Advice for a trip to the USA.

You can have a rather fine tour of the West starting in San Francisco - allow 3 days for SF, then drive south on California Rte 1 along the coast (Might be misty, or it could be great), then stop for two nights to go to San Simeon (Hearst Castle).

Then head east to Las Vegas, "crass" your brains out then go east again to Flagstaff and then north to Grand Canyon National Park, stay in the village by the park or in the park, but you will have to get your reservations in quickly.

Then head east again from the South Rim and across to Tuba City and thence to Monument Valley, then north to Moab for Canyonlands and Arches NP. Then head to Las Vegas then of through Death Valley to Lone Pine for a night then to Lee Vining and then across Yosemite NP stay by the the west exit to explore the park. Then head back into San Francisco for some excellent Chinese and Italian food.

Allow a couple of weeks for the trip if you can,

but you can do good mileage on the interstates between the attractions.

May I suggest the following?
www.california-tour.com/california/index.php

If you come up to the Northern part of Ca.? I would be happy to show you around.

San Fran,Napa,Lake Tahoe,Yosemite,Anaheim for Disney,Vegas,and the Grand Canyon.
This would be an wonderful trip if you have the time.
It can be done.

Email me if you need any help.
Marc
onthlam@sbcglobal.net

Big H I suspect Derek's tour is a bit too much for your timeline though I fully support it as a fantastic holiday. I did a complete circle from Las Vegas by car, of the National Parks of Nevada, Arizona, Utah and even popped into Colorado. It was fantastic and took about 20 days.

The surface of SF can be scratched in about 3 or 4 days

In Summer it is possible to go through Yosemite NP and across the Tioga Pass road coming out at Mono Lake in Nevada which is a fantastic senic drive allowing an overnight in Mono. If you really want to 'do' Yosemite properly you should also stay a night near the park entrance and get up early to go in as soon as the park opens because it gets terribly full as the day progresses. From Mono you can then drive down past Mammouth and cross Death Valley to Las Vegas which requires 2 days with an overnight at the hotel in DV but is worth the experience provided you have a car with A/C that works.

The drive to the Grand Canyon south rim from Las Vegas taking in the Hoover Dam is long enough that you would need to stay near the Canyon 1 night. If you can spare the time an overnight at and a visit to Monument Valley is really worth while. I reckon that is more interesting than the Canyon.

I would say unless you are a masochist or a kid going for theme parks LA can easily be left out.

If you want more detail e -mail me ( my address is in my profile)

regards
geoff

I don't think you'll miss much by skipping LA. It's nice to visit but I would recommend visiting SF before LA. If you go to NY in the summer, try to see baseball game at Yankee Stadium...while not a fan of that particular team, it is the NY experience.

Munch

Could you e-mail me do you think? My address is in my profile.

oops!!... we just got thunder & lightning, talk about crazy weather

regards
Geoff

Thanks guys,food for thought. Initially I was thinking that we could save time by excursions to LV and Grand Canyon, but I see there is more to do and some more time may be required.
Having the NC and NY stops was also a way of reducing the time in the big silver bird,which is one reason we haven't been down under.
Thanks again.
H

May I offer an alternative itinerary? Spend a few days in San Francisco, sure, but then head north, on US-101, or on breathtaking-at-every-turn US-1 if time isn't an issue. Destination: Redwood National Park, the least visited national park (due to its remote location), and home to the tallest living things in the world, a cathedral of giant trees in a nearly pristine state. Lush, cool fern-laden canyons, herds of elk, and very few humans.

If you really have the time, continue up into Oregon, where you can visit the famous Oregon Dunes seashore, Crater Lake (a deep crystal blue lake which fills the caldera of an extinct volcano top), the Columbia River Gorge where the mighty Columbia River cuts through the Cascade Mountains, lush fern forest hikes past fantastic waterfalls.


Columbia River Gorge




Then, still further north, there's Seattle, Mount Rainier, Olympia National Park with its ultra-lush rainforest, and many other delights.

Basically, this is a passionate plug for the entire Pacific Northwest, one of the most beautiful and inspiring areas in the USA. I wish I lived there.

All best,
Fred

quote:

Then, still further north, there's Seattle, Mount Rainier.....
Basically, this is a passionate plug for the entire Pacific Northwest, one of the most beautiful and inspiring areas in the USA. I wish I lived there.

Fred....I agree. Mt Rainier was fantastic to visit. Here are a couple of shots of it.






Howard.

Can I ask is your trip a one time only or will you be able to go again. Stopping in New York if it is more because of wanting to break the journey IME does little to make the trip to the west coast easier. It is not restfull and you hit the body clock twice instead of once. Going on for 9 or 10 hours instead of 6 is not too difficult. Typically jet lag on the outbound flight from the UK is easier to accomodate than the overnight flight home at the end.

Of course if you want to sightsee NY for a few days that is different.

regards
Geoff

i grew up here and i of course haven't seen half those things. partly 'cos there's so much right here in calif., although i would like to get to b.c. went through vegas as a teen , that was good enough for me. nyc is in a category of its own. anybody know nina hagen's "new york new york" tune??

spent a lot of time in the '90s in the bay area - try city lights books in north beach, good area for walking. you can take bart almost everywhere, and it's easy to use. 90% of sf is like a museum. have fun.

Hi Howard,

I agree with Geoff, having also done the trips he mentions. A car trip from SF to LV, direct, will take you ~8-9 hours. Of course, there are many places to stop along the way, depending upong your route, that will be very much worth it: Yosemite, Death Valley, Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon ... the list goes on. As an example, I did a ~2000 mile roadtrip with family over a two week period, starting in SF, taking in Lake Tahoe, Death Valley, Las Vegas, (flight trip to Grand Canyon), back out to the Pacific Coastal Highway 1, up to SF via Pebble Beach/Monterey/Santa Cruz. Very much worth it, but does require some planning on places to stay along the way.

Doing "most things" in SF can largely depend on what your angle will be when here e.g. more mainline tourist or more alternative? There's a lot to do here, once you scratch under the surface. If you want to hit the big ticket items, one I would recommend is Alcatraz. It may seem obvious, but the night audio tour really is worth it, if only to see the sun setting over the Golden Gate bridge and the City at night. There's lots to do here, from beaches to art, music and museums to urban explorations and lots of restaurants - take your pick for the time you expect to spend here and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

If you like trekking/hiking then Angel Island is worth a visit (an uninterrupted 360 degree view of the Bay from the top), as are Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais in Marin. If you like wine and scenery: Napa. Once you get started on places to visit, it's difficult to stop ...

What you can see and do will depend on how much time you have. I would caution against trying to do too much if you don't have that much time as you may get travel fatigue. California is a beautiful but deceptively large state - driving everywhere is easy, but can take time. You can dig deep in fewer places and still have a wonderful experience. It also gives you an excuse to come back!

Do email me if you'd like more info.

Cheers,
Mark (expat currently living in SF)
p.s. Be prepared for some fog around July/August, when the City can have its moments.

skip Vegas. it is a hole. go to yosemite. Yosemite Valley is the gem of the US. skip LA. Save the Grand Canyon for a different trip. Your second trip can be a Southwest trip. New Mexico, Utah, etc. Focus on SF Yosemite, Tahoe, and if you have time come up to the Pacific Northwest. Rainier, The north Cascades, The Olympics are all wonderful, but nothing touches Yosemite.

Happy travels.

Our "girl" at Flightbookers has suggested flying LGW - LV direct doing the Grand Canyo excursions from there (no car), fly to LA pick up car and drive to San Francisco. I'm awaiting her provisional itinerary.
How does that sound for a plan?
I'm also annoyed the youngest is going to NZ for 3 weeks free,it's work apparently.

while vegas is a spectacle, one really has to wonder why it has such pull. if you are looking for coastline drive, the drive from sf to oregon is superior. from sf you could do an overnight down to big sur via santa cruz/monerey/pebble beach/carmel. past big sur heading south its ok but pales in comparison to the redwoods further north. you really want to see the redwoods. avenue of giants,muir woods, jedidiah smith state park, big basin state park. LA is worthwhile for architecture-Eames,Wright,Neutra, Schindler,Gehry and all that is socal modern, but SF has soul. Yosemite is only 3 hours drive from SF.

Thanks csl more food for thought it sounds more like our thing. I have no real wish to go to Vegas only as a base to go to Grand Canyon etc. Perhaps SF and back via NY may be a better plan.

In one week starting in Las Vegas after arriving by overnight Greyhound from Salt Lake City we drove and saw the following:

LV to Williams - drove up to Grand Canyon to see sunset on the rocks - back to Williams for the night, next day went back to GrandCanyon to see Canyon in day light - (we should have stayed at Grand Canyon Village)

From Grand Canyon via Williams and Prescott to Indio for the night.

Next day drove to Disney for the day - then drove on to Hollywood to get a motel.

Next drove up the coast road, stopping - stayed about 50 miles south of San Francisco.

Next day to San Franciso for one night (in the only hotel we had previously made a reservation.

Next day to Yosemite and thru (with a bit of sightseeing) the Park to Lee Vining.

Next day to Las Vegas for one night then an overnight flight to Washington DC, via 3 or 4 different regional airlines.

This trip was a rush - however it was the taster trip just one week in a 3 week trip that also did Niagara Falls, Rapid City, Boston, DC, and NY City.

I think that south and east of SF can be very rewarding - if you happen to use LV as a stop over because it is convenient then do so. The drive across the deserts can be very interesting - as well as very strange for UK based people, so much space, so few cars (unless you are on the interstate). If possible try and travel off the interstates unless the only alternative is a dotted line or so on the map, ie not a made up or very minor road or unless you need to cover a great distance.


This was in 1974, our first leisure trip to the US and we learnt a lot about distances and motels etc however it encouraged us to return many times.

OK planning has turned to booking as follows for late July early August:-

Gatwick - LV 2 nights hotel includes air/ground tour to Grand Canyon.
Fly to San Fran 8 days car hire
Return to San Fran 4 nights hotel 2 Fishermans Wharf 2 elsewhere
Rtn to LHR.

Can anyone advise a publication listing reasonably priced/quality Motels for the Californian and adjacent states?
When we did Detroit to Miami in 1980 PAN AM gave us book listing all the motels we could use. Not sure which of the chains are still going and what has replaced them so some information would be helpful.

TIA

Howard

Howard

Try sites like hotels.com, orbtiz, travelocity to find best rates for hotels in areas you want to stay in....

Tripadvisor.com has feedback from real travellers who have stayed there. If you filter out the B/S it can be useful....

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Jim

What I was hoping for is something to carry about as we won't know where we will be from day to day. So forward booking is problem. We have bookings for places/dates we know as of know.I'm sure we can just turn up at a place and find accommodation, but the ability to do some forward planning could be an asset.