1

OK, so you are travelling in May (and early June) for five weeks. You start in Raleigh North Carolina and your priority destinations are Boston, New York City, Washington DC, Dallas and las Vegas.

First of all, May in Raleigh is a nice time to be there - springtime. I'd normally recommend a trip to the north Carolina coast at Kittyhawk, but your time is short so just enjoy some bar-b-que in town and then fly to New York. Using New York as a base you can take trains or busses for overnight trips to Boston and Washington DC. I'd budget three days for New York and Washington DC and two for Boston plus a day fro travel from Raleigh to New York each. You don't need (or probably even want) a car for those cities as public transportation is well developed in all of them. That burns nine days.

From New York there are often deals for packaged trips to Orlando. check th etravel brokerages and regional airlines. Three days would be plenty for me in Orlando (actually none would be plenty for me), So,adding a day for travelling to and from Orlando burns four days for a junket to Orlando.

Then fly to Dallas for your family visit for at least two days (let's say three since its family). While in the area I'd recommend renting or borrowing a car and driving south to Austin which is a great place to hear music and enjoy the special ambiance of Austin. Spend at least three days there (maybe taking a day trip to San Antonio). Probably the best bet is to book one-way flights (New York to Dallas) through a major brokerage such as Orbitz or Kayak. Adding a day for travellling to and from Dallas burns another week.

Dallas to Las Vegas. There are often specials to Las Vegas from major cities like Dallas. Check Southwest Airlines, United, Alaska and other regional carriers for your one-way tickets to Las Vegas. Take a three days for your Las Vegas thing including an all-day trip to the Grand Canyon. That'll be another four days (including a travel day).

Then fly to San Francisco from Las Vegas and give yourself at least three days there. From San Francisco rent a one-way car rental (these can be expensive) using it to take an overnighter to Yosemite and then to drive down highway 1 along the coast to Los Angeles taking three days to do it and stopping at Monterey, Big Sur, Santa Barbara. That'll burn another nine days including travel days.

That adds up to 32-days from your 35-day total (5-weeks) leaving three days to explore Los Angeles before flying out.

2

First, Disneyland is in Anaheim, California. In Orlando, you'll find Disneyworld, which includes the Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and two water parks. Each of those could take a day so how many days you stay there will correspond to how many of these you want to do. There is also Universal Studios, which is its own complex. An alternative would be to not go to Orlando and do Disneyland when in Los Angeles; Anaheim is relatively close by.

Second, Louisiana is a state. A decently large one at that. Exactly what do you want to see there? New Orleans?

Third. Yes, cheap buses link Boston, NYC, and Washington DC. There are also trains, which will be faster but more expensive.

Once you get to Vegas, you have the option of doing a loop through the Grand Canyon and the great National Parks of southern Utah (Zion, Bryce) or the drive via Yosemite to San Francisco and down the coast to LA. Or you could do both over a three week stretch; it all depends on how much you want to spend in National Parks (are you into camping and hiking?) versus just driving through a park to take a look. I'd spend at least three days in San Francisco, three days between San Francisco and LA, and four days in NYC.

I would think three weeks for the west and two weeks for NYC-Boston-DC. Drop Dallas and Louisiana. Have fun!

3

What are your interests? History? Art? Music? Food? Hikes? Bikes? Night clubs? Strip clubs? Remember, we don't know you, and what we like may be what you hate.
The more you tell us, the better we can help.

You do realize Louisiana is a state, right? It's also of reasonable size. Maybe you could narrow down what you mean by "Louisiana." And then add the 2.5 hours, minimum, to get to the border from Dallas, if traveling by land.

Yes, and yes. This is one of the very few cases where "cheapest" and "easiest" are the same.
Megabus, Bolt Bus, various Chinatown buses, etc. Some have wifi on board.

Yes, there are tours, in places, or you could rent a car. It depends on what you want to do.

4

Thank you for your answers. There is just too much we want to do in too little time it seems.

Thanks I am aware that Louisiana is a state. We would want to fly into New Orleans, go to some swamps, check out some Cajun history. That kind of thing; history, nature and city of New Orleans.

We are into history, hiking (or walking, we probably won't pack gear from proper hikes), food, popular culture, beautiful landscapes, exploring.

5

Possible itinerary:
1-2 nights Raleigh (unless this has to be different, which you don't say).
Bus to DC (Megabus is cheap).
3 nights DC.
Bus to Philly.
2 night Philly.
Bus to NYC.
5 nights NYC.
Bus to Boston.
3 nights Boston.
Fly to Dallas.
2 nights Dallas.
Fly to Las Vegas.
2 nights Las Vegas.
Pick up car.
1 night Grand Canyon (if after May 15th, you can consider the north rim to lessen driving).
1 night Bryce.
2 nights Zion.
1 night Lone Pine, Bishop, other place up US 395 (via Death Valley).
3 nights Yosemite.
3 nights SF.
1 night Monterey.
1 night San Luis Obispo.
3 nights LA..

6

I'd see Disneyland in Anaheim, much more compact and California Adventure (an adjacent park) has the new Carsland ride (long lines). So consider dropping Orlando. Another advantage to Disneyland vs Disneyworld is that there are many inexpensive motels within walking distance, so no need to pay extra to stay at a Disney property or take buses like in Orlando.
The drive down Highway 1 is breathtaking, allow for at least two nights (three is better), really does not matter which direction you drive it.

For car rental, try carhire3000, gets good reviews on another travel site, will include all your insurance and can often get the one way fees waived, especially on a popular route like you are driving. Have a great trip.

7

• I agree with the comments above on not going out of your way to go to Orlando. If you only want to see Disney and not all the other parks in that city, then go to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA in Orange County (same county as Huntington Beach, 1 hour away from LA). 1 full day there is good if it's a long day.

• New Orleans is a fun city. I wouldn't miss it, but flying to get in and out is best given your timeframe.

• Roundtrip car rentals are cheapest and easiest to find without one way drop off fees. So I'd start and end in LA on the last portion of your trip.

• Buses are very easy and cheap on the east coast. Check Boltbus, Megabus, and Gotobus.com.

• Keep in mind that May 24-27 is a big national holiday. Try not avoid driving that Friday and Monday and pre-book hotels if you'll be in a popular destination. Most hotels in those places will have a 3-night minimum that weekend.

Given the above and skipping some parks in Utah and AZ, I would propose another option of #5's itinerary as follows:

1-2 nights Raleigh (unless this has to be different, which you don't say).
Bus to DC (Megabus is cheap). You can also fly, up to you.
3 nights DC.
Bus to Philly.
2 night Philly.
Bus to NYC.
5 nights NYC.
Bus to Boston.
3 nights Boston.
Fly to New Orleans
3 nights New Orleans
Fly to Dallas
2 nights Dallas.
Fly to LA and pick up the car
2 nights LA in Hollywood/West Hollywood area
Drive to Vegas
1 night Vegas
Drive to Grand Canyon
1 night Grand Canyon (if after May 15th, you can consider the north rim to lessen driving).
Drive to Death Valley
1 night Death Valley
Drive to Yosemite
2 nights Yosemite (book accommodations VERY soon)
Drive to SF (find a hotel with cheap or free parking)
3 nights SF
1 night Monterey.
1 night San Luis Obispo.
1 night Santa Barbara (this is your nice beach. much nicer than Huntington..I wouldn't go out of my way for that one specifically)
3 nights LA (stay in Santa Monica by the beach this time and see that nicest part of the city. Do a day trip to Anaheim to see Disneyland. You can visit Malibu for half a day...nice beaches there or you can stop in Malibu on the way to LA from SB)

8

That's a lot of itnenerary and not a lot of time

If it were me i'd skip Orlando and instead do an amsement park and or water park in NJ or Cali.

I'd start in Raleigh and then fly or bus to DC, plan on at least a full day (2 nights in DC) although 3-4 days there is easy. I'm also a big fan of nearby Baltimore, but it's not a "must see" and your itinerary is already packed.

If an amusement parkmis on your list and you're ot doing one in Cali then rent a car or take a bus to Atlantic City NJ or Wildwood NJ. You don't really need a car in either town but having a car sure makes coming and going a lot easier.

Next up is NYC. You need at least 2 full days (3 nights) there plus shoulders, but you can certainly do more. It's expensive so it tends to max out after 5 full days.

Boston is great. About a day and a half to two full day in town is sufficient but there are some great side trips, whale watching, Plymouth, Salem, Lexington and Concord.

Except for my suggestion about Wildwood or Atlantic City, the entire NE is easily done by public transportation

9

I think 2 days in NYC (3 nights) is wayyyy too little. 4 full days minimum if you want to at least scratch the surface and not just see Times Square.

10

Why Dallas? Skip Orlando and Dallas. Fly to New Orleans from East Coast and from New Orleans to West Coast. Dallas is definitely NOT a highlight of the US, it's not even a highlight of Texas :)

11

I can agree with #9.

12

From the OP:

13

If you're ending in LA, you should fly from Dallas to LA and rent your car there, not Vegas. That way you can do the western leg of your trip as a big loop, rather than suffering one-way charges that you'd incur if you rented in Vegas and dropped off in LA

14

That route is popular enough that you may be able to rent without the one-way charges.