Chicago Travel Forum

Hi all,hear we go,were both young dudes/ageing hippies(50 ish) and were arriving in chicago from manchester england, in mid may, we are intending,well,of taking the train either to Seattle or t'other way or via denver salt lake,,,got that? hiring a car over the west side and doing a little touring there before coming back to the 'windy city'

Is yellowstone ,mount rushmore ,mount hood areas a possibility or maybe vancouver or south to portland ?? come on yanks help us limeys out.

we are very flexible the only restriction 2 weeks.were up for anything

we may take in a show (jersey boys ) in chicago advice please and we definately want to spend our two weekends in lively places,so we can experience country western clubs or pubs??not that were great fans!

one way car rentals ?? flying back from seattle?? how much.

come on lads and lassies help us out ,please.

have a great weekend everyone and good luck.

Sounds like a fun trip. Were I you, I would stay north. After Yellowstone, go to Glacier National Park, then hit Seattle via Spokane. Seattle is a great place to visit. There's great food, good music and it's gorgeous. If time permits, take the ferry to the Olympic Peninsula and check it out. Portland is also wonderful and it's only 3 or 4 hours south. The Columbia Gorge, east of the city, is spectacular. Like Seattle, there's great food and many of the people are fun. I too am an aging hippie, and Portland is one of my favorite cities in America. There's lots of art and humor.

Train to Denver $95@. Just goes across Nebraska and Iowa, but you could continue on to Salt Lake City and then to San Francisco. This is the California Zephyr http://www.amtrak.com/timetable/jan09/P05.pdf

Train to Seattle $150@ Goes by way of Minneapolis and northern Montana - probably a more interesting ride, but longer. You could also continue to Vancouver. The train is called the Empire Builder and the trip takes two days. This is the schedule http://www.amtrak.com/timetable/oct08/P07.pdf

Train to Seattle by way of Portland $182@ (and you could continue to Vancouver as above

Mount Rushmore is in the Dakotas, Yellowstone is on the corner of Colorado and Wyoming. If you get to Denver, you could take a short hop to Jackson Hole and drive to Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore from there.

Mount Hood is in Oregon.

You could take the train to Seattle, and then drive down to Portland. From there fly to Jackson Hole ($349@ on Frontier Airlines) and rent a car to go to Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore. Turn the car back in at Jackson Hole and fly back to Chicago. ($212@ on Frontier)

Wow! What a nice trip! The western part of the US is vast and open, but while on the train...look out for the wildlife in the west. Mt. Rushmore is in South Dakota and very nice, but don't plan on staying for more than a few hours there, because in all honesty, there's not much there. (Been there many times.) Yellowstone Nat'l Park in the upper west corner of Wyoming, and is included in to Montana. (Not Colorado as previously stated.) If you can, definitely get out there for a day, as it's absolutely beautiful. Denver is a wonderful city and much to be enjoyed there. There are many places in the west that will offer you a 'western club' or even pubs. Rapid City, a bit before Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota has some "real western flair" and that might be enjoyable for you.

I would spend a few days in Chicago and a few days in Seattle or even Portland, as all those definitely have a lot to offer. One way car rentals are fairly cheap and you can stop where you'd like and take your time. However, be forewarned, the western states of the US are VERY spread out, so fill up with gas about every other town. Also, bring a jacket and sweater, plus long pants with you as it's not always warm in the evenings. (I used to live in Wyoming for many years.)

Hope this helps, and don't hesitate to contact me for more questions in the western states! :)

Enjoy your trip!

One way car rentals are extremely expen$ive. With only two weeks, don't under-estimate the huge distances out west. My thought is that you need to take a map, figure out really if a particular destination is worth going given the distance and time and adjust accordingly.

Yellowstone is a must - this is an awesome place. But perhaps you can do a combination of flying and driving to save your time and to same the drop off fees.

So say for instance you fly some place near Yellowstone and rent a car while you're there. Then return the car in the same place and fly to your next destination. I know when you add the extra flying it will add up - so will the drop off fees be more or less? You'd need to check with the rental car place, *however* you still have the time element.

Another fun stop would be Lake Tahoe - this is like Las Vegas, lots to do, lots of shows.

Anyhow, I'd say you can go to about 3-4 places - but you need to figure out if you want to spend all the time driving, or flying to actually spend time where you're going.

A little rework ...

Mount Rushmore is cool to see, not to mention very famous, so I would check it out. However, I saw Crazy Horse Mountain (Black Hills, SD, about an hour from Rushmore) and this was a much cooler experience for me. It's another mountain carving, but still a work in progress and just MASSIVE (it's been in progress for dozens of years if memory serves).

Anyway, if you're in the area and can spare an hour or so, it's definitely an experience!

Brilliant what superb promt answers and very informative,thanks a lot,please offer more advice,even change our itinerary ,we are at your service,or are you at ours ??? whatever !! cheers and please more info,have a drink on us!!.

wow thanks for such brilliant advice ,have a drink on us ,cheers everyone,and more advice please.

OK - more advice.

From Chicago take the train to San Francisco (probably will take at least two days). Spend some time there and rent a car for a day and go to Yosemite (I don't think a car is needed in the city). Fly or take the train to Portland and then drive to Seattle. You can probably turn the car in in Seattle. Take a bus tour to Vancouver and come back on the ferry. Then fly to Jackson Hole Wyoming, rent a car and visit Yellowstone. Turn the car back in at Jackson Hole and fly back to Chicago.

I want to take the train on the nothern crossing from Chicago to Seattle. It passes through Glacier Nationl Park (I stayed across from the station in East Glacier a couple of years ago on a business trip. There should be a couple of tips on my VT home page.) Seattle is very nice, spent a few days there last fall. I would take the train one way and fly back. It is a very-very long drive from the mountains back to Chiacgo.

Enjoy!

David

I want to take the train on the nothern crossing from Chicago to Seattle. It passes through Glacier Nationl Park (I stayed across from the station in East Glacier a couple of years ago on a business trip. There should be a couple of tips on my VT home page.) Seattle is very nice, spent a few days there last fall. I would take the train one way and fly back. It is a very-very long drive from the mountains back to Chiacgo.

Enjoy!

David

I want to take the train on the nothern crossing from Chicago to Seattle. It passes through Glacier Nationl Park (I stayed across from the station in East Glacier a couple of years ago on a business trip. There should be a couple of tips on my VT home page.) Seattle is very nice, spent a few days there last fall. I would take the train one way and fly back. It is a very-very long drive from the mountains back to Chiacgo.

Enjoy!

David

I want to take the train on the nothern crossing from Chicago to Seattle. It passes through Glacier Nationl Park (I stayed across from the station in East Glacier a couple of years ago on a business trip. There should be a couple of tips on my VT home page.) Seattle is very nice, spent a few days there last fall. I would take the train one way and fly back. It is a very-very long drive from the mountains back to Chiacgo.

Enjoy!

David

I want to take the train on the nothern crossing from Chicago to Seattle. It passes through Glacier Nationl Park (I stayed across from the station in East Glacier a couple of years ago on a business trip. There should be a couple of tips on my VT home page.) Seattle is very nice, spent a few days there last fall. I would take the train one way and fly back. It is a very-very long drive from the mountains back to Chiacgo.

Enjoy!

David

I want to take the train on the nothern crossing from Chicago to Seattle. It passes through Glacier Nationl Park (I stayed across from the station in East Glacier a couple of years ago on a business trip. There should be a couple of tips on my VT home page.) Seattle is very nice, spent a few days there last fall. I would take the train one way and fly back. It is a very-very long drive from the mountains back to Chiacgo.

Enjoy!

David

SOrry, the web site is acting up

Use the "report abuse" link and write "duplicate" to delete your duplicate posts.

The poster who said that one-way car rentals is only correct part of the time. It's expensive if you're renting or dropping off in a small town where the rental agencies are locally owned franchises. But if you're going from city to city, it probably won't be so bad. For example, I rented a car in Denver and after visiting Yellowstone and Glacier, had to drive to Boise instead of Missoula in order to save a $1000 dropoff fee. I would think that from Chicago to Portland or Seattle you shouldn't have a problem if you stay with the large agencies like Hertz or Avis or National.

I am referring to LA to San Francisco, or Chicago to Seattle.

True it's more expensive than a same-place return, but check all the agencies and check directions. I just looked at the Hertz site, and it's more than $400 cheaper going west to east.

If it's what you want to do, and you've come a long way to do it, and if your budget can stand it, I say go for it. Driving through that part of the USA is a rare treat.

In some airports Hertz is charging outrageous prices for cars. Month or so ago picking up a car in San Jose airport was very high - same car about less than half picked up in Campbell. I got mad and got Avis instead.

At first I thought it was the one weekend and maybe they had too many cars rented, but I go there often and it's ongoing now. Once in a while you find one for less at Hertz.

Hi everybody,

I am just planning a trip to Seattle and Vancouver island and looked a bit around for the oneway renting costs...

My travelagent told me that it is in most cases much cheaper to pick up and drop off a car downtown instead the airport. But still the oneway fares can be high!.
picking up a car in downtown Seattle and returning it at the airport would cost us a 250$ extra... no shuttle would ever cost so much.....