Although the USA is our number-one long-haul destination, we British tend to
do the same old things when we go: Disney in Florida, shopping in NYC,
driving from LA to San Francisco, gawping at the Grand Canyon and laughing
at Las Vegas. It’s a vast country, but most of us gravitate to those few hot
spots, which means we experience only a fraction of what it has to offer.
So, instead of the usual suspects, we have rounded up eight alternative
American holidays, from natural wonders to wine tours, banjos to burgers,
mountains to mustangs and coast to coast.
The natural wonder
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
The most recent addition to Utah’s protected lands, by proclamation of
President Bill Clinton in 1996, was also the last place in the lower 48
states to be mapped – which gives you an idea of how empty it is. The
monument, 290 miles south of Salt Lake City, covers 1.9m acres packed full
of strange geological wonders, with steplike cliffs, remote rivers, high
desert plateaux and, most strikingly, the Escalante Canyons, a complex
network of interconnecting gorges and gulches full of bizarre sandstone
formations. Hiking, camping and just wondering at the landscape are
favourite pastimes.
While you’re there: a fantastic fly-drive would encompass
Canyonlands National Park, Monument Valley, the vast Lake Powell and the
less-visited North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Where to stay: Boulder Mountain Lodge (00 1-435 335 7460, www.boulder-utah.com;
rooms from £35-£80) is a remote speck on Highway 12. The attached Hell’s
Backbone Grill serves innovative Southwest-Pueblo Indian cuisine. In the
town of Escalante itself, the modern Prospector Inn (435 826 4653, www.prospector
inn.com; rooms from £25) is a reasonable base for exploring.
Go independent: fly to Salt Lake City from Gatwick or Manchester with
Delta Air Lines via New York, from £520. (There are no direct flights.)
Go packaged: the US specialist Bon Voyage (0800 316 0194, www.bon-voyage.co.uk)
has 10-night fly-drive holidays to Salt Lake City in September from £625pp,
including flights from Gatwick or Manchester and 10 days’ fully inclusive
car hire. Three-star accommodation costs from £65 per room per night.
Find out more: call 00 1 435 826 5499 or go to www.ut.
blm.gov/monument.
The musical journey
Crooked Road Music Heritage Trail, Virginia
This slow-moving southwestern corner of Virginia, near the North Carolina,
Tennessee and Kentucky borders, is one of the main taproots of American
music. Traditional bluegrass and gospel songs are passed down through
generations, and still played in jam sessions in out-of-the-way venues along
the corkscrewing back roads of the Appalachians.
To showcase this unique Americana, a 250-mile driving route has been
established, winding from one musical venue, monument or festival to
another. It takes in places such as Hiltons, where the Carter Family, the
royal family of country music, hosts performances at The Carter Family Fold
(00 1-276 386 6054, www.carterfamilyfold.
org), a covered, dirt-floored amphitheatre with a capacity of about
1,000, which rings with the sounds of old-time harmonies and clog dancers
every Saturday night.
On a smaller scale, the tiny town of Floyd hosts a weekly Friday Night
Jamboree at the Floyd Country Store (540 745 4563, www.floydcountry
store.com), which sells knickknacks and food by day, but turns venue at
7.30pm sharp. You can find many such ad-hoc music places all along the road.
While you’re there: although it is quite a way south from
Washington, DC, there are some spectacular drives down to this area, such as
the Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive, which becomes the highly
recommended Blue Ridge Parkway.
Where to stay: Bristol, just off Interstate 81, has a wide selection of
chain hotels (Econo Lodge, Comfort Inn, Days Inn): see www.bristolchamber.org.
Or try Abingdon, which has a range of B&Bs, such as the antique-filled
Martha Washington Inn (276 628 3161, www.martha
washingtoninn.com; rooms from £95). For other B&Bs, see www.abingdon.com.
Go independent: fly to Washington from Heathrow with Virgin Atlantic,
British Airways or United Airlines, from about £460. If you don’t want to
drive the whole way down, Roanoke, in southwest Virginia, is served by
United Airlines and US Airways from Washington, DC; from £90pp return. Hertz
(0870 844 8844, www.hertz.co.uk) has
cars from £115 per week.
Go packaged: Virgin Holidays (0871 222 0306, www.virginholidays.com)
offers seven-day fly-drives to Washington from £539pp, including flight and
car hire.
Find out more: www.thecrookedroad.org.
The theme park
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Milton Hershey is, like Walt Disney, an American icon and a powerful brand
name, the first American to devise a recipe for milk chocolate (until then a
Swiss secret). To feed the subsequent demand, Hershey built an eponymous
factory and town, 95 miles west of Philadelphia. It has now become a shrine
to chocolate, with Hershey’s Chocolate World expo, an introduction to all
things Hershey, and Hersheypark (tickets £24, under9s £13), with more than
60 rides and attractions: it’s one of the best amusement parks in the
northeast, although it retains a quaint, old-fashioned feel.
The Hotel Hershey lets you work off the choc with tennis, swimming, hiking,
golf, cross-country skiing and riding. There is also a Hershey spa, with
whipped cocoa bath, chocolate fondue wrap and mojito sugar scrubs. While
you’re there: Philadelphia features important icons of American history (the
Liberty Bell, Independence Hall), as well as good museums, interesting
colonial quarters and a vital dining culture. On the way to Hershey is the
fascinating Amish country and south of Hershey is the civil-war battlefield
of Gettysburg.
Where to stay: rooms at the Hershey Hotel (00 1-717 533 2171, www.hersheypa.com)
start at £130, room-only. The Hampton Inn & Suites (717 533 8400, www.hamptoninn.com)
is on East Chocolate Avenue, about a mile from the attractions: rooms
sleeping four start at £85.
Go independent: fly to Philadelphia from Gatwick and Manchester with US
Airways, and also from Gatwick with BA, with fares from £500. Car hire
through Alamo (0870 400 4562, www.alamo.co.uk)
costs from £124 per week.
Go packaged: British Airways Holidays (0870 243 3406, www.
baholidays.com) has a five-night fly-drive to Philadelphia from £618pp,
including flights from Heathrow and car hire.
Find out more: www. hersheypa.com.
The wine trail
Walla Walla, Washington State
A four-hour drive from Seattle, Walla Walla was once only known for sweet
onions, but all that changed when Gary Figgins and Rick Small arrived and
established, respectively, Leonetti Cellar and Woodward Canyon, laying the
foundation for a wine industry that has transformed this small city
(population 30,000) and the surrounding region. Walla Walla now has more
than 60 wineries and is the focal point of a hugely popular wine region that
extends nearly to Yakima, 130 miles west.
Fine food invariably follows where good winemakers thrive: try the Whitehouse
Crawford restaurant (00 1-509 525 2222, www.whitehousecrawford.com),
where chef Jamie Guerin revolutionised local dining seven years ago. Plenty
have followed suit: you can have a Sideways experience moving from
restaurant to winery and back. While you’re there: with a fine harbour
setting, good nightlife and a pioneering Pacific Rim food scene, Seattle is
worth several days of your time. Between Seattle and Walla Walla you can
take in the beautiful Cascade Mountains and the glaciers in Mount Rainier
National Park, with its network of hiking trails and scenic drives.
Where to stay: the Inn at Abeja (509 522 1234, www.abeja.net)
is a restored early-20th-century farm, four miles east of Walla Walla; from
£105, room-only. The Green Gables Inn (509 525 5501, www.greengablesinn.com)
is a comfy B&B; from £75.
Go independent: fly to Seattle from Heathrow with BA, from £690.
Holiday Autos (0870 400 4447, www.holidayautos.co.uk)
has car hire from £94 per week.
Go packaged: Just America (01730 266588, www.just
america.co.uk) can tailor-make fly-drives out of Seattle. Four nights’
accommodation in the city followed by a week’s car hire costs from £895pp,
including flights.
Find out more: www.
experiencewashington.com.
The great drive
The Oregon Coast
All 362 miles of Oregon’s stunning coastline was set aside as public land in
the 1910s, which has left most of it undeveloped. It makes for one of
America’s best drives. Begin at the northern outpost of Astoria, where the
Columbia River flows into the Pacific, and then head for Cannon Beach, where
miles of sand is interrupted by huge basalt sea stacks. Route 101 stays
close to the coast, and the vista from Neahkahnie Mountain, where the road
edges around 7,000ft cliffs that drop into the surging Pacific, is of wide
open seascape; on a clear day you can see for 50 miles.
South of Yachats is the most rugged stretch, where ancient volcanoes and lava
Hole up in one of Virginia’s historic B&Bs flows met the Pacific.
There is a lot more: sea grottoes and sand dunes, New Age towns such as
Brandon and even, as you approach California, the northernmost range of the
giant redwoods.
While you’re there: spend time in relaxed Portland, with its cafe
scene, microbreweries and many live bands.
Where to stay: at the Sylvia Beach Hotel (00 1-541 265 5428, www.sylviabeachhotel.com;
from £35) in Newport, a bookish place with 20 themed guest rooms (Agatha
Christie, Mark Twain, Colette and so on). Fourteen of the State Parks along
the coast offer yurts to rent, which cost from about £15 a night and sleep
five – bargain. Call 503 986 0707 or visit www.oregon.gov/OPRD/
PARKS/.
Go independent: there are no direct flights to Portland, so go via
Cincinnati on Delta, or Minneapolis/St Paul with Northwest, both from
Gatwick, with fares from about £500.
Go packaged: North American Travel Service (0845 766 0209, www.northamericatravelservice.
co.uk) has flights from Heathrow, one night at the Portland Hilton and
seven days fully inclusive car hire from £685pp. Find out more: call 00 1
541 574 2679 or go to www.visitthe
oregoncoast.com.
The US classics
New Haven, Connecticut
Classic food, that is. New Haven is a foodie- and college-town that has its
share of swanky places, but it also bills itself as the pizza capital of the
world (the modern pizza being, the argument goes, an American institution).
This wild claim centres on Frank Pepe’s (00 1-203 865 5762) in Wooster
Street, where pizza purists insist on ordering Pepe’s “white pies” (no
tomato sauce) – the one with clams and bacon is a revelation. Modernists
prefer Sally’s Apizza (est 1938; 203 624 5271) down the street.
New Haven also insists it invented the hamburger. Louis’ Lunch (203 562 5507)
opened in 1895, right next to Yale, to feed hungry academics. The burgers
are broiled individually and served on toast with your choice of cheese,
tomato or onion. There is no ketchup or mustard: the servers claim they
corrupt the original taste.
There’s more to do than just dine hereabouts, however. Yale, the classic Ivy
League campus, lends the town a vibrant and youthful buzz as well as vast
cultural riches, including outstanding museums, libraries, art galleries and
theatres.
While you’re there: still hungry? Head east, to Abbott’s Lobster
in the Rough, in tiny Noank; Lenny & Joe’s Fish Tale, in Madison; or
Blue Oar, in Haddam. Lobsters in drawn butter, oysters on the half-shell,
whole-belly clams and mussel bisque are on the menus.
Where to stay: The Historic Mansion Inn (00 1-203 865 8324, www.thehistoricmansion
inn.com) is an 1830 Greek revival B&B with seven rooms (from £75 per
room per night), five blocks from Yale. Or the Econo Lodge (203 387 6651, www.choicehotels.com)
offers a serviceable base from about £35, room-only.
Go independent: airlines flying to New York include Zoom from Gatwick,
from £258; BA from Heathrow and Manchester; and Continental from Belfast,
Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Manchester, Dublin and
Shannon. Then either hire a car – Thrifty (0808 234 7524, www.thrifty.
co.uk) has a week’s hire from £112 – or catch the New Haven branch of
the Metro-North Railroad (00 1 212 532 4900, www.mta.info), which takes
about 1hr 45min and costs about £9 one way.
Go packaged: New England Vacations (01582 469771, www.vacationsgroup.co.uk)
can tailor-make 14-night multi-centre holidays from £1,095pp, with flights
and accommodation. Find out more: New Haven VCB, 00 1 203 777 8550, www.visitnewhaven.com.
The horse country
Bighorn, Wyoming
As the Bighorn River flows through Wyoming ranch country and approaches
Montana, it cuts deeply into limestone, creating one of the grandest canyons
in the northern USA. The 120,000-acre Bighorn Canyon National Recreational
Area straddles this trench, and adjacent to it is Pryor Mountain Wild Horse
Range, where one of America’s last herds of wild mustangs runs free. There
are just 180 of them, including foals, and you can usually spot stallion-led
herds from along the park roads, or grazing the mountain meadows. They are
always a stirring sight.
While you’re there: Cody is for cowboy freaks – it has the
Whitney Gallery of Western Art, which features the now-collectable Wild West
tableaux of Remington and Russell (although Cody was also the birthplace of
Jackson Pollock), the Buffalo Bill Museum and the Plains Indian Museum.
Further afield is the Little Bighorn battlefield in Montana and, of course,
the majestic and unmissable Yellowstone National Park (52 miles from Cody).
Where to stay: Buffalo Bill’s Irma Hotel (est 1902, named after his
daughter), in Cody, is the place for cowboy kitsch (gunfights in summer).
Rooms in the “historic section” from £75 (00 1-307 587 4221, www.irmahotel.com).
Parson’s Pillow (307 587 2382, www.parsonspillow.com)
is a converted church in Cody with five themed rooms; from £38 per room, B&B.
Go independent: fly to Cody from Heathrow via Denver with United
Airlines, where local airlines connect with Cody; you can book the whole
trip with BA, United or American from about £550.
Go packaged: American RoundUp (01404 881777, www.americanroundup.com)
has a series of fly-drives in the American West, with a week taking in
Yellowstone/Cody from about £499pp, including car hire and room-only
accommodation, based on two sharing. Flights are extra. Find out more: for
Bighorn, contact 00 1-307 548 2251, www.nps.gov/bica;
for the Pryor Mountain range, contact 406 896 5013, www.mt.blm.
gov/bifo/whb . Also see www.
wyomingtourism.org .
AIRLINE CONTACT DETAILS
American Airlines: 0845 778 9789, www.americanairlines.co.uk;
BA: 0870 850 9850, www.ba.com; Continental:
0845 607 6760, www.continental
airlines.com; Delta: 0845 600 0950, www.delta.com;
Northwest: 0870 507 4074, www.nwa.com;
United: 0845 844 4777, www.unitedairlines.co.uk;
US Airways: 0845 600 3300, www.usairways.com;
Virgin: 0870 380 2007, www.
virgin-atlantic.com; Zoom: 0870 240 0055, www.flyzoom.com.
Adapted from 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die by
Patricia Schultz (Workman £12.99).
