Cross Country Driving. New york city to San Diego

Me and two of my roomates from college are planningon using the whole monthe of july to travel from NYC to san Diego, then back again. We were going to traverse the country and see as many parks as we canthrow in . I was wondering if anyone had done this before and could throw in their ideas of great places to visit (we already have a long list but need to compile to be a little more realistic) or any tips on driving cross country. Thanks

Much appreciated :)

Cross Country Driving. New york city to San Diego

This is the forum for New York State. The forum for New York City is much more widely read, so you would no doubt get more responses if you post your question there as well:

tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g60763-i5-New_York鈥?/a>

Cross Country Driving. New york city to San Diego

Are you planning to head south first and then across?

I prefer the northern routes (90 and 80) but have done southern routes a couple of times. I was in grad school and on a budget, so I visited friends in Virginia, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Austin. Then, we stayed at a youth hostel in New Mexico with its%26#39; own natural hot springs/tub. We loved San Diego, visited Mexico, then went up the west coast on the PCH.

Can you give more info as to your budget and interests?

We are all into a mix of things. Hiking, camping, seeing some historical stuff. As for budget, we are trying to be as economical as possible as we have all made a list of all the people we can stay with along the way (luckily our friends and family live all over the country). That said we are all working a little extra to put some cash away so we can really enjoy ourselves.

Thanks again :)

Does that help?

Hi Again-

I saw your other replies on the city forum, too.

I loved Sequoia NP, Yosemite NP, Arches NP, and Zion NP. Mt. Whitney is not too difficult a climb in Seqouia NP. Death Valley was neat, too. You%26#39;ve seen the Grand Canyon? Glacier NP is worth a trip but maybe you want to wait for another trip so you can go further north into Canada and Alaska? Things have changed at the National Parks in the past ten years- For instance, you can no longer drive through Yosemite in an individual car.

I highly recommend checking a few books out of the library before your trip (like a Let%26#39;s Go guide to the USA, and a separate guide to the National Parks)

Also, check out the youth hostels that are available in the US (though not as big of a network as in Europe). http://www.hiusa.org/ I enjoyed Salt Lake City, New Orleans, and some other cities this way, and camped in the more remote places.

The drive to Alaska is phenominal, but you need a summer for that.

Good luck and have fun.

I agree with the other poster that cross-country road trip memories will last forever. You don%26#39;t need much money to have a great time.