Re: USA 2020 - Itinerary
Originally Posted by
Surfermom
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Hi, Floydy. I have a million and one suggestions on where to go if you have some flexibility, but it depends on what you want to see. Your itinerary is a whilrwind heavy on the iconic cities (kind of like going to the UK and seeing London and Birmingham), but it will give you a limited view of our geography and where most of us live. That, however, might be exactly what you are looking for!
Since you are going to California, I absolutely have to agree with going to Yosemite. It will be crowded when you go, but it's beautiful. I have a few more suggestions for San Fransisco, but will talk you about that down the road. One of the most beautiful places in California is the Monterey and Carmel, which can be scenically reached in about three hours along the coast from California. They have a world class aquarium, areas where you can hike the rocky shores and explore the tide pools, and see Carmel which is rich in history and is a lovely town. A Carmel excursion would be too hard for a day trip though. It would require two days at a minimum.
If you have 3 days, I would absolutely recommend Colorado. The Rocky Mountains are breathtaking and the weather is lovely. The ski towns are fantastic in the summer - uncrowded, spectacular, and wonderful hiking, etc.
Nashville will be enjoyable since you are music fan!
Oh gosh, just looked at the time. Have to run. Will talk to you later....
This is excellent, Surfermom and you know more than anyone on here about the States obviously, so I'll no doubt be contacting you more about all of this nearer the time.
I would love to visit all those wonderful places. I have three weeks but even that barely touches the surface of what I can fit into my schedule. Unfortunately, Nashville has had to be ruled out - the logistics and time simply won't work, so Chicago is in instead. I may look at Nashville to tie in with a New Orleans/Memphis trip sometime later if funds allow.
The Rockies, Yosemite, all the other places away from the cities involve a lot of walking and the problem there lies with my wife who has severe arthritis in her (previously broken) foot, so we are restricted there somewhat. We also do not wish to travel far on coaches as that would send me crazy, so most of our travelling would be via plane or train.
The cities are only going to be used for 'a base', our hotel destinations. Apart from seeing obvious sights such as Universal Studios and the nightlife of Vegas, we will be spending much of our time on the coast or around the port-side areas.
I tried to make this holiday as relaxing as possible whilst also taking in the major sights, so the hotels are limited now to five separate destinations. Living out of a suitcase isn't really our thing and that's what we didn't go on a tailor-made coach trip, preferring to do our own thing.
The only thing I will be using the travel agent for is for booking the flights and hotels as they will find the best deals, although I'm not too fussed about the cost. It's a once-in-a-lifetime vacation so we're going to enjoy it.
Buy yes, please do offer any suggestions for places to visit which are within our hotel bases, that would be very welcoming and I appreciate your advice