wanted to, really just taking things as they come and wandering-on-wheels.




What I don't want to do (which might be more informative}:


Go to New York and consider the highlights to be climbing big buildings.

Las Vegas, except in a very ironic way.

Anything revolving around Disney, especially the perfection of a whole holiday in one resort which they've perfected.

Los Angeles, if all I'm going to see is a few star-shaped paving slabs and a big sign on a hill.

[dalej42]

I would spend my time in New York and Boston. I would also give myself a few days in New England as I've always loved this area of the United States. I bet I could have a lot of fun in Maine with that money.

[Monkey Chews]

I've been to the US twice - the first time I visited friends in Norfolk, Virginia for a couple of weeks, then did Chicago for a week, Niagara Falls for a day, New York for a few days, and Washington DC for a few days. The second time I just went to Viriginia again.

Obviously, a few days in New York is Just. Not. Enough. Time. I would love to go back there for at least a couple of weeks. But since I've just got a fortnight this time, I'll allocate, say 5 days.

I'd also love to do the Grand Canyon. Lets say 3 days.

San Francisco - 3 days

Disneyland (hey, don't judge me!) - 1 day

And maybe a couple of days in Vegas. Or Boston. Or visiting the giant redwoods.

[Dottygumdrop]

Last time I was in the US was when I was 7 years old. My parents lived in Canada (in BC) for 3 years in the 60's (when they first got married), and took all of us (4 kids) on a 5 month driving tour around Canada and the States, so there are some things I remember and other things that I want to experience as an adult now. But ONLY 2 weeks :( - okay, here goes ...

New York - 3 days (you can't NOT go to New York)
Cleveland, Ohio - 3 days (my sister just moved there to work at the Cleveland Clinic)
LA - 2 days (including a trip to Disneyland - It's a small world after all ...)
Las Vegas - 3 days (hubbie lurves to play poker!!!)
New Orleans - 3 days (need to experience Bourbon Street!)

[friedo]

Go to New York and consider the highlights to be climbing big buildings.


You'll be happy to know that all the big ones have elevators.

[gabriela]

You'll be happy to know that all the big ones have elevators.

That's not how GorillaMan gets to the top of them.

[Dunderman]

I'd love to drive across the desert. This may sound boring to some of you, but I'd really like to see it.

Apart from that - of course, there are many things I'd like to see. It's a big country, and two weeks isn't that much. But San Francisco is high on the list.

Or maybe I'd do a redneck tour. Get me a pickup truck and a dog, and drive around seeing Elvis-O-Rama, the Tupperware Museum, the Boll Weevil Monument, and Cranberry World, the Shuffleboard Hall Of Fame, Poodle Dog Rock, and the Mecca of Albino Squirrels. And the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota, of course.

[BluePitbull]

California: San Francisco, the Redwoods, Any where sea otters are, Visit the place that make wine
Arizona: Grand Canyon
New York City, Chicago, Washington DC and Atlanta

[BluePitbull]

But seeing how I only have 2 weeks, the San Francisco Bay area.

[Lissa]

Cleveland, Ohio - 3 days (my sister just moved there to work at the Cleveland Clinic)

Three days is much too long to spend in Cleveland. Trust me. I once lived there. The best way to visit Cleveland is to drive by it on your way to somewhere better. :D

My condolences to your sister.

[Johnny L.A.]

I'd love to drive across the desert. This may sound boring to some of you, but I'd really like to see it.
Which desert?

I hear people complaining about the 'boring drive' from L.A. to Las Vegas all the time. But there's a lot to see for anyone willing to look. Depending on the time of year there will be wildflowers of various colours. There are mountains of red rock and black rock. There's the yellow sand. There are dry lakebeds that have water in them during the rainy season. There may be very white clouds in a very blue sky. There's the Zyzzyx Rd. sign. There are amazing vistas. The desolation and the enormity are breathtaking.

In the Western Mojave there are, as Tom Wolfe called them in The Right Stuff, 'arthritic joshua trees'. In Arizona there are tall cacti. You may see various raptors flying around as well as small birds, crows and vultures. At night sidewinders like to warm themselves on roads and there are plenty of rodents about. The London Bridge has retired to the desert at Lake Havasu. Another popular structure in that area is Hoover Dam. (I've heard they've stopped giving tours since the terror attack.) In Utah there is the Great Salt Lake.

Lots of deserts to choose from, and something interesting about each one. Which reminds me, there are ghosts towns too.

[Johnny L.A.]

Three days is much too long to spend in Cleveland.
Saturday night in Toledo, Ohio
I spent a week there one day...

[ivylass]

What I don't want to do (which might be more informative}:


Anything revolving around Disney, especially the perfection of a whole holiday in one resort which they've perfected.



Please note, Orlando does not equal Disney World. In addition to other theme parks, we have a lot of excellent resturants and museums, the beaches, and cute little souvenier shops. Don't forget Gatorland!

Come. Spend your money. We love tourists...it's why Florida doesn't have a state income tax.

[Dunderman]

Which desert?How many do you have?

[Broomstick]

How many do you have?
A surprising number. In addition to many and varied arid lands in the southwest, both Alaska and Hawaii have areas that qualify.

We also have several mountain ranges, a couple of areas of really big lakes, forests, plains, and big cities. Whatever sort of terrain you want to see, the US has it somewhere.

[Rodgers01]

I have found that a surprising number of Germans are attracted to the old West, so I imagine (if I can be so bold as to speak for them) that a lot of them would spend some time out there -- Tucson, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, Texas (large parts of which were, IIRC, largely settled by German immigrants). In fact, it might just be a Central European thing, because I read an article once about these groups in the Czech Republic that live in little compounds that try to recreate the look and feel of a frontier town...!

[Dunderman]

A surprising number. In addition to many and varied arid lands in the southwest, both Alaska and Hawaii have areas that qualify.I hate the cold, so I'll have to pass on Alaska. The Hawaiian volcanic ash thingies would be nice to see, but the one I had my mind on when I wrote that was one like the one you see at the end of 25th Hour, which must have been just outside New York unless I totally misunderstood, which I must have done, 'cause I can't really see there being a desert just outside of New York... right?

[friedo]

I hate the cold, so I'll have to pass on Alaska.

Even Alaska has a summer. It only lasts for a week, though.

[Lissa]

A surprising number. In addition to many and varied arid lands in the southwest, both Alaska and Hawaii have areas that qualify.

The deserts are all different, too. There's the "painted desert" in the southwest with astonishingly beautiful rock formations, and the achingly lovely desolation of places like Death Valley. The scrublands of Texas are awesome to behold because of their flatness. (The sky has never seemed so big or blue until you've seen the awe-inspiring sight of nothing in all four directions all the way up to the distant horizon.) In Arizona, you'll see some Sahara-like dunes. (IIRC, one of these places is around Yuma.)


Some general advice about US travel:

If you want to see Hollywood-style "Old West" go to Bracketsville, Texas during tourist season. The set of John Wayne's The Alamo still stands there, along with an "old west town" where a lot of movies and TV shows were filmed. They have shoot-outs in the streets, guys roaming around doing lasso tricks, an "old west saloon" with girls in garish costumes serving soda and various shows on the stage. As a kid, I thought it was a hell of a fun place to visit.

Avoid Orlando, Florida like the plague during summer. It's fucking hot, incredibly humid and they have mosquitos the size of hummingbirds. In the winter, it can be a lovely climate, but I've been down there about half a dozen times in high summer and every time it was hell. (I'd imagine for a European, it would be even more miserable 'cause you guys ain't used to it.)

If you want to see mountains, the Rockies are obviously the first choice, but don't neglect the Smokies. Gatlinburg, Tennessee is a tourist-trap nightmare (though a European might get a kick out of seeing American kitsch at its zenith). Pigeon Forge is nearby, and a little less touristy, but still pretty bad. I always prefer to rent a cabin when I visit there to hide away from all of the noise and bustle and just enjoy the majesty of the mountains. (If you're renting a cabin, be sure to search for one that's isolated. Nothing's worse than some of those cabins they cram together. It's like you have the shrieking kids next door in your own cabin.) The best time to go, in my opinion, is spring (before May) and after September. Both of those times have better climate and it's after the kids go back to school, so you won't have lots of families clogging up the place. Spring is nice because you might get a late snowstorm, and fall is nice because of the changing leaves.

Spring is the best time to visit Washington , D.C., especially when the cherry blossoms are out. If you hit it right, you're before the main tourist season, it's beautiful, and the weather is nice. (Not too hot; a bit chilly in evening.)

I know it sounds dumb, but I didn't expect Hawaii to be as hot as it was. For some reason, I always pictured it as a lovely 72 degrees. Instead, I discovered that Lahaina is aptly named. ("Merciless Sun"). Conversely, I froze my ass off in the mountain areas and had to buy a jacket.

Priceguy, Alaska is hot in the summer, unless you go up into the high mountains, of course. It gets hot enough to qualify as "miserable" in high summer, and the bugs are atrocious. If you go in late spring or fall, you'll probably be there in a nice, temperate climate.

If you want to see Small Town America, go to Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. (Especially southern Ohio.) For the Southern version of Small Town America, visit rural Georgia or South Carolina. (But not in the summer! Too hot! Too hot!)

[friedo]

If you want to see Small Town America, go to Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. (Especially southern Ohio.)

Also New England, especially Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

[Johnny L.A.]

How many do you have?
The National Park Service says four (http://www.nps.gov/moja/mojadena.htm).

This site (http://www.desertusa.com/glossary.html) lists the four in the link above, and goes on to list nearly two dozen other desert names and subdivisions.

And the obligatory Wikipedia link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_deserts).

I spent my teen years and early adultery -- erm, adulthood -- in the Antelope Valley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antelope_Valley), which is on the western edge of the Mojave desert.

[Laughing Lagomorph]

The National Park Service says four (http://www.nps.gov/moja/mojadena.htm).

This site (http://www.desertusa.com/glossary.html) lists the four in the link above, and goes on to list nearly two dozen other desert names and subdivisions.

And the obligatory Wikipedia link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_deserts).

I spent my teen years and early adultery -- erm, adulthood -- in the Antelope Valley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antelope_Valley), which is on the western edge of the Mojave desert.


Don't forget the Desert of Maine (http://www.desertofmaine.com/home.html).

[Quartz]

Georgia and Oregon will be at the top of my list because I know people there. Then there's the Grand Canyon. New York. Washington. Etc. Far too many places to visit in a mere two weeks.

[Tangent]

The deserts are all different, too... The scrublands of Texas are awesome to behold because of their flatness.

Native Texan here, and I loves me some big blue Texas sky, but for a much more interesting Texas desert experience one should go to the Big Bend area, where the Chihuahuan Desert extends over a large area including Big Bend National Park. It's a rugged place, but there are some beautiful sites, especially if you do a little hiking. Yes, there are mountains in Texas!

Here's someone's Big Bend photoblog that I googled up. (http://www.jeffblaylock.com/window/cat_big_bend_3.php)

I've traveled much of the western half of the U.S., mostly with the family when I was young. My favorite place, hands down, is Yellowstone National Park. I've been there three times and the last time I went was amazing. The buffalo were all over, including the sidewalks around the Old Faithful area. The Old Faithful Lodge itself is a sight to behold. Deer and elk were plentiful throughout the park. We saw several moose, including a cow and her calf that ambled along the road in front of our car for several minutes before leaving the road to cross a stream. We even saw a river crowded with trout that were swimming upstream and leaping up small waterfalls. A very cool thing to watch from only a few feet away. And those cute little marmots were everywhere. (What can I say? I'm a sucker for wildlife viewing.) The night before our last day in the park, it snowed about a foot. In late June. Caught us a bit off-guard, but the place looked beautiful under a white blanket.

Oh yeah, and all the geysers and multicolored hot springs are pretty cool, too. :)

Anyway, those are my recommendations for any visitors to the U.S. that like the great outdoors.

[KarlGauss]

I must be too predicatable - of the three possibilities listed in the second-last sentence of the OP, I'd love to sample two of them.

Believe it or not, I've only been to New York once, and at that only for a couple of days. In fact, it was for a conference so I had almost no chance to explore and enjoy. And, boy, I know there's lots to find there - museums, galleries, shopping, shows, . . .

I've also been to the American Southwest before, but, again, only once and for far too short a time. Given another chance, I would head immediately for Arches, Canyonlands, Monument Valley, etc. You get the idea.

So, let's say I'd "rough it" for the first week in the desert southwest, and then book a room at the Waldorf Astoria (terrific location for a tourist like me) and have a blast in NY2

[Wakinyan]

New York has a very special attraction to her, almost like a mythical place as I'm sure Paris, Vienna, Venice or whatever might have to an american. Also, everyone I know who has been there says they want to go back.

And another not-to-original thing I'd like to do is travel from coast to coast, to see as much as possible; it's a huge country and one would like to experience the different landscapes and the wastness. Most Europeans have grown up with American movies, so one would expect a somewhat romantic, cineastic kind of experience.

I've studied the cultures of the native americans, and would probably try to visit historical places and museums too.

[interface2x]

The Hawaiian volcanic ash thingies would be nice to see, but the one I had my mind on when I wrote that was one like the one you see at the end of 25th Hour, which must have been just outside New York unless I totally misunderstood, which I must have done, 'cause I can't really see there being a desert just outside of New York... right?

Nope, no desert outside of New York. From what I remember of the movie, I believe they were supposed to have driven for several days until they reached the southwest.

[Mississippienne]

The city of New Orleans is one of my favorites (though I haven't been since the hurricane, so I don't know how it is now). The thing is you have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy New Orleans. The sultry and humid air, the sense of decay, is part of the atmosphere. If you get there and grouse about the smell and mosquitos, and wander around Bourbon Street wondering why all these topless women are around, it's probably not for you. And really, if you're not going to party harder than is probably healthy, what's the point of going?

[Ponster]

SF Bay Area....


Is where I'm heading in 5 weeks time for a 2-week holiday so I guess I'd go there. I've already done the coast-to-coast drive from NY to LA so I'd like to spend the time relaxing in the same district. Redwoods, Anchor Steam, Napa Vally, Yosemite, Whale watching....