Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with travel and roadtrip

How do we fit all this stuff in a Hyundai?

RobotVoodooPower — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:17:34 -0800

What's the best way to carry cargo on extended road trip with a mid-size SUV? We are going for an extended road trip (>6 months) and are taking all essential possessions needed to work, live, and play on the road. We will need to take clothes, camping gear, personal stuff, computers, portable bikes -- about 70 cubic feet of stuff, we estimate. We also need the cargo secured when we can't take it all indoors (hotels, for instance).

Our ride is a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe with two passengers. The initial idea was to just pull a small cargo trailer, but is there any other combination of roof racks / trunk racks that would maximize our rolling storage capacity?

When solo road-trips get old...

forallmankind — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:35:19 -0800

I have a week vacation for Thanksgiving. Usually I take off for a road-trip, but last year - British Columbia - I found for the first time the thrill of the open road being overtaken by a sense of loneliness and (somewhat) isolation. I'm single and have travelled a lot on my own, but now I kinda don't wanna, but I would like to have an experience with my week off. And it's been a pretty tough year (right?) and I could use a break. How do single people navigate this? Additional info:

a) I live in LA & all my friends live in LA, so the option of visiting a distant friend is not available.
b) No, I don't have a friend I can take with me - everyone's working and/ or has family commitments.
c) I'm European, so I have no relatives in this country to visit, and also don't have Thanksgiving commitments.
d) For visa reasons I can't leave the US (don't ask).
e) I've already road-tripped to the following states: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, KY,LA, MS, MT, NE, NV, NM, NY, NC, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WV, WY
f) I could drop $1-1.5K
g) I'm 37
h) I know - I should check into a hotel on the Vegas strip for a week. Does it make any difference that I don't drink or gamble?

God only knows what I'll do for Xmas!

East Lansing hotels?

rocket88 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:16:41 -0800

MSU Football road trip advice: Where to stay in or near East Lansing, MI? I'm planning a trip to Michigan State this November for some football, and need advice on where to stay. Some of the prices I'm seeing make me suspect that local hotels/motels jack up their prices on home game weekends. Is this true? If so, how far away do we need to stay to avoid this? My group just wants a couple of nice clean rooms in a non-sketchy neighborhood but not too pricey. We're traveling from Southern Ontario.

What to do in Cape Code when its dismal out?

miasma — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:46:16 -0800

I've been living in Boston for the last 7 years and I still haven't made it down to the Cape! I'm headed down there this weekend with a few friends, staying in West Yarmouth not far from Hyannis. It's going to be quite a rainy weekend. Anyone have any suggestions of what we should do? What's not-to-miss even when the weather is crappy? All suggestions welcome, especially those awesomely random. We're geeky people in our late-20s who enjoy random adventure.

Roadtrip! Only in a responsible parent sort of way.

Morydd — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:53:56 -0800

We are traveling from Chicago to Columbus, OH next week and to keep things interesting we'll have our 15-month-old in the back seat. I'm wondering if people who have made this drive have advice in terms of routing, avoiding traffic tie-ups and stopping points. The little one travels well for the most part. The commute to day care is almost an hour each way, and we've taken him to Iowa a few times (5 hours each way). However, this is the first trip where we don't reasonably expect him to sleep for the great majority of the drive. Our thought was to leave just after lunch (his usual nap time), take an early dinner/get-out-and-run-around-a-bit break either at a rest stop or a local park, and continue on. My fear is that if we go through Indianapolis we'll hit it during rush hour and add significantly to our travel time. We'd like to get into Columbus at a reasonable hour as well. Thanks for any suggestions.

RoadTripFilter: In search of wide open spaces

The Shiny Thing — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:50:36 -0800

Another "where to go in America" question (who needs a travel agent when you've got Mefi?). This time, it's a road trip - I want to get away from the cramped little island I'm living on, and the Southwest seems like the place to go. Where should I go and what should I see? The general plan is for a 10-day drive across the Southwest and west into California, avoiding the interstates for the smaller roads, staying in quiet little towns with quiet little BnBs, and stopping every five minutes to gape at the scenery and get my Ansel Adams on - and then finish up with the drive up CA-1 to San Francisco.

My original plan was to start in Dallas and head west toward El Paso - but apparently that's six hundred miles of not very much? Would it be better to start in Phoenix or Vegas or somewhere similar?

After that, the plan was to head north through New Mexico, make a left toin at Albuquoique, head through Flagstaff (and see Meteor Crater), through the Grand Canyon and Vegas and Mojave, then hit the coast somewhere around Santa Barbara (carefully avoiding LA traffic) and take the coast road north to San Francisco.

So, the questions:
1) Is the drive west from Dallas worth it, or should I start from Phoenix and head east then north? It adds up to about 2,000 miles either way, which sounds do-able in 10 days.
2) What's on the NM-AZ-NV-CA section of the route that I absolutely shouldn't miss? Mind-meltingly expansive scenery is the main thing I'm after - wide open spaces and big blue sky and long open roads, all that sort of thing.
3) I'm thinking of early-mid October for this little escapade - what's the driving like around that time of year? Is there any danger of snow and ice and such?

Thanks in advance,

Interesting, spooky, out-of-the-ordinary roadtrip stops within driving distance of Iowa?

jaynedanger — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:04:23 -0800

Interesting, spooky, out-of-the-ordinary roadtrip stops within driving distance of Iowa? My friend and I (both young women) are planning a short, 4 or 5 day roadtrip in November. We live in central Iowa and are looking for interesting places to visit, preferably spread out along the route to a final fun destination.

I've checked RoadsideAmerica.com, but wasn't able to find a lot of interactive tourist stops. The world's largest frying pan in Brandon, IA, for example, makes for silly photos, but the novelty runs out in about 5 minutes. We'd love to visit haunted places, hole-in-the-wall diners, or beautiful areas to explore. When we get bored in town, we drive out into the country after dark, we visit spillways at the local lakes, we explore "haunted" graveyards. My friend is a wonderful photographer, so bonus points for neat places to photograph. We like horror movies, video games, bodies of water, metal and cheesy pop music, and anything just downright nerdy.

We're seriously considering the Wisconsin Dells, stopping in Hazel Green, Galena, and the House on the Rock on the way. Once there, we're thinking of going to Wizard Quest and some of the other nerdy tourist stops there, but I'm hoping there are more creative place to visit. Some places we wouldn't expect to find in the midwest.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

How can I make the most of my I-10 roadtrip?

pupperduck — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:28:04 -0800

I'll be making a 4-day road trip along I-10 from Corona, CA to Pensacola, FL at the end of August. What are the must-do or must see places along the way that aren't more than an hour detour from the interstate? Any food or restaurants along the way I'd be crazy to miss?

Help me keep the kids busy on the road

ShawnString — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:58:37 -0800

The family and I are headed to Florida for vacation. I need fun suggestions to keep a 3 year old and a 6 (well almost 6..happy early bday allison) year old entertained on the road trip. We are looking at 9+ hours 2 days in a row. I am planning on bringing my macbook pro with some movies on it, and some notepads and drawing implements. Any suggestions on fun/goofy road games? Or any sort of distractions are welcome

Mythical and mysterious places of the Northwest?

anonymisc — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:58:26 -0800

Have car, seek roadtrip and adventure! What are some secret/mythical/mysterious/epic places in WA state (or nearby states), that would be a destination fit for pilgrimage? Centralia / Silent Hill is in PA. The Abyss is in SC, Area51 is in NV, Mesa Verde is in CO, Barringer Crater is in AZ, etc etc. What mysterious secret places can be pried from the Northwest? I'm fit and able, so the destination doesn't need a road right up to the front porch (and is perhaps better if some element of challenge is involved), but the vehicle is a (very) low street-car, so the first challenge is not being able to use offroad/rough/4x4 routes. (Of course, if 4x4 is required but the destination is mysterious enough, then it will be appreciatively filed away for future adventure)

Road trip: Minneapolis to . . . ?

sciapod — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:41:59 -0800

We have four days to take a road trip from Minneapolis to wherever we want. Where should we go? My friends and I (female, in our early twenties) are looking for suggestions for a fun and manageable four-day road trip out of Minneapolis. Ideally, we'd like to take this trip over a four-day weekend, but we could probably stretch it to five days if the sights or route demanded it.

We're not opposed to driving longish days or visiting our Canadian neighbors, and we're not picky on the natural wonders vs. big city front. We're looking to do this on the cheap end, but we don't want to cut any corners. Basically, we're just looking for a good time, some interesting sights, and the open road.

Destinations we've talked about include Mount Rushmore (Wall Drug, Sturgis, Black Hills, Badlands, etc.), driving around one of the Great Lakes, or hitting up Winnipeg or Toronto, but I thought I'd poll the experienced masses.

So, travelers, where to?

Four Bulgarians and the great American roadtrip.

halogen — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:05:10 -0800

Help me plan a family road trip from Houston, TX to Seattle, WA. How to get a cheaper rental car, should we go to Monument Valley, and a bunch of other questions. My family (50-year-old dad and possibly mom, 30-year-old sister and 25-year-old me) will be reunited in June for the first time in six years, and we will be driving from Texas to Seattle over the course of ten days. My sister will be visiting from Bulgaria, and she hasn't been to many places in the US, so I'd like to show her as many amazing sights as possible.

At the end of the trip, everyone other than me will be flying back to Houston, TX, so we are renting a car. However, picking it up at an airport in Texas and returning it in Seattle really hikes up the price of rentals, and I couldn't find any places that will let us drop it off at a non-airport address. Do you have any advice as to how we can get the best deal?

This is the tentative route we have planned. We've already booked lodging in Grand Canyon and Yosemite, but everything else is subject to change. Would you advise us to go check out other places, too?

Is it worth visiting Monument Valley? Nobody mentioned it in this previous thread. The surreal photos I have seen certainly make it look incredible, but is there anything to do there? As in, can we hike in the middle of June, or will it be too hot?

Should we spend a night in Napa Valley (if so, where exactly should we stay) or continue on to Portland (presumably at least one of us avid wine drinkers will be sober enough to drive at that point)? What is there to do or see on the San Francisco, CA to Portland, OR stretch?

I've never been in a car for an entire ten days. What should we be prepared for? Are we going to end up hating each other (we get along pretty well, but even better when we are on different continents or coasts), and what could we do to be better prepared?

Help my foreign friends enjoy their American experience...

whiskey point — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:51:05 -0800

Any ideas on a route (and some great points of interest) for some Italian visitors to take from Mt. Vernon, Ohio to Fargo, ND? It'll be their first time in the U.S. and would like to see as much as possible. The parents of the Italian foreign exchange student (and said exchange student) who stayed with my family in high school are making their first trip to the US to attend his college graduation. They're going to rent a car to drive from Mt. Vernon (near Columbus) to Fargo, ND.

They would like to see any big attractions or wildlife, basically taking in some Americana. I'm sure any Italian-American towns/areas would be great for them to check out. Also, a fun place for them to stay overnight would nice (they'll be splitting the trip into two days, so somewhere close to the halfway point).

If you've taken trips along the route, or live along the route, any advice you have would be greatly appreciated - these people are very special to me, and I'd like them to have the best experience possible! Thank you in advance.

What's there to do in Boston?

shatteredverve — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:11:23 -0800

My friends and I are going on a roadtrip to Boston. What should we do there? (We are not 21) We are going from New Jersey to Boston to visit a friend. What can we do there that I can afford. keep in mind that i'm a college student on a small budget :(

We are also open to the idea of stopping to see interesting stuff on our way there and back.

Swedish road trip

Lynx — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:02:41 -0800

What's not to miss on a road trip from Germany to Uppsala, Sweden? Also, if we decide not to drive all the way in one day, where would be great to stay a night? End of March a friend of mine and I will drive from Kiel in Germany to Uppsala. Option one is doing that trip in just one day, which would not leave too much time for stops to look at things, and those should not be too far off the highway.
Option two is taking one night stopover somewhere half the way. I would love camping on the shore of a nice, tranquil lake in the woods, but that my be a little cold in the Swedish March. Some kind of hostel or hotel would also be ok, if not expensive.
Any great tips for that trip?

Plan my roadtrip.

lockestockbarrel — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:40:17 -0800

PlanMyRoadtrip Filter: Driving from St. Louis, MO to Brownsville, TX in 3 days. What should we do along the way? My wife and I are driving from St. Louis, MO to Brownsville, TX, leaving on Monday, March 9th. The only constraint is that we have to arrive in Brownsville three days later. However we divide up the distance between the three days is fine.

Because we have three days to take the trip, we'd like to do some sightseeing along the way. As we've never driven through this area of the US, we'd like to see places, do things, and eat things that are representative of the region. We'll likely be through this area again, so it's not a farewell tour or anything like that. We're in our mid-20s and adventurous -- we'd like to see sights, eat local food, take photographs, walk around places, etc., but we'll have a car full of stuff so take that into account.

The default GoogleMaps route takes us through OK (a seemingly boring route) but we hit Dallas and Austin. I was thinking we could drive directly south through Memphis to New Orleans, then cut west along the gulf through Houston. It's less important for us to see Austin on this trip as we'll probably visit there later; it's less likely we'll visit New Orleans from Brownsville.

As far as the driving, we just have to arrive three days after we depart. So we could drive one day to New Orleans, stay one day, then drive the rest the second day. Or we could drive to Memphis, then drive to New Orleans, then drive the rest. Or we could drive to New Orleans, drive to Houston, then drive the rest. Or we could drive to Dallas, stay the next day, then drive the rest. You get the idea. Driving 11 or 12 hours in a day is not a big deal for us.

So:
1. How should we design our route?
2. We have to sleep twice on the trip. Where?
3. Where should we eat?
4. What should we go see/do/experience?

Thanks, MeFi!

Help me get the most out of my Southern US road trip.

willnot — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:57:22 -0800

I have a follow-up to this Southern US road trip question. My route is firmed up, and I'd like recommendations for anything to see or skip between hotel stops. I'm going to be covering a ton of ground and moving pretty fast. I'm sure that isn't the best way to see the Southern United States, but it is what it is given my time. This will all be happening in early February.

I fly into New Orleans on a Saturday, and will have a night and part of a morning there. I will be returning the following weekend, so I don't need to see everything on this partial day.

Sunday - I've already booked a 1 PM swamp tour to the North East of New Orleans in Slidell. After than I was planning to stop at Bay St. Louis, MS based on aka burlap's recommendation from my previous question. I like arty towns, so that sounded right up my alley. From there, it's on to Pensacola, FL, which is where I'm sleeping Sunday night. Is there anything between Bay St. Louis and Pensacola that I should be sure to see? Or anything in Pensacola that I should be sure to do?

Monday - this is a MONSTER driving day. I need to get to Jacksonville, FL. I was thinking about stopping in Tallahassee for lunch and maybe taking a hike in Apalachicola National Forrest to stretch my legs. Any other recommendations?

Tuesday - I'll be traveling to/staying in Savannah, GA on Tuesday. I was thinking about driving north passed Savannah to check out Hilton Head and then dropping back down to the hotel. Does that make sense? I'm very excited about seeing Savannah. It looks really interesting. Is there anything I should be sure not to miss?

Wednesday - I'll be traveling to/staying in Atlanta, GA. What should I not miss between Savannah and Atlanta? What should I do in Atlanta. I have a friend who mentioned a tour of Coke. Worth it? Or would something else be better?

Thursday - I'll be traveling to/staying in Birmingham, AL. Again, based on the recommendation from the previous thread, I think I'll be spending a lot of time in the Talladega National Forrest. Is there anything in particular I should be sure to see/do?

Friday - I'll be driving back down to New Orleans. Anything between Birmingham and New Orleans that I shouldn't miss?

Saturday/Sunday/Monday - I'm on a company sponsored weekend in New Orleans. Much of my time will be spoken for, but I may have time for one or two major outings. What shouldn't be missed?

Thanks

Help me plan a 10-14 day European roadtrip for early February.

meantime — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:13:46 -0800

Help me plan a 10-14 day European roadtrip for early February. I'll be starting and ending in Prague.

Must include Paris for at least 1 day.

I'm intentionally leaving out any other preferences because I want you to post your own ideas as opposed to repeating what I've already considered. I'm pretty cool with anything from sleepy to outrageous. But if you need more info, I'll provide it.

Accomodations In Pikeville KY

madmamasmith — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:31:28 -0800

Does anyone know about places to stay in Pikeville Kentucky??? I want to take my fiance to Hillbilly Days in Pikeville Kentucky for his b-day. I want to stay in a secluded cabin or cottage near Pikeville. I have only been able to find cabins in Lexington, which is like 2 hours away. Does anyone know of any neato places to stay that's between Lexington and Pikeville? I will take a cool hotel or B&B as a last resort, but I would prefer a nice remote cabin, where we can relax and have some real privacy. Any ideas?

Can you help me plan a roadtrip from New Orleans through the US South

willnot — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:41:34 -0800

Work is sending me to New Orleans in February. I've never been to the US South, and I'd like to extend my trip with a little road trip to get a sense of what makes the South unique and wonderful and especially photogenic. Can you help with suggestions? I'll be in New Orleans Feb. 14, 15 and 16. I was thinking about renting a car for a week or so and driving around the South.

I have friends who live in Cincinnati, OH, so a route that took me past there would be nice but not 100% required.

I'm flying into and almost certainly out of New Orleans, so a route that was circular is probably best.

I'm mostly interested in Photography, so places that lend themselves to that would be best.

Any suggestions at all are very welcome.

Permanent Road Trip

Astro Zombie — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:40:01 -0800

Advice on taking a permanent road trip. Or, I should say, a semi-permanent road trip, with occasional stops back home to regroup. Looking for suggestions on the following:

Car: Want a car that gets good mileage and is rugged enough to handle driving long distances in a variety of weather conditions and goeographical environments.

Communication: I'd like to be connected to the Web as much as possible while on the road (in the U.S., anyway); how do I do this? What other sorts of communication devices should I have on hand.

Packing: What must I have in the car, not just in terms of clothes and toiletries, but for self-protection and emergencies.

Feel free to toss in any other suggestions you might have.

Weeklong roadtrip from DC: Should we go to Asheville, NC?

onlyconnect — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:00:52 -0800

Fall road trip before the baby comes: DC to . . . Asheville NC or somewhere else? Our baby girl is due in early March and we'd like to take a week long vacation before she arrives or it gets too hard for me to move around. Planes are out, so we were thinking about a road trip to view the fall colors.

About us: My husband is a vegetarian. We like to bike, though I haven't been doing as much since the pregnancy. We like relaxed, casual vacations where we can mix being active with exploring at our own pace. We like seeing local art, symphonies or other local music, good food is a must, and we like to try different activities. When we went to Maui, we biked down the volcano, did alot of snorkeling, whalewatched and boozecruised, ziplined, and really enjoyed the atmosphere and food in hippie town Paia. (I'm expecting this vacation to involve less athletic pursuits and no alcohol for me, but exciting is still good.)

I've been googling and it seems like Asheville NC might be a good mix for us in terms of food, atmosphere, and local activites. It looks like it's about an 8 hour drive (one way) from our house in the Northern Virginia suburbs. I've checked out the previous AskMes involving Asheville and I have a few questions.

1. Do you think we would like Asheville, or would you suggest someplace else assuming we have about 9 days and a budget of about $1500 to get there, explore, and come back?

2. Do you think we'll find enough veggie-friendly food in Asheville to keep us happy for this long of a stay, or would you recommend somewhere else, or any restaurants in particular? There are a few suggestions here, but I trust AskMe more.

3. Any recommendations for activities in Asheville? I've checked out the local event calendar but am also looking for activities that might not be on that calendar, such as vising the Biltmore, etc. For that matter, does anyone have any particular recommendations about what to do at the Biltmore?

4. Any recommendations about where to stay? I was wondering if a local bed and breakfast might be a better option than one of the bigger hotels; however many of the appealing ones look fairly expensive (though they include really nice breakfasts!). Has anyone stayed at a really great and not too pricey B&B in Asheville? Do you think they would accommodate vegetarian requests? And when you stay at a B&B do you need to socialize alot with the other guests? I saw some advice from another thread about a Priceline deal at the Renaissance for $70/night in 2007 -- should we try that, and anyone know if that's still offered sometimes or of any other good lodging deals?

5. Should we take our bikes or rent bikes once we get there? I don't think we'd bike every day, but maybe a couple of times. Anything we should not miss by bike?

6. If we were going to stop along the way in our drive, would Raleigh or Greensboro NC be a better overnight stay for us? Or maybe Roanoke?

7. Anything else you think we should know or do?

Thanks so much in advance for any advice!

What are the best places to stop (for great PHOTO ops and delicious FOOD) along Hwy 101 from San Francisco to Seattle?

dcruzin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:16:09 -0800

Please recommend the best places to stop for PHOTO opportunities and delicious FOOD along the 101 from San Francisco to Seattle on a 3-day road trip? I have search some previous posts like this. But I have more specific criteria.

We leave San Francisco early on a Monday (maybe 7-8am), and we want to get to Seattle by 9-10pm on a Wednesday.

Like I mentioned, my friend and I are avid photographers and looking for some great landscape and nature photo opportunities. We also LOVE food, so unique and DELICIOUS places are requested (cheap doesn't hurt, either).

We're planning to camp out, so we need 2 different parks/forests to camp at.

Right now we're thinking about:

-Redwood National Forest
-Eureka, CA
-Mendocino, CA
-Oregon Dunes

We live in Seattle, so we prefer places that would be tougher to get to from Seattle since we could do those another time.

We know that 3 days isn't very long, so we will have to be pretty selective, but just wanted lots of suggestions to choose from.

Any links to photo/travel blogs, especially ones with photos are welcome!

Thanks!

Where to go between Key West and NYC?

lodev — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:10:42 -0800

Road trip from Florida to NYC. Where to go, what to do? I'm flying in to Ft. Lauderdale from San Francisco on September 24th. I need to be in New York City on October 4th. What to see/do in the meantime?

Tips on where to go in New York are readily available, but I'm sort of stuck on the part before that. I've got 1,5 week in which I'd like to see Key West, Washington DC, Miami. But where else can I go and what's a reasonable route to take? I'll be renting a car. Thanks in advance for your tips!

And of course, should you live along my route I'll be happy to buy you a beer!

Advice for cross country moving and road-trip

Rustbeard — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:50:45 -0800

Some general/all around advice and tips from experienced/veteran movers and road trippers to help me with my move across the country would be extremely helpful. So I just got a job out in Northern California and I will be moving there from New England. I've never made a big trip like this before, I've lived on the pretty much in the Northeast my entire life. I've also never really made a big road trip like this before either.

I was going to use Pods but the don't deliver to the town I'm heading to and I don't want to do Uhaul; so I'll be just packing up my SUV (and putting the rest in a storage unit) and driving out there probably by myself.
Some things I would like to know are what are some vital things that people bring on road trips? Such as I assume bring an extra cannister of gas since I assume there are long stretches without gas stations and a SUV isnt that great for conservation.
I've had some friends recommend sleeping in Walmart parking lots or bringing a tent. Others just go to Motel 6 when they can find one.
As well as some decent sites to see, I'll be traveling across route 80 which I hear can get pretty boring
Thanks