Road trip across the United States!

Hello!

I'm planning a trip across America! It's probably going to be this December.

I want to start in Los Angeles, then going to a small city called Panaca in Nevada (3 hour ride from Las Vegas), from this point I need your help I want to visit small cities in America and also go through big city centers! I would like to end the trip in Boston where I would meet friends and go shopping before I come back to Brazil.

As you may very well assume, I will need buses and it seems greyhound has good fares.

Which cities do you recommend me to visit?
Do you have any kind of input about the transportation (cheaper bus lines maybe) ?
Is there anything I should know about crossing the United States by bus that common sense wouldn't be enough to guess?

Thanks!

Thats a big area to get specific as you can spend a lifetime and still not see it all,if you are doing it by bus the smaller towns and villages may have to take a pass as the buses dont usually stop there,not sure what you are looking for in these small towns but having access to a car would be much more practical to visit the smaller places,.There are several routes you could take to get to the east coast,one of them would be
Denver
Kansas City
Chicago
New York City
Boston
As the buses may arrive at some cities in the middle of the night you should have researched where you are staying and take a taxi right there as most of these bus terminals are not the safest places to be wandering around at night.
Good Luck..

Hi

Thanks for your great reply.

I wasn't specific, sorry.

The only small cities I would like to visit are the ones in Lincoln County, Nevada. It's a region 3 hours from Las Vegas.
I actually would like some information on HOW to get there because it seems there are no buses stopping there.
The city I most want to visit is PANACA, a small town with a little over 500 people (why I want to get there? my girlfriend is on a student exchange program and she was sent there.. we are going to meet when her classes are over). How can I get there? Do you know any public transportation going there?

I'm only 18 and I know the minimum age to rent a car in America is 25 in most states. New York is the only one in which the age is 18 but you have to pay a lot in taxes and insurance.

So, maybe I would start in Los Angeles, head to Las Vegas, then head to PANACA and keep going (with a few stops) until I get to New York, Boston and then Plymouth (2 hours from Boston, I want to visit a friend).

Thanks again

No town with a population of 500 will have any public transportation at all (esp. in Nevada). It's rental car or nothing. I seriously think you need to buy a Lonely Planet for the USA and start reading - your plans sound extremely unrealistic!

Any chance your girlfriend can arrange to come and pick you up in Vegas or get her to take a week off and spend it in Vegas with you? if not your only option might be to hitch hike as Panaca is a nothing little town out in the desert in the middle of nowhere..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panaca,_Nevada

You might contact Greyhound bus lines and ask them if anything goes to Panaca
http://www.greyhound.com/home/TicketCenter/en/locations.asp?state=nv

[ Edit: Edited on 15-Aug-2009, at 23:51 by jambo101 ]

Daawgon, hello

What specifically sounds unrealistic? I'm no expert in traveling so I could always be wrong but it doesn't seem impossible to do. I'm not asking for anything amazing here. I want to visit 4 or 5 big cities, at least one ghost town in Nevada (i always heard about them), Panaca (the only small town I want to go to) and that's it!

Is it impossible? I mean, appart from the public transportation thing to Panaca is there anything I'm not aware of? Anything that could turn this into a nightmare? It's just that I talked to a woman that lived in PANACA and she said there was a bus that did the Panaca/Las Vegas route from time to time.

I would like some help here.

Thanks

One thing you want to keep in mind is that the middle of the country and up will be very cold in December, especially since you will be coming from Brazil in mid summer

If you are traveling through Chicago, NY, and Boston in December make sure you have a heavey winter coat, scaf, gloves, and a hat! It is VERY cold that time of year!!!

I love visiting Chicago and New York City. If you have extra spending money go see a show, it will be well worth it!!
In Chicago visit Macy's, 1) it is huge and will amaze you 2) it will be all decorated for Christmas 3) it will allow you to warm yourself before you head out again. Greek town is also a fun place to see in Chicago and has some great restarurants! While in Chicago try their famous pizza places- Lou Malnatis, Gino's, or Giordano's are all pretty good. There is a lot of free stuff there if you do some research. Sometimes the musuems are free and such if you go on the right day.

New York is great at Christmas time! If you can handle the cold and figure out the subway, you'll be set! See Time Square at night, walk through Central Park, and visit Greenwich Villiage.

A great night time thing to do in NYC is to head to Brooklyn. Eat at a place under the Brooklyn Bridge called Gramaldi's. It is seriously THE BEST pizza! The address is: 19 Old Fulton St Brooklyn, NY 11201
After you eat the delicious pizza head to the icecream place directly behind the restaurant. The Brooklyn Icecream Factory sits on the water and has a beautiful view of the bridge, very romantic. After you eat walk the Brooklyn Bridge toward the city. The view is amazing and very memorable!

Good luck on your trip!

Thank you for your detailed answer!

I'm putting together a custom "guide" to each city I'm going to and your text offered me A LOT of cool stuff I probably wouldn't find on the internet. Thank you very much. By the way, where are you located? I ask that because if you are interested we could meet for a cup of coffee. I'd love to get to know some people while visiting America. I sincerely believe it enriches the experience in a very significative way. I understand if you don't want because of security issues.

Feel free to get in touch if you accept the invitation perhaps send me a PM so I can send you my e-mail (not allowed to post them here).

Again, thanks.

If anyone has anything to say, please, don't hesitate!

If you find your way down to DC let me know, I"ll buy you that cup of coffee. But it may not stack up to Brazilian standards.