Holiday Help (LA / San Fran / Vegas)

Qjumper

Qjumper

Qjumper

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13 Sep 2013
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203
Location
UK, North East
Afternoon All

Just booked up 3 weeks in the U.S. for a Honeymoon (A Week in San Fran, L.A. and Vegas) and I am looking at getting an itinerary of some sort up and running. Going in September this year.

I would appreciate any hidden gems you may of come across on your travels or other good ideas to make the trip more worthwhile..

Cheers Q
 
This, although I also read this recently.
http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/california-road-trip-plan-2017

Also, make sure you travel south on PCH. It makes pulling off the road quickly to take photos a lot easier (and you'll see more from the road too).

And, if you're foodies, check out the Man Vs Food and/or Triple D blogs for eateries on that tour. Some of them will make you not want to leave :)
 
I am planning on hiring a car and travelling out from the respective centres.. Should help the itinerary.
 
We did almost the same trip in May last year. :)

Go up to Napa Valley for a night or two from San Fran.
Try and stop in Big Sur if you can. It's expensive, but it makes a real change from the coastal scenery. We stayed in a really nice log cabin.
 
We did 4 nights in San Fran and 4 nights in Vegas Feb/March last year and I can tell you there's plenty to at both cities to keep you occupied. Cannot comment on LA though.
 
Did this in July last year. I will see if I can recall our itinerary. The poorest part for me was Vegas for sure. First time for me.......after 2 days I was bored.

We flew into LA, drove to Vegas (boring AF), Vegas to SF via Death Valley and Yosemite and the return to LA via the coast (Santa Barbara etc).....that was epic.
 
G-MAN2004 said:
These threads are normally filled with people suggesting no more than one night in Vegas. Don't listen to that.
Click to expand...

My Vegas itinerary consisted of :

1)Seeing Tiesto
2)Grand Canyon Chopper Ride
3)Visit to Hoover Dam
4)Walking the strip, taking photos


That was it.
 
Fly from Vegas to the Grand Canyon, can do it via helicopter or twin prop. Well worth it.

As for San Fran they aren't hidden gems but Alcatraz and Yosemeti are also well worth it.
 
G-MAN2004 said:
These threads are normally filled with people suggesting no more than one night in Vegas. Don't listen to that.
Click to expand...

What is there to do IN Vegas? Unless you're there for the gambling and shows then most of the rest of the stuff can be done in 2 days max. There's obviously other things around Vegas though, like the GC and Hoover Dam.
 
I did 2 weeks in this area a few years ago (of a total of 5 weeks in the USA). As others have said, don't spend more than 1/2 days in LA - dreadful place.

My absolute favourite place for the entire trip was in Santa Barbra. We stayed high up in the hills in a yurt on a massive private estate which also doubles as a marijuana farm. The guy that owns it, along with his dad, has spent 20 years building a secret river walk across his land, which consists of canyoning/hiking through river/forest/waterfalls etc for a few hours. It was absolutely amazing, and something I've like to do again.

This was the place - http://www.sbwellnessdirectory.com/Mountain_Yurt.htm

Don't expect 5 star luxury, but DO expect amazing views, absolute tranquillity, a real sense of adventure, and brilliant fun.
 
San Fran:
Coit Tower - Go up the tower, worth it for the view.
Musee Mecanique - Great collection of old and very old arcade games and other coin operated things.
Fishermans Wharf - It's wonderfully awful. :)
Lombard St.
Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
Walk through Golden Gate Park - It's huge and takes hours.
Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park
Union Square
Use the cablecar - see the note at the bottom.
Chinatown
Haight Street and Castro district.
Lombard Street
Giants game at AT&T park - may have to buy tickets in advance.
Delores Park - Stop off at Tartine for a cake on the way and Bi-Rite Creamery for ice cream too.
Alcatraz - Go early so you can spend as long as possible there. You will have to book in advance.
The Bone Room - Odd.
Paxton Gate - also odd, but wonderful.
The Pirate Shop

Places to eat:
Giordano Bros - Pittsburgh style sandwiches are superb.
Delfina
Tartine - Breakfast buns first thing in the morning.. Yum.
Bi-Rite Creamery - Great icecream
Pinecrest Diner - Typically English service, they left you alone unless you wanted something. But the food was pretty good.
House of Prime Rib
Jardiniére by Traci Des Jardins - absolutely superb.
Ritual Coffee, Four Barrel Coffee, Sightglass Coffee and Flywheel Coffee - all excellent.

If you're going to be in San Fran for a few days, we'd really, REALLY recommend getting a MUNI pass. They run for 1, 3 of 7 days. You can hop on and off the busses and the cablecars. Otherwise it's $2.25 per bus trip, or $7 per cablecar trip...

We got the 7 day one and is paid for itself in about 3 days.

Vegas:
Pinball Hall Of Fame
Freemont St - again wonderfully awful. ;)
Atomic Test Museum
Plane out to Grand Canyon at 6am, watch the sun rise over the country, be pretty much alone on the edge of the canyon.
Take in a show. I'd recommend Penn & Teller.
The Neon Museum. Take the earliest night tour you can and the place starts to light up in the dark.
Mob Museum
Rhyolite Ghost Town

I'm sure I've missed stuff. We spent 10 days in San Fran, 4 days driving to Vegas via Yosemite, Sequoia and Death Vally *in a classic convertible Mustang... 46°C with the roof down... Oh yeah. :D* and then 6 days in Vegas. We could have very happily spent more time in all of the above places, except Death Valley, too hot.
 
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