Looking for a little USA Travel Advice.

[Scumurculum]

In mid September my wife and I will be heading to the Eastern States of the USA for a months holiday. (roughly 15 Sep – 15 oct)

We had such a lovely time in the US last year we decided to return.

Our plan is to fly directly to New York and spend a week there and then drive down to Raleigh North Carolina for a wedding.

Then our plan is to spend 3 weeks or so driving and meandering back towards NY with a stop off in Washington and possibly a side trip to Boston.

(For cost and scheduling reasons we have taken San Francisco and the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver off the itinerary)

In general we hope to be able to just travel according to our whims as opposed to fitting a strict itinerary.

However when we tried doing this in Arizona/Nevada/Utah last year we found that if we didn’t pre book, we often had great difficulty finding accommodation - ie motel rooms when we drove into some of the smaller towns in the evening/late afternoon

Basically, would accommodation be in such a premium in that part of the USA? hence requiring pre booking. Or is there a fair chance of driving into most small/mid sized towns in the afternoon and finding somewhere to stay?

When It comes to accomodation we are not that fussy, as long as the place is clean and the cockroaches dont carry us out of our bed - we would be happy

(By the way we are thinking of spending part of our time in the Appalachian Mountains - Blue Ridge Parkway: we heard that area is definitely worth the effort).

Regards
Frank

 

[SteveInNC]

I live in Raleigh (more or less). Your pre-booking issue will relate more to the level of accommodation that you seek. The east coast has a higher population density than the Utah/Nevada area and more travel, so there tend to be more hotels/motels, particularly along the interstates and medium-size towns (population 30-80k). Smaller chain hotels/motels like Quality Inn, La Quinta, Marriott Courtyard, etc. almost always have available rooms, unless there is some local event occurring. Fancier hotels may have fewer rooms available on a walk-up basis.

For example, from Raleigh, I'd recommend driving to Asheville, NC, about 3.5 hours away. It has a lot of Art Deco architecture still from the 1920-30s. The city basically went broke after the stock market collapse, and couldn't afford to do any "urban renewal", thus the old buildings are still there. The city finally paid off its debt sometime in the 1970's. It also has the Biltmore House and estate, the largest privately-owned home in the US, built by George Vanderbilt. Frederick Olmstead, who designed Central Park in New York City, designed the grounds of the Biltmore Estate.

Asheville has become somewhat of a small version of San Francisco on the east coast. The downtown has seen a great revitalization in the past ten-fifteen years, with many of the older buildings being converted to upscale urban housing, and numerous small restaurants, coffee shops, and pubs opening throughout the area. As for local events, the early to mid-October timeframe is when the leaves begin to get their autumn colors from the mountains of NC (Asheville) up through Virginia, and along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway runs through the eastern edge of Asheville, making the city a prime spot for people who wish to view the leaves. The annual fall colors bring a large number of people into the area, which might make ad hoc accommodations more difficult.

FWIW, I grew up in Asheville.

 

[Scumurculum]

Thanks Steve.

Asheville really looks like checking out.

Biltmore house looks amazing, I think I might try pre-booking to attempt to stay there for a night or two.

I am really keen to see the fall colours. As I live in a part of the world with predominantly evergreen vegetation, the fall will be an experience.

 

[Bernard]

You could always try Priceline and bid on hotels - you just need to get to an Internet cafe.

 

[Kenscollick]

Hotels.com

http://www.hotels.com/processIndexS...umrooms=1&adults[0]=2&child[0]=0&refined=true

If you are planning on bringing a computer I like this site is gives you many options for the city as well as prices and descriptions of the hotel plus local phone numbers.

A couple years ago I was travelling in California and called my daughter to find me a room in Simi Valley that she did when I arrived at the hotel I was quoted a price about $20.00 higher that my reservation they did honor the lower price.


The link is for Ashville NC

 

[Steelhead]

If your interested in Fall colors and planning a side trip to Boston you may be passing by some of the most special fall colors available.

You should consider driving up from NY City through the Catskill and Adirondack mountains to upstate NY. Then take rural routes to Arlington and Manchester Vermont to the Green Mountians. You will pass roadside stands selling apples, corn, maple syrup, and view some of the most beautiful fall driving in the country. Plenty of clean nice small hotels at real world prices if you avoid the big manchester cater to the wealthy type places that dot the area.

Absolutely gorgeous in the Fall. I grew up there, have driven the entire US a few times, seen some beautiful places, and a fall trip through upstate NY and Vermont is still extra special.

 

[MDSPHOTO]

Thanks Steve.

Asheville really looks like checking out.

Biltmore house looks amazing, I think I might try pre-booking to attempt to stay there for a night or two.

I am really keen to see the fall colours. As I live in a part of the world with predominantly evergreen vegetation, the fall will be an experience.

If you decide to go to Asheville I highly recommend taking an afternoon and doing the brews cruise, link below. Asheville was recently rated Beer City USA due to them having the highest number of breweries per capita in the US. My wife and I visited there a few weekends ago and had a great time. My personal favorite was the Imperial Stout from the Wedge brewery. They infuse the stout with 165 pounds of fresh rasberries, which makes for a very flavorful, if not potent, stout!

http://www.brewscruise.com/asheville/