East Coast USA

Philadelphia the city of love is a great city, the greenest in the US. It's both historic and modern. Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are worth a visit but to get tickets for Independence Hall you need to get them from the Independence Visitor Centre early in the morning probably before 9am as there's a limit to how many are given out every day. The ticket will tell you what time to get access to Independence Hall.

It's about 25 years since I was in Boston so my memory of it is a bit hazy, the big food market and Cheers stand out. I visited New York about 20 years ago and was underwhelmed by it compared to any of the other US cities I visited.

I loved Washington and was there when Bill Clinton was President, it was before 9/11 so I was able to do the White House tour and the FBI tour. There's a lot to see there.

Just back from DC and Cape Cod (and loads of other places) last week.

DC. Do the Capitol tour and get into see the House of Representatives and the Senate. Book ahead as itll be busy in August. Its all free. https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/visit

Have lunch at The Old Ebbitt Grill. Arlington Cemetary is defo worth a visit. Spend an afternoon and/or evening in Georgtown. Nice restaurants and shopping and they have the Exorcist house and steps.

If you haven't been before Id advise more time in NYC. Maybe skip Atlantic City.

Cape Cod is great. Hyannis is nice for a stroll down main street. Did a few days on Marthas Vineyard. Its 220 quid to bring a car on the ferry though (return) so maybe cheaper to rent one there. Edgartown is Jaws territory. Chappy Ferry etc is there. Defo the nicest town on the island.

Vineyard Haven is lovely too. Oak Bluffs is a bit tacky by the sea tbh. Fine for an hour.

Unless you have plans, 3 nights is a lot of time in Boston tbh. 2 is plenty.

Ah yeah that makes sense. Never been to Coney Island. Looks like fun!

I ued RentalCars last month. Got a car for 8 days for €250.

Ive used Turo before and it was good. Nice car and fairly cheap

I’d echo the suggestion of spending more time in DC, it’s a unique experience different from all other US cities with lots of individual attractions that take up hours each.

Plus you have really hectic intercity schedule set out that I would find tiring on planes/trains, I can’t imagine driving a good chunk of that too. Driving in the cities as a tourist seems insane to me - even the locals get lost in Boston. Cape Cod leg makes sense

I’d go with knocking Atlantic City on the head and a night less in Boston.

And just to contradict myself, consider a day trip to Gettysburg from DC/ en route to Philly, the battlefield preservation is very well done

How is your 13 yo re traveling? Funny, we did similar California trip by car in 2015 as we were in California for few months, kids were 2 & 4, we continued to San Diego after Anaheim and onto Vegas and back to SF. Las year we did a 3 week cruise from Rotterdam to Boston, kids 10 & 12. We made sure that we had a very intense itinerary in every port and I feel like we over did it a bit for kids :))) I almost feel like it’s getting a bit tougher traveling with them as they are getting older. You will have to post a mini report here after your trip for all of us.