Three years ago, swapping £100 at the exchange desk would have netted you, at best, $140. And now? Well, you’d get $181, and there are those pundits who think that one-for-two is no longer a pipe dream. Even if that day never comes, at current rates the USA definitely has the “on sale” signs out.

So, where are the bargains? Well, not necessarily in packages — tour operators can be a little slow to pass on the savings. But if you go independent, everything you buy “over there”, in dollars, is now noticeably, cheerfully cheaper.

A decent meal for four in a diner can cost £20 (try getting away with that at Pizza Express) and you can get a comfortable room with two huge beds for less than £25 a night. Although Americans don’t think so, gasoline is also still criminally underpriced, at less than 34p a (US) litre. And car-hire rates are rock- bottom. Alamo is offering a week’s hire from any US location for just £62, including taxes and collision waiver. Just watch for the devil in the small print, particularly on insurance fees.

And it doesn’t stop at cut-price wheels and cheap sleeps. Admission to attractions is also a snip. Last year, an adult ticket for Universal Studios, in Los Angeles, cost £33; now it’s £25.

The bargains are definitely out there, so the next big question is: when to book? Do you get on the phone now and lock in at $1.81 to £1, or wait for the elusive $2 barrier to fall? David Smith, the economics editor of The Sunday Times, expects the dollar to slide a little further over the next few weeks, but says the pound is also weakening. “The rate may improve for British tourists,” he says, “but we don’t expect any drastic changes before Christmas.”

So, whether you book now or wait a while, you just can’t lose. All you have to do is decide where to go. Here are four classic American itineraries where the dollar now gets you a lot further down the road.

All dollar prices have been converted at the current tourist rate of $1.81 to £1

New England

NEW ENGLAND means fall colours to most people. Personally, it’s the one time I would avoid the place. Sure, the trees are specta- cular, but so are the prices. And remember, this is skiing country in winter, with resorts such as Killington and Big Squaw, so unless you’re a fan of snow chains, wait until the spring thaw (many of the roads of Vermont’s superscenic Green Mountains will be blocked until then).

Boston is the ideal gateway — short flying time, great shopping, excellent dining (especially seafood), a good deal of history, plush hotels and some fine neighbourhoods (the old Italian mobster haunts in North End are the latest to be gentrified). Throw in the cafes, bookstores and campuses of Cambridge (home to Harvard), across the Charles River, and you should definitely spend a couple of days in the city before heading off.

When you do decide to leave, you will be spoilt for choice, but out of high season, you can head south, for Cape Cod (a curved peninsula, 65 miles long) and the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. All are swamped in summer, but for the rest of the year they are magical, especially Nantucket — a two-hour ferry ride away, it still reeks (metaphorically) of its whaling days. Middle Cape is home to old fishing towns and quaint cottages, while the protected Cape Cod National Seashore, to the north, is where you go to blow away the cobwebs.

There are excellent recreational beaches throughout the area, from the crabbing-in-rockpools variety through to, on the Atlantic side, surf magnets such as Nauset. Needless to say, you should gorge on clams, lobster and chowder as you go.

You can head west across Massachusetts to the pretty, well-heeled Berkshire Hills, which is very much Norman Rockwell and Shaker country, then north to the white-picket-fence and maple-syrup land of Vermont. From there, swerve west again, to the lakes and forests of the stunning and often wild Adirondack Mountains, home of those iconic porch chairs (designed originally for sunning TB patients in the sanatoriums that dotted the region). Finally, you can head down to New York via its scenic but neglected back door, the Taconic Parkway. There’s a lot of driving — allow plenty of time for just stopping and staring, as all the states up here have pockets of immense beauty where the urban sprawl, strip developments and chain businesses have been held at bay. Long may it remain so.

The logistics: you don’t need a car in Boston, known as America’s walking city. Hotels are not cheap here, but there is a decent network of B&Bs, including Gryphon House (00 1 617 375 9003, www.gryphonhouseboston.com), right on the river, not far from the Red Sox stadium, with eight suites from £80 per night. The B&B Agency of Boston (freephone from UK 0800 895128, www.boston-bnbagency.com) offers plenty of alternatives, with properties from £55 per night. Or visit www.bostonusa.com for the likes of Holiday Inn, Radisson and Best Western; prices start at £44 per night.

On the coast, the most atmospheric places to stay are converted captain’s homes such as the 16-room Whalewalk Inn at Eastham, perfect for exploring the National Seashore. Winter rates are about £95, B&B (including evening snacks and after-dinner brandies; closed January and February). At www.massvacations.com, you will find Cape Cod B&Bs for £55 a night out of season, and cheaper motels.

In the hinterland, try one of the many historic inns, which you can find on www.distinctiveinns.com and www.originalinns.com. In the Berkshires, old hippies might like the 34-room Apple Tree Inn, in Lenox (00 1-413 637 1477, www.appletree-inn.com), which used to be owned by Arlo Guthrie — indeed, it was Alice’s Restaurant for a while, although it has now smartened up its act. Doubles start at £61, B&B. For Vermont, visit www.travel-vermont.com, which has many cute inns in postcard-pretty villages.

If you make it as far as the Adirondacks, there are wonderful lakeside places, including the luxurious (but rustic) Lake Placid Lodge (518 523 2700, www.lakeplacidlodge.com), which, unfortunately, will cost you about £290 and up per night, and the Mirror Lake Inn (518 523 2544, www.mirrorlakeinn.com), with rooms from £110, B&B. You’ll find plenty of cheaper alternatives, including the Econolodge and Howard Johnson chains, at www.adirondacks.org; from £40.

Getting there: Boston is served by British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com), Virgin (0870 380 2007, www.virgin-atlantic.com) and American Airlines (0845 778 9789, www.aa.com), all from Heathrow; from about £250. Aer Lingus (01 886 8888, www.aerlingus.com) flies from Dublin and Shannon; from €292.

When to go: prices are at their most reasonable from March to the end of May, and spring is just as beautiful (and less crowded) as autumn.

The southwest

THE SOUTHWEST of the United States is home to some of the most remarkable sights — both natural and man-made — on the planet. For example, no matter what the government’s schemes for casinos here, nothing will ever rival the sheer spectacle, kitschness and impressively open venality of Las Vegas. Not only is it a fine place to lose some of that cash you’ve saved, it is an excellent starting point for touring the region. Death Valley is just to the west, but I would do that as a day trip and then head east across the desert, picking up a section of the famous Route 66, through Indian lands, until you hit the world’s most famous hole in the ground.

The Grand Canyon is America’s premier natural wonder, and was an early leader in the tourism stakes — in 1903, Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the canyon “the one great sight every American should see”. See it they do, in their millions, but it isn’t hard to find an empty viewing spot. And it is impossible not to be awed by the vast, mile-deep chasm.

There is more, though. It would be criminal to come this far and not head further east, through the Hopi and Navajo lands, to marvel at the soaring, sculptured buttes of Monument Valley, the perfect western backdrop used by Ford and others. If that isn’t enough geological grandeur, the rock maze of the less familiar Canyon de Chelly National Monument, to the southwest, is equally awesome. You will also find out pretty quickly that Native American culture goes much deeper than roadside souvenir stalls, and that the locals are proud and protective of their heritage.

The logistics: it is worth spending a couple of days in Las Vegas, and it can be cheap, if you don’t play the slots too often. Next month, rooms at the Rio All-Suite (00 1-702 777 7777, www.harrahs.com), just off the Strip, but with a shuttle and fantastic views from the 50th-floor bar, start at £30 a night. At www.expedia.co.uk, Bellagio, one of the best of the mega-hotels on the Strip, costs from £94; others start at £15.

Food in the city has improved vastly, with the likes of Nobu, Bouchon (an offshoot of the feted French Laundry, in the Napa Valley) and Rosemary’s Restaurant upping the antipasto considerably. Get your gourmet fix in Vegas — it’ll be roadside diners and Navajo tacos from here on in.

If you want to stop — or, indeed, get some kicks — on Route 66, the town of Kingman has all the usual chain suspects (Days Inn, Best Western, Holiday Inn), but more authentic is the 1950s-vintage Hill Top Motel (928 753 2198, www.hilltopmotelaz.com), which relishes its part in the history of the rock’n’roll highway; rooms from £22-£31.

Accommodation at the Grand Canyon is generally over- subscribed. Details and bookings for the South Rim can be had from Xanterra Resorts (303 297 2757, www.grandcanyonlodges.com). On the South Rim, the part you are most likely to visit, you’ll find seven lodges, as well as a trailer village and camping, but the class act is El Tovar; from £70. (Note: it will be closed for renovation for three months early next year.) Also worth considering are the Bright Angel Lodge Rim Cabins (don’t worry, they are not actually on the edge); £50 and up.

The town of Kayenta, deep in Navajo country, is handy for plenty of sightseeing, to Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, the Petrified Forest and the Navajo National Monument. The Hampton Inn (928 697 3170, www.hamptoninn.com) has rooms from £33. There is also a Holiday Inn (928 697 3221, www.ichotelsgroup.com), which can get crowded with tour groups, but again has a great location; rooms from £37.

Getting there: Virgin Atlantic (0870 380 2007, www.virgin-atlantic.com) flies direct to Las Vegas from Gatwick; from £376 in January. BMI (0870 607 0222, www.flybmi.com) flies direct from Manchester; from £297 in January. British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) flies to Phoenix; from £325. In Ireland, Ebookers (01 488 3507, www.ebookers.ie) has flights from Dublin with Continental via Newark; from €522.

When to go: any time from now onwards, but avoid the roasting heat and crowds — particularly at the Grand Canyon — in the height of summer.

California coast

EVEN THOUGH it has been immortalised in film, print and song many, many times, this exposure has done little to diminish what is perhaps America’s greatest drive. Highway 1 is bracketed by two of the world’s most fascinating cities — the much-derided La-La land, Los Angeles, which can be immense fun if you surrender to its charms, and San Francisco. The latter is super- ficially European, but actually as steeped in western icono-graphy as LA — from the beats at the City Lights bookstore to Steve McQueen rocketing over the hills in his Mustang.

Connecting the dots of these two contrasting giants? A road you shouldn’t rush. It is poss-ible to do this journey in a couple of days, but Highway 1 has many, many detours. There is the LA Lite of Santa Monica, the star enclave of Malibu, the pier at upmarket Santa Barbara and Hearst Castle at San Simeon, the fabled Xanadu of Citizen Kane.

But the real killer section is without doubt Big Sur, where the road vertiginously hugs the very edge of America, with the Pacific Ocean crashing 500ft below. Spend time here: inland is great hiking through towering forests; out at sea are otters, grey whales and dolphins. Check the condition of the road before you drive — rockfalls and mudslides are not uncommon, and you don’t want to try for membership of the exclusive club of people who have gone over the edge and survived.

There is still plenty more — the aquarium at Monterey, Stepford-ish Carmel, San Francisco itself. If you can, cross the Golden Gate Bridge and take in the new-age communities around Point Reyes Seashore, the redwoods of Muir Woods and Bodega Bay, where Hitchcock filmed The Birds.

The logistics: in LA, consider staying at the renovated and historic Roosevelt (323 466 7000, www.hollywoodroosevelt.com; rooms from £65), in the heart of revamped, buffed-up Hollywood. The first Oscars were held there. The two Standards, one downtown (213 892 8080, www.standardhotel.com), one on Sunset Boulevard (323 650 9090), are hipper and snootier. Rooms in each start at £83 per night.

En route north, Santa Barbara is probably the priciest option — its marvellous El Encanto Hotel (805 679 0114, www.elencantohotel.com), set in lush gardens near the famed Mission, has just been acquired by Orient-Express, which plans to spend $10m on it. They’ll want the money back, but for the moment, rooms start at £100. At the other end of town (on the beachfront) and budget, there is a Motel 6 (805 564 1392, www.motel6.com), with rooms from £39 per night.

Of course, the most famous stop on the highway is the ultra-camp Madonna Inn (805 543 3000, www.madonnainn.com), at San Luis Obispo. Its thunder may have been stolen by a hundred other themed boutique hotels, it is pricey (doubles about £85) and it looks tired in places, but it is at least worth having a drink at the bar. The Vagabond Inn (805 544 4710, www.vagabondinns.com), next door, is much plainer, but it has a pool and rooms from £35.

In Big Sur, there are a couple of wonderful hotels with fabulous views over the Pacific or the forest: the Ventana Inn (831 667 2331, www.ventanainn.com) and the Post Ranch Inn (831 667 2200, www.postranchinn.com). The latter is really special, a deluxe ecoresort with units raised into the trees or disguised as caverns; from £270 a night. Ventana, which sits in 1,000 acres, has similar rack rates, but I found it for £125 a night, B&B, at www.travelnow.com.

In San Francisco, www.opodo.com has Days Inn and the like from £35 a night, but with the dodgy dollar, you can afford to go upmarket. Hotel Monaco (866 622 5284, www.monaco-sf.com) is part of a small chain of quirky boutique hotels (you can get a goldfish for your room from the concierge); from £78.

Getting there: British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com), Virgin (0870 380 2007, www.virgin-atlantic.com) and United Airlines (0845 844 4777, www.unitedairlines.co.uk) fly direct from London to both Los Angeles and San Francisco, and with an open-jaw fare, you can fly into one city and back from the other at no extra cost. (Car-rental companies should not charge a drop-off fee.) Flights from London start at about £300. British Airways also flies from Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle and other UK airports via Heathrow; from £370. In Ireland, Ebookers (01 488 3507, www.ebookers.ie) has open-jaw flights from Dublin with Delta via Atlanta; from €379.

When to go: any time, but it does sometimes rain in California in winter. High summer is forest-fire season.

South Florida

FLORIDA means Disney and Busch Gardens and Universal, doesn’t it? Well, not always. This is another of America’s great drives, from the pastel pandemonium of Miami’s art-deco South Beach (SoBe) to the Caribbean casual of the lower Keys. Verging on the uncool a few years ago, SoBe is now experiencing a powerful second (or is that third?) wind with the opening of new restaurants and hotels. Once you have sated yourself with bars, clubs and in-line skates, drive south on US1, the Overseas Highway. It’s only 126 miles until you run out of road, and Cuba is the next stop. You can do it comfortably in a day — but don’t. Here in the subtropics, you will find fishing, diving, dolphins, mangroves, deluxe resorts and cute B&Bs, all marinated in a salt-soaked, laid-back lifestyle. It’s another tequila sunrise, then a margarita lunch and maybe a cuba-libre sundowner.

The road south follows the former track and bridges of the Florida East Coast Railway, which runs from the mainland to Key West and was completed in 1912. Key Largo is the first stop, full of mom-and-pop diners, motels and dive shops. Further along, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park was the first underwater state park in the USA: you can view it by snorkelling, by diving or in a glass-bottomed boat. You’ll then reach Seven Mile Bridge, one of the world’s longest spans, with its great ocean views. Eventually, the bridges shorten and the islands merge together until you reach Key West. Though it’s almost swamped by T-shirt stalls, its relaxed soul remains intact — just leave the main drag and slip into a quiet bar. And don’t mention Hemingway, or they’ll think you’re a tourist.

The logistics: in SoBe, stay on or near the beach. It’ll cost more, but it is worth it. The Raleigh (305 534 6300, www.tablehotels.com) is a 1940s confection, famous for its pool-plus-waterfall; rooms from £80. The Clinton (305 938 4040, www.clintonsouthbeach.com; rooms from £60), on Washington, is a block from the beach, but quieter, with a cool, casual ambience, a good Chinese eatery and a poolside bar. The front desk is good at VIPing guests into clubs, something serious nocturnals will need. For cheaper options, try www.travelocity.co.uk, which has basic staples along Collins Avenue, including the Lorraine and the President (good locations, can be noisy); from £30. On Islamorada, an hour or so south of Miami, Cheeca Lodge (305 664 4651, www.cheeca.com) is a luxury resort set in 27 acres of tropical gardens, with a white-sand beach, two pools, a huge fishing pier and good food. The dollar’s sickly plight means it can be had from £95 a night (plus a £20-a-day fee per room, which covers sporting activities). If that’s a bit steep, try the basic but laid-back and friendly Conch on Inn (305 852 9309, www.conchoninn.com); rooms from £34. In Key West, consider one of the funky individual guesthouses. There are a bunch to choose from on www.keywestinns.com. The 10-room Washington Street Inn (305 296 0550, www.keywestestates.com), for instance, comes with tranquil gardens and a pool; rooms from £55, B&B. I also like the colourful Key West B&B (305 296 7274, www.keywestbandb.com), which has rooms from £34.

Getting there: British Airways, Virgin and American Airlines all fly direct to Miami from Heathrow (see above for contact details), with price starting at about £250. American also has direct flights from Manchester; from £286. In Ireland, Gohop.com (01 241 2389, www.gohop.com) has flights from Dublin with Delta via Atlanta; from €515.

When to go: any time from now to early summer, but avoid the sky-high humidity and bugs of June, July and August.

CAR HIRE USA

Try Holiday Autos (0870 400 4447, www.holidayautos.co.uk), Alamo (0870 400 4562, www.alamo.co.uk), Avis (0870 010 0287, www.avis.co.uk), Hertz (0870 844 8844, www.hertz.co.uk) or Thrifty (01494 751 600, www.thrifty.co.uk).

To queue or not to queue: the latest on US immigration

THE NEW security procedures at American airports appear to be running smoothly.

It was feared that the tighter measures, which came into force on September 30, would cause delays of several hours at immigration.

British passport-holders aged between 14 and 79 must undergo the checks, which involve placing index fingers on a digital scanner and looking briefly into a camera to have your mug shot. The US authorities say that the system is running “very smoothly”, with no reports of significant delays.

However, long-standing problems at the busiest American airports, including Miami, New York JFK and Chicago, remain unsolved, with travellers regularly missing connecting flights because of delays in immigration. Here’s how to improve your chances:

- At check-in, ask for a seat towards the front of the aircraft, and on arrival, speed-walk past as many people as possible on the way to immigration — highly un-British, but it could save you hours.

- Check with the cabin crew that you’ve filled in the US immigration forms correctly — dunces get sent to the back of the queue.

- If immigration is crowded, join the “non-US nationals” queue closest to the “US nationals” section — the latter often starts accepting the former when the queues get too long.

- When questioned, don’t try to crack jokes.

- Make sure that you have a machine-readable passport (with chevrons) and that your children have individual passports.