I’m half-semi-considering a trip to the United States in the next couple of years. I’ve been before but just to Disneyland in Florida when I was a spring chicken.
I’m not too keen on the very obvious destinations such as New York or California but somewhere a bit more country-side-ish where the landscape is amazing, so I’m thinking perhaps around the Missoula region of Montana, or Boulder Colorado, but then also the forests of Washington look amazing. Tennessee and then along the Mississippi to New Orleans also looks really interesting, see the Bayou’s.
Based on the above, any other suggestions?
P.S. don’t get offended if you’re from New York or California, I’m just not big on population density anymore.
If you’ve got time in Colorado then yes Boulder is great. But also check out the San Juan region from Telluride to Ouray to Silverton for the most beautiful mountain towns in the country. That’s a good 7 hour drive from Boulder but plenty of scenery in between.
If you have at least two weeks, then plan to see Washington State (Olympic Peninsula, North Cascades, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens); Utah (Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks); Montana/Wyoming (Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Teton National Parks).
If you’re going to hit a lot of the federal agency-managed parks and forests, then get a pass at 2022 Annual Pass | USGS Store. Timing should be late spring or early fall. If you’re camping then you may need to reserve the most desirable campsites about a year in advance.
If you’re going to Washington State also consider a trip o Vancouver, B.C. Better still, take the Sea-to-Sky Highway from Vancouver north to the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay, and take the ferry to one of the nearby islands where you can rent a sea kayak for a multi-day tour around the area.
Depends what you’re looking to do. Driving tour? Hiking? Sit in a cool hotel nestled somewhere? Time of year?
Not so much country-side, but if you’re looking for amazing landscape, don’t rule out California. Sequoia / Kings Canyon / Eastern Sierras are some of my favorite places. And California has much, much more open space than anywhere east of the Mississippi.
A drive going down through the Sierras, Death Valley, Grand Canyon is pretty awesome.
Maybe a swing through Utah too, which is also awesome. Bryce and Zion can’t be beat.
Yellowstone is cool.
For Colorado, I really like getting further out west. Glenwood Springs area is cool.
I like the east coast, but for amazing landscape, doesn’t generally compare to the west. The exception is if you want to see some cool swampy areas, then head down south. ;D
To me, what I always loved about America is the road trips… seeing the countryside, miles and miles of it roll by, seeing all the different stuff in different states. If US immigration law wasn’t so anal I would love to go back there solely for the road trip experience because I grew up on it.
But I would have to settle with the EU, as the difference between North America and the EU (and this even includes the UK) is that US and Canada will deny you at the border for ANY criminal record, even something small, no matter how long ago (Canada might be a little better about it), but the EU only denies known terrorists and serious criminals. Germany is the strictest country in the EU when it comes to criminal records and my gun conviction is NOT a problem there (it’s only a problem if you got sentenced to more than 3 years). Nice knowing that there won’t be bad consequences for being truthful there. Besides drivers are far more polite in Germany/EU and so road trips are probably less stressful. Being able to drive at 120mph on some stretch of the autobahn is a nice bonus sometimes (do this in the US and you’ll get a felony conviction in some states).
What’s the agenda? What do you want to see? Big stuff or little stuff or a mixture?
The southwest will give you that, right out of LAX you’re in the desert. Mojave,Death Valley, Vegas, and the Grand Canyon on one hand, and meteor crater, Roswell, NM, Winslow, Arizona and trading posts on the other.