Fly Drive USA

Depart the UK on your chosen scheduled flight to Chicago. Upon arrival, independently make your way to your hotel, where you spend the first night of your adventure.

NOTE: you may choose to add extra nights in Chicago at the start of your journey or, as you return to Chicago to fly home, you could stay extra nights at the end. Or perhaps do both!

Pick up your motorhome from the Cruise America depot in Chicago and head east around the shores of Lake Michigan, out of Illinois into Indiana. As you cross the state line, you will come to Gary, birthplace of Michael Jackson. Then cross into Michigan, and to your first overnight stop, minutes from Lake Michigan’s superb beaches. Your KOA campground is also close to St. Joseph where the Curious Kids Museum “encourages discovery, wonder and awe”. Visit: the National Parks Service’s Indiana Dunes or the Warren Dunes State Park along the way.

On the way to Detroit, the home of ‘Motown’, you’ll pass by Battle Creek which is where a certain Dr. Kellogg invented cold breakfasts. ‘Full Blast’ is an exciting water park. Your campsite is just a half hour drive from Detroit and close to the Henry Ford Museum, a huge complex dedicated to the motor industry. Visit: the Arctic Ring of Life at Detroit Zoo. At 4.2 acres, it’s the world’s largest polar bear exhibit and features the only Polar Passage, a 70-ft long clear tunnel in which visitors can get closer to diving and swimming polar bears and seals than anywhere else on earth.

Cross from the centre of Detroit by bridge or tunnel into Canada. You will pass through Chatham, London and Cambridge, even cross the River Thames, to reach your multi-award winning campground for tonight, located just 20 miles from Toronto. Visit: the CN Tower, until 2007 the world’s tallest freestanding structure.

Toronto may well be somewhere you’ll choose to extend your stay but, if you’re carrying on, you’re headed round Lake Ontario bound for Niagara Falls. Along the way, you should see the Welland Canal which links Lakes Erie and Ontario. Its eight locks raise ships and enable them to bypass the 173 feet high Niagara Falls. Your campground is just ten minutes from the Falls and that’s where you should take the famous Maid of the Mist boat tour. Visit: Niagara on the Lake and at least one of the nearby world class wine producers such as Chateau des Charmes and golfer Mike Weir’s estate.

Cross back into the United States and, passing Buffalo, take the interstate bound for Cleveland. This is another place where you may wish to extend your stay but make a start with the startling I.M. Pei design for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, allow plenty of time to wallow in the soundtrack of your life. Woodside Lake campground is south of the city near other attractions. Visit: Presque Isle State Park near Erie on your way from Niagara and Aurora Farms Premium Outlet Mall, Geauga Lake and Wildwater Kingdom all close to your campsite.

If you have children on board, or just if you are young at heart, do stop after 80 or so miles at Cedar Point Amusement Park, The Roller Coaster Capital of the World! There’s much more here but the roller coasters attract visitors from every part of the world. After the thrills, it’s only another hour on to Stony Ridge KOA to overnight.  Visit the Inland Seas Maritime Museum at Vermillion which is dedicated to the fascinating history of shipping.

Back to Chicago in four hours, after crossing the state line from Michigan into Illinois. Your campground was chosen because it’s a very quick and easy drive back to Cruise America in the morning. But there’s fun to be had right next door at ‘Wild West Town’! This attraction includes a full service restaurant and is fun for adults and children alike on your last night. Visit the Illinois Railway Museum. It’s America’s largest and also in Union.

Allow a good two hours to get back to the Cruise America Chicago depot, especially if driving in rush hour. Return your motorhome, make your way to O’Hare airport and check in for your flight back to the UK.