New York City Travel Forum

I would like some advice on the best time of the year to visit the US. Even though I'm from Australia and am used to the heat I'd prefer when the weather was milder. I am trying to decide between Sept/Oct 09 or May/June 2010. I will be flying into LA, stay a couple of days to relax and undwind, then fly up to Buffalo to spend time seeing Niagara etc. I then fly to New York where I will spend 6 nights, then fly to San Diego where I have six days to fill in (may take tour down to Mexico with tour group) before I can catch up with my 14 day tour which takes in LA, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Fresno, Yosemite National Park, San Francisco and back to LA. Then it's back to Oz. This works out to 4 weeks travel. Please keep in mind that I will be travelling by myself (which means I pay the single supplementary fee - lucky me) but am an adventurous, active 50+! In between times you never know the $AUD may actually bounce back! All suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Cheers. Brenda

Either one of those time slots is a good time weather-wise. I might lean a little more toward Sept.-Oct only because you could see the changing of the leaves in New York, which is really beautiful. You will definitely be covering a lot of ground. A nice little town which many visitors dont see near the falls is Niagara-on-the-Lake, NY.

Brenda,

Both are excellent times as schools are in session and there are not the summer crowds.

New York in June, avg. 70f. - 51f., Oct. 69f. - 55f.

See Underground weather for trip planning:
http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp

The fall foliage in Sept/Oct. in the north/eastern U.S. is spectacular.

What a dilemma as the spring flowers will welcome you too across the country in May.

I would lean towards the May June time frame just because it is spring time.

San Diego is a beautiful city, I live here and think you could spend 6 days here Quite easily. I would only suggest a guided tour to Mexico. I would strongly advise you NOT go sole to Tijuana, enough said.

I or other VT'rs can help you fill in the San Diego leg with suggestion, if you need them, if you tell us your travel experience desires.

High Brenda, Either time frame would be good but I vote for Sep-Oct because the weather is usually perfect during that time frame, especiaaly for your tour out west. What a great trip! Have fun

California will be prettier in spring (we dry out over the summer and everything turns brown. This year may be a bad one for fires, which would also be less of a problem in spring. But really, you would have to have bad luck to be have your couple of days here coincide with a fire.

As for weather, I think the only place where you would have better weather in fall would be San Francisco. We occasionally get a lovely Indian Summer in Sept-Oct. But the rest of the country might be a little cooler. New York in September can be oppressively hot.

What sorts of things will you be looking to do in LA and NY and San Diego? (Go to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido while you're in SD.) You will hear that there's a lot of crime in Mexico, but you would probably be safe in a tour group.

Thank you very much for your reply, it was most helpful. Nice little tip about 'Niagara-on-the-lake'. That's the sought of info that one doesn't receive from travel agents etc.
Cheers
Brenda (KoalaB)

Your advice is very much appreciated. Lots to take into consideration. Will only be spending a few days in LA, Las Vegas to see some of popular touristy musts, then head off to the National Parks etc. Have heard good reports about San Diego - don't know about the wild life park, only because I've been to so many when I was in Sth Africa. Will only be going to Mexico if I have company.
I'm seriously thinking of leaving NY off my itinerary and concentrate mainly on the western side of the US and wait until my next trip when I will concentrate on areas in and around NY.
Cheers
Brenda (KoalaB)

Thanks for taking the time to reply. All replies have been very helpful and are most appreciated. Certainly a big help knowing I can get such excellent advice from this site from people who live there or simply 'been there, done that'.
Cheers
KoalaB (Brenda)

Hi Brenda, I am from Perth, Western Australia and we visited east coast of USA and Canada, both east and west for nearly 6 weeks end of May to early July 2007.

We were in New York city for 7 days 9th to 16th June, nice weather in mid 20Cs.We arranged our travels to be in NYC mid June to avoid the Heat and humidity which comes in July ( can be 40C and humid).

We commenced our travels in Boston last days May traveled up to Quebec ,Canada and along the St Lawrence to Niagara Falls, weather generally very good.

When in Niagara we made our way to Washington DC, but had an overnight stay in Lancaster, the heart of the Amish people. If you have a spare day this may interest you. You are welcome to view my pages,you may pick up some ideas for NYC and Niagara Falls.


Good Luck,
Mike

You can't go wrong with May or September. The summer months of July and August can be brutal.