My friends and I want to visit the US once we graduated, either this year or the next, depending on the apprenticeships/universities we get.
So what are places/states you can visit in the US where you can meet new people and explore the US. (Maybe sightseeing, hiking etc)
Maybe not huge, expensive cities (becauae we’re all more or less broke atudents) with super expensive tourist traps but maybe a cheaper way to get to know the US.
Also is there a way to get rather cheap around the US? Per train or bus? Or would renting a car be the easiest and cheapest?(though I don’t know how different the driving rules are in the US compared to Germany.)
Maybe there’s something in your area? 🙂
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Gas is sky high. (If you rent a car, make sure to get car/collision insurance for yourselves, and get one with superior mileage per gallon.)
Buses won’t be that pleasant.
You might look into trains and cities that trains stop at.
The Smithsonian museums in DC are completely free and absolutely worth seeing.
Our national parks have very low fees and are gorgeous and so varied
Here are a few places that a lot of people visit but are not the typical type of tourist destination perhaps.
[Solvang](https://www.solvangusa.com) – Danish city in the U. S. There are also beautiful mountains nearby and missions to visit (early history for the U. S.)
[Lancaster](https://www.discoverlancaster.com/amish/) – in Pennsylvania, but there are other Amish communities that have shops and visitors across the U. S. also.
Cheap places to stay: You might look into staying at some church retreats or something like that. Sometimes a monastery or convent will allow strangers to stay at a nominal fee. There are also camp grounds that are cheap to stay at. (They will have their own rules not sure what.) There are also hostels in the U. S. but I have not heard they are that pleasant to stay at.
Edit: since you mention universities, sometimes those also have rooms available to rent at a nominal fee.
Pacific Northwest in general is beautiful and not that crowded + healthy balance of nightlife and nature
Keep in mind that renting a car may not be the cheapest option. Between gas, required insurance as a non-US driver, and age differentials (for those between ages 18-25, and which are often more than the per day rental cost). There’s also the possibility that an agency will refuse to rent to someone under 25 and who isn’t a US citizen.
Detroit, Michigan is worth a visit.
Not exactly tourist central but a great food scene, fun dive bars, interesting history, and some good museums.
Michigan also has plenty to offer as far as natural beauty also.
You will need a car to get around here.
[Scenic places in California](https://www.visitcalifornia.com/experience/10-super-scenic-california-road-trips/) and I didn’t notice but if they didn’t mention it, the redwood forests in northern California. Must be seen at least once, I’ve heard. I haven’t been but I recommend based on others’ trips.
If you rent a car you can drive at least part way on Route 66.
The Appalachian Trail is a famous hiking trail but that can also be dangerous, there’s been some murders, as it’s very isolated hiking at times.
As for driving rules we have no autobahn, make sure to obey signs (learn them well if you want to drive) we also drive on the other side of the car, study all traffic rules and obey speed limit signs.
If you are a German tourist who likes ghost towns (that seems to be a thing with specialized travel agents, even) searches can probably find those. Gold Rush towns, mining towns, etc.
You can meet new people anywhere — but not all will have travel or tourist guides if you are specifically going to places that are not big with tourists. Overall, our citizens are friendly as long as people don’t start lecturing us about our culture, govt., or laws. :p We dislike that. But I’m not assuming you would so it should be fine.
Definitely look at camp grounds (where you can use a tent), phone city tourist or travel or civic bureaus to ask for tips on where to stay cheaply in the area. If there are any churches, convents, monasteries, or schools that also rent rooms short term to tourists (and say that or they might fear you want to move in — tenancy laws are strong here), traveling inexpensively.
Portland, Maine is great to get the quintessential “New England” experience. Not nearly as expensive as Boston and lots of nearby hiking/outdoors activities.
I loved this town.
[Hyde Park NY](https://vacationidea.com/ny/best-things-to-do-in-hyde-park-ny.html).
Home town of one of our past presidents. Not far away is [Culinary Institute of America](https://www.ciachef.edu/cia-new-york/). They have a restaurant you can dine from expert chefs in training for not the same as it would normally cost.
A train will take you into NYC if you want.
[Woodstock NY](https://www.travelnewyorknow.com/best-things-to-do-in-woodstock-ny/) is also not that far away. Another wonderful city to visit. Home of the famous festival.
You could make an entire visit just going up and down the Hudson river in NY. Lots of wonderful towns.
I think most national parks will meet this criteria. Take your pick!
National Parks in Southern Utah are absolutely worth seeing.
West Virginia is full of beautiful places to go see nature.
I’m gonna keep this real simple and probably say upstate newyork just because I know it best. It’s north of the city so there’s alot of outdoor activities if you like that stuff. The people are very friendly far as I’ve lived here and will always wave even if they don’t know you. There is alot of ski resorts and there’s a hotel with themes and such. like those Japanese love hotels but more for sleeping lol. In the fall there is alot of places to pick berries or apples If you’d like to just relax.
There are thousands of such places in the US, it really depends what you’d like to see. Europeans, Germans especially, tend to underestimate the size and variety of whats available over here. I’d sit down and really think over what you’re looking to do or see and then researching what areas you can do that the most economically.
> Maybe there’s something in your area? 🙂
Burlington and the Green Mountains are a fun way to get to know the US for sure.
> Or would renting a car be the easiest and cheapest?
Car rental places may not rent to you
> (though I don’t know how different the driving rules are in the US compared to Germany.)
They’re the same, we used to laugh at my German colleagues for this.
It sounds like you haven’t visited the US ever. Tourist traps as in the common things tourists do are okay…you’re a tourist after all. When I was in Chicago, you bet I visited Millenium Park and the public art all the tourists are going to. Yes its a touristy thing and no I wouldn’t make my Chicago friends go with me but its definitely something I did.
The US is not considered a cheap vacation. If you’re coming here on a very low budget, you’re probably going to have a miserable time. There are definitely things you can do to mitigate costs. Street food, grocery store prepared foods, free museum days, etc… but you’re still going to be spending a good chunk of money. If you’re looking for budget vacation, Portugal, Mexico, or Southeast Asia would be better.
Renting a car honestly is not cheap and isn’t going to be for the forseeable future. I’m easily paying 2-3x the rate vs 2019 and I’m in a relatively low cost of living area. That said, it certainly can be cheaper than flying.
There’s a lot of hidden costs to flying in the US, especially if the city you are flying to/from isn’t a hub, isn’t connected to public transit, or you arrive too early/too late for public transit to be available. I pay $30-ish to get to my city’s airport via uber. My ticket from IND->Boston cost nearly as much as my trip to O’Hare->Barcelona.
The lowest bottom dollar transit are intercity buses and AMTRAK (just the seat). Buses get the job done, AMTRAKs price is comparable to the bus but much slower.
Honestly I wouldn’t worry about getting around the country as it sounds like you’ll be here for two weeks, if that. You can easily spend two weeks in one area. Pick an area, use it as a base for day trips, and explore. The moment you start moving regions, the more your budget is going to skyrocket.
And also while you’re in transit, you’re wasting another valuable resource: your time.
No. Not unless you walk off into the wilderness by yourself. I live beside a state park in Tn and they sell ice cream and sodas and stuff at the CAMPGROUND. Americans never resist the urge to squeeze one more dollar from a tourist, no matter where you go.
Pro Tip: If they sell merchandise that says: “My (insert relative/friend) went to (insert attraction) and all I got was this lousy (insert trinket/shirt)” avoid it like the plague. Those are the worst.
National and state parks are absolutely beautiful. There’s cheap cabins you can rent or you can go camping in most (all?) of them. If you’re going camping, and aren’t an experienced camper/hiker I’d recommend an east coast park that’s not in the north or south (Shenandoah and the Smokey mountains are absolutely gorgeous) because they don’t have many dangerous wild animals. North has noose and South has a bunch of venomous snakes, west has grizzly bears. Worst Shenandoah has is black bears, and you can scare them off by yelling at them 9 times out of ten. As long as they don’t feel like you’re threatening their young so you run away if you see a cub and you’ll be fine.
If you’re renting a cabin, I’d recommend Yellowstone or Yosemite. Most beautiful places in the US.
You’ll need to rent a car for all those places tho
Check what age you need to be to rent hotels/ airbnb
Many places require 21 some 25 years old.
If you want a city
Ashville North Carolina
Nashville Tennessee
Savanna Georgia
Portland Maine
It can be a touristy place but New Orleans is an experience to remember.
As far as travel, keep in mind Germany is the size of one larger state. I think it’s the size of Montana. So, keep that in mind when planning to visit multiple areas. Check travel times for train and bus schedules.
[Amtrak train ](https://www.amtrak.com/home)
[Greyhound Bus line](https://www.greyhound.com/en)
Hike…..riding a Greyhound is like playing Russian roulette with a semiautomatic.
Trains are not a thing in the US for commuting across country in most cases as it is in Europe. Its there.but its painful slow and unless you travel coach, sleeping in your chair, it can be expensive. You can buy a 15 day pass for about 440.00 after taxes that allows you to travel to 8 stops. The 700 after tax package allows a full 12 stop pass that covers trips like NY to LA.
Trains are not cheap. A comfortable ride for 2, with 1 meal and a continental breakfast every other day, with stops at national parks, and large cities for sight seeing are sold in 2+ person.blocks starting around 2800 for the week trip.
Rent a car. Ensure your valuables fit in a carry bag or a backpack and when you go sight seeing amd leave the car, make sure only clothes are in it.
America SEEMS like the land of dreams but its no less dangerous than Luisenstadt at night. Plan smart and plan safe.
If you want the best bang for your Buck go to [West Virginia](https://wvtourism.com/). It’s pretty, the people are friendly, there’s plenty of hiking and outdoor recreation to keep you busy, great food and craft beer, plus their economy is bad enough that it’s cheap to stay there for a while. The place is one big untouched vacation destination and I don’t know why more people don’t vacation there.
Some advice about renting a car, based on the rules at the agency I worked for (rules may differ between companies).
Being foreign means that the rental must be secured on an accepted credit card (or Amex). They will not accept a debit card that charges a checking account.
You will have to have an international driver’s license. They probably won’t accept your German license, but it’s worth asking about.
They will almost certainly require you to purchase their damage waiver/insurance. This can add greatly to the cost.
Speaking of cost, rental rates are extremely high. Covid hurt them tremendously and they’re all struggling to recover. Make sure to book a reservation as far ahead as you can, and call the branch to confirm it.
That said, make sure you shop prices ahead of time. Use a website like Kayak to compare rates. And remember that rental rates are negotiable. Call and speak to a person at the branch about it. As long as you are patient and POLITE you can probably get a better deal than what’s listed.
Touristy areas get a bad rep but they are mostly pretty good. But you are correct that they are designed to get your money. I think most any area has affordable and less affordable ways to have experiences and meet people. If hiking interests you then that is one of the least expensive ways to see the beautiful parts of our country. Other things like beaches, cultural centers, and festivals/events can often be as expensive or inexpensive (often free) as you make them. The major things to consider will be transportation to them and where you will sleep. Obviously things like Disneyland are expensive but things like the grand canyon can be done very cheaply if you don’t stay in the fancy hotels or eat at the fancy restaurants.
The country is huge, I would say you should find out where you will be located and then work from there
Asheville NC is a great place to visit. Super beautiful up in the Blue Ridge Mountains so lots of hiking trails, tons of fun stuff to do, and everyone is very friendly and will happily tell you about their favorite places to go in town. Uber and Lyft run pretty constantly and it’s a fairly condensed area but not a huge city.
Biltmore is an awesome tour, the arboretum is beautiful, loads of music and entertainment venues. REALLY good restaurants from pretty much everywhere. Don’t know your age but it also has more craft breweries than any city I’ve ever been to if you like good beers.
Watkins Glen in New York State is free and one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. State parks are often great places (like Red River Gorge, Natural Bridge, Hocking Hills.) Museums and zoos are also wonderful, but often very pricey, too.
You need to pick a region of the US, don’t try to do the whole thing it’s impossible. For affordable you’re generally gonna want to go to the midwest or the south like Florida. Avoid the coasts. Renting a car will almost certainly be necessary outside of a major coastal metro area. If you wanna go really cheap you can look on a site like craigslist for ridesharing to a specific location. People will organize a carpool and you just share the gas cost.
Come to west Michigan and enjoy some of the best fresh water beaches in the world.
I would start in DC, which seems touristy but the museums are first rate. The Smithsonian museums and the other museums on the mall are a great way to get to know us. Visit Arlington and take a tour. DC has great transportation so you can stay out in Maryland for cheaper hotels.
Then take the train to Chicago. Amtrak isn’t great and it’s slow, but hear me out. There’s some great scenery in between and you’ll have a chance to meet and talk to people on the way there. Maybe meet some Amish people. They take the train a lot.
In Chicago see some museums, eat some hot dogs, take an architecture tour, go to a Second City show. This is kind of touristy, but it’s an experience. 2-3 days maybe.
Then take the train to St. Louis. You will need a rental car* when you get here. Stay out in the suburbs if you need a cheaper hotel.
St. Louis has lots of free and cheap things to do. A great food scene. It’s far safer than the news says it is. Just stay out of north city. Go to a baseball game if in season. If you can catch a Cardinals-Cubs game, it’s perfect. Drink beer and eat another hot dog. This will be pricey at the game, but you can also bring sealed non-alcoholic, non-glass drinks into the stadium if you hit up a gas station on the way. If you’re here for Lent on a Friday, go to a fish fry at St. Cecilia’s.
Keep the rental car* and drive west through Oklahoma City, the Texas panhandle (see and smell the cows), Albuquerque (Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, New Mexico has some weird scenery along the highway), Flagstaff, Grand Canyon (go hiking, but take the warnings about heat and water super seriously), drive up into southern Utah (more hiking!), Las Vegas (Casino hotels can be super cheap, just stay at a cheesy one like Excalibur. Find a place that will take you into the desert and let you shoot guns.), and then drive to the California coast. You don’t have to stay in Los Angeles, just go to the beach.
If you still have time from there drive north along the coast to Portland or Seattle.
Things to eat while here: BBQ, Mexican food (tacos, tamales, chiles in Albuquerque), corn on the cob, biscuits and gravy, if you can find a county or state fair eat weird fried things, beef jerky, chilli, peanut butter.
*It may be worth buying a cheap but reliable car as a rental car for this long will be very expensive. Put an ad on Craigslist in your final destination to sell it and make it clear that you will only have a certain window to transfer ownership. You won’t get all your money back, but it’s still cheaper than a rental. Get a decent liability insurance.
Honestly the entire Rockies region. Even popular places like Yellowstone are beautiful and not hokey tourist traps.
Northern rim of the Grand Canyon isn’t nearly as crowded as the Southern rim. The Grand Canyon is very overwhelming to see in-person.
National parks should definitely be on your list!
I mean there’s obvious ones like Yosemite, Yellowstone, sequoia/Redwood, and the Grand Canyon. But there are hundreds of other parks/monuments that are less well-known but can be just as amazing, so definitely do some research on that For whatever region of the country you’re going to end up in!
A few ideas:
1-Europeans often love to visit the Southwest because the desert is unlike anything in Europe. Arizona (Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, Tucson), New Mexico (Carlsbad Caverns, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, Sandia Peak), Utah (Zion, Arches, Bryce Canyon), Colorado (Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountains), Nevada (Las Vegas), California has Joshua Tree and Death Valley but I would make those a lower priority. You will absolutely need to rent a car if you do this, think of the Southwest as an entire Germany-sized area of empty desert and mountains, there is not good public transit. These places are relatively cheap to visit and you can find cheap hotels or campsites though. Very very hot in the summer but nice the rest of the year.
2-The East Coast is the most developed part of the country, lots to do and the best train/bus service. Has iconic cities like New York and DC, which are expensive but fun. As people have said most things in DC are free. The coastal South is very nice (Virginia through Georgia) and aren’t as expensive as the rest of the East Coast. Southern cities like Charleston, Savannah, and St Augustine are unique and fun to visit. If you go inland into western North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia there are beautiful mountains (Blue Ridge, Shenandoah National Park, etc), you can go camping, rent a cabin, etc. Up north in New England there is Boston but if you go to Vermont, New Hampshire, etc there are lots of beautiful mountain towns that are less expensive, and cities on the northeast coast are great.
3-The West Coast is unique and has a good Amtrak train transportation corridor along the coast. Unfortunately the West Coast s pretty expensive. San Diego is my favorite big city in the USA, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle are great too, with lots of fun towns in between (San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, etc) . If you go inland to Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks you will enjoy. The most expensive option but lots to see.
4-The Great Lakes region up north by the Canadian border is great and relatively inexpensive, but probably the most like Europe so it may not feel as unique. Chicago is the big city to see, with lots of nice towns and lakes in the surrounding states. I have the least experience here.
Good luck and have fun!
Thank you everyone for all the replies!! I can’t reply to them all but I read every one of them and I appreciate you for the effort!!
Hiking in northern California/Washington state?
You’ll be able to drive and hit more destinations in the northeast and save some money compared to other places. However, if you like hiking and don’t mind spending the cash, go out west my young man/woman. Esp California.
Our military parks are free to tour. If you want to learn about our civil war, Gettysburg Pennsylvania or sharpsburg Maryland are 2 great battlefields to tour. For a full experience with re-enactments and ghost tours etc you have to go in the tourist season in July (If you do decide to go to Gettysburg at any point in your life don’t get a hotel in town. Get a hotel outside the town or in a different town all together. Waynesboro and blue ridge summit are 30 mins away from Gettysburg and hotels are cheap. Hanover and new Oxford are also close by)
Camping in Yellowstone would be 100% worth it and it’s not a tourist trap. Really any of our national parks would be amazing.
The US is not like Europe. Very very few areas with open touts bothering people and trying to scam or overcharge them like in Marrakesh in Morocco or something or people bothering you in Italy or Paris. Only a few neighborhoods where that is possible- Times Square in NYC, Hollywood in LA and South Beach, Miami. Prices might be quite high in certain places. Of course some places that are worth visiting are touristy- New Orleans, Miami, Charleston, SC, Grand Canyon, beach towns and ski resorts and can be overpriced.
My recommendation: rent a car, but go together with 3 other people (4 total) and it will be much cheaper. You can also split a hotel room with 2 double beds.
Upstate NY has a few small cities and is full of state parks and hiking trails and awesome food. Rochester NY is cool with a lot of stuff to do and is a 6-9 hour drive from many larger cities (Boston, DC, NYC) if you want to go exploring. We also have proximity to Canada if that’s a thing you wanna do and Niagara Falls is right here too. Upstate NY is pretty inexpensive and if you’re into camping and you book now, you could get a cabin on a campsite pretty cheap.
For local travel, rent a car. If you’re going to fro a distance (NY to DC for example) rent a car locally but take a bus or Amtrak to go to DC. Large cities have good public transport usually so you won’t need a car once you get there.
It’s really tough to say, the US varies so much between regions it’s actually nuts. I would spend some time researching different parts of the country and what you might want to see. Look for some with history. I would avoid big cities like Vegas or NYC, DC LA , CHI , DAL your first time. Also definitely rent a car, it’s not like Europe.
If you want to see some interesting birds of prey near me there is the Raptor Trust in the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. They take in injured birds of prey like hawks and owls and rehabilitate them, I believe they also let you look at some of the healthier ones.
If I were you, I would target the Northeast between Boston and Washington DC. You can get to and stay in the cities relatively cheap if you look in the right places. Something I do not see mentioned much is we do have Hostels here which are comparable in cost to most you will find in Europe. You can travel between the cities via train or what I found most useful and cheaper were the Chinatown buses. They operate between most every city. You will have enough to handle between Boston, NYC, Philadelphia and Washington DC.
If you weren’t on a strict budget I would recommend what most others are with renting a car and going to the nat’l parks, etc. Usually this would be fairly cheap but rental car prices are astronomical.
Now, something I have always wanted to do (and this is more of a freestyle travel option) is to look up flights on google flights. Pick a departing city, and see where you can go for the cheapest. For example, I just now looked up flights in March from NYC and found one to Dallas, TX for $38 one way. Then from Dallas to Miami for $79 and so on and so forth. Just pick cheap flights and hop around the US for a few weeks. I think that would be cool as hell.
if you’re looking for a hike, go to Lena Lake in Lilliwaup, WA. it’s far away from the cities and it’s a beautiful hike that only locals know about (until now. sorry). it’s about 3 miles one way and it’s decently maintained. there’s a camp site and it could make for a fun cheap weekend away from the cities.
cheapest mode of transportation depends on where you’re coming and going. sometimes trains can be really cheap, but in some areas it can be the same as a low class plane ticket. busses are usually never worth it though. I second everything everyone’s already said about renting a car.
How much time will you have? What months are you looking at? Are any of you over 25, which is the youngest age to rent a car without massive markups?
I’m a fan of Flagstaff. It’s a mid priced small city with a university, so a lot of young people. It’s easily worth a few days even without a car, and with a car it’s good for a week or two as there’s a lot of state and national parks within a few hours drive. They’ve got an amazing observatory and a few small museums and a fun downtown area and it’s close to Sedona, which has some of the most beautiful geology in the world (and too many crowds). It’s the closest city to the Grand Canyon, which lives up to its reputation as a natural wonder. But if it’s summer, Flagstaff is OK because of its high elevation, but the Grand Canyon and Sedona are scorching hot and very, very crowded. Still very nice, just not the best time to visit it.
Flagstaff is also pretty near Phoenix and Las Vegas, both of which are major cities that are reasonably priced. There’s a lot more to Vegas than casinos, including lots of hiking, Hoover Dam, and a variety of museums. Hiking is terrible in the summer, though. Being from Germany, you’ll probably end up hospitalized from heat exhaustion if you try it. Locals avoid that by simply not hiking, or getting off the trails by 9 or 10am.
Edit: not the cheapest, but if you want to see a lot of the US over a month, Amtrak can be a good option with their Rail Pass. https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/departure-rail-pass.html. Greyhound bus also goes lots of places on a budget. With both of those, you’ll end up in car centric cities and towns, but between Uber and a willingness to walk, you can usually get around well enough to have fun even in car centric places.
Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Tawas, Bay City, and Oscoda are on the Huron coast. Some touristy stuff but usually it’s geared for people coming from the southern part of the state. On the Lake Michigan coast there is Traverse City. A bit more tourist centric but not crazy. If you can make it there during the Interlochen Film festival. There are plenty of places to enjoy the outdoors in both of the areas. A lot of hiking, fishing, canoeing.
If you cross the Mackinac Bridge and go to the island it is all tourists not many people actually live in the island. My aunt’s brother-in-law did many years ago but he was a police officer for the island. There are no motorized vehicles but you can rent a bike and explore. My mom took my daughter one year and I think they hiked quite a bit.
There are a few touristy things to do around the rest of the UP but there is a lot of wilderness to explore, hike, and camp. You can take a Kayak tour of the pictures rocks. I love going there is an incredibly beautiful place. I actually rented a cabin near there for part of the summer.
Edit: you will need a car.
Check out Buffalo- you’re going to want to see Niagara Falls and we’re only 30 minutes away with some good stuff!
If you want the big city experience on more of a budget (compared to NYC or LA) come to Chicago. I promise it’s not as dangerous as people might claim. Food is world class, music scene is amazing, tons of museums (not free but not expensive either) and an overall gorgeous place. Just look at r/cityporn if you need more convincing
For straight up Midwest check out Fargo ND
Honestly, I would just hop in a car and drive, but the country is so huge and there are so many choices that it can be overwhelming. I’d say maybe Yellowstone national park. Place is beautiful, wish I had time to go back.
Arkansas, Missouri, Tennesee, Kentucky, beautiful states, nice people, not expensive. (Hoosier transplanted to DC here)
Indianapolis and I am a little biased but yes