Travelling to USA.. Where should i go?

Used to spend a week there every summer in my youth. Very beautiful. Lots of hiking trails, and such. Right nearby is Lava Beds National Monument (Park? They’ve been switching stuff around). That is absolutely fantastic, as well. Basically, it’s a bunch of lava tubes that you can go explore. Good times.

And speaking of national parks, you just can’t miss Yellowstone. The world’s first national park, it’s got 3/4 of the world’s geysers, including Old Faithful, of course. You could spend all kinds of time checking out all the geothermal features there, but the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is an absolute must, as well. Yellowstone is also a great place to see wildlife (elk, bison, mountain goats, coyotes, black bears, grizzly bears, and occasionally wolves). The Grand Tetons are just south of there and worth a trip, as well.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/home.htm

http://www.nps.gov/grte/home.htm

Heh, the people who think “A City is a City is a City” just don’t understand city dwelling. Every city has it’s own unique little flavor that you have to just be into to understand. I for one am into clubs and you can go to one club and see the same act in New York and go and see the same act later in the tour in Chicago, and later in the tour in San Francisco and the experience will be completely different, if that’s something that you’re into.

So definitely spend some time in New York, San Francisco and Chicago.

For nature, definitely check out New Mexico, Utah, Arizona. New Mexico has many different types of climates, so you might just hit New Mexico to save time. You can go to mountains with rolling grassy fields running through the valleys, or you can go to harsh deserts etc…

However if you’re partying your way across the US, I’d recommend New York, Philly, Boston, DC, Miami, Tampa, Atlanta, Austin, Vegas, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, also when you’re up near Boston hitting up Montreal would be worth your while. New Orleans as well.

As far as other cities go, I haven’t heard much in the way of them being party destinations, sure there is partying to be done in other cities in the country, but those are the cities that have the better parties, but also be aware that the US has some really weird bullshit about closing down early in many places outside of the main cities and in some of the main cities, so if you go out partying be advised that you may very well be stopped at 2 AM or 3 AM, however if you’re in New York, you can party any time of day or night on the weekends and for the most part even during the week but it’s harder to find.

If you hit up New York you’re welcome to e-mail me (in my profile) and tell me what you’re into, I can probably point you in the right direction of some stuff.

Erek

Oh yeah, I don’t know if this applies to you or not, but most Europeans don’t realize exactly how big America is. You have to remember that from New York to LA is about 5000 kilometers and from the northern border to the southern border it’s roughly 1600 kilometers. Many people don’t realize that if you placed LA where Paris is, New York would be roughly around Moscow. In New York, we oftentimes have to correct the hapless tourists who want to go on a road trip for a week and say “We were going to hit Miami, New Orleans and Las Vegas”

Erek

I echo the suggestion that you go to Maine.

Burning Man

We’ve done a nice loop starting in Las Vegas, going out to Zion National Park, then the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and back to Vegas. That takes about 5 days and is quite nice.

We also did a Chicago to South Dakota to Wyoming loop. That covers Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, Mt. Rushmore, and the Badlands. You could combine these two loops by going through Salt Lake City. (We didn’t because the trips were 10 years apart.)

Don’t let me mislead you, this is not a short drive in any way. But it would cover a significant chunk of out-of-the-way heartland attractions and would only take two weeks or so.

If you have never been to New York City, I’d highly recommend spending a couple weeks there. Choose a lesser-known hotel in midtown Manhattan and eat in a different restaraunt every night. There’s also plenty of museums that you can reach by public transit. Places like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty tend to involve long lines.

After that, I would say that the best thing is to fly out to the West, rent a car, and spend some time driving around and camping at night. The National Parks tend to be very crowded, so you might consider some of the lesser known ones, as well as National Forests and state parks. Mammoth Mountain in northern California is especially beautiful. I’ll second the view that the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is better than the South Rim. Some of the New Mexico state parks are also nice places to stay. Finally, plan on spending a few days in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. You might also consider spending a day or two in Mexico.

Some parts of the East also have beautiful scenery, but most parks in that area tend to be very crowded and built up for tourists.

If you’re heading out towards California, I won’t bother telling you about all the things you probably already know about. Well, except for one thing: I think our coastal waters off of L.A. may not be as bad as commonly thought. Marine wildlife hasbeen making a comeback here, and they say that lobsters and abalone are now commonly being found. Lobsters! Imagine that.

But…I digress. I will tell you of one of my favorite local drives. If you want to see the variety of California, from desert to mountain woods back to desert, all in a few hours, you should drive up two-laned Highway 33 from Fillmore to Ojai (center of a significant little wine region). That first leg is only about 20 minutes. The major part of it runs from Ojai over the Los Pades National Forest, and comes down from the mountains and meets State Route 166 in arid ranch country.

If you’re so inclined, you can continue west on 166 till you come to California’s central coast.

I chuck in another suggestion for the Northwest - Seattle, Portland, etc. - yes, I happen to live here, but only for the last 8.75 years. I came from New England - another place I’ll join others in recommending.

While you’re tooling around Washington DC, I might also put in a plug for some of the natural areas around the Chesapeake Bay - especially the Eastern Shore.

And you just have to visit places like Des Moines, Iowa and Lawrence, Kansas; Abilene, Texas and Asheville, North Carolina - it’s in THOSE places that you’ll probably meet some of the most “American” of Americans.

Partying, huh? The others have said it - New Orleans, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, Boston, Seattle - absolutely Key West! Depending on when you visit, you might find it interesting to be in one of the big cities like Boston or NYC or Chicago on July 4th - There’s something unique in the world like Americans celebrating Independence Day.

Have fun - keep us all posted on your trip!

If you take your time, it would probably take you three months to drive I-90 from Seattle to Spokane, US2 from Spokane to Duluth (via Glacier National Park), head south through Wisconsin to Chicago, and pick up I-80/90 again til you hit NYC.

Did I mention that the Fur Rondy was like Mardi Gras on ice?

listen, mate…
I am in Australia, i think i know damn well how big the USA is because my country is just about the size of it. I have travelled around Australia several times.

I dont wanna sound like a pompous ass, i just hate it when people jump to conclusions…

  1. You’re from Australia
  2. You want to party and “go wild”
  3. Your latest post does dignify you as a pompus ass

A desire to keep up with the Australian overseas reputation, eh?

(A deliberate jump to conclusions based on the direct evidence presented here, along with long-standing direct observations in Australia and the USA.)

:smiley:

Well, you can’t blame him for trying, it’s not often an American gets to sound smart to a foreigner. Ho ho ho, you backwoods Euros with your sensible metric system and slender bodies, chuckle snort. America is BIG dontcha know? BIG LIKE TEXAS.

If Alaska (586,400 square miles) were cut in half and mad two states, Texas (268,581 square miles) would be the third largest state in the U.S. :slight_smile:

Moderator’s note:

Okay, folks, let’s keep this thing civil. moc.liam, why post something snarky and then claim you intended otherwise? It’s out of line slash at someone trying to answer your question. mswas obviously didn’t know where you’re from or how widely travelled you might be. But if you’re that offended, take your hissy fit out of IMHO and into The Pit.
Duckster, even though moc.liam said “pompous ass” first, following up on the comment is still dealing in personalities rather than the actual topic, an IMHO no-no.

TVeblen,
for the SDMB

I really suggest you check out Lake Powell in Utah. It is, IMHO, the coolest place on earth. Also check out Vegas, if you come by email me and we could possibly hook up.

Since you are from Australia some of the wilderness areas back east might be interesting for you to visit. (Note, I have never been to Australia but it seems to be just as dry as the western states) In the east things tend to be really green and lush.

Last, if you make it to LA or Orlando, hit Dinseyland or Disneyworld. They are great places to spend time.

Slee

San Antonio is a great place to visit.

Hey, if it offended him, nothing I can do. I have met Europeans who honestly made that mistake.

Erek