Hiring a motorhome in USA

[montaya]

Hi,
My husband and I are retirees and are thinking of a trip to the USA. We would be flying to Los Angeles from Brisbane, Australia. We looked at train travel first but now think that hiring a motorhome is the way to go. We have had a motorhome, a caravan and now have a 4x4 and a camper trailer so we are familiar with RVing in Australia. We do have a budget and that needs some consideration.

We have only passed through North America quickly but would now like to hire a motorhome for a month. Since I would like to see New York as well, we would fly there after we have returned the motorhome back to LA.

We are looking forward to discovering beautiful sceneries, little towns/villages, national parks and the like.

Oh, where do motorhomers overnight in America ? Parks specially established for RVs ? or anywhere they fancy ?

We would really appreciate your input as we know nothing about RVing in America and look forward to receiving ideas/suggestions/tips for a route from/to LA (is LA a good place to hire a motorhome?) and for anything else.

 

[LEN]

Welcome,
4 weeks and you are not going to see much of the US unless you want the scene out the window of the RV. Pick 2 or three states a tour those and you will still be on the road a lot. I if I were you I would Come to the US in the early summer to fall or the late spring to summer that way the temps will be not too hot or cold. Travel up the west coast California Redwoods to Washington state Rainer National park then to Montana for Glacier national park and Yellowstone National park through the Grand Tetons national park then to Utah for Arches national park then maybe Las Vegas and back to LA. Now given the time, you are going to be on the road a lot. We did 5 weeks on your East coast from Cairns to Sidney and did not have enough time this is big a country as yours and as developed as the area we spent on your coast a lot to see. You are talking on this route 3500-400 miles plus, this is 10 days of driving, so that leaves 18 days for the day stops and several of the stops you would want 2 days to get a good view or a hike in.
As to RV parks yes for the most part but their are free areas also.
You will need to get used to driving on thi wrong side of the road for you.
As to RV if two to four people a class c would be good and allow most roads in the National Parks except for the road to the sun in Glacier, which is a donot miss, but there are shuttles. You will need insurance for the RV.
As to price do a search on line for RV rentals out of LA
Come back any time for more questions.

LEN

 

[JCZ]

As Len has pointed out, a month is far to short of time to see much unless you're just doing the west coast. Although I love the train, for a visit to an area I've never been to before, I'd suggest a small motorhome. If you fly in to L.A. I'd suggest just doing the west coast otherwise, you're going to spend all of your time just traveling. The US is a very, very large country.

Not far from L.A. is Yosemite Naional Park....one of America's most beautiful parks. There are RV parks to stay in, as well as campgrounds, etc. I'd suggest a small motorhome since you'd be spending a lot of time in the mountains and in campgrounds and it would be your only transportation. If you get to big then harder to manuever in tight spots and even size prohibited in some places.

RVs, both class A and class C can be rented in just about any larger city. They're even available here in Sacramento. I'd suggest late spring (so the passes are open but everything is still green and it's not to hot). There's just so much to see. Right here in California alone, there's the highest and lowest points in the continetal US, Death Valley, Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe, Napa Valley, the redwoods, Hwy. 1 along the rugged Calif. coast, San Francisco, Golden Gate, Mt. Lassen (volcano), it just goes on and on and you haven't even left the state.

What ever you do.....traveling Hwy. 1 along the coast you want to travel from the north to the south so that the ocean (and parking and turn outs) are on your right and you're not trying to cross on-coming traffice on that narrow, twisty highway.