New England

[alfie_30]

Hi, I have been doing a lot of research for a planned self drive tour of New England. We are hopefully able to go for a few weeks. The more I look at it, the more I realise that it is not something I want to arrange myself. Could anyone recommend a travel agency who specialises in this? I had come across Audley Travel during an internet search, but people seem to say they are very expensive. Many thanks.

[emmie]

not sure people on a UK site would know?

[fiction-factory]

There are companies here who do it. They planned road trips for us across USA and the following year across Europe. They charge fees but have discount arrangements with flight companies, car hire, trains and hotels so it was value for money. We use this organisation
https://www.travelcounsellors.co.uk/gb/leisure but I'm sure others are available
We gave a rough outline of our planned journey and details of standard of hotel and how long in each place and they come back with recommendations and prices. They then keep tweaking it until it meets our needs.

[KARL]

It surprises me a little that you find making your own plans and arrangements daunting. Renting a suitable vehicle is very straight forward via the numerous booking sites, we use autoeurope.co.uk because not only can you cancel for free up to as close as 48 hours before pick-up but you can revise your cost as/if their price falls (you watch their site and subscribe to discount notices from them) but they will also match a like-for-like lower rate anywhere else. We have in a couple of cases in this way ended up paying less than half what our well-in-advance first booking came to (last adjustment less than a month before the date) and always end up saving on the first/early available price anywhere (all sites checked).

Arranging accommodation in advance or along the way is also really easy via the internet (booking.com, expedia.co.uk, trivago.co.uk or even just via google maps where live prices are often shown).

Obviously, if you don't want the hassle or are not comfortable using the internet then an agency is the answer, but there is no question that using an agent comes at a cost - which is why they are disappearing.

[AuntPollyGrey]

I would not worry at all about planning things yourself. If fact, planning before going can sometimes be restrictive if yo have to get to certain hotels in certain time frames and commit to staying in a place. We have been on some fantastic road trips where we just hire a car and set off in the general direction we want to go (and you say you've done lots of research so you must have a 'to do' list). We have never been able to get a good hotel and often the places we were looking forward to were a tad disappointing, but we found hidden gems on the way. Also turning up at 6pm to book a hotel means you often get discounts on rooms they may not have been able to book. We've done Calgary -Vancouver, West coast France, Southern USA States and this year are doing the east coast of Italy. Just go its an adventure! ;-)

[AuntPollyGrey]

oh dear its too early 'we've ALWAYS been able to get a good hotel' LOL!

[CrapAtCryptics]

I tend to agree with Karl as self planning gives you much more choice to visit the places you want, allow time in places you like and choose quirkier hotels, B&Bs. It also allows you to shop around for a suitable secure vehicle. I find half the fun is planning the basics and then having enough leeway to add places that appeal as you travel.

[KARL]

One point worth mentioning regarding car hire in the USA: Those who live there and have their own car are covered for car hire by their own vehicle insurance policy. Consequently, the cars you hire there are commonly not insured even for third party, never mind other things. It is therefore sometimes difficult to buy insurance on the spot and anyway getting insurance through a car hire firm is almost always horrendously overpriced. They often assume you have your own insurance.

On the other hand, if you use one of the many UK car hire insurance companies online, you can get very reasonably priced policies to cover everything (called North America cover) including the excess, making for worry-free travel.

[Cloverjo]

Trailfinders are very good at this sort of thing. A UK company. They have branches in many cities if you want to talk to a real person, and they are online of course.

[TonyV]

When I have done a USA tour booked car hire from UK, then just booked motels on a day to day basis, you never how long you want or don't want to stop in a particular place.

[calmck]

Get a good map of New England. Mark the places you want to go to and what you want to see. Cities such as Boston or the smaller towns. With a car I would opt for the outskirts of Boston and use public transport to the city. There are lots of lovely B and B in the smaller towns. As said you can probably find accommodation as you travel. An agency might have deals for accommodation but you might be restricted if you wanted to stay longer in any one place.

[alfie_30]

Hi, thank you for your answers. The trip isn’t imminent so will carry on researching.