New York or New Jersey to Miami

Hi my daughter is currently at Camp America just out of New York and with her girlfriend wants to travel (hop on and hop off) a bus or similar from New York or New Jersey down to Miami seeing the sights along the way. They only have 3 weeks before they head out of New York to Europe. Can you advise how best to get down there, what is definately worth seeing and time frame if possible at each place. Any suggestions I could give them would be fantastic ie places to see or stay. Thanking you.

Cheers Lyn

New York or New Jersey to Miami

I%26#39;ve enjoyed trips similar to what you are describing when I%26#39;ve been in the South Pacific.

Sadly, we don%26#39;t really have anything quite the same here.

I would suggest trying to avoid Greyhound. Strongly suggest...

Amtrak is decent but it really doesn%26#39;t stop in the nicest parts of town. Sadly, we%26#39;re a car culture.

The girls could take NJ Transit to Princeton, walk around the University, continue on into Philadelphia (NJ Transit / SEPTA). Philadelphia has some history. Philadelphia isn%26#39;t America%26#39;s safest city (neither is Washington DC while we%26#39;re on that subject).

If the girls were driving, it would be nice to go down the Delaware Coast, visit Lewes DE and Rehoboth Beach DE before continuing to Ocean City MD. From Ocean City they%26#39;d continue south through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel into Virginia. South of Virginia is the Outer Banks of North Carolina, stunning beauty.

This is difficult to do on public transportation. Also, once in these places there is little public transportation.

Amtrak serves Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Arlington VA, Williamsburg VA, Raleigh NC (near Duke University and UNC), Charleston South Carolina, Savannah Georgia, Orlando FL.

I would really try to avoid putting the girls on Greyhound.

Alternatively, one-way flights in some markets are not very expensive. Southwest Airlines flies from Baltimore to Norfolk, Baltimore to Raleigh. Check out southwest.com and jetBlue.com

New York or New Jersey to Miami

Lyn, there are bus tour cos. that do tours of the major cities on the east coast, but generally only as far south as Washington, DC. They seem to cater to the Asian market, especially those tourists who don%26#39;t speak English. They are very cheap, the hotels are well outside of the center of towns (which is part of what makes it so affordable). The cos. that have been mentioned here are

gotobus.com

tours4fun.com

I really don%26#39;t recommend them (and I don%26#39;t think they offer what the girls want). How old are they?

If the girls are old enough, I would suggest hiring a car. It would be way easier for them to see the sights they would like to see. Once you get south of Virginia, there isn%26#39;t much between North Carolina and Florida, IMO. I mean there is Charleston and Savannah, but that%26#39;s about it. :o)

If they have at least two extra days they could drive to Key West via all the other keys. Take a look at Pirate John%26#39;s Adventure guide which describes things to see and places to stop along the way...

buccaneerpublishing.com/AdventureGuide.htm

Pjk

I think there%26#39;s something called Green Tortoise or similar, but I dont know if it still exists or if it goes down the coast (thought it was more cross country). It used to be discussed a lot on Lonely Planet. Maybe you can google it.

There are also those Contiki tours that cater to the 18 year old age range, but I know nothing about them

yep, Green Tortoise and it looks like they have some East Coast tours...

they also have a bus to Burning Man - tempting!

Thanks to everyone for all your information - would you believe one of the girls is flying down to Orlando so that is what they have all decided to do then bus it to Miami, back to Washington on a bus (

How funny my son is at camp america this year and is planning to do exactly the same as your daughter. He finishes camp on 17th Aug and then wants to travel to New York City for 3 nights and then fly to Florida, taking in Miami. We are hoping to meet up with him in New York City for a short while. I have missed him so much.

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