As the first leg of my Round the World trip after graduating in July, I plan to spend 5 weeks in the States. I'm starting in Boston as I have a few friends up there and am planning on getting a 30 day National Amtrak pass, so I can make it around and finally to LA where I fly out. I've made a provisory schedule of where I could go by checking out possible train times but I'm not sure how long to spend in each place. I'm going on my own and am mainly looking for sights and nightlife. Can anyone recommend which cities I should visit in that kind of time? I think places like Miami I may leave for another holiday as it's so far out. So far the plan is: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Virginia Beach, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans, Memphis, Chicago, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Palm Springs, LA, Las Vegas, LA. Thanks Dave
I have found that, depending on how leisurely a trip you want, you can see most of the big sights in any given city in about two to two and a half days. I happen to live in San Antonio and, unless you are going to go to one of the big theme parks (Sea World, or Six Flags Fiesta Texas) you can probably do San Antonio in about a day. And honestly, I don’t really think there is much to see in Oklahoma City. If it were me, I might skip OKC in favor of spending an extra day in New York, Philadelphia, or DC.
My family and I spent eight days in Washington DC a couple of summers ago and didn’t nearly see it all, so plan some extra time there.
I would skip El Paso and go to Santa Fe instead. Also - you should see Colorado.
If you are visiting NYC you will need at least 3 days. Depending of what tickles your pickle, during the day you can go to central park with their summer concerts in park. For sight-seing, take the circle line buses on 6th avenue, you can hop in and off through the whole city. Go to Greenwich village or Washington park, at evening, to see the locals and the bars; go to chinatown in manhattan for a nock-off of brand name products. the area of Bedfor Stuveysant in Brooklyn has great restaurnts and bars. If you are looking for nightclubs, Astoria Queens has some of the greatest, all kind of music and they stay open until 4 am with all the drinks you can dream off. My favorite its one with a retro 80’s theme, I forget the name. July its a great time to go to the beach, Go to Jones beach in LI, just some minutes away from the city in the LI railroad, there its always something going on, concerts or shows
My suggestion. Contact a native of NYC who can guide you around so you make the most. Do not drive in the city, take the public transportation and someone who knows the territory. too bad i’m not in the city anymore, but i lived there for 16 years. Hope this helps
all good cities, not sure about birmingham alabama though. but you dont have long enough to do all those places. trains take ages in the US so you need to plan enough time for long journeys as well. i would chose maybe 5-6 of those cities, chicago seems to be out of the way of the others so ditch that. boston is amazing, i lived there for a while, 2-3 days does the centre, but go to a redsox game, take a trip up to salem etc you can eaily spend a week round boston but for your itinerary i would say 3 days, NY you need about 3-4 days at least, phili is ok, a couple of days is enough, DC you need 2-3 full days, virginia beach (are you going in summer?) a couple of days. charlotte i have lived in too, theres not much to it, 1 day will cover the city. theres so much more than cities to see though, the blue ridge mountains are beautiful. it seems a shame to rush past charleston and savannah, atlanta is quite cool, a couple of days there, new orleans you need 2-3 days at least. and we’ve covered near 3 weeks already taking into account travel. memphis 3 days maybe (im keeping this to a bare minimum) i wouldnt bother with kansas or okalhoma, not enough time and not over exiting, theres places on the way that would be better. fly from memphis to dallas then 2 days there, work you way through texas over a week and 3 days in las vegas (if you are planning a quick whirlwind visit to the grandcanyon as well 2 days if not), then 2 days in LA. wow. im exhausted. would be an amazing itinerary over about 3 months as it is i would try to cut out some places and spend a bit longer getting to know those you do visit. good luck and enjoy
I just checked the Amtrak route map and feel I must point out there isn’t a connection from Kansas City to Oklahoma City without doing backtracking. Why not see St. Louis instead? It would be on your route.
A much more scenic route would be to take the California Zephyr from Chicago to Sacramento. That way, you could stop at Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. Then you could take the Coast Starlight down to LA.
At any rate, 20 big cities in 30 days sounds like a LOT of traveling! Hope you’re in good shape! And I hope you don’t miss any connections!