MY HUSBAND AND I PLAN TO TRAVEL TO THE STATES USING ANNUAL LEAVE TO VISIT NEW YORK CITY, WASHINGTON DC AND BOSTON.
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IF POSSIBLE, WE ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN DETROIT, CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, WHERE EVER THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY ARE AND SAN FRANCISCO. WE ARE THINKING OF DRIVING ACROSS THE US AND MAYBE A TRAIN TRIP SOMEWHERE.
COULD YOU SUGGEST ROUTES, LICENCE AND DRIVING LAWS, ACCOMMODATION, PLACES OF INTEREST AND WHAT YOU WOULD CONSIDER A REASONABLE TIME FRAME?
E. ATKINS, GLENBROOK
Driving across the US plus the other stops you have in mind is ambitious within the timeframe of most annual leave entitlements. What you could do is a drive to take in some of the wonders of the American Southwest. Starting from San Francisco, head south along Highway 1 to Los Angeles, consistently rated one of the best drives in the US, then turn west to take in the Grand Canyon. You could make a longer loop itinerary from here to visit Monument Valley and Mesa Verde, Arches, Canyonlands and Zion national parks before ending your western journey at Las Vegas. A sensible time for this would be two weeks, about a week less if you were to leave out the loop, which would leave you with San Francisco, Highway 1, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park and Las Vegas.
The East Coast cities are all great but Detroit is a shadow of the boomtown that was America's automotive workshop. Cheap rents have fuelled an artistic renaissance but it feels like a city waking up after a nightmare, with a bad hangover.
Milwaukee suggests an interest in Harley-Davidson motorcycles and if so you can do a factory tour harley-davidson.com and visit the Harley-Davidson Museum.
Madison County is in Iowa, due west of Chicago. You could take a train to Detroit, pick up a vehicle then drive to Chicago and on to Milwaukee and finally Madison County. The other area where covered bridges are found is in New England. The state of Vermont alone has 106 and if you're looking for covered bridges with great scenic backdrops this would be a better choice.
You'd probably need three weeks for the East Coast/Midwest part of your itinerary.
For accommodation, you'd probably be looking at motels in the West and Midwest and I'd be going for an Airbnb in the East Coast cities.
Driving in the US presents no real problems. If you Google "traveller com au driving USA" you'll find an authoritative article with everything you need to know.
