Bryan Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 My wife and I are planning to stay in northern Virgiinia USA and visiting Arlington, Richmond and Staunton. In the past we have used motels which are economical but impersonal. I was wondering if there are any budget but reasonable alternatives? For example in the UK you can rent a static caravan/chalet on a holiday campsite which will allow self catering. The period would be around 10 days in October. We've checked out airbnb but at up to $200 a night that doesn't look viable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Hey Bryan, I live in Maryland, not too far from Northern Virginia. Those three places are a couple hours apart from each other, as you may already know, so I wasn't sure if you wanted to make one spot a home base and will have a rental car. While I have never done this, you may want to check out Cruise America http://www.cruiseamerica.com/rv-rental-locations/rv-rentals-manassas/ You can get a small RV from them and they have rental offices in Richmond and in Manassas, VA. I believe that there are good RV parks all around that area where you can get water and electric hook-ups and use of showers etc. Great time of year for that, I would come around Oct 10 or 15th....usually by the 31st the leaves are past their peak in color, especially in the higher elevations, near Staunton. Good luck! Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 Thanks Michael, we will be using a hire car, picked up from JFK airport, so the logistics/cost of using two hire vehicles might pose problems, but it's worth investigation. I was wondering if there were any RV parks/or similar with static accommodation for hire? We've holidayed in France for many years, using tents, and more recently a touring caravan, and have noticed that most campsites there now have static caravans or chalets for hire - often outnumbering the touring pitches that are available. I was wondering if there is a similar provision in the USA, and, if so, what the terminology used to describe it would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shergar Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 We have this in California where they park the trailer for you at your chosen campsite http://www.adventureincamping.com perhaps they have something like it in Northern Virginia. It might also give you some of the terminology to search for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 Thanks Shergar. Very useful - For Caravan i need to read Trailer and for Campsite read Campground! Edit - and Chalet becomes Cabin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Bryan, the only place I know that has cabins as well as tent sites is KOA http://koa.com/ Don't let the cabin on the home page of their site scare you, the ones I have stayed in are much smaller and relatively cheap. There are not that many sites closer into Washington DC but there are a few. I hope this helps! Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Bryan, have a look at homestay.com. Similar to airbnb but cheaper. Some are in peoples homes, some are seperate accomodation. And if you have a car you can be a little out of the main town you want so even cheaper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Have you tried Airbnb? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 I've always found TripAdvisor to be helpful: http://www.tripadvisor.com Ignore the one-star and five-star reviews. One-star usually has a bone to pick, and often because the reservation was screwed up. Five-star people think they are travel writers, and everything is wonderful. My favorite TripAdvisor review was for a motel near DC: "We were afraid to get out of the car." Happy motoring! Edo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 For Canadians, there is no low cost accommodation south of the border these days. The loonie is currently worth only about $0.76 US. Hopefully, the £ is doing better against the still-mighty US$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Thanks for the further replies folks. Homestay looks to be a possibility. We have used airbnd before, but looks to be very pricey in the area/time that we need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMelbourne Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 www.airbnd.co.uk is well worth a look. Andy Sorry I didn't see the last post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Thanks for all of the responses. We eventually ended up finding suitable airbnb places, not quite as cheap as motels perhaps, but more interesting, with cooking facilities, and closer to town centres. Booked a hire car locally here in the UK, turned out to be cheaper using an agent than searching online, while insurance etc all taken care of. We asked if it would be possible to have a satnav in the car and was appalled at the extra cost - something like $155 for ten days. Decided against it and came home to see an e-mail offering a $20 upgrade to our Sygic Android Satnav that would cover the world. Went with that. Sygic is querky but, by and large, it works, never tried TomTom etc, so don't know how the other half live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inchiquin Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Booked a hire car locally here in the UK, turned out to be cheaper using an agent than searching online Definitely. Another thing I worked out after one or two trips is to book the cheapest and smallest car they have available, then when you arrive ask for an upgrade. The counter staff at the terminal are usually so desperate for commission of any kind, and so lacking loyalty to the employer, that you can negotiate a ridiculously low price for the upgrade. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Thanks for all of the responses. We eventually ended up finding suitable airbnb places, not quite as cheap as motels perhaps, but more interesting, with cooking facilities, and closer to town centres. Booked a hire car locally here in the UK, turned out to be cheaper using an agent than searching online, while insurance etc all taken care of. We asked if it would be possible to have a satnav in the car and was appalled at the extra cost - something like $155 for ten days. Decided against it and came home to see an e-mail offering a $20 upgrade to our Sygic Android Satnav that would cover the world. Went with that. Sygic is querky but, by and large, it works, never tried TomTom etc, so don't know how the other half live. Good old fashioned paper maps are even cheaper, I find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 We asked if it would be possible to have a satnav in the car and was appalled at the extra cost - something like $155 for ten days. Decided against it and came home to see an e-mail offering a $20 upgrade to our Sygic Android Satnav that would cover the world. Went with that. Sygic is querky but, by and large, it works, never tried TomTom etc, so don't know how the other half live. Good old fashioned paper maps are even cheaper, I find. You don't get too many maps for $20 John, and, at the risk of offending folk on the other side of the pond, my experience has been that road signage in the USA is not the best. No doubt it varies from state to state, and maybe I have been unlucky, but typically you are driving past a turn off when you first see a sign! Too late, and 10 miles before the next access point. Having discovered Satnav this is one piece of technology that, when in foreign parts, I prefer not to do without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 We asked if it would be possible to have a satnav in the car and was appalled at the extra cost - something like $155 for ten days. Decided against it and came home to see an e-mail offering a $20 upgrade to our Sygic Android Satnav that would cover the world. Went with that. Sygic is querky but, by and large, it works, never tried TomTom etc, so don't know how the other half live. Good old fashioned paper maps are even cheaper, I find. You don't get too many maps for $20 John, and, at the risk of offending folk on the other side of the pond, my experience has been that road signage in the USA is not the best. No doubt it varies from state to state, and maybe I have been unlucky, but typically you are driving past a turn off when you first see a sign! Too late, and 10 miles before the next access point. Having discovered Satnav this is one piece of technology that, when in foreign parts, I prefer not to do without. No offense taken here, I could not agree more. Our signage may be the worst in the world and must read and understand English. Unlike Europe and other parts of the world, we don't use enough symbols that are understood by most anyone. I do feel sorry for any visitors trying to navigate our roads but I am sure GPS has helped a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 We asked if it would be possible to have a satnav in the car and was appalled at the extra cost - something like $155 for ten days. Decided against it and came home to see an e-mail offering a $20 upgrade to our Sygic Android Satnav that would cover the world. Went with that. Sygic is querky but, by and large, it works, never tried TomTom etc, so don't know how the other half live. Good old fashioned paper maps are even cheaper, I find. You don't get too many maps for $20 John, and, at the risk of offending folk on the other side of the pond, my experience has been that road signage in the USA is not the best. No doubt it varies from state to state, and maybe I have been unlucky, but typically you are driving past a turn off when you first see a sign! Too late, and 10 miles before the next access point. Having discovered Satnav this is one piece of technology that, when in foreign parts, I prefer not to do without. No offense taken here, I could not agree more. Our signage may be the worst in the world and must read and understand English. Unlike Europe and other parts of the world, we don't use enough symbols that are understood by most anyone. I do feel sorry for any visitors trying to navigate our roads but I am sure GPS has helped a lot. I'm sure that uni-lingual US tourists have a lot of fun in Quebec, where many of the signs are in French only. And then there's the metric (kph/mph) thing, "Y'all can drive 120 on the freeway up here? Hot damn!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 "I'm sure that uni-lingual US tourists have a lot of fun in Quebec, where many of the signs are in French only." - JM Hell, I found that in France too. What's the matter with these people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted August 24, 2015 Author Share Posted August 24, 2015 For ultimate confusion try Belgium where some of the place names are in French e.g Ypres and some in Flemish, e.g Ieper (the same town). However there's no shortage of signs and they follow what appears to be a European standard with regard to symbols etc. It's the relative lack of signs in the US that gives me grief. At one time some of the signs in France were incredibly vague, pointing in the general direction of more than one possible route, but of late, the situation is much improved. Being retired folk we spent all of June in France, love the place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 "I'm sure that uni-lingual US tourists have a lot of fun in Quebec, where many of the signs are in French only." - JM Hell, I found that in France too. What's the matter with these people? Je ne sais pas. Tourism in Montreal is supposedly up 80% due to the low loonie. Wonderful city (as you know). Most Quebecois are now totally bilingual, even if the signs are in French. I might be going there myself in September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I'm For ultimate confusion try Belgium where some of the place names are in French e.g Ypres and some in Flemish, e.g Ieper (the same town). However there's no shortage of signs and they follow what appears to be a European standard with regard to symbols etc. It's the relative lack of signs in the US that gives me grief. At one time some of the signs in France were incredibly vague, pointing in the general direction of more than one possible route, but of late, the situation is much improved. Being retired folk we spent all of June in France, love the place! When my sister and I went to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, we tried three times to find a couple of beaches on the other side from where we stayed. This is a small island. Something like 8 miles wide, and I don't remember for sure, but like 18-26 miles long. Sometimes the roads were marked, but then you'd come to an intersection a bit like a spoke and no signs. After traveling in a big circle three times, we gave up. Just sat there in our rental car and laughed 'til we cried. Asking Islanders got us nowhere. Their answers? "We don't go by road signs, we go by landmarks." Like when you get to the house with peeling paint and a dead tree in the yard, you turn left. I can't imagine being in a large country (U.S. Included) and trying to navigate with confusing signs. Speaking of the U.S., when we go into a service station to ask directions, we usually get this answer: " I don't know, man. I just moved here a week ago." I have a suspicion those people just got sick of telling lost travelers how to find highway xxx, and lied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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