Top Tips for Europeans Visiting the United States
Planning a trip to America? Here are some tips that can help you ensure that you spend as much time as possible enjoying your holiday, instead of wasting it sitting on planes, waiting in airports, and driving endless stretches of highway.
In short, don’t act like an American visiting Europe when you visit America. Bouncing from city to city in an attempt to “see it all” on one trip will leave you spending almost all your time in America in transit between cities rather than enjoying the sights you came to see. While an American might be able to pull off an itinerary that includes London, Paris, and Rome on one trip, trying to see Los Angeles, New York, and Orlando in one go is a great way to end up hating your visit.
This came to mind when reading a Reddit thread over the weekend in which a European asked about his planned honeymoon trip to America, which included stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, among other cities. Let’s take a look at the distances involved, by laying a map of the 48 contiguous United States over a map of Europe.
If you align San Francisco with London, then Los Angeles is southeast of Paris, halfway to the Swiss border. Orlando is on the border of Russia and Georgia, and New York is way out on the Volga River. Keep in mind that there is no national high-speed rail network in the United States, and we don’t have the same low-priced airlines as in Europe, either.
So here is our advice for new visitors to America:
1. Pick one region and stay within it — Want to visit Orlando? Fine. Book a flight into Central Florida and stay as long as your budget allows. But don’t try to add a day trip to anywhere farther than Busch Gardens Tampa or the Kennedy Space Center. Even driving down to Miami in South Florida will take four hours each way… and that’s assuming you don’t hit much traffic. (Don’t assume that, by the way.) If you want to venture beyond Central Florida, you will need to add travel days to your trip in addition to the days to experience those other destinations.
If you want a variety of experiences on your trip, instead of trying to fly or drive all around America, pick a region of the country that offers the variety of experiences you want. California is a great compromise for first-time visitors — you can sample beaches, mountains, theme parks, world-famous cities, and national parks in a two-week trip that keeps your transit times reasonable, if you order everything well.
Which brings us to….
2. Theme park fans should pick Orlando or Los Angeles, but not both — You can find Disney and Universal parks in both places, but there’s just not enough difference between the two to justify visiting both on one visit. That said, there are enough differences that the two are not indistinguishable. In general, it’s generally easier for theme park fans in Europe to find package tours to Walt Disney World in Orlando than to Disneyland in Southern California. But if you are assembling your own itinerary, look into both destinations and decide which one — including nearby destinations — best matches your dream holiday.
And if you are really set on a roller coaster getaway, consider steering clear of both Orlando and Los Angeles and fly into Chicago, instead. Rent a car and drive to Six Flags Great America, Cedar Point, and Holiday World. That’s a one-week roadtrip that will allow you to ride many of the best coasters in America, without unbearable drive times.
3. Stay in tourist areas — The fastest ways between any two cities in the country are on airlines or the Interstate highway system (limited-access roads that start with a letter “I-“). Don’t try to get creative and plot a straight-line driving course between distant cities, going on state or local roads. Not only will they rarely be faster than the Interstates, you could find yourself lost or stranded in areas with, let’s just say, no support for tourists. Within cities, stay on Interstate or major roads, as well. Out in rural areas on Interstates, watch your fuel gauge. Especially in the Western United States, you might have to drive 100 miles between stops that have gasoline stations. You do not want to be caught running out of fuel before the next available station.
4. Don’t assume public transport will be available — There are some great public transit system in the United States, but they cover a far smaller percentage of the country than transit systems do in Europe. Research your destinations and if you find an available subway or light rail service, don’t be afraid to use it. But don’t assume that there will be one there waiting for you wherever you go. There’s a subway line in Los Angeles that goes to Universal Studios Hollywood but beyond that, you won’t find any major pubic transit systems serving theme parks in the United States. Your best alternative to renting a car in the United States might be Uber, which is pretty much ubiquitous.
5. Don’t forget to tip — Adding a tip of 15-20% of your restaurant bill is expected at almost all table service restaurants in the United States, including those in theme parks. Servers in the United States are paid less than the minimum wage, as tips are expected to provide the bulk of their income. Don’t stiff them. Plan to tip bartenders, hotel bellhops, valet parking attendants, and taxi drivers, as well. Here’s a good guide to tipping in the United States.
6. Buy health insurance before you leave — America does not have a national health care service, so there’s no reciprocity with your country’s health service. If you need any medical care in the United States, you will be expected to pay for it — at rates you will consider outrageous and obscene. The only exception you will find is within theme parks. Going to the First Aid office in parks won’t cost you a thing and they can handle many minor ailments and injuries there. But if they refer or transport you to another medical facility, you will have to pay for that. Also, pharmacists in America simply fill prescriptions and cannot provide a diagnosis or other treatment, as they do in some European countries.
7. Prepare for the sun — Here’s the one thing we did cheat in that map above — the United States are located at a much lower latitude than Europe. New York is located at about the same latitude as Madrid. Orlando’s latitude would put it in North Africa. The sun feels much more intense just about anywhere in America than it does in Europe, and you will burn if you don’t use sunscreen. Sun- and heat-related ailments are the top things that bring people into theme park First Aid offices, and you don’t want to waste part of your valuable holiday time dealing with sunburn or heat exhaustion. Read our theme park safety tips for more advice.
Okay, American readers, what else would you add to this list?
Replies (1)
Great article, being from the uk I would add if it’s your first time to America and you want to do the Disney, Universal, Sea World etc etc then your find it a lot easy to travel in Orlando Florida then you will in California, all the parks are within easy driving distance in Orlando Florida, having been to California as well as Orlando you appreciate the closeness of the parks in Orlando then you do in California. Example, driving distance between Disneyland California and universal studios California may appear short but with the traffic in between the time to drive between the two can take up to four hours in Orlando it’s normally twenty minutes between parks unless your unlucky with traffic, California Disney to sea world is 100 miles as sea world is in fact in San Diego were in Orlando 5 to 10 miles tops, your see more of different areas as you drive around in California but you will be sitting in your car for longer, first time it’s Orlando all the way for me, having said that I liked California as well.
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