I did something similar but we took 10 weeks and took the Northern route to include Route 66. Here are my thoughts

3 weeks, that's a long way to drive

Have you considered rental car drop off fees as you are doing a 1 way rental

If you use hotels then join the frequent stay programme, we did Choice Hotels which includes lots of the not quite so budget hotels. Every stay gets points and we used the points to get a room for free in expensive cities

Choose a hotel that gives free breakfast to save on costs

Use supermarket for lunch

The park pass is $80 but if you are going to visit a lot of parks it will save you lost of money

September it will be quite warm

3 1/2 weeks. That's going to be tough.

If Disney World is non negotiable then I would stay on the east/south east coast and explore. However, it's going to be hot and humid.

I know you want to do as much as possible, but you might consider significantly downsizing your trip. For 3 1/2 weeks I would fly into California. You could see Yosemite and Death Valley (from your well air conditioned car) National Parks (amongst others along the Sierra Nevada). There is amazing hiking on the west and east sides of the mountains. Do not attempt hiking in Death Valley, it will be 100+ in September.

Drive from the west side of Yosemite to the east until you get to Highway 395. You'll drive over and down Tioga Pass (Tuolomne Meadow is a must stop and hike). At the bottom is Lee Vining (cute little town, try the private campground on the north west side of town) and Mono Lake (visitors center in town, the lake is a very interesting part of California history and ecology). South of Lee Vining is Mammoth Lakes (ski town, try the campgrounds above town, Lake Mary is nice). Very cool geology and again great hiking. Visitors center on the way into town. North of Lee Vining is Bridgeport, another neat little eastern Sierra town. The canyons above are fabulous. Try the hike from Virginia Lakes to the top of the pass (passing Blue and Frog Lakes).

There are other amazing roads in the Sierra, pm me if interested.

Read up on Highway 1, the drive from Morro Bay to Monterey (or continue to San Francisco) is spectacular. Make sure to stop in Big Sur and tour Hearst's Castle. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a must. Also lots of great hiking along the coast.

San Luis Obispo is just inland of Morro Bay, fun college town. Plan to be there for Thursday night Farmers Market.

We don't have Disney World but we do have Disneyland.

San Diego is a very fun city. Make sure you hit the Gas Lamp District. Rent bicycles and ride Silver Strand.

My favorite beach town in SoCal is Laguna Beach.

Las Vegas isn't too far from Southern California.

You could also loop out to the Utah National Parks and Grand Canyon.

We do have hostels, I'm not sure if you'll need to make reservations or not. The cheapest motel chains are Motel 6 and Super 8. Best Western prices really vary with location (like the other motels/hotel chains) but are pretty consistently good. I would pick up a Frommers Guide to help with lodging choices, I've had good luck with the California one over the years (and I live here!). You'll have to really be careful with your lodging budget.

Bed and breakfasts here tend to the expensive, we have very few of the inexpensive B and Bs you have in the UK (which were amongst my favorite places to stay when I was there this summer).

If you use grocery stores you should be ok on $50/day for food. But that's eating out very little. I would do some really, really cheap food days and save up, there are fantastic restaurants wherever you end up.

Happy planning!

Las Vegas is a great place for travelling. There are some place listed here http://casinority.com/most-expensive...uildings-ever/, which are really worth visiting.

If food is important....I would not miss Louisiana cuisine.

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journeyman

Hi Skyroads,

My opinion is that 3 1/2 weeks is too tight for what you want to do without spending too much time driving.
I am a bit biased since I live in Southern California but I really, really like Little Bikes suggestion, hitting San Diego, the coastal route to San Francisco, (skip LA) Yosemite, the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, etc.
You won't have a rental car one way drop off fee if you do a loop.
At any rate I would focus on a smaller part of the US if you only have 3 1/2 weeks wherever that may be as long as it is seasonally appropriate.
Have a great trip!

I will say I have had a lot of luck with moderately priced ($50 -$100/night) hotels. There are a bunch smartphone apps and websites you can use to find deals the day you need it.... Ive used LMT (last minute travel) with great success. They have accurate reviews, unlike tripadvisor. And you can keep your travels flexible - stay longer when you want to, keep moving when you want to...

Just curious if you are willing to camp at all? There are a lot of cheap, beautiful campsites to be had for $20/night.

I would also second checking out Nashville and/or Memphis. Personally I feel like Route 66 is overrated, but you may love it. Any chance you get to check out one of the national parks, you should. You can buy one All-america pass to get in to all of them.

Have a great time!!

There is far too much to see in just 3 1/2 weeks, but just do it, see what you can, and make it to California and you might decide to come back for 'part 2.' The state of California has some great travel, and could take up 2 weeks, or more, alone! The entire gulf coast seems to have a lot to do, from what I understand, although I have only been to New Orleans, so I can imagine if you follow the southern route out of Florida, such as along Interstate 10, you will end up passing through the gulf states and on into Texas. Texas is a nice state, but does have its boring parts, as well as westward through New Mexico and my state, Arizona, all being big desert and quite boring. So, if you want a safe route out of Florida, and chose Interstate 10, my suggestion would be to get through Texas, go into New Mexico, travel north on Interstate 25 to Interstate 40 (Route 66) and then go westward as you will be in more mountainous (hence more scenic) parts of New Mexico and Arizona, as well as in the proximity to the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona, as well as in easy driving from the east to the west into Las Vegas (which is very accessible from the Grand Canyon).

Again, this is my opinion, and since I live here, in the US, and was doing what you are doing in only 3 1/2 weeks, and knowing what I know, this is what I would suggest. Once you hit Vegas, and figure out how much time you have left, then you can decide which way to go from there.

Hi All
We are embarking on a US trip starting May 11th in Detroit. We initially started with a 3 1/2 week plan to ride New York- Chicago-LA, I soon discovered that wasn't going to be enough time and we added on other things we wanted to add and have ended up with an 8 week trip.
Anyway our trip is
May 11th - 15th Detroit
May 15th - 16th Niagara Falls
May 16th - 17th Boston
May 17th - 25th New York
May 25th - 28th Washington DC
May 28th - 29th Indianapolis
May 29th - 31st Chicago
June 1st - 19th Route 66
June 19th - 21st Los Angeles
June 21st - 24th San Francisco
June 24th - 25th Yosemite
June 25th - 26th Bonneville
June 26th - July 1st Las Vegas
July 1st -7th Los Angeles (getting married 4th July Santa Monica beach )
any tips/advice gratefully accepted and appreciated.... Any advice I can give after our first big overseas moto adventure will be a pleasure to help others ....