Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

Gday E1,

Yep, I`m an Aussie. I`m 40 and my wife is 40 and our son is 7 and we have the chance to go to the US for 6 weeks in July/August.
Ideally we would like to go to NY however looking online the accommodation and car hire is going to cost a fortune.
Looks like we would save a tonne if we just go straight to New jersey and then do day trips from there.
Please someone can you help with some ideas as at the moment we are just thinking of just flying there and getting some accommodation and car hire on arrival.

Is that too risky?

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

Hotels are expensive in New York - its just the way it is. Though saying that you can always find some bargains. If its a holiday make the most of it. Stay in Manhattan- don't be a scrooge and camp out in NJ.

You won't need a car in Manhattan. Everything is accessible but public transport. If you intend on doing a road trip from NYC it might work out cheaper if you get the car outside NYC

Have fun

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

Legend. Thank you. Amazes me why more people don`t come to forums for answers more often.
You beauty mate.
Heavily looking into Manhattan.

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

What I`m now looking at doing is booking and paying for a week in Manhattan and when we get there we can then scrounge around for accommodation for the rest of our vacation. What do ya reckon?

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

If you really want to 'see' America, and you have six weeks to do so, you should embark on the All-American roadtrip. It's a right of passage for Americans--driving from one end to the other. While you might not be up for that with kids and all, you could easily do a trip from Boston to Miami in six weeks. Rent a minivan or an SUV and pack all your stuff in there.

Along the way you'd go through Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Charollete, Charleston SC, Atlanta, GA, Orlando, FL, Cape Canaveral (NASA) and then onto Miami. You could rent a car for a month for a discount and drop it off in Miami when done. Stay at motels along the Interstate (instead of hotels in the cities). You could even cut across the South and end up in New Orleans.

Anyway, you'd see a lot more of the US. Six weeks in NY is a bit much I'd say, and with the size of even the East Coast doing day trips out of NJ would get tiring (you'd need overnights).

If you are daring, start in NY and end up in LA or San Francisco. There are several threads on this site (keyword: roadtrip) about folks who have made that 3000 mile trek and seen and met some wild things and people. An adventure of a lifetime to be sure.

Good luck.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...light=roadtrip
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...light=roadtrip
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...light=roadtrip
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...light=roadtrip

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

Or if you want to go to someplace on Long Island or Westchester County on a day trip from NYC, you can take the train (not subway) and rent the zip car at the station.

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

Your call but looking for accommodation whilst on holiday does eat into your holiday time. You don't want to be spending hours on the internet in some cafe whilst your supposed to be relaxing and seeing the sights.

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

I got a good deal on a hotel in Manhattan through Priceline.

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

We did this trip with our 3 kids (aged 6-9 at the time) in an Astro van in 4 weeks, but you could do it in 6 at a more relaxed pace:

- Washington DC
- Colonial Williamsburg + Busch Gardens
- Yorktown (revolutionary war battlefields)
- Fort Monroe, Hampton VA
- Virginia Beach
- Outer Banks of North Carolina (wonderful beaches!)
- Blue Ridge Mountains/Skyline Drive
- Gettysburg
- Paradise/Pennsylvania (Amish country)
- Philadelphia
- New York
- Boston

We booked all the hotels in advance. Ask for AAA (triple A rate) - they never check (in fact, one of the hotel agents I spoke on the phone even suggested it, knowing full well that we were not members...).

It was the trip of a lifetime :)

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

You came to Virginia Beach on holiday.:blink:

Coming here does make you appreciate the outer banks more.

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

Also go to the US section of http://www.lastminute.com

We've just spent 10 nights in Western Australia and found a wonderful 5* resort hotel in Bunker Bay (coastal part of Margaret River wine region) for an amazingly cheap price, and also the Karri Valley resort, via the Oz arm of lastminute.com...it was so enjoyable we stayed on for longer and we just booked it all within hours of checking in. :thumbsup:

If you're feeling *very* adventurous you could always go on a road trip with:

http://www.greentortoise.com/adventu...xpedition.html

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

don't know what zipcar.com is like in NY, but it's popular in Boston and might be a good alternative to renting if you only need it for a couple days as you won't need it in the city centres, maybe to do a drive up to another state or outside the main hub.

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

Everyone has been ever so helpful. I don`t know how to thank you enough.

I will be taking my laptop with me but have no idea how I am going to be able to connect to the internet. Have tried looking for a pre paid mobile wireless service that will operate in and around NY but low and behold I can`t find one.
Any ideas on that front?

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

There used to be a huge EasyInternet cafe in Times Sq but sadly it's gone now.

Every Panera Bread bakery in the US has free wifi:

http://www.panerabread.com/cafes/find.php

Starbucks has wifi but you have to pay for it. Many MacDonalds have free wifi....often you can hang out in some hotel lobbies and get free wifi, and every public library in the US has internet and usually wifi...I often spot people sitting in their cars outside our local library in New Jersey using their laptops and getting free wifi..!

If you do a google search for free wifi in New York City you should be able to come up with quite a few locations.

In a pinch there is an internet cafe near NY University off Astor Square, next door to a large fitness centre or even some Burger King's have internet connection (which you pay for on their own PCs). There is one on 42nd St with internet directly opposite the Port Authority bus terminal (between 8th & 9th Avenues) just a block west of Times Square.

Re: Aussie family wanting to goto USA but where exactly?
 

Thank you for the info Mum,

Ideally I would like to buy a Wireless USB modem for my laptop and then I could browse the internet anywhere.
Here in Oz we are able to buy pre paid modems for around $100 and then buy monthly access from around $30 per month but they do not work internationally.