Our 50th USA Extravaganza

[rsvdaz]

2019 is both mine and Mrs Rsvdaz's 50th Birthday
I was keen to do Route 66 (ideally on a motorbike but wife says no) I understand there's plenty of nothing in between the good bit which will probably bore wife.
So thoughts are adults only several mini city breaks taking in:

Start/take off London
Stopping at Las Vegas, New Orleans, New York, a beach for some R&R and then back to London

Stay around 4 days in each, open to suggestions to other stops would like to do it between 2-3 weeks either Easter or August 2019 ( Mrs works in a school)
Anyone got advice on an itinerary that avoids flight changes between locations.
Any other advice, thoughts or suggestions?

[Merligan]

We did Route 66 on a Harley for DHs 50th. I was worried about being bored but it was fabulous.

Definitely recommend, did it through Eagle Rider. If you want any more details, PM me and I will try to help,

😄

[Olympiad]

Just a thought but from Vegas you could always do a mini-road trip to somewhere like Albuquerque that includes some of the best bits of Route 66 (and the Grand Canyon). Would need a one night stop off on route but then plenty of onward flight choice from Albuquerque.

Your plan is viable but you might find that flight costs quickly rack up. Some routes have plenty of cheap flights (e.g. Vegas to LA) others not so much so if I was you I’d start looking on Skyscanner or similar for prices in August this year so you can build up an idea of flight costs between the various cities.

Personally we’ve tended to fly into one city and then drive to a different one to leave from e.g. this year we’re flying into New Orleans then heading to Memphis, then Nashville, before heading to Washington DC for the return flight.

[rsvdaz]

Thanks both, some good ideas there

I've priced up bikes and cars for R66 and for a whole month it's ranging from £2-£5k 🙀

Did you do a trip report for your bike trip Kate?

I'm thinking Olympiad's idea a good one to explore further a do it in sections rather that the whole length and fly in between the long sections

I did a dummy run for April 18 on sky scanner and got flights for the legs mentioned for £715 incl the transatlantic ones ( most carriers was luggage to be added on though)

After having friends round last night and giving your ideas some thought were possibly looking at:

New York to Chicago via Niagra Falls
Vegas to LA ( with beach stay on Pacific)
New Orleans
Will need to study map to see where we can pick up sections of R66 ( top or bottom ends)
Ny to Chicago and Vegas to LA def road trips though.

We're not adverse to road trips, did SF to La via PCH1 for our 40th and I've managed to get all the wall to India in a VW Cimbi many moons ago

[Olympiad]

You can get a decent section of R66 in on the Vegas to L.A. stretch - head down to Kingman from Vegas and pick it up there (over the mountains through Oatman and into Needles then some of the old desert towns).

[Guest]

Funnily enough we are doing the whole of Route 66 in June but it will be in a car. I would have done by bike in years past but at 67 I like a bit of luxury and air con.
However, you decide to celebrate rsvdaz have a fabulous time.

[rsvdaz]

How long you taking to do it Geoffa and can I ask who you are hiring the car from and how much?

I was getting prices of over £2k for a tiny car but for a month - it wasn't clear either if there will be one way fees on top

[rsvdaz]

Originally Posted by Olympiad

You can get a decent section of R66 in on the Vegas to L.A. stretch - head down to Kingman from Vegas and pick it up there (over the mountains through Oatman and into Needles then some of the old desert towns).

See more...

Thanks will take a look

[Cindy2015]

Oooh so happy to come across your post. I have the same big birthday late this year and my other half next year. So we're planning a similar trip to yourself. This has been on the cards for 25 years and initially we did plan to do coast to coast on a motorbike, just the 2 of us. We've done lots of European bike trips before kids and loved the freedom, the sense of adventure, the hidden gems you find going off the beaten track travelling on a bike.

Anywhooo our kids are not old enough to abandon for 3 weeks just yet so we will have 2 or maybe all 3 of our kids (16 year old, who is the question mark and may decide to visit family instead and twins of 12 at the time of the trip - all boys). We've been looking at flying to Vegas or now more likely maybe Phoenix and taking in the Sedona, Grand Canyon, Sante Fe, Roswell (for the novelty value), New Orleans and then ending up in my happy place (Orlando). We're looking at travelling around 11/12 April 19 as other option is early June and I'm not sure about road trip in June heat. We're also planning doing 22/23 nights with the last 8 approx. in Orlando to take in Universal (big Harry Potter fans) and a bit of relaxing pool time.

Have been doing dummy flights Dublin to Phoenix with one stop for this year and then direct back to Dublin from Orlando. Still very much in the planning phase and flights may determine a different starting point ! A little bit nervous about the Roswell to New Orleans leg - its pretty long and through Texas and from researching pretty boring on the interstate but there will be 2 drivers and we can crunch the miles between us.

Will be looking forward to sharing info and getting some great tips from posters here - have found the dibb to be really helpful for our Florida trips.

Happy trip planning !

Cindy