Thanks again for more excellent information everyone.

Shadow1, thanks for that. I shall have a look at Amtrack etc and check prices…but it seems that Toronto as areplacement for Buffalo will work, so cheers!

barrythemod, tipping in different countries is something I’m relatively used to. I have travelled several times to the US, Borneo, Australia, Egypt, Tunisia, Cuba, and all the usual places in Europe. Those links for Grand Canyon tours was excellent, thanks! Cheaper than I expected…$89 for a return trip from Las Vegas.

Can anyone offer their opinion on Chicago? Several people I know speak very highly of it, the fact that it feels like a real classic US city, the kinda ones you imagine in those 1950’s films. Do people agree? Is Boston similar?

Thanks fo the information Shadow1. As I mentioned in a previous post, it increases the prcie of flights significantly to replace Toronto with Buffalo. Instead, I think I may fly from NYC to Chicago, then take the Greyhound to Toronto. It takes 11 hours and will be a nice way to see some more of the country. If I travel Monday – Wednesday it’s only $110 return. Would I have to take a similar bus between Toronto and Niagara Falls? This means I may have to forget about Boston, as I was planning on going to Boston by bus from Buffalo.

As I said previously,if planned well,you can do it in 2 days….
1.Midtown….Central Park (the bottom half),Times Square,Macy’s on Broadway and 35th,then across to the Empire State Building on 5th and 33rd for the afore mentioned night time view.
2.South….start at the bottom with a visit to Battery Park from where you get the boat to Ellis Island and later,on to Lady Liberty.Walk up Wall Street stopping of to see the progress on the Twin Towers replacement.If it’s dark by this time,a walk across Brooklyn or Manhatten Bridge is well worth it just for the view looking back at the Island (stunning),and it costs nothing!
The only attractions on the West side are the aircraft carrier Intrepid but she’s been moved for some much needed restoration and Liberty Helicopters for that once in a lifetime night-time flight.
East side,you could explore Little Italy,China Town but it’s not essential.
Hope you’re gonna take a camera and post loadsa pics:D

That’s fantastic, thanks very much! Sounds like a superb place, I really can’t wait.

Re. the Grand Canyon, it is probably gonna cost too much to fly there. New York – Buffalo – Chicago – Miami – Las Vegas – Los Angeles comes to £203, which is amazing. Then I’d use the buses to get to Boston and Washington, about £30 a time. However, sticking the Grand Canyon in the middle almost doubles that. The same is true with regards to replacing Buffalo with Toronto. So it looks like I’ll have to use the bus to the Canyon, and just use Buffalo as a stopover to get to Niagara Falls, and the bus to Boston.

This has turned into a very interesting thread, many thanks for all the responses!

Excellent Michael, much appreciated! So with a hotel already paid for, you could probably expect to live on about £10-15 a day in Thailand?

Another question I had for other people…how easy is to get to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas?