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[vascorossi]

Hi to all! i'm 30 years old boy and i live in Italy.
Next year i'm planning to visit for the first time in my life the usa. So i'm thinking to rent an rv even if i haven't any experience!
Could somone tell me more informations about drive an rv inside usa.
When i'll start my travel do you think that will be easy to find an rv campsite for my camp for sleep in the nigth.
Must i book in advance the rv campsite.
Usually what is a normal price for the campsite.
Could some respond to me?
Thank you very very much and...
...excuse me for my bad english (...i'm learning!)

 

[Kirk]

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First, let me wish you welcome to the USA, even before you get here!

Now, RV rentals here are pretty much available in most areas.
The largest company that does rentals is http://www.cruiseamerica.com/. They have dealers in nearly every state, so I suggest that you visit their web site to check that out.

Driving the rental RV here is not difficult and we do have many forign visitors who rent RVs to travel the country. Keep in mind that the USA is larger than Europe(about 3,000 miles by 2,000 miles) and it will take a very long time to visit everything. So if your time is limited, try and pick a route to see the things that most interest you before you come to make the best use of your time.

As to places to park the RV for the night, there are many RV parks that have places to stay with connections for water, sewer and electricty in every state. The areas where there are major attractions will have many different RV parks. Prices range widely depending upon where you happen to be. In the area of Washington DC the price is about $40 per night or more. In California it will run about $35. In Oregon & Washington it is more like $30 along the coast and $25 per night once you travel east of the mountains. In the Rocky mountains most places will run about $25 per night and in some of the more rural farming communities it can be less than $20 per night.

We also have many state parks in every state that have campgrounds which usually cost between $15 - $25 per night, depending upon where they are and how nice the parks are. There are also many national parks, and forests that have camp grounds that cost about the same as do the state parks and most of the lakes in the USA have parks with campgrounds. Reservations are usually not needed except in the more heavily traveled areas and then in the peak travel season.

Feel free to post here again, or to send me an email direct if I can be of any other help. My email address is woody@1tree.net

 

[hertig]

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RV rentals tend to be very expensive. I'm thinking in the $800 a week range. Another option to the companies which rent RVs as their primary business is a used RV dealer. They sometimes rent out parts of their stock. Could be cheaper, but possibly more trouble.

You might want to sign up with Passport America. Member campgrounds offer overnight rates to members of 50% of their normal rates. A year membership is under $50 and comes with a book or CD of member campgrounds. At that price, it would pay for itself in about 5 nights.

An American Auto Association (AAA) membership may be of value, for their trip planning services and CampBooks/campground discounts. Depending on how long you will be here, it may or may not be a good investment. Another option is one of the nationwide campground listing books, usually about $25 or so.

Or if you have good stamina and like to live 'dangerously', you could drive until you see a sign advertising a campground. As a backup plan, you can stay overnight in some rest areas and Walmart parking lots if you can't find a campground.

Don't worry, your English is better than my Italian