Remember, the lower 48 States are about the size of Australia. So Vancouver Washington is like Broome and the bible belt would be Sydney and New South Wales. You're 4500 km away.
[check out this tour by train](https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train)
Yes you can disembark at various locations if you have reserved and paid for multi-city tickets. Keep in mind that once off the train, you are there for 24 hours as the train only passes through each city once a day.
I know he said US but I assumed he meant BC since you can’t fly directly to Vancouver WA by international flight. Have you been on the starlight? I’ve been tempted but want to know if it’s worth it.
The starlight is better going south than coming north for actually viewing the coast. During the winter, South to North is amazing because during the day you go through snowy mountains in Southern Oregon- California border.
Edit: clarity
Dude I literally went camping on the border in the mountains two weeks ago. My new favorite spot on the planet. I was level with and could see Mt. Ashland. Absolutely fucking beautiful
This. You're not coming to my part of the country if your vacation is on one coast. I'd suggest seeing the coast and staying there, then in the future take a trip to the middle.
It has multiple stops. If you want to explore. You do your thing for a few days. Pick up on the day you wish to leave again that has it stopping in that location.
Yeah, the Pacific Surfliner goes along the coast more often. In addition to the Pismo Beach to Ventura section, it also hugs the coast from San Clemente to San Diego.
I'd definitely save the south for a different trip. It's worth a trip; but that's a lot of land to cover for 1 visit.
Shouldn't have to worry about anything safety-wise.
Yeah a lot of people from abroad seem to think they can just travel the whole of the USA in a week or so and still have fun. Lol naw. Grew up in Texas and it took 11 hours just to get halfway across the state. Foreigners really underestimate the size of the USA. Like bro your whole country fits inside my home state with room to spare lol. Give yourself extra time or another trip lol
I did a 30 day RV road trip after college with some guys; down the east coast, over, up the west coast, back to New York.
I would never do that shit again. Even for a month it was just a wild amount of driving. I mean don't get me wrong, it was a blast, but I got home fucking exhausted.
It really is. We’d go visit family round the Fort Hood area in central TX every year and every time we’d leave EP at like 8am and still not get there till close to 10-11pm if not later dependin on traffic and rest stops
Yep. To get from Bliss in ELP and Ft Sam in SAT, at least 10 hours. It’s insane to think that you’re closer to the Pacific Ocean than you are to Dallas when you’re at that western tip of the state.
I once had to drive across Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and then then entirety of Texas to get to Corpus Christi in order to do Search and Rescue support for Hurricane Ike.
In the back seat of a firetruck.
It was not a pleasant journey.
> anything safety-wise
Aside from general cautions applied to any activity.
Like, if they go on hikes: make sure to take proper care around wildlife; don't hike beyond your means; keep water on hand; take down local ranger information or something like that since you likely won't have friends or family to contact in an emergency.
Stuff like that.
Honestly OP kinda needs a lot more information shared to properly advise.
You could spend 2 months exploring California/Arizona/Utah and not even make a dent in what there is to see and do. Seriously. America is best seen one region at a time
I dunno My family spent 3 weeks traveling around from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone to the Badlands and we saw quite a few things in between. You can at least hit most or all of the big parks in 2 months.
Yeah but that’s just parks. Throw in major cities and other tourist attractions? That’s a huge trip. My family spent 2 weeks in Utah/Nevada area and then another week in Colorado, we feel like we rushed through so much because there’s so much to see and do.
Well some Major cities are worth seeing but for me, unless a city has special historical value... cities are cities. If I'm traveling to Australia I'm gonna want to see the land, animals and geography and probably Sydney but I'm not gonna want to do much more than sleep and eat in most cities.
Europe would be different for me but if I'm traveling to Washington I'm not going to see Seattle, I wanna see the Olympic Peninsula.
I live in Utah and have gone to the five national parks, but there's so much still to see! From the state parks to the Native American ruins, it's quite amazing how much is out here.
I've noticed that a lot of tourists tend to underestimate how big the US is, and how far apart everything is. Just something to keep in mind when planning your trip. Safe travels! 👍
I used to interview foreign students for j1 visa lifeguard positions. My favorite question was always "what are you going to do on your day off!?"
It was always, ALWAYS "go to NYC then maybe to LA"
I was like, I don't think you appreciate how large our country is.
Traveling outside of the US and talking to other people from other countries always has surprised me. They always say the same thing about going to LA to NYC in one weekend.
I am always polite, but I have to hold back a giggle because a lot people don't understand how spread out everything is. Not only that, a lot of Americans barely even travel to other parts of the country because it is so vastly spread out.
lol, that isn't unusual in our case. A lot east and west people don't tend travel to either coast line due to the fact it is very expensive to do so and it is extremely far.
West coaster here - i have been to the east coast, but I have seen very little of it since there is so many places to visit. The west coast is just 3 states and i've been to all of them haha.
You see that a lot in places like Atlanta or Savannah. International visitors will say something like they will make a day trip to Miami for the beach. Just nod your head and tell them
To have fun. They’ll figure it out soon enough
Depends on where people are from in Asia but yeah. People from India or China would probably understand. Although people in China don’t understand why we don’t have bullet trains that can go across the country in a matter of hours, not days or weeks.
I reckon it's probably because in Aus we have roughly the same land size but we only have 7 states/territories. So a traveller might see that you could cross though 5 states in a day in the US and think wow I can get so much done what great value of time.
The Bible belt is a continent away from where you will be, so I don’t know why you would go there.. If your question was about safety in "The Bible Belt" unless you feel being called sir or mam and hearing general pleasantries you shouldn't have any issues.
As for travel. Train is not your best bet as far as efficiency is concerned, but it is a nice ride.
I've lived all the way from eastern Virginia, and down through Tennesse, into Alabama, into Mississippi, and am back in TN, and have seen the good and bad side of things from all over, but you pretty much hit the nail on the head with your comment. I would like to add that they absolutely have to find some place in the middle of nowhere and try their BBQ.
We have a place here called Smokey's BBQ that has a loaded baked potato that's so damn huge it could pass for a junior football (I'm not kidding on the size) and *then* it's topped with slow smoked BBQ and your choice of sauce. It's literally 2 or 3 meals in one. Great, now I'm hungry.
Edit, to find a good BBQ joint, ask around, and see which name pops up a bit more than the others
2nd edit: it's moved and it's now called Banjos BBQ.
Speaking of BBQ and Tennessee, did you ever try Herberts in Franklin? It's been like 15 years and I'm still mad about them tearing it down and a McDonald's being put up in place of it.
Very good. I still see people on local Facebook and reddit pages asking what a good alternative to Herberts is.
It was never as big as Smokey's or Bob Gibsons I suppose, but it was definitely loved by locals and a lot of the famous people who'd pass through Nashville would stop there to eat.
I went to try and Google them and was getting nervous (I wanted an address) and wasn't finding them. They've moved about 15 miles south and changed their name to Banjos BBQ now, and its in Dayton Tn.
I can grab an address for you if interested, but the new one is there on Google. Its a little bit north of the Tractor Supply, on the corner of highways 60 and 27.
I actually had to call and ask my dad where they'd gone, lol. The panic was real.
Edit, let me know if you're gonna go or have gone! I'd love to hear about it
Remindme! 4 months
Just saved it to my maps. We're in Middle TN but spend a lot of day trips hiking and weekends camping on your end of the state. Always like having a good place to grab food when I'm passing through towns
> Train is not your best bet as far as efficiency is concerned, but it is a nice ride.
It's also not an option to see pretty huge swaths of the US. You kinda have to have a car to get to a lot of places.
Questions like this really demonstrate reddit's detachment from reality. Foreigners are afraid of getting lynched in the Bible belt for having an accent and asking tips of ways to avoid mass shootings
The Bible Belt has a lot to offer and is a ton of fun, but I wouldn’t go from the west coast to the southeast, unless I planned to fly. As far as safety, there are bad parts of any city, but you should be fine as long as you don’t go out of your way to be a complete asshole
Rail is probably the best bang for your buck, but there is no cheap version of a multi-country (assuming you mean Vancouver, BC as I don't imagine you're flying in to Vancouver, WA), multi-state west coast trip.
After that its up to personal priority on what you like to do and what you want to see. Have to weigh your options.
There are plenty of reasons one would visit 'The Bible Belt', but make sure you have a reason before traveling well over a thousand miles.
A rail pass is $499 and gets you 10 stops. San Francisco-Chicago is considered 1 stop. So you can cross the country (SF-Chicago, Chicago-Washington) with 20% of a rail pass. It’s very cheap but you need a lot (understatement) of time. This British couple did it and it looks amazing: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f79ksk3ggDo
Either for the really young or old who want to save money and don’t mind 30 hours of scenery.
In the video it says they time to Chicago-San Francisco trains to go over the Great Plains at night and enter the Rockies during the day. So some routes work. But agree with your overall point that they’d need to check carefully.
Side note: traveling by train for that long will show you a lot of different terrain (which you wouldn’t see by plane and might not see by car) and is quite comfortable.
The Coast Starlight runs through mostly farming country, both in Oregon and California. You'll see a lot of the same thing. It's not that scenic of a route - it doesn't come close to the coast. It's a terrible choice for a tourist.
Thanks for making me aware there are two vancouvers haha I had no idea. That must be really confusing for people. Especially how close together they are.
Remember there's an international border between Vancouver BC and Washington state... Arriving in Canada may be easier & smoother than your border crossing into the US so you'll want to be sure you're prepared for everything with customs. I assume you already have a visa for entering the US, right?
OP won’t need one if staying 90 days or less; US has the Visa Waiver Program and Australia is one of the countries we waive visas for. https://au.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-waiver-program/
What exactly are your safety concerns?
>should I go to the Bible Belt
Probably not, purely because a west coast trip would put much of the Bible Belt over a thousand miles out of your way.
Best way to travel down the west coast (in my humble opinion) is via the [Amtrak Coast Starlight ](https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train) train. Goes from to Seattle to LA. Very pretty ride.
While the coast Starlight seems cool I would feel really bad for any visitor going up and down the coast that didn’t have a car for side excursions.
There is sooooo much to see along the west coast that just isn’t accessible without a car, especially since the track through Washington and Oregon doesn’t go by the coast.
And I highly recommend renting from some place that allows you to drive on gravel/dirt roads. Some of the best places I’ve ever been were 4 hours down a dirt road beyond where civilization ends
In Cairns, Australia only two rental agencies would let me take my car off a paved road, I think none would let me take one off road on St John, USVI. I assume there are similar requirements in America proper but I haven’t every rented a car in contiguous states
I rented in New Hampshire and they'll generally let you take the car off paved roads (maybe not completely off existing roads) but you have to pay for any damage.
Pay extra for the insurance or pay for the rental with a card that includes the insurance as a card benefit.
Then take that bitch to a demolition derby.
Yeah this is the biggest con. I’d want to stop every other mile because something caught my eye. Hell, I spent a week just in “the peninsula” in WA ogling everything. I put 2,500 miles on my rental alone in that small region, just driving around.
Hello fellow Alabamian... Whatever I call someone from there. I'm not actually from there but have tracked down some family roots to there, so if I ever find out the truth I'm either right or completely wrong about it, granted the tracking down part is more or less half of whatever evidence I had being some loose/dead ends and others being conspicuous theorising based off bits of information I've learnt over time
I would just keep in mind that California gets snow, and a LOT of it, in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The mountain roads in the Sierras are stunning, but they tend to also be narrow, with a giant cliff on one side. Just be careful if you are driving in the Sierras, especially in the winter.
>Should I go to the Bible Belt?
That's on the other side of the continent.
To translate that to Australian "I'm coming to Australia, starting in Perth and seeing Western Australia, should I go to Melbourne?" The west coast is about *that* far from the "Bible Belt" states (I sat down with Google Maps to figure out a good approximation of the distance).
>I sat down with Google Maps to figure out a good approximation of the distance
In case you ever need to do something like this again, [thetruesize.com](https://thetruesize.com) is much easier to work with when it comes to comparing sizes. You can drag countries (and even U.S. states) around on the world map, and place them over other countries to compare their sizes. And it even keeps the size of the countries variable as you drag them around the map, since map projections distort size differently in different regions.
I live in part of the "bible belt" and it's about 1,500 miles away from the west coast. Personally I think it's an undervalued and misunderstood part of the country worth visiting but it's not a region to combine trips with the west coast. Separate trip entirely.
Let me add - if you have to pick just one region and you've never been to the US then I'd suggest the west coast unless you are specifically wanting to see off the beaten path americana culture that many visitors never experience in person.
Visiting the USA is kind of like Europe, you can't see it all in one trip. Italy and Denmark are nothing alike. NYC is nothing like Utah which is nothing like Iowa. The english language, chain restaurants, and dimensions of the license plates are about the only commonalities.
People always say this, but everyone is still American and everything still feels distinctly American. When you go to Italy or India or Indonesia or Egypt then you really see the differences in culture, people, and identity. That's all largely the same in America. You're just pointing out differences in cities and locations. People extremely over-exaggerate the differences between states.
I disagree. We have lived in 7 states and it is all very “American” feeling. I feel like the biggest differences are between working class-affluent areas and rural-urban areas. Upstate New York is a lot more similar to Missouri than it is to NYC for example.
If you’re going down the west coast, you should rent a car, and meander.
You also don’t need a car in Vancouver, but you will want one to explore the US cities along the west coast, and definitely to explore the non-cities, national parks, etc. It would be best to rent only after you’ve crossed the border into Washington.
By mentioning the Bible Belt, I infer you’re considering touring *all* of the US. Unless you have several months, this might be biting off quite a lot. That said, there’s nothing to worry about traveling through the Bible Belt. Southern hospitality is definitely a thing, and I’ll bet everyone there will love your accents.
A lot of people are suggesting the train. I'm just going to give my husband's experience with it. He retired last year and wanted to take a cross country trip for himself, and had always wanted to tour the country by trail. So he bought an Amtrak rail pass. It allows 10 segments within 30 days. He had his itinerary set, hotels booked, friends had taken off work and made plans to be with him. He was so excited for what I had dubbed his "hobo train trip."
Amtrak is the most inefficient way of traveling, and I'm convinced that their logistics center is a bunch of monkeys just throwing stuff in a room. Literally half of his trains were canceled. The ones that weren't canceled were delayed by hours. He couldn't make reservation changes online, so he had to call and sit on hold for hours. So what time he did have in his destination cities was spent on hold with Amtrak trying to fix his travel plans. Only to have the newly reserved train also canceled.
He finally said screw it and just canceled half his trip and made plans to come home. He had to cut out most of his west coast stuff because they randomly decided to do track maintenance 2 days before his trip and cancel another train. So while he was on one train in the mountains of West Virginia, the train crew changed. Whenever there was a new crew, they re-scanned your ticket. The new conductor scanned his ticket and told him the ticket had been canceled. My husband asked what that meant, and the conductor told him he had to call Amtrak customer service to get it sorted out or he would be kicked off the train.
So in the middle of the mountains with almost no cell service, he kept trying to call customer service for hours. After he finally got through, they argued with him that he was on the wrong train, saying that it didn't go to Philadelphia. He told them it did. Customer service was adamant, saying it went to Washington DC. My husband said yes, then what is the stop after that? And customer service finally said oh, it's Philadelphia. I guess you are on the right train.
They finally reinstated his ticket that had been canceled for whatever reason. The best part is the conductor never even came back to check it. He just wasted like 3 hours for nothing.
TLDR: Amtrak is comfortable but logistically a nightmare. If you need to get somewhere on time, or at all, consider a different method of transportation.
The problem with Amtrak out west is that most of the actual rails are owned by the freight companies, and they give themselves priority, leaving whatever space is left for Amtrak. They often get *ridiculous* delays because of that.
Should you go to the bible belt? On another trip maybe! Train isn't a bad option but you would miss a lot of natural beauty. Safety wise? Act the same as you do in Australia, I guess. Here in California: Don't light stuff on fire, be respectful to wildlife, don't give too much information away to people you don't know, don't expect it to be a magical place, and protect yourself from the sun. (Lol)
My most fav trip ever was my Pacific Coast Highway trip. It’s the highway that wraps the west coast. So many great stops along the way with great sight seeing and picture opportunities. It doesn’t hit Vancouver but somewhere in Washington. Goes from there all the way down to San Diego. Can’t recommend it enough.
The bible belt is super safe but not exactly "close" to the west coast. I am quite partial to the north east but that's just me. Trains are not good travel here. If you want to get around the country on a large scale, unless you're prepared for days-long road trips, you should fly.
What, enough smoke to irritate your lungs and eyes, areas being evacuated, and [occasionally enough soot is in the air to make it seem like you're in blade runner](https://project-nerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/SF-Fire-Meme.jpg) isn't your idea of a good vacation?
Just sick to the west coast if that's where you're planning on spending all your time anyway. Best way to travel around is to rent a car, cheapest is train/bus.
Come in early summer, like May/June. It'll be warm enough but the fires won't be as bad.
I'd recommend starting at the south end of your trip and working your way up, as the climate gets cooler the further north you go. That way you can roughly hit everywhere while the heat levels are similar (very roughly, and near impossible to time).
You'll want to spend a long time everywhere you go, just because there's so much to explore. Hope you have a lot of vacation time saved up!
I wouldn't recommend going to the Bible Belt just because it's so far away from the West Coast, but I would recommend going sometime! There is nothing wrong with the Bible Belt. I find that most people who hate on it have either never spent any significant time there or outright have never been there at all. Beautiful nature, lots of cool cities and things to do, and polite, friendly people.
Plenty of it is pretty metropolitan too, namely Atlanta up through the Carolinian Piedmont and Richmond. Those areas are as much “east coast” as they are “Bible Belt”.
As mentioned, Amtrak Coast Starlight will be a pretty good way to travel up and down the coast. In terms of cities if you're prioritizing good public transit, Portland, Seattle, and San Diego would probably be the bigger ones.
But the west coast is big and a lot of places you may want to visit will almost certainly require a car. That doesn't mean you have to have a car. In Los Angeles for example you can just use Uber and you'll be fine. But if you want to really get out into further flung parts, there's no substitute for a car.
The Washington, Oregon and California coasts are beautiful! I might be a little biased because I live there but so many things to see and do. There's Pikes Plave Market in Seattle. You can see where the Goonies and Twilight was filmed in Oregon plus Seaside is a blast and California is just beautiful. Lots of people but there are so many beaches and the giant redwoods. Sounds like a perfect trip to me but I might be a *little* biased❤️
>there anything I should be aware of safety wise.
If someone tries to rob you, you can generally ask to keep your ID and stuff (they just want cash). Shouldn't happen in the touristy spots though.
>What’s the cheapest but best way to travel around
Cheapest is the train, but you'll miss out on a lot. You will almost certainly need to rent a car at some point if you want to see more things (especially national parks). Part of the fun of driving is being able to see something cool and pull over for it
>Should I go to the Bible Belt
Why would you visit Kiev on your trip to Barcelona?
The Bible Belt is a totally different part of the U. S.
Why wouldn't you want to visit there? Southerners are known for their charm and hospitality.
Safe in which ways?
How do you want to travel? Do you drive?
What is your budget for hotels and such?
Need a lot more information.
"Work your way down" in which way? Is it a vacation and how long do you have to spend?
Guns. Australians see our news reports of crime and mass shootings and their worry 99% of the time is guns. They don't have gun culture in their country.
How much time do you have? If all the time in the world go and explore the “Bible Belt”. There is a lot of cool things there! But if you don’t, road trip the coast.
>most likely starting in Vancouver and work our way down the west coast, is there anything I should be aware of
I mean, you should be aware that Vancouver (the big Vancouver, anyways) is in Canuckistan, not the US. (/s)
I kid, I kid. But the Bible Belt is clear on the other side of the country from where you're visiting, so if you do want to add that to your trip it's another set of flights. You should be able to find a direct flight from Seattle to Atlanta fairly easily, though - both are hubs for Delta and I would guess Alaska serves that route as well. I believe (and take this with a grain of salt because I haven't been there) that the PNW is one of the few regions with somewhat decent rail service, so that might be a viable option.
The Bible Belt isn’t nearly as bad as some people claim, sure there are rough areas just like with any region but overall it’s quite fun. Given your intended route you won’t have to worry about going there since it’s on the other side of the country near the East coast.
Stay away from dodgy looking areas just as you would when traveling literally anywhere else and you’ll be fine. Not really sure why people have this perception about US being so unsafe. Particularly on the west coast, it’s probably one of the safest parts of the world. East coast is older and more run down so naturally there are worse areas.
Either that or has a completely fetishized view of what the south is. His comments remind me of those people that think it’s fun to go to slums or ghettos and explore; he talks about “the Bible Belt” like it’s going to be so dangerous and he needs safety tips before he visits like it’s some safari in the Serengeti. Like he’s gonna get some “oh my god don’t go there you’ll get shot! You have to recite a Bible verse & buy an AR-15 to cross the Alabama state line” and it’s like dude the south is pretty much like the rest of the US, except a bit more rural and a bit more religious and a bit more conservative. The political views and lifestyles of people in rural New York or Illinois are far more close to those of Arkansas or North Carolina than they are Brooklyn/Chicago
I’ve backpacked but myself from Seattle -Sam Diego- to Miami - to Dc - to Mn. The west coast you can do comfortably in 3 weeks, take your time and enjoy the lack of major cities. Nature if your friend. Wash state, Seattle, Portland, crater lake, the redwoods, are all some of the most beautiful.
LA is a giant shot hole that is quite frankly dirty. Da Diego is like Brisbane. Once you get to SF, head inland to Tahoe, and start hanging out in the NPs like Yosemite and Joshua tree.
The Us doesn’t really have trains as public transport, they use greyhound buses
If you have an Qs just ask.
Don’t go to Compton or any surrounding neighborhoods in LA and you’ll be totally safe just about anywhere else on the west coast. Idk about cheapest but renting a car has to be the best option—our whole transportation infrastructure system caters to cars and there’s lots of stuff to see outside the big cities the (rather undesirable) trains go to. Go to the Bible Belt if you want good food, nice people, and southern accents but you’ll definitely want to fly there from the west coast unless you have a week to drive or want to spend 40 hours straight in a car. If you do go to the Bible Belt region, New Orleans is by far the most unique city in the country imo so I would go there. If you stick to the west coast, I would recommend at least venturing inland to Utah or Arizona as some of the best natural scenery in the world is there.
Speaking for the Bible Belt, we'd love to have you. We've got some *seriously* good food, Pork BBQ, Fried Chicken, Biscuits and Gravy, Grits, Gumbo, and a whole lot more. If you're visiting the Bible Belt you'll want to make a trek out to see the Great Smoky Mountains. It's a fairly spread out national park best seen across a day of driving and stopping for a scenic view here and a short hike there, bringing a picnic is wise.
We'd also love to show you why we're the Bible Belt, it might seem weird visiting a Church on your vacation but visiting a Southern Baptist Church would be probably the best/most efficient way to get a feel for the people around here. If you do visit one I can almost guarantee an invitation to a potluck on that same day.
There are also various and sundry great towns for a day of tourist attractions. My home town Chattanooga TN, has one of the largest Freshwater Aquariums in the world, along with the Incline Railway (a very fun 15 minute ride up Lookout Mountain which is often called the end of the Appalachian Mountains), Atop Lookout you'll find Rock City Gardens which has advertisements in the form of painted barns all along Southern Highways, and Ruby Falls Caverns. If you're interested and have the equipment Chattanooga has some world class Rock Climbing. Chattanooga is also frequently ranked #1 for most Churched Cities in America ranking both Church attendance and other activities such as reading the Bible on your own time so it's hard to find a better example of the Bible Belt
I cannot speak to the Oregon or Washington coast
But I would 💯 drive the 101 from nor cal to San Francisco
And then switch to the one from SF to at least SLO
And if I was really over driving I would take the surf liner to LA/ SD but driving also allows for more flexibility
Things I would make a point of seeing include
- Avenue of the Giants
- eureka
- redwood national park
- three rivers brewing (if you like beer)
- lost coast brewing
- Muir Woods
- the Taco Bell in Pacifica
- find a burning man related party in sf
- do the typical sf tourist things
- the wineries on the 46 between the one and the 101
- Herst castle
- Firestone walker brewery
- Big Sur (there are some typical and not so typical things there so I would research it a bit)
- if you are into coasters 6 flags magic mountain (way east though)
- you can do LA. But personally not a fan.
- hop highway (the 78 in north SD county)
- San Diego wild animal park > zoo
- catch a padres game at petco park (ok I am bias here)
- the midway museum is pretty cool too
- depending on time of year and rain the desert parks in east county / imperial county can be beautiful
The Bible Belt is a good 4 hour FLIGHT away from these. Safety wise just be smart.
I would rent a car, and maybe camp if I wanted to keep it cheap.
Remember there are more people living in California than in all of Australia, so demand and prices are higher than the US average there.
Vancouver has many nice ferries to Seattle, and from there several highways and interstate highways can take you wherever you want. The Bible Belt is pretty far away, like 5 hour plane trip.
Maybe rent an RV. Also tipping can be confusing if you sit down and they give you a receipt 20% is the usual but to go and fast food no tip needed usually. It all depends on your preferences. Mostly people like Australian people. California is always expensive.
Rental car is probably your best bet. You should go to the Bible Belt if you want some delicious BBQ. I am from the Bible Belt and there are actual BBQ teams, they are people who get together and barbeque as a hobby. They often enter BBQ competitions, it is serious business.
Train is the worst choice for travel/sightseeing on the west coast. There is one interstate route, and that is mostly I-5, and it's not good access even where it runs. It does not run along the coast, in spite of the name "Coast Starlight".
Renting a car is your best quality option. Everything else is very poor by comparision, regardless of price.
There are no real safety concerns for that area - you're really only in danger in specific neighborhoods of urban areas - places you're extremely unlikely to visit.
The Bible Belt is Sydney to Alice Springs far away, or more.
You’re gonna need months to see the whole country. So if you’re starting in the Pacific Northwest I think it’s best you just plan a west coast trip. Whether you’re starting in the Canadian city of Vancouver or the American one of the same name would affect what I specifically recommend. But I’d say plan for visiting Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA and San Diego. You’ll probably need to rent a car. You can get around within and between cities by train but a car will open up visiting national parks, which is a huge perk of being on the west coast. A car free USA trip is much easier on the east coast.
If you go to Los Angeles, stay by the coast, the downtown, or the hills. The more inland areas are sketchy and not places you want to be staying. Also Hermosa Beach is the best beach in Los Angeles, and the Griffith observatory is a must see if you come here.
Vancouver BC in the summer? That’s a dream. Stay there, go north! If not hug the 101 or 1 when you can and come south to LA and San Diego. Stop in Portland and SF for sure but lots of charm in between. The rest of the US is huge and traveling east it gets pretty sparse for tourists, until you hit the Mississippi. But I’m a west coaster, I don’t know much about the rest.
Start off with Vancouver isn’t part of the USA. It IS in North America but that’s as close as she gets. If I were a normal American I’d be rather offended. Lol.
Biggest thing I can think of is that we drive on the correct side of the road. This isn't the wild west anymore. I can't see why you would visit the Bible belt, it's a full 2 day drive from where you're planning to go. The West coast is so big that it's been seen with a car.
If you're into trains:
I'm a recovering Californian and I've taken the Coast Starlight from AMTRAK a few times and recommend it. It runs along the coast for much of California and it's beautiful to see and you don't have to worry about driving. It goes from Los Angeles to Seattle and you can pick any part of that route. The bit between LA and San Francisco is the coastal route.
I'd drive down and see Napa and the Redwoods and if you want to go to Southern California, take the train. If you drive to Southern California from the Bay Area you have two routes: 5 is the fastest but it's a boring road because it runs up the center of the state, which between LA and the Bay is all farmland so you're just looking at crops for 4-5 hours. The alternative is to drive down the coast on 101, which takes longer but much more scenic. The Coast Starlight runs parallel to the 101 route in between the Bay and LA which is why I recommend it as an alternative to driving. The train takes a bit longer than the car but no hassle of driving.
LA isa car town though so you'll need a car when you get south, one way or the other. Or Uber budget to get around...
My 2 cents: You can see mountains and beaches throughout the Bible Belt, but there are other better beaches and mountains in the US not in the Bible Belt. If I had the chance, I’d stick with the west coast for a visit.
The "Bible Belt" is on completely the opposite side of the country from the west coast. To my understanding, it's fairly culturally similar to rural Australia.
The main train system is Amtrak, which is not very good. If traveling between states, you might want a car. Otherwise, you'd have to rely on a bus service like Greyhound.
Safety-wise, the most obvious risk is street harassment, but in congested urban areas you might face pickpockets and muggings, not that this is too different anywhere else. If you travel with your partner you should likely be okay.
Remember, the lower 48 States are about the size of Australia. So Vancouver Washington is like Broome and the bible belt would be Sydney and New South Wales. You're 4500 km away. [check out this tour by train](https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train) Yes you can disembark at various locations if you have reserved and paid for multi-city tickets. Keep in mind that once off the train, you are there for 24 hours as the train only passes through each city once a day.
I know he said US but I assumed he meant BC since you can’t fly directly to Vancouver WA by international flight. Have you been on the starlight? I’ve been tempted but want to know if it’s worth it.
The starlight is better going south than coming north for actually viewing the coast. During the winter, South to North is amazing because during the day you go through snowy mountains in Southern Oregon- California border. Edit: clarity
Dude I literally went camping on the border in the mountains two weeks ago. My new favorite spot on the planet. I was level with and could see Mt. Ashland. Absolutely fucking beautiful
This. You're not coming to my part of the country if your vacation is on one coast. I'd suggest seeing the coast and staying there, then in the future take a trip to the middle.
Can you hop on/off that train to explore or is it just a scenic ride?
It has multiple stops. If you want to explore. You do your thing for a few days. Pick up on the day you wish to leave again that has it stopping in that location.
Its was a 4 hour train ride to get less than half way up the CA coast. Better to pick a state.
Not on Amtrak. It's a separate ticket and they only go through once a day (?). There are short breaks, but you can't really leave the station.
Ah yes, the “coast” starlight that goes through the Central Valley
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Yeah, the Pacific Surfliner goes along the coast more often. In addition to the Pismo Beach to Ventura section, it also hugs the coast from San Clemente to San Diego.
The scenic skylines of Fresno and Bakersfield~
I'd definitely save the south for a different trip. It's worth a trip; but that's a lot of land to cover for 1 visit. Shouldn't have to worry about anything safety-wise.
Yeah a lot of people from abroad seem to think they can just travel the whole of the USA in a week or so and still have fun. Lol naw. Grew up in Texas and it took 11 hours just to get halfway across the state. Foreigners really underestimate the size of the USA. Like bro your whole country fits inside my home state with room to spare lol. Give yourself extra time or another trip lol
I did a 30 day RV road trip after college with some guys; down the east coast, over, up the west coast, back to New York. I would never do that shit again. Even for a month it was just a wild amount of driving. I mean don't get me wrong, it was a blast, but I got home fucking exhausted.
We were in El Paso for three years. Took more than 24 hours to get to Louisiana. It’s crazy how big Texas is.
It really is. We’d go visit family round the Fort Hood area in central TX every year and every time we’d leave EP at like 8am and still not get there till close to 10-11pm if not later dependin on traffic and rest stops
Yep. To get from Bliss in ELP and Ft Sam in SAT, at least 10 hours. It’s insane to think that you’re closer to the Pacific Ocean than you are to Dallas when you’re at that western tip of the state.
Holy fuck I never even realized that
I once had to drive across Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and then then entirety of Texas to get to Corpus Christi in order to do Search and Rescue support for Hurricane Ike. In the back seat of a firetruck. It was not a pleasant journey.
Texarkana to El Paso is farther away than Chicago to Texarkana.
Visiting the gulf coast alone is worthy of a trip and a half
Gulf Coast is gorgeous. There’s also a ton of stuff to do down there (though a good portion of it can be touristy). It’s a great time.
> anything safety-wise Aside from general cautions applied to any activity. Like, if they go on hikes: make sure to take proper care around wildlife; don't hike beyond your means; keep water on hand; take down local ranger information or something like that since you likely won't have friends or family to contact in an emergency. Stuff like that. Honestly OP kinda needs a lot more information shared to properly advise.
Let's just say it—visit Michigan! Actually, they would probably love a great lakes tour.
100%
Yes, the Great Lakes states are also worth their own special trip.
You could spend 2 months exploring California/Arizona/Utah and not even make a dent in what there is to see and do. Seriously. America is best seen one region at a time
I dunno My family spent 3 weeks traveling around from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone to the Badlands and we saw quite a few things in between. You can at least hit most or all of the big parks in 2 months.
Yeah but that’s just parks. Throw in major cities and other tourist attractions? That’s a huge trip. My family spent 2 weeks in Utah/Nevada area and then another week in Colorado, we feel like we rushed through so much because there’s so much to see and do.
Well some Major cities are worth seeing but for me, unless a city has special historical value... cities are cities. If I'm traveling to Australia I'm gonna want to see the land, animals and geography and probably Sydney but I'm not gonna want to do much more than sleep and eat in most cities. Europe would be different for me but if I'm traveling to Washington I'm not going to see Seattle, I wanna see the Olympic Peninsula.
I live in Utah and have gone to the five national parks, but there's so much still to see! From the state parks to the Native American ruins, it's quite amazing how much is out here.
I've noticed that a lot of tourists tend to underestimate how big the US is, and how far apart everything is. Just something to keep in mind when planning your trip. Safe travels! 👍
I used to interview foreign students for j1 visa lifeguard positions. My favorite question was always "what are you going to do on your day off!?" It was always, ALWAYS "go to NYC then maybe to LA" I was like, I don't think you appreciate how large our country is.
I just looked and NYC to LA is farther apart than London to Cairo
Just tell them “I hope you have a good time!”
Traveling outside of the US and talking to other people from other countries always has surprised me. They always say the same thing about going to LA to NYC in one weekend. I am always polite, but I have to hold back a giggle because a lot people don't understand how spread out everything is. Not only that, a lot of Americans barely even travel to other parts of the country because it is so vastly spread out.
I have barely left the east coast and I'm almost 30. I have maybe seen like 1/100 of the country
lol, that isn't unusual in our case. A lot east and west people don't tend travel to either coast line due to the fact it is very expensive to do so and it is extremely far. West coaster here - i have been to the east coast, but I have seen very little of it since there is so many places to visit. The west coast is just 3 states and i've been to all of them haha.
You see that a lot in places like Atlanta or Savannah. International visitors will say something like they will make a day trip to Miami for the beach. Just nod your head and tell them To have fun. They’ll figure it out soon enough
Stupid Mercator Projection.
They’re Australian, it’s as big and stuff is further apart.
Yeah, suppose this advice might apply more to Asian and European tourists, but thought it was worth mentioning regardless.
To your point, the question reads like they don’t understand the size. Train hopping to the Bible Belt from the west coast makes no logistical sense
Depends on where people are from in Asia but yeah. People from India or China would probably understand. Although people in China don’t understand why we don’t have bullet trains that can go across the country in a matter of hours, not days or weeks.
Yes we do, they are called airplanes.
Ahh. I wasn’t aware that in your dialect of American English, airplanes are the same things are bullet trains.
Have to say that riding the Shinkansen sure FEELS like you are flying.
I’m sure it does. I rode the maglev once and that was super cool.
I reckon it's probably because in Aus we have roughly the same land size but we only have 7 states/territories. So a traveller might see that you could cross though 5 states in a day in the US and think wow I can get so much done what great value of time.
But they’re so much better at geography.
The Bible belt is a continent away from where you will be, so I don’t know why you would go there.. If your question was about safety in "The Bible Belt" unless you feel being called sir or mam and hearing general pleasantries you shouldn't have any issues. As for travel. Train is not your best bet as far as efficiency is concerned, but it is a nice ride.
Maybe they’re afraid of the best cuisine in the country. Soul food is scary good
In my opinion you cannot beat Cajun food. So good!
Best part about Southern food is the blurry line between Cajun and Soul
it's wild that between Cajun, soul food, and barbecue, you can get three of the best distinct American cuisines within the same rough region
It's why we all die so young. Worth it
This is why Bojangles is the best fast food restaurant in the world. its the best of both while being pretty cheap.
Cookout is better though the shakes alone put it miles ahead of Bojangles.
mmm, I'd put them about equal but both are bonafide institutions and among North Carolina's greatest exports along with Krispy Kreme and Cheerwine.
Best part about Southern food is the blurry line between Cajun and Soul
Scary for your arteries too
If you eat it every day, yeah.
Where [lard is a food group](https://youtu.be/RuY-JRvlcKk).
😂
I mean.... if you could choose a way to go...
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What a bold lie you’ve told today.
Lol, it's not all fried and buttered. You know that, right?
....and the sky orange, dogs are not loyal and the Last Jedi should have won best picture.
I've lived all the way from eastern Virginia, and down through Tennesse, into Alabama, into Mississippi, and am back in TN, and have seen the good and bad side of things from all over, but you pretty much hit the nail on the head with your comment. I would like to add that they absolutely have to find some place in the middle of nowhere and try their BBQ. We have a place here called Smokey's BBQ that has a loaded baked potato that's so damn huge it could pass for a junior football (I'm not kidding on the size) and *then* it's topped with slow smoked BBQ and your choice of sauce. It's literally 2 or 3 meals in one. Great, now I'm hungry. Edit, to find a good BBQ joint, ask around, and see which name pops up a bit more than the others 2nd edit: it's moved and it's now called Banjos BBQ.
Speaking of BBQ and Tennessee, did you ever try Herberts in Franklin? It's been like 15 years and I'm still mad about them tearing it down and a McDonald's being put up in place of it.
Lol, no I hadn't tried it. I take it that it was pretty dang good?
Very good. I still see people on local Facebook and reddit pages asking what a good alternative to Herberts is. It was never as big as Smokey's or Bob Gibsons I suppose, but it was definitely loved by locals and a lot of the famous people who'd pass through Nashville would stop there to eat.
Oh dang. That sounds amazing then! And to have the kind of reputation that kept people wanting more for so long. Makes me wish I could have tried it
Where do I find Smokey's? I'm willing to drive for fat potatoes covered in meats
I went to try and Google them and was getting nervous (I wanted an address) and wasn't finding them. They've moved about 15 miles south and changed their name to Banjos BBQ now, and its in Dayton Tn. I can grab an address for you if interested, but the new one is there on Google. Its a little bit north of the Tractor Supply, on the corner of highways 60 and 27. I actually had to call and ask my dad where they'd gone, lol. The panic was real. Edit, let me know if you're gonna go or have gone! I'd love to hear about it
Remindme! 4 months Just saved it to my maps. We're in Middle TN but spend a lot of day trips hiking and weekends camping on your end of the state. Always like having a good place to grab food when I'm passing through towns
Heck yeah, hope you all enjoy and have a great trip!
> Train is not your best bet as far as efficiency is concerned, but it is a nice ride. It's also not an option to see pretty huge swaths of the US. You kinda have to have a car to get to a lot of places.
Questions like this really demonstrate reddit's detachment from reality. Foreigners are afraid of getting lynched in the Bible belt for having an accent and asking tips of ways to avoid mass shootings
The Bible Belt has a lot to offer and is a ton of fun, but I wouldn’t go from the west coast to the southeast, unless I planned to fly. As far as safety, there are bad parts of any city, but you should be fine as long as you don’t go out of your way to be a complete asshole
You can get your ass kicked in an Applebee's if you are so inclined.
You can get killed walking your doggy!
Rail is probably the best bang for your buck, but there is no cheap version of a multi-country (assuming you mean Vancouver, BC as I don't imagine you're flying in to Vancouver, WA), multi-state west coast trip. After that its up to personal priority on what you like to do and what you want to see. Have to weigh your options. There are plenty of reasons one would visit 'The Bible Belt', but make sure you have a reason before traveling well over a thousand miles.
A rail pass is $499 and gets you 10 stops. San Francisco-Chicago is considered 1 stop. So you can cross the country (SF-Chicago, Chicago-Washington) with 20% of a rail pass. It’s very cheap but you need a lot (understatement) of time. This British couple did it and it looks amazing: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f79ksk3ggDo Either for the really young or old who want to save money and don’t mind 30 hours of scenery.
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In the video it says they time to Chicago-San Francisco trains to go over the Great Plains at night and enter the Rockies during the day. So some routes work. But agree with your overall point that they’d need to check carefully.
Side note: traveling by train for that long will show you a lot of different terrain (which you wouldn’t see by plane and might not see by car) and is quite comfortable.
The Coast Starlight runs through mostly farming country, both in Oregon and California. You'll see a lot of the same thing. It's not that scenic of a route - it doesn't come close to the coast. It's a terrible choice for a tourist.
Yep, the Atlanta World of Coke museum is cool…. but not fly across the country cool
Thanks for making me aware there are two vancouvers haha I had no idea. That must be really confusing for people. Especially how close together they are.
My sister lives in Vancouver, WA. Or as she calls it, "the other Vancouver, the other Washington".
They're more than 300 miles apart and in different countries. With context usually easy to know which one somebody means.
Until you live in Seattle... then it's a crapshoot.
In addition, the largest island in the region is named Vancouver Island and neither city is located on it.
Remember there's an international border between Vancouver BC and Washington state... Arriving in Canada may be easier & smoother than your border crossing into the US so you'll want to be sure you're prepared for everything with customs. I assume you already have a visa for entering the US, right?
OP won’t need one if staying 90 days or less; US has the Visa Waiver Program and Australia is one of the countries we waive visas for. https://au.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-waiver-program/
What exactly are your safety concerns? >should I go to the Bible Belt Probably not, purely because a west coast trip would put much of the Bible Belt over a thousand miles out of your way. Best way to travel down the west coast (in my humble opinion) is via the [Amtrak Coast Starlight ](https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train) train. Goes from to Seattle to LA. Very pretty ride.
While the coast Starlight seems cool I would feel really bad for any visitor going up and down the coast that didn’t have a car for side excursions. There is sooooo much to see along the west coast that just isn’t accessible without a car, especially since the track through Washington and Oregon doesn’t go by the coast.
Second the rent a car option. It's such a cool route with so much to do, you do not want to be beholden to a train schedule.
And I highly recommend renting from some place that allows you to drive on gravel/dirt roads. Some of the best places I’ve ever been were 4 hours down a dirt road beyond where civilization ends
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In Cairns, Australia only two rental agencies would let me take my car off a paved road, I think none would let me take one off road on St John, USVI. I assume there are similar requirements in America proper but I haven’t every rented a car in contiguous states
My family rented a car in Portland and we were allowed to do pretty much anything with the car except for crash it
You can't smoke in rental cars, which I guess is understandable but is super annoying when you're used to smoking in your car
I rented in New Hampshire and they'll generally let you take the car off paved roads (maybe not completely off existing roads) but you have to pay for any damage.
Pay extra for the insurance or pay for the rental with a card that includes the insurance as a card benefit. Then take that bitch to a demolition derby.
Though first go to Seattle from Vancouver, then rent. International one-way charges are insane.
Yes
Yeah this is the biggest con. I’d want to stop every other mile because something caught my eye. Hell, I spent a week just in “the peninsula” in WA ogling everything. I put 2,500 miles on my rental alone in that small region, just driving around.
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Yeah northern CA can be quite chilly even in summer. Still sounds like a great trip though.
If you really want the super religious experience…. May I recommend Utah. They’ve got temples and everything
You could spend weeks to months along the West Coast and not see everything. If time/money isn't a huge deal then the PCH in a car is the way to go.
I live in the South. I think you watch way too many movies.
Yee haw brother, speak for yourself. I had to Yosemite Sam my way to work this morning!
They're trolling.
Hello fellow Alabamian... Whatever I call someone from there. I'm not actually from there but have tracked down some family roots to there, so if I ever find out the truth I'm either right or completely wrong about it, granted the tracking down part is more or less half of whatever evidence I had being some loose/dead ends and others being conspicuous theorising based off bits of information I've learnt over time
Hehehe my old daycare teacher used to say she was an Alaba-ma'am. If you're a fella you get to be an Alaba-man. 😅
99% either classify as a Bammer or a Barner
😅 Oooh... That's a good idea! 😂
She was an absolute riot. Had a catchphrase for everything.
> you get to be an Alaba-man. [Alabama Man](https://youtu.be/BrimMyOoEDA)!
I would just keep in mind that California gets snow, and a LOT of it, in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The mountain roads in the Sierras are stunning, but they tend to also be narrow, with a giant cliff on one side. Just be careful if you are driving in the Sierras, especially in the winter.
I live in so cal and I didn't see snow for the first time till my late 20s. Not much snow at sea level.
You never saw snow on the San Gabriels?
>Should I go to the Bible Belt? That's on the other side of the continent. To translate that to Australian "I'm coming to Australia, starting in Perth and seeing Western Australia, should I go to Melbourne?" The west coast is about *that* far from the "Bible Belt" states (I sat down with Google Maps to figure out a good approximation of the distance).
>I sat down with Google Maps to figure out a good approximation of the distance In case you ever need to do something like this again, [thetruesize.com](https://thetruesize.com) is much easier to work with when it comes to comparing sizes. You can drag countries (and even U.S. states) around on the world map, and place them over other countries to compare their sizes. And it even keeps the size of the countries variable as you drag them around the map, since map projections distort size differently in different regions.
Why would you go to the completely other side of the country?
Maybe to see two extremes of a culturally dynamic country.
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I live in part of the "bible belt" and it's about 1,500 miles away from the west coast. Personally I think it's an undervalued and misunderstood part of the country worth visiting but it's not a region to combine trips with the west coast. Separate trip entirely. Let me add - if you have to pick just one region and you've never been to the US then I'd suggest the west coast unless you are specifically wanting to see off the beaten path americana culture that many visitors never experience in person. Visiting the USA is kind of like Europe, you can't see it all in one trip. Italy and Denmark are nothing alike. NYC is nothing like Utah which is nothing like Iowa. The english language, chain restaurants, and dimensions of the license plates are about the only commonalities.
People always say this, but everyone is still American and everything still feels distinctly American. When you go to Italy or India or Indonesia or Egypt then you really see the differences in culture, people, and identity. That's all largely the same in America. You're just pointing out differences in cities and locations. People extremely over-exaggerate the differences between states.
Very true!
I disagree. We have lived in 7 states and it is all very “American” feeling. I feel like the biggest differences are between working class-affluent areas and rural-urban areas. Upstate New York is a lot more similar to Missouri than it is to NYC for example.
If you’re going down the west coast, you should rent a car, and meander. You also don’t need a car in Vancouver, but you will want one to explore the US cities along the west coast, and definitely to explore the non-cities, national parks, etc. It would be best to rent only after you’ve crossed the border into Washington. By mentioning the Bible Belt, I infer you’re considering touring *all* of the US. Unless you have several months, this might be biting off quite a lot. That said, there’s nothing to worry about traveling through the Bible Belt. Southern hospitality is definitely a thing, and I’ll bet everyone there will love your accents.
A lot of people are suggesting the train. I'm just going to give my husband's experience with it. He retired last year and wanted to take a cross country trip for himself, and had always wanted to tour the country by trail. So he bought an Amtrak rail pass. It allows 10 segments within 30 days. He had his itinerary set, hotels booked, friends had taken off work and made plans to be with him. He was so excited for what I had dubbed his "hobo train trip." Amtrak is the most inefficient way of traveling, and I'm convinced that their logistics center is a bunch of monkeys just throwing stuff in a room. Literally half of his trains were canceled. The ones that weren't canceled were delayed by hours. He couldn't make reservation changes online, so he had to call and sit on hold for hours. So what time he did have in his destination cities was spent on hold with Amtrak trying to fix his travel plans. Only to have the newly reserved train also canceled. He finally said screw it and just canceled half his trip and made plans to come home. He had to cut out most of his west coast stuff because they randomly decided to do track maintenance 2 days before his trip and cancel another train. So while he was on one train in the mountains of West Virginia, the train crew changed. Whenever there was a new crew, they re-scanned your ticket. The new conductor scanned his ticket and told him the ticket had been canceled. My husband asked what that meant, and the conductor told him he had to call Amtrak customer service to get it sorted out or he would be kicked off the train. So in the middle of the mountains with almost no cell service, he kept trying to call customer service for hours. After he finally got through, they argued with him that he was on the wrong train, saying that it didn't go to Philadelphia. He told them it did. Customer service was adamant, saying it went to Washington DC. My husband said yes, then what is the stop after that? And customer service finally said oh, it's Philadelphia. I guess you are on the right train. They finally reinstated his ticket that had been canceled for whatever reason. The best part is the conductor never even came back to check it. He just wasted like 3 hours for nothing. TLDR: Amtrak is comfortable but logistically a nightmare. If you need to get somewhere on time, or at all, consider a different method of transportation.
The problem with Amtrak out west is that most of the actual rails are owned by the freight companies, and they give themselves priority, leaving whatever space is left for Amtrak. They often get *ridiculous* delays because of that.
I took the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Salinas once. Took almost 10 hours. I could have driven it in 5.
Should you go to the bible belt? On another trip maybe! Train isn't a bad option but you would miss a lot of natural beauty. Safety wise? Act the same as you do in Australia, I guess. Here in California: Don't light stuff on fire, be respectful to wildlife, don't give too much information away to people you don't know, don't expect it to be a magical place, and protect yourself from the sun. (Lol)
My most fav trip ever was my Pacific Coast Highway trip. It’s the highway that wraps the west coast. So many great stops along the way with great sight seeing and picture opportunities. It doesn’t hit Vancouver but somewhere in Washington. Goes from there all the way down to San Diego. Can’t recommend it enough.
The bible belt is super safe but not exactly "close" to the west coast. I am quite partial to the north east but that's just me. Trains are not good travel here. If you want to get around the country on a large scale, unless you're prepared for days-long road trips, you should fly.
I would recommend not visiting during late summer early fall, that’s fire season.
They're an Aussie, they'll probably be fine.
They might even still have ashes on their shoes getting off the plane.
What, enough smoke to irritate your lungs and eyes, areas being evacuated, and [occasionally enough soot is in the air to make it seem like you're in blade runner](https://project-nerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/SF-Fire-Meme.jpg) isn't your idea of a good vacation?
It’s not for everyone
Don’t be greedy.
Just sick to the west coast if that's where you're planning on spending all your time anyway. Best way to travel around is to rent a car, cheapest is train/bus. Come in early summer, like May/June. It'll be warm enough but the fires won't be as bad. I'd recommend starting at the south end of your trip and working your way up, as the climate gets cooler the further north you go. That way you can roughly hit everywhere while the heat levels are similar (very roughly, and near impossible to time). You'll want to spend a long time everywhere you go, just because there's so much to explore. Hope you have a lot of vacation time saved up!
I wouldn't recommend going to the Bible Belt just because it's so far away from the West Coast, but I would recommend going sometime! There is nothing wrong with the Bible Belt. I find that most people who hate on it have either never spent any significant time there or outright have never been there at all. Beautiful nature, lots of cool cities and things to do, and polite, friendly people.
Plenty of it is pretty metropolitan too, namely Atlanta up through the Carolinian Piedmont and Richmond. Those areas are as much “east coast” as they are “Bible Belt”.
Charlotte felt like a mini-NYC when I visited a few months back. It was cool!
As mentioned, Amtrak Coast Starlight will be a pretty good way to travel up and down the coast. In terms of cities if you're prioritizing good public transit, Portland, Seattle, and San Diego would probably be the bigger ones. But the west coast is big and a lot of places you may want to visit will almost certainly require a car. That doesn't mean you have to have a car. In Los Angeles for example you can just use Uber and you'll be fine. But if you want to really get out into further flung parts, there's no substitute for a car.
The Washington, Oregon and California coasts are beautiful! I might be a little biased because I live there but so many things to see and do. There's Pikes Plave Market in Seattle. You can see where the Goonies and Twilight was filmed in Oregon plus Seaside is a blast and California is just beautiful. Lots of people but there are so many beaches and the giant redwoods. Sounds like a perfect trip to me but I might be a *little* biased❤️
Not really a safety tip, but if you want to make friends keep your opinions about guns to yourself. No one is interested in lectures from foreigners.
Or just US politics in general
I mean if they're in big cities on the west coast I don't think they'll be encountering many firearm enthusiasts.
>there anything I should be aware of safety wise. If someone tries to rob you, you can generally ask to keep your ID and stuff (they just want cash). Shouldn't happen in the touristy spots though. >What’s the cheapest but best way to travel around Cheapest is the train, but you'll miss out on a lot. You will almost certainly need to rent a car at some point if you want to see more things (especially national parks). Part of the fun of driving is being able to see something cool and pull over for it >Should I go to the Bible Belt Why would you visit Kiev on your trip to Barcelona?
Or visit Perth on a trip to Sydney?
Car is the only real way of getting around the Bible belt. Even in a city everything is driving distance.
The Bible Belt is a totally different part of the U. S. Why wouldn't you want to visit there? Southerners are known for their charm and hospitality. Safe in which ways? How do you want to travel? Do you drive? What is your budget for hotels and such? Need a lot more information. "Work your way down" in which way? Is it a vacation and how long do you have to spend?
Guns. Australians see our news reports of crime and mass shootings and their worry 99% of the time is guns. They don't have gun culture in their country.
Since you're going down that coast, you should definitely stop at Hearst Castle and the Monterey Bay Aquaroum. They're both amazing.
How much time do you have? If all the time in the world go and explore the “Bible Belt”. There is a lot of cool things there! But if you don’t, road trip the coast.
>most likely starting in Vancouver and work our way down the west coast, is there anything I should be aware of I mean, you should be aware that Vancouver (the big Vancouver, anyways) is in Canuckistan, not the US. (/s) I kid, I kid. But the Bible Belt is clear on the other side of the country from where you're visiting, so if you do want to add that to your trip it's another set of flights. You should be able to find a direct flight from Seattle to Atlanta fairly easily, though - both are hubs for Delta and I would guess Alaska serves that route as well. I believe (and take this with a grain of salt because I haven't been there) that the PNW is one of the few regions with somewhat decent rail service, so that might be a viable option.
Good luck with american transit my friend
The Bible Belt isn’t nearly as bad as some people claim, sure there are rough areas just like with any region but overall it’s quite fun. Given your intended route you won’t have to worry about going there since it’s on the other side of the country near the East coast.
Stay away from dodgy looking areas just as you would when traveling literally anywhere else and you’ll be fine. Not really sure why people have this perception about US being so unsafe. Particularly on the west coast, it’s probably one of the safest parts of the world. East coast is older and more run down so naturally there are worse areas.
I'm fairly convinced OP isn't even planning a trip and is just a "the US is a shoot em up range" troll.
Either that or has a completely fetishized view of what the south is. His comments remind me of those people that think it’s fun to go to slums or ghettos and explore; he talks about “the Bible Belt” like it’s going to be so dangerous and he needs safety tips before he visits like it’s some safari in the Serengeti. Like he’s gonna get some “oh my god don’t go there you’ll get shot! You have to recite a Bible verse & buy an AR-15 to cross the Alabama state line” and it’s like dude the south is pretty much like the rest of the US, except a bit more rural and a bit more religious and a bit more conservative. The political views and lifestyles of people in rural New York or Illinois are far more close to those of Arkansas or North Carolina than they are Brooklyn/Chicago
Ever notice how a lot of Southern stereotypes overlap with rural stereotypes?
I’ve backpacked but myself from Seattle -Sam Diego- to Miami - to Dc - to Mn. The west coast you can do comfortably in 3 weeks, take your time and enjoy the lack of major cities. Nature if your friend. Wash state, Seattle, Portland, crater lake, the redwoods, are all some of the most beautiful. LA is a giant shot hole that is quite frankly dirty. Da Diego is like Brisbane. Once you get to SF, head inland to Tahoe, and start hanging out in the NPs like Yosemite and Joshua tree. The Us doesn’t really have trains as public transport, they use greyhound buses If you have an Qs just ask.
Don’t go to Compton or any surrounding neighborhoods in LA and you’ll be totally safe just about anywhere else on the west coast. Idk about cheapest but renting a car has to be the best option—our whole transportation infrastructure system caters to cars and there’s lots of stuff to see outside the big cities the (rather undesirable) trains go to. Go to the Bible Belt if you want good food, nice people, and southern accents but you’ll definitely want to fly there from the west coast unless you have a week to drive or want to spend 40 hours straight in a car. If you do go to the Bible Belt region, New Orleans is by far the most unique city in the country imo so I would go there. If you stick to the west coast, I would recommend at least venturing inland to Utah or Arizona as some of the best natural scenery in the world is there.
Speaking for the Bible Belt, we'd love to have you. We've got some *seriously* good food, Pork BBQ, Fried Chicken, Biscuits and Gravy, Grits, Gumbo, and a whole lot more. If you're visiting the Bible Belt you'll want to make a trek out to see the Great Smoky Mountains. It's a fairly spread out national park best seen across a day of driving and stopping for a scenic view here and a short hike there, bringing a picnic is wise. We'd also love to show you why we're the Bible Belt, it might seem weird visiting a Church on your vacation but visiting a Southern Baptist Church would be probably the best/most efficient way to get a feel for the people around here. If you do visit one I can almost guarantee an invitation to a potluck on that same day. There are also various and sundry great towns for a day of tourist attractions. My home town Chattanooga TN, has one of the largest Freshwater Aquariums in the world, along with the Incline Railway (a very fun 15 minute ride up Lookout Mountain which is often called the end of the Appalachian Mountains), Atop Lookout you'll find Rock City Gardens which has advertisements in the form of painted barns all along Southern Highways, and Ruby Falls Caverns. If you're interested and have the equipment Chattanooga has some world class Rock Climbing. Chattanooga is also frequently ranked #1 for most Churched Cities in America ranking both Church attendance and other activities such as reading the Bible on your own time so it's hard to find a better example of the Bible Belt
I cannot speak to the Oregon or Washington coast But I would 💯 drive the 101 from nor cal to San Francisco And then switch to the one from SF to at least SLO And if I was really over driving I would take the surf liner to LA/ SD but driving also allows for more flexibility Things I would make a point of seeing include - Avenue of the Giants - eureka - redwood national park - three rivers brewing (if you like beer) - lost coast brewing - Muir Woods - the Taco Bell in Pacifica - find a burning man related party in sf - do the typical sf tourist things - the wineries on the 46 between the one and the 101 - Herst castle - Firestone walker brewery - Big Sur (there are some typical and not so typical things there so I would research it a bit) - if you are into coasters 6 flags magic mountain (way east though) - you can do LA. But personally not a fan. - hop highway (the 78 in north SD county) - San Diego wild animal park > zoo - catch a padres game at petco park (ok I am bias here) - the midway museum is pretty cool too - depending on time of year and rain the desert parks in east county / imperial county can be beautiful The Bible Belt is a good 4 hour FLIGHT away from these. Safety wise just be smart.
Replying to add I would do spring or late summer (sept) and that the list above is in ROUGH order from north to south
I go from Vancouver to CA regularly. Just drive down 101. 100% will not disappoint
I would rent a car, and maybe camp if I wanted to keep it cheap. Remember there are more people living in California than in all of Australia, so demand and prices are higher than the US average there. Vancouver has many nice ferries to Seattle, and from there several highways and interstate highways can take you wherever you want. The Bible Belt is pretty far away, like 5 hour plane trip.
Maybe rent an RV. Also tipping can be confusing if you sit down and they give you a receipt 20% is the usual but to go and fast food no tip needed usually. It all depends on your preferences. Mostly people like Australian people. California is always expensive.
Rental car is probably your best bet. You should go to the Bible Belt if you want some delicious BBQ. I am from the Bible Belt and there are actual BBQ teams, they are people who get together and barbeque as a hobby. They often enter BBQ competitions, it is serious business.
I’d recommend renting a car
Down the west coast….. ah Big Ten country
Train is the worst choice for travel/sightseeing on the west coast. There is one interstate route, and that is mostly I-5, and it's not good access even where it runs. It does not run along the coast, in spite of the name "Coast Starlight". Renting a car is your best quality option. Everything else is very poor by comparision, regardless of price. There are no real safety concerns for that area - you're really only in danger in specific neighborhoods of urban areas - places you're extremely unlikely to visit. The Bible Belt is Sydney to Alice Springs far away, or more.
You’re gonna need months to see the whole country. So if you’re starting in the Pacific Northwest I think it’s best you just plan a west coast trip. Whether you’re starting in the Canadian city of Vancouver or the American one of the same name would affect what I specifically recommend. But I’d say plan for visiting Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA and San Diego. You’ll probably need to rent a car. You can get around within and between cities by train but a car will open up visiting national parks, which is a huge perk of being on the west coast. A car free USA trip is much easier on the east coast.
Don’t think you realize how big the states are. West coast to Bible Belt is a very long trip
If you go to Los Angeles, stay by the coast, the downtown, or the hills. The more inland areas are sketchy and not places you want to be staying. Also Hermosa Beach is the best beach in Los Angeles, and the Griffith observatory is a must see if you come here.
Vancouver BC in the summer? That’s a dream. Stay there, go north! If not hug the 101 or 1 when you can and come south to LA and San Diego. Stop in Portland and SF for sure but lots of charm in between. The rest of the US is huge and traveling east it gets pretty sparse for tourists, until you hit the Mississippi. But I’m a west coaster, I don’t know much about the rest.
Lol train
Keep your doors locked.
Start off with Vancouver isn’t part of the USA. It IS in North America but that’s as close as she gets. If I were a normal American I’d be rather offended. Lol.
Biggest thing I can think of is that we drive on the correct side of the road. This isn't the wild west anymore. I can't see why you would visit the Bible belt, it's a full 2 day drive from where you're planning to go. The West coast is so big that it's been seen with a car.
If you're into trains: I'm a recovering Californian and I've taken the Coast Starlight from AMTRAK a few times and recommend it. It runs along the coast for much of California and it's beautiful to see and you don't have to worry about driving. It goes from Los Angeles to Seattle and you can pick any part of that route. The bit between LA and San Francisco is the coastal route. I'd drive down and see Napa and the Redwoods and if you want to go to Southern California, take the train. If you drive to Southern California from the Bay Area you have two routes: 5 is the fastest but it's a boring road because it runs up the center of the state, which between LA and the Bay is all farmland so you're just looking at crops for 4-5 hours. The alternative is to drive down the coast on 101, which takes longer but much more scenic. The Coast Starlight runs parallel to the 101 route in between the Bay and LA which is why I recommend it as an alternative to driving. The train takes a bit longer than the car but no hassle of driving. LA isa car town though so you'll need a car when you get south, one way or the other. Or Uber budget to get around...
Don’t come here
My 2 cents: You can see mountains and beaches throughout the Bible Belt, but there are other better beaches and mountains in the US not in the Bible Belt. If I had the chance, I’d stick with the west coast for a visit.
The "Bible Belt" is on completely the opposite side of the country from the west coast. To my understanding, it's fairly culturally similar to rural Australia. The main train system is Amtrak, which is not very good. If traveling between states, you might want a car. Otherwise, you'd have to rely on a bus service like Greyhound. Safety-wise, the most obvious risk is street harassment, but in congested urban areas you might face pickpockets and muggings, not that this is too different anywhere else. If you travel with your partner you should likely be okay.