Help me decide where in the USA to visit next summer!

Everyone suggesting Northern California is right on the money--I've lived in CA my whole life and it's absolutely gorgeous, and the weather is incredibly mild in 90% of the state (warm and dry inland, cool and misty on the coasts). 10-12 days is a fairly long trip, so if you can afford to, I'd recommend renting a car and traveling through the state. If you fly into San Francisco, you can stay there for a few days, drive up through wine country for another few, stay in the Eureka area a little bit (FANTASTIC hiking opportunities, and you can see the giant redwoods), and drive back down along the coast--it's littered with cute, funky little towns.

Of course, if you want a less active vacation, you can stay at any of these places the whole time:
-Napa Valley
-Santa Barbara
-Monterey (if you really, really, really like fish-related activities. honestly, Monterey is better for day trips)
-Santa Cruz
-San Luis Obispo
-The Sea Ranch (note: this is really frickin' expensive because you have to actually rent a house, but idk your financial situation)

You should visit New England. So many historical sights to see, with many things relatively close to one another.

Boston is great in so many ways, whether you want to see and enjoy the historical sites, or experience the more artsy side. There's many museums, colleges, duck rides (they go on land and sea), ferry rides, food, entertainment, etc. You could even experience the Nor-Easter Amtrak train that can take you relatively quickly and cheaply to other New England destinations. Right up the coast.

Maine is where I'm from. Its known as vacationland. When you live here and experience winter for what feels like 11 months out of the year, its not so impressive. But between the mountains (New Hampshire has great scenery, too), the beautiful rocky seaside and the picturesque lighthouses, its definitely a great place to visit!

I think New England is great, but I may just be a little biased.

Coming from London,New York did nothing for me, it didn't feel books enough or break enough,I might as well have stayed in Leicester square!
However I really rate San Francisco.... lots to do and see, loved Alcatraz.
I've also spent a few days in New Orleans, and really want to go back there, and north Carolina has given me a few decent trips, some nice scenery and good welcomes.

Florida and any of the southeastern states will be humid and miserable in the summertime. Many bugs, too. California would be a terrific break from the UK for you guys, and there is so very much to do and see there. Yes, there are also many touristy areas but there's a vibrant vegan scene and many, many restaurants. You could rent a car and drive down to San Diego (from LA), where it is gorgeous. And up to San Francisco. Beautiful coastal roads with the Pacific out your car window. I'm from the Pacific Northwest where our weather is more like in the UK a good part of the year, i.e. rainy and overcast. But we love our trips to Cali.

Whel, I don't know what your into so Ill just list my favorite places that I go to in the US.
1. High mtns in Colorado.
2. Mammoth Lakes, CA
3. Grand Tetons, WY
4. Yosemite, CA
5. Mt. Whitney, CA
6. Grand Canyon, AZ
7. Zion, UT
8. Cedar Point, OH
9. Maui, HI
10. Alaska
11. Virginia Beach, VA
12. Six Flags, CA

7674956496. Las Vegas, NV. I live here and its too damn hot.

One really great trip that is doable in 12 days (assuming you don't mind driving) is the Great Lakes tour. Fly into Chicago, drive up through Wisconsin along the Lake Michigan Shoreline, cut through Michigan's Upper Peninsula, take the Mackinac Bridge to Mackinac Island and stay a night or two at the Grand Hotel. Then you would follow the northern shore of Lake Huron in Canada and either turn south to Toronto and Niagra Falls and finish driving through Upstate New York to NYC, or east to Montreal and turn south to drive through New England to Boston.

August is a great time in the northern part of the US, southern part of Canada. This trip will give you beautiful scenery, history, wineries, small towns, big cities, and everything else in between.

EarlnAbby, this sounds lovely. I live in Pacific NW; will add this to getaway places!

I'm going to have to go with California on this one (although Alaska is another great option and great weather in August) Florida through the Gulf Coast is just going to be way too hot and muggy at that time of year and I don't know enough about East Coast to give any good recommendations.

My thoughts:
San Fransisco is pretty self explanatory, but a native might be able to clue you in to some of the more "non-touristy" options
Take the train down the coast or drive the 1, either way is gorgeous
Stop in the smaller towns
Downtown LA is not the prettiest of locations but Venice, Redondo, Santa Monica and Huntington Beach are all great.
If you are at all in to scuba diving then you NEED to take a ferry out to Catalina for a day or two, this is some of the best kelp forest diving you will ever have the opportunity to see, but yea, the water's "cold" at least compared to the nasty warm bath water you get on the gulf....
And YES San Diego is well worth the visit, I lived in LA, not San Diego, so I don't know it as well, but it is gorgeous.

Wait, why are all the California peeps up already? Isn't it really early there?

8 is not early

What ever you do, DO NOT GO TO MICHIGAN, that state sucks.

The Carolinas are wonderful. But in August they are miserable, unless you go to Asheville which is brilliant! There is a drum circle in the middle of town on Friday nights plus lots of activities that go on in and around the area. There are lots of vegan places to eat as veg is the norm. It is a mountain town so there are lots of things to do as far as exercise from hiking, biking and canoeing the river. There are also fun bars. We live in Charlotte so we go there for weekend trips, especially in the summer as it is brutally hot and humid here.

http://www.exploreasheville.com/things-to-do/events/?e_ViewBy=month&e_sdate=8-1-2014&e_sortBy=eventDate
http://www.visitnc.com/things-to-do
http://www.romanticasheville.com/BlueRidgeParkway.htm

There is a direct flight from London to Charlotte. It is 2.5 to Asheville and between 3 and 4 east coast beaches. It is also 4 hours from Charleston SC and 5 to Savannah Georgia, which is a lot of fun too.

You will get more bang for your buck in the south than NYC. The only problem is, the public transport is not that great. We have buses and taxis and that is about it. There is one train that runs in a straight line from one end of town to the other we call the blue line, but it is not good for much but getting to and from town.

I will be in London next Tuesday-Friday. Any advice on fun things to do (we are middle aged and do not drink) would be great!

L

Come to Arizona.
Fly in to Phoenix, but stay in Flagstaff.
Visit the Grand Canyon, but invest the extra time to go to the less touristy North Rim.
Take a day and go to Sedona for a Pink Jeep tour of red rock country.
Spend a couple of days in Phoenix (you said hot weather, right?) stay at any of the cool resorts and take a spa day.

Arizona. August weather is awesome. Grand Canyon, salt river, amazing hiking, great people. If you want a drive, you can drive to yellow stone and even a 6 hour drive to the beach in California. And 6 hour to vegas*

AZ has it all.

The US has something for everyone. It really depends on what you want to see. We have all sorts of scenery, food, and activities.

Colorado isn't normally a super-touristy destination in the summer. The weather in August is hot, but not at all humid. Plus, it's much cooler in the mountains! And Colorado is generally cheaper than NYC, Miami or LA.

Boulder will be the most vegan-friendly area, but it's also more expensive than other parts of CO. Denver offers a lot of options for dining and entertainment, and it's reasonably close to the mountains. Glennwood Springs is really pretty and has a hot springs and a tram to the top of a mountain. Estes Park is near Rocky Mountain National Park.

There are a few airlines that offer direct flights from Heathrow to Denver.

Colorado Springs is about 75 miles south of Denver and offers easy access to Manitou Springs (for a drive or cog railway trip to the top of Pike's Peak) as well as The Garden of the Gods, The Royal Gorge, and the stargate secretly housed in Cheyenne Mountain (although this is top secret and everyone will deny there is such a thing there. don't believe them). the US Air Force Academy is close by, with a number of other attractions.

I'd fly in to San Francisco. Go to Yosemite National park. drive down the coast of california. Hit Los Angeles and then finish the trip in Las Vegas.

The US has something for everyone. It really depends on what you want to see. We have all sorts of scenery, food, and activities.

Colorado isn't normally a super-touristy destination in the summer. The weather in August is hot, but not at all humid. Plus, it's much cooler in the mountains! And Colorado is generally cheaper than NYC, Miami or LA.

Boulder will be the most vegan-friendly area, but it's also more expensive than other parts of CO. Denver offers a lot of options for dining and entertainment, and it's reasonably close to the mountains. Glennwood Springs is really pretty and has a hot springs and a tram to the top of a mountain. Estes Park is near Rocky Mountain National Park.

There are a few airlines that offer direct flights from Heathrow to Denver.

Colorado Springs is about 75 miles south of Denver and offers easy access to Manitou Springs (for a drive or cog railway trip to the top of Pike's Peak) as well as The Garden of the Gods, The Royal Gorge, and the stargate secretly housed in Cheyenne Mountain (although this is top secret and everyone will deny there is such a thing there. don't believe them). the US Air Force Academy is close by, with a number of other attractions.

Forget Stargate (not worth it without RDA anyways), I want to visit South Park!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park_(Park_County,_Colorado)

San Francisco is a touristy spot, but there are a lot of vegan friendly restaurants. Not sure if you know about this website, but you can search vegan restaurants on it: happycow.net