In the summer of 2018 George and I hit the road for just over two weeks to tour the USA. We drove through 13 states from Boston, Massachusetts to Nashville, Tennessee along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We also made stops in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington DC. Here is our itinerary from Boston to Nashville and back plus some key info to know before you go!
How to find Cheap Flights to the USA
If you’re flying from the UK like us, I’d recommend checking out Norwegian Airlines as a first point of call. We managed to get return flights from Belfast for under £200! They’re a budget airline so don’t expect too much. There was no in-flight entertainment and you had to pay extra for food (we chose not to). With a Boots meal deal and shows downloaded on your iPad you’ll be fine!
Luckily I have a lot family in Northern Ireland so we got cheap flights to there from our local airport then stayed with them for a few days before catching our flights to the States. Take a look around at flights from different airports, it could work out cheaper to travel somewhere else first!
Another potential reason why our flights were so cheap was that they didn’t actually go to Boston. Although they were advertised as Belfast to Boston – they didn’t even go to the same state! Luckily we figured this out before booking! The flights were actually to Providence, Rhode Island, which is about an hour from Boston. As we were hiring a car it wasn’t an issue for us and we got to see some of Rhode Island too!
Hiring a Car in the USA
There are a lot of comparison sites to help you find cheap deals with car hire but just make sure all the details are correct when you actually book. A lot of comparison sites don’t let you add details like additional drivers.
Try to plan a circular route! It’s a lot cheaper to pick up and drop the car off at the same location. Plus flights can sometimes be cheaper too if you book a return flight rather than two one-way flights.
If you’re under 25 – it’s going to cost a lot more. Most rental companies charge a young drivers fee which sometimes doubles the price. At the time our road trip, I had just turned 25 but George was still 24. We managed to find a deal with Alamo with a free additional driver. I read all the terms and conditions and it stated the additional driver just needed to be over 21. When we went to collect the car, they tried to charge us a young driver’s fee after seeing George’s license. I argued and showed them their own policy and we managed to avoid the extra charge!
Boston to Nashville Road Trip Itinerary
This map doesn’t quite show the exact route as Google keeps routing to the highways rather than following the Blue Ridge Parkway
Day 1 -2: Rhode Island
We landed on a Saturday afternoon and so stayed fairly close to the airport on our first night as we weren’t sure how tired we’d be. We stayed in an AirBnB in Wickford Village on our first night which was a lovely little town for a stopover and was on route to Newport.
Newport is a small city with a long coastline, famous for huge mansions. It was pouring with rain on the day of our visit so sadly we didn’t get any good photos! After ducking in and out of independent shops and cafes, we sheltered in the car and drove along Ocean Drive taking in the views and giant houses like Marble House and the Breakers. This was our first time hearing about the super-rich Vanderbilt family who built the Breakers mansion in the late 1800s, they later became an unintentional theme of our road trip, popping up in quite a few places…
Later that day we drove for about 3.5 hours to Brooklyn, New York.
Day 2-5: New York City
If you’re driving to New York City, I’d highly recommend staying in Brooklyn and avoiding driving through Manhattan, if you can help it. Brooklyn is a cool place in itself and the parking and hotel costs are cheaper. We got a great deal with Pod Brooklyn which I would highly recommend!
On our first full day in the city we borrowed bikes (for free!) from the hotel and ended up cycling 20 miles around Manhattan and Brooklyn. We saw so much: the Williamsburg Bridge, China Town, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park and more. Read more about that little adventure here.
The next day we took the subway and explored more of the city: Grand Central, Public Library, Bryant Park and the Highline. If you want to take in the views of the city, I’d recommend going up Rockefeller Centre – it has better views than the Empire State Building, in my opinion as you can see the Empire State from it! We ended the day seeing Chicago on Broadway after getting cheap tickets from the TKTS booth in Times Square.
On our last morning in the city, we visited the 9/11 Memorial Workshop. This is a tiny museum ran by the official police photographer from 9/11. It’s filled with his photos and other items found during the recovery period. It’s a much more intimate experience than visiting the World Trade Center Site. The museum is tiny – it’s literally one room above some shops so it can’t fit many people in and it can be hard to find. I’d recommend booking ahead and getting there early.
Day 6-7: Blue Ridge Parkway and Asheville
After New York, we drove south and stayed in Charlottesville for the night, right on the edge of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was about a 6 hour drive, so we got there late and didn’t really see any of Charlottesville.
We got up early the next day to make the most of our day along the parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway is well known for its stunning views but that morning it was so foggy we could barely see the road in front of us never mind spectacular landscapes and rolling hills! Eventually the weather cleared and the sun came out and the views were fantastic!
The Blue Ridge is dotted with stops and pull-over points so whilst it is a long drive for one day (around 10 hours!), there were lots of opportunities to break that up and explore. We took a little detour to visit the Natural Bridge which was way bigger than I expected (I don’t think these photos do it justice!). There was also a Native American replica village there too which was great.
We arrived in Asheville around 8pm that night so didn’t get to explore it much until the next day. Asheville is quite a cool, arty town with lots of independent shops and emporiums to explore. It is also home to the Biltmore Estate – another Vanderbilt Mansion!
After finishing the last stretch of the parkway, we headed to Nashville (4.5 hour drive from Asheville). This route took us past some very unexpected sights including Pigeon Forge, the World’s Biggest Gun Shop and the World’s Biggest Firework Shop!
Day 8-10: Nashville
In Nashville, we were fortunately able to stay with George’s Godfather. He and his wife were kind enough to show us around so we got to see some of the less touristy spots like vintage warehouses and a walk around Radnor Lake. They also introduced us to some fantastic food at Arnold’s (a traditional “meat and three” canteen) and an Ethiopian restaurant called Amy’s.
We did of course explore the touristy spots too – we headed to the Gulch and Downtown to experience a Honky Tonk. For quieter drinks we also explored Hillsboro Village which is the more studenty area as it is right next to Vanderbilt University (yes, the Vanderbilts again!)
Day 11-12: Washington DC
On the route from Nashville to Washington, we dipped into Kentucky and tried out their local delicacy – KFC. We also had a brief stopover in Charleston, West Virginia after a 6 hour drive. The next day we drove nearly 6 more hours to reach Washington DC.
In Washington DC there are tonnes are free museums! Some are so big that you could struggle to explore all of it in one visit so plan ahead and prioritise which exhibits and which museums you really want to see!
Alongside the museums, there are plenty of things to see outside too like see the Washington Monument and the White House. In addition to the Lincoln Memorial, there’s also the Martin Luther King Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Franklin Roosevelt Memorial – all worth seeing. They’re all in close proximity to one another too so you could quite easily walk around them all in a couple of hours.
Day 13-14: Philadelphia
Compared with our other drives, Washington DC to Philadelphia was fairly short – just 2.5 hours. Our visit to Philadelphia was only brief as was stayed with a friend in Connecticut that night but I would recommend staying the night in Philadelphia and giving it two days – there’s a lot to explore.
Seeing Liberty Bell and Independence Hall tends to be go-to sight for Philadelphia but there’s much more to the city! You should definitely explore some of the older parts of town, including one of the oldest streets – Elfreth’s Alley.
If you’re looking for more modern attractions, take a trip to Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. It is mosaic maze made up of all sorts of objects, like tiles, bottles, bike parts – just about anything! Then for lunch, I’d highly recommend Reading Terminal Market, historic indoor market filled with all kinds of exotic and local cuisines.
Day 15-17: Boston
The drive from Philadelphia to Boston is around 4.5 hours and goes straight through Connecticut, so you could stop there to experience another state as well!
Once in Boston, I’d recommend following the Freedom Trail and the Black Heritage Trail as two of the first things you do. It’s a great way to see some historical sights, explore the city and keep an eye out for things to come back to. You can take guided tours or you can pick up a free map from Faneuil Hall and walk the trail at your own pace instead. While you’re there, I’d recommend checking our Quincy Market too!
Boston is one of those cities where you could spend all day just wondering around different areas and taking in your surroundings. Some areas I would recommend are Boston Common, the Harbour and talking a stroll up to the Bunker Hill Monument.
Personally, I think you should never leave Boston without trying a slice of Boston Cream Pie. The North End of Boston, also known as Little Italy is home to some fantastic bakeries like Mike’s Pastry and Modern Pastry. They’re incredibly popular so you may have to queue a while but trust me, its worth it! Mike’s cannolis were incredible too.
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