Most people feel like they know the US already, even if they’ve never set foot in the country. They know American lifeguards can all afford plastic surgery; American cars are often victims of high-speed police chases; and American bomb-defusers always wait until the last possible second before cutting the right wire. But you really can’t judge the country through a TV set. Actually visit, and you’ll find a very different US: delicious Cajun cooking along the Gulf of Mexico; dramatic national parks in Utah, Arizona and Colorado; a unique art community in New Mexico; and more warm hospitality than you can shake a pitcher of lemonade at. Besides, it’s actually in down-to-earth, bilingual ice-hockey power Canada that many of the hit programmes are filmed. Outdoor enthusiasts in particular may be enticed north by the Canadian Rockies’ world-class hiking and skiing, pristine camping and paddling in the northern waterways, and the surging sixteen-metre-high tides in the Bay of Fundy.
MAIN ATTRACTIONS
1 Banff Canada. This national park is Canada’s top year-round resort, the home of the country’s first wildlife sanctuary and the aquamarine Moraine Lake. You’ll find everything from hikes to hot springs, camping to caving and glaciers to…well, more glaciers. The nearby Columbia Icefield feeds eight of them.
2 Grand Canyon US. This unfathomably stunning hole in the ground is still getting bigger. Scientists estimate that the Colorado River is deepening the bottom at the rate of 15m per million years. Three million visitors come here every year, some who hike down to the bottom and others who stay up on the rim and watch the IMAX film about hiking down to the bottom. There’s no shortage of spectacular scenery in this region, and other (less crowded) national parks (such as Arches, Canyonlands and Zion) make for even better day-hikes and camping trips.
3 Las Vegas US. Vegas offers a smorgasbord of sin, some fantastic shows and exuberantly over-the-top casinos based on New York, Venice, Paris and so on, that take ostentation to new levels.
4 New York City US. It was once, and arguably still is, the great gateway to the New World. These days, though, you have to take a special boat ride to float by the Statue of Liberty and land at Ellis Island (now a terrific museum of immigration). People-watching in Times Square will keep you busy for a good half-hour. And the city’s 150 museums, 900 art galleries, 18,000 restaurants and 2000 bars and nightclubs will keep you occupied a lot longer.
5 Niagara Falls US/Canada. This natural-wonder-cum-honeymoon retreat can be viewed from both the US and Canada. You don’t have to ride over in a barrel to appreciate the force of the three cascades: Bridal Falls, American Falls and Horseshoe/Canadian Falls. A total of three million litres per second make the fifty-plus-metre drop over the 1.2-kilometre-wide rim.
WHEN TO GO
There are two things to try to miss: the winter weather in central US and the north (Dec–Feb), unless you’re skiing; and the crowded national parks in summer (July–Aug). In spring (March/April) the skiing is still good and the weather elsewhere is favourable. In the autumn (Sept–Oct) the changing leaves paint the hills with wonderful Technicolor hues. If you’re after the California surfin’ safari beach scene, go from June until late August or September.
GETTING AROUND BY AIR
Americans love to drive, but they also like to get where they’re going quickly, which explains why the enormous airport car parks are usually full. Certain routes are cheaper than others, and there are a lot of competitive and seasonal price cuts. So as long as you don’t attempt, as they do so often in the movies, to walk up to the counter and buy the next flight out, or book last-minute during peak seasons, you can get some great deals. This can be helpful if you’re looking for an occasional hop and a jump to help get you around. Crossing continental US in the air takes five and a half hours, and from the West Coast to Hawaii is a little over five hours.
The general deal available to those arriving from overseas by plane is to buy three to ten coupons. Depending on the airline, special coupons must be purchased for the Caribbean, Hawaii and Alaska. Enquire with your travel agent, as coupons should be purchased when you buy your flight over.
AIR PASSES
- Visit North America
oneworld.com. Allows
travel to up to 250 destinations in 28 countries with One World
Alliance airlines, including the US, Canada, Mexico, most of the
Caribbean islands, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El
Salvador. Buy between two and ten coupons, priced depending on
the distance you fly, and saving you as much as thirty percent
on regular fares. Travellers must be from outside North America,
and all flights must be confirmed when booking. The maximum stay
in any one destination is sixty days. - North America Airpass staralliance.com.
This Star Alliance pass allows travel to over 300 destinations
in 18 countries, including Bermuda, Antigua, Trinidad and
Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica, the Caymans, Aruba and
Barbados. It’s limited to three to ten coupons, which are priced
according to how many you buy and where you begin. It doesn’t
always represent a good deal – check other fares before you buy.
You have to use all coupons within three months, and your
itinerary must be set in advance, but can be changed for a
service fee. Not available to residents of North America.
SAMPLE RETURN AIRFARES
New York to:
- Chicago £120/$188
- LA £300/$470
- Las Vegas £270/$422
- Miami £150/$234
San Francisco to:
- Boston £260/$406
- Hawaii £470/$735
- Seattle £170/$265
Vancouver to:
- Anchorage £325/$508
- Minneapolis £250/$390
- Toronto £280/$438
OVERLAND ROUTES
North America’s infrastructure allows for a range of routes. It’s really more a matter of what type of transport you’re using and connecting your favourite stops in some sort of mileage-friendly order. There’s the New York to Key West drive along the eastern seaboard; the route that leads down the western seaboard; and the classic from New York to LA via Chicago, picking up what’s left of Route 66. Crossing Canada, you might head from Québec to Vancouver via Montréal, Toronto and Lake Louise, then turn north and make your way to Anchorage along the Alaskan pipeline.
In terms of the best way to get around, it’s a bit of a toss-up. Buying a car is a fine way to go – it’s flexible, cheap and takes advantage of the zillions of miles of smooth highways (though you will, of course, be adding to the greenhouse gases the US is internationally frowned on for producing). Trains are convenient where they exist, but don’t provide much flexibility in routes, and the buses leave a great deal to be desired.
BUSES
Greyhound ( greyhound.com)
isn’t exactly the pride of America, but it works, linking all the major
cities and some of the lesser ones. Often, in big cities, Greyhound
stations are in the very seediest areas, so think twice about late-night
arrivals. Greyhound doesn’t offer travel passes anymore, but it does
have some web-only booking prices that are worth checking out. The
alternative is the Green Tortoise ( greentortoise.com), a
bus bedecked with cushions, bunks, a fridge and a good sound system. It
runs primarily on the West Coast between San Francisco and Seattle, but
there’s also a Boston–New Orleans route, and it makes summer crossings
to New York and Alaska with many activity-oriented stops en route.
Foreign adventures stretch as far south as Belize and Guatemala.
TRAINS
North America’s rail network is not extensive by European standards, nor high speed (unless you count the Boston–New York–Philadelphia–Washington Acela train, which is only high-speed according to American speed limits), but it does cover most of the major stops. Students get fifteen percent off normal ticket prices.
With presentation of a non-US passport you can pick up the USA Rail
Pass at any Amtrak station ( amtrak.com). The national pass is available for 15, 30 or 45
days and is divided into segments. One segment is defined as getting on
and then off a train, which means that a changeover will cost you an
extra segment. Regional passes are about thirty percent cheaper (useful
if you plan to just stay on one coast or the other). For west-coast
explorations, the California Rail Pass gives you seven days of travel
over 21 days.
Canada offers two types of passes ( viarail.ca). The Canrailpass System, where you choose between
seven and ten one-way trips with limited seat availability, System Extra
which is the same deal but with more seats, and System Unlimited, which
lets you travel the country as much as you want. The Canrailpass
Corridor pass offers the same thing, but limited to Quebec and Ontario.
Fares vary according to season. Check the online trip planner for the
latest prices.
SAMPLE TRAIN FARES
New York to:
- Chicago £66/$104; 19hr
- Los Angeles £145/$227; 64hr (£495/$775 with sleeping cabin)
- Miami £90/$141; 28hr
Toronto to:
- Vancouver £190/$298; 60hr
CARS
You needn’t be jumping a convertible over washed-out bridges or driving full speed through police road blocks to enjoy an American road trip. The country is set up to be explored by car, and the low petrol prices make it economically feasible. Navigating city roads can be more than a little daunting, but the open highways, secondary roads and small towns are a breeze, and you’ll have access to virtually any place you can find on a map.
RENTAL
To rent, you’ll need to be over 25 and own a major credit card (or be prepared to leave a large cash deposit). Check the websites of the major rental firms for regional or seasonal bargains. Insurance for other cars or people you may damage or injure is mandatory. For an extra £10–15/$15–23 per day you can get insurance for the car you’re driving; some credit cards provide this if you use them to pay for the rental. If you’re not covered, give it some serious thought, as otherwise you’ll be liable for every scratch, scuff or dent the car returns with, whether you were in the car at the time or not.
If you’re bringing the car back to the same place, you can often
make a good leasing arrangement with local car dealerships, so call
a few for price estimates. You might say you’ll be doing some
extensive touring in the region, probably going out of state at some
point, but you may not want to mention that you’re taking a
cross-country road trip unless it’s part of a legal document you’re
signing. However, it’s generally best to go with the major rental
firms ( hertz.com, avis.com, thrifty.com or budget.com), since they’re
better able to handle out-of-state breakdowns and other problems
that may arise. Other cost-savers to consider: if you don’t bring
the car back to the same spot, rental companies will charge you a
fortune in drop-off charges, possibly more than a week’s rental fee;
and if you don’t mind an unflattering set of wheels, you can save
money with a company like Rent-a-Wreck ( rent-a-wreck.com)
that specializes in well-used vehicles. In more populated areas this
should be fine, but it may not be great for the long desert
crossings.
An alternative to rental is a “driveaway”. Car owners who want to
transport their vehicles long distances (typically from coast to
coast) but don’t want to do the driving themselves, leave their cars
with a driveaway agency such as autodriveaway.com.
For a fee, the agency guarantees delivery of the vehicle and finds
drivers – drivers like you. You’re expected to cover about 650km per
day in the direction of your destination, but that does leave some
room for small side-trips and adventures. Some agencies help out
with pocket money, others don’t, but you’ll probably be expected to
cover the petrol charges (Autodriveaway chips in for a free tank of
petrol). Check the phone book under Automobile Transporter for local
agents and sign up a week to a month in advance.
BUYING A CAR
Buying a car in the US is relatively easy: check out autotrader.com and newspapers.com. You’ll
need cash, but you can pick up a rumbling rust-bucket for as little
as £300/$470. A low-mileage, zippy car with air-con that you can
sell for a good price will set you back £5500–6800/$8600–10,630.
Whatever the state it’s in, take the car to a mechanic to see which
things need replacing to make it roadworthy, and pick up AAA
membership ( aaa.com) to
assist with breakdowns – consider AAAplus if you’re taking an old
car through remote areas, and you might want to buy a cheap cell
phone so you can take advantage of your insurance. Watch out for
cars that have been scrapped then salvaged from a junkyard and
touched up to sell to an unsuspecting buyer. Ask for the Vehicle
Identification Number and check online at vehicleidentificationnumber.com.
Don’t forget about the fuel efficiency. Sure, it would be fun to drive down the road in a classic American houseboat-sized car with a set of old bull horns strapped to the front, but most of these drink preposterous amounts of fuel, and you’ll be kicking yourself each time you head to the pump. Despite the continent’s fascination with Sport Utility Vehicles, you do not need four-wheel drive. But, if you’re driving in the south or southwest in the summer, you will want air-con strong enough to deep-freeze a large steak.
Think in terms of resale when you buy. Study the online newspaper
classified ads where you’re selling and compare them to the prices
where you’re buying: kbb.com
will give you the official value of a car, but that’s just a
starting point for negotiations. You can also use the site to
calculate the depreciation of the mileage you’ll be adding. Stay
away from off-beat colours: silver metallic is always a safe bet.
And consider buying a car somewhere like California or Florida,
where the climate is gentle, and selling it someplace with tough
winters, such as Minnesota or Boston, where they’ll be impressed
that the car is still in such good condition. Just keep in mind that
northern buyers may not be as interested in peppy sports cars that
can’t handle snow.
CAR CAMPING
Sleeping in your car at rest stops is a dodgy plan. One idea, provided you arrive well after dark, is to look for nice residential areas and park among expensive cars. If the owners are willing to leave them on the street overnight, it’s logical to assume it must be quite safe. Only problem here is that if police are patrolling the area, they may not like you camping there, so be discreet – arrive late, leave early and buy some little screens for the windows.
BIKES
North America is a reasonably good place to bike. The downside is that the distances are long, often with very little of interest in between the towns, and the bigger cities are rarely bike-friendly. There are, however, excellent places to mountain-bike and some exceptional stretches of road: think ski towns and areas in or near national parks. In many of the biking hubs, it’s possible to rent a top-end set of wheels. Cycling in June to August in the south will be extremely warm and, conversely, if you’re going to the north in November to March, take your thermals.
HITCHING
Beyond the standard warning against hitching in general, here’s an added one for the US: forgetaboutit! It’s considered especially unwise, probably due to the amount of well-armed people out there who never quite made it on The Jerry Springer Show. Canada is safer. In both cases, hitchers not dissuaded by this warning should take heed of safety information.
STARS, BARS AND MAPLE LEAVES
Americans love to wear their stars and stripes T-shirts, sweatshirts and baseball caps, but tend to leave them at home when venturing abroad. Most Canadians, meanwhile, don’t want much to do with the national flag in Canada, but plaster themselves with little red-and-white maple-leaf patches when travelling overseas to make perfectly clear they should not be confused with Americans, who, by the way, also often wear Canadian maple-leaf patches. If you’re not sure which part of North America a traveller is from, guess Canada first. “Where in America are you from?” is still Canadian travellers’ most dreaded question.
READING LIST
- Margaret Atwood Surfacing
- John Berendt Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
- Truman Capote Breakfast at Tiffany’s
- Jack Kerouac On the Road
- Armistead Maupin Tales of the City
- Toni Morrison Beloved
- J.D. Salinger Catcher in the Rye
- Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America
- Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- Tom Wolfe The Bonfire of the Vanities
VISAS
Under the US Visa Waiver Program no visa is required for a stay in the US of up to 90 days for citizens of Andorra, Australia, Austria, the Baltic states, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the UK. Don’t forget to complete your online ESTA form at least three days in advance.
Visitors from Australia, New Zealand, the US, Western Europe and the British Commonwealth don’t need visas to enter Canada and stay for up to 180 days.