), I'll be going to the US! I'm going to mostly be in California with a stop in DC for a night.

edit: For your information, I'll be transiting for a day in the Philippines THEN go to America (meaning: not staying a night in teh philippines

)

Anyway the cities I think I'm visiting are

Chicago
LA
Washington DC

Any suggestions on where to go,etc?

Kevin_Sorbo

Canada3217 Posts

June 07 2012 15:03 GMT

ditch D.C. and go to NYC instead. My 2 cents :D

RedJustice

United States1004 Posts

June 07 2012 15:09 GMT

Or, see DC, then take the bus or train up to NYC. However, it really does take a whole action packed day to see DC, and then several hours by train to NYC, which will take another full day to see. I strongly suggest you plan for more than a night in DC if you actually want to get to see things!

Remember the US is very big and public transport is not as easily available as it is in many countries. Make sure you research and plan well for getting between places!

jacosajh

2919 Posts

June 07 2012 15:22 GMT

On June 08 2012 00:09 RedJustice wrote:
Or, see DC, then take the bus or train up to NYC. However, it really does take a whole action packed day to see DC, and then several hours by train to NYC, which will take another full day to see. I strongly suggest you plan for more than a night in DC if you actually want to get to see things!

Remember the US is very big and public transport is not as easily available as it is in many countries. Make sure you research and plan well for getting between places!

??? The bigger cities of the US have some really good public transports. This includes all the cities he's visiting.

itsjustatank

Hong Kong9148 Posts

June 07 2012 15:40 GMT

On June 08 2012 00:22 jacosajh wrote:

Show nested quote +

??? The bigger cities of the US have some really good public transports. This includes all the cities he's visiting.

Except LA. Southern California in general has pretty bad public transport options.

Omnipresent

United States871 Posts

June 07 2012 15:43 GMT

On June 08 2012 00:22 jacosajh wrote:

Show nested quote +

??? The bigger cities of the US have some really good public transports. This includes all the cities he's visiting.

I think he meant public transit between cities. It really is terrible. If you want to go anywhere very far outside of the city, you'll have to plan ahead, and it may be expensive.

That said, Chicago and DC have excelent public transit. Frankly, you're probably better off taking public transit in either of those cities than driving, even if you have the means. They're both complete clusterfucks for driving - Chicago for the traffic and DC for the poorly planned roads.

As far as what you should do, it all depends on what you're into. Both Chicago and DC are full or great museums. DC is packed full of things to see if you're into American history. Try to catch a baseball game when you're in Chicago. Tickets shouldn't be too expensive for day games. All three cities have pretty good Zoos and Chicago has a massive Acquarium.

Other than that, you should have no trouble finding really good restaurants and bars anywhere. Even if you hate American food, all the cities you're visiting have food from all over the world.

Chicago has an amusement park, if that's you're thing. Disney Land isn't too far from LA.

Bluelightz

Indonesia2463 Posts

June 07 2012 15:44 GMT

Just clarifying but I'm flying in between cities.

Thanks for all the responses so far!

Omnipresent

United States871 Posts

June 07 2012 15:48 GMT

On June 08 2012 00:44 Bluelightz wrote:
Just clarifying but I'm flying in between cities.

Thanks for all the responses so far!

Right, I think we got that. The point I was trying to make was that it might be difficult or expensive to get to places that are even a little bit outside of the city. If you plan to go anywhere far from downtown, make sure there's a train or bus that can take you there. It would suck to have a day planned only to realize you can't reach your planned destination.

sharky246

1197 Posts

June 07 2012 16:03 GMT

On June 07 2012 23:57 Bluelightz wrote:
So, next friday (indonesian time

)

Anyway the cities I think I'm visiting are

Chicago
LA
Washington DC

Any suggestions on where to go,etc?

Oh how unfortunate, I hope you come back alive and well.

User was warned for this post

RedJustice

United States1004 Posts

June 07 2012 16:17 GMT

#10

I meant between cities and anywhere out of the downtown. I also meant US cities in general-- I know that the ones he mentioned, and many of the bigger coastal cities do have public transport. But if he were to assume everywhere he planned on visiting was accessible by public transport that could be dangerous. We don't know his whole detailed itinerary. When you look at the US as a whole, you have to admit we don't have much of a public transport system to speak of.

forgottendreams

United States1771 Posts

June 07 2012 19:18 GMT

#11

If you're going to D.C. you gotta go to the Smithsonian museums (the Space and Hall of Human Origins were some of my favs), I got lost for an entire day going through them.

For Chicago the Shedd Aquarium, Chicago Art Institute... for LA IDK... not too great of a city (expensive and packed) but I suppose Venice Beach and Main Street?

ZaplinG

United States3818 Posts

June 07 2012 20:12 GMT

#12

better don the bullet proof and keep a gat strapped. it's legal for us to carry hidden guns, so we all are packing heat and you should be too

here, I made you a link in case you need to prepare

link

ZombieGrub

United States687 Posts

June 07 2012 21:16 GMT

#13

For DC, besides the Smithsonian (and the National Gallery of Art if you're into art), you should really go through the Newseum. I've lived around DC for sixteen years and only recently went to it, and ever since then it's been something I've suggested to anyone visiting DC. It does cost to get in (a lot of galleries and museums in DC are actually free), but imo it's well worth the price.

Besides that there's nothing much worth seeing if you're only going for a day (typically tourists visit the monuments, but eh...or I might just be disillusioned by living here so long), but those three museums alone are more than enough for a day. :D