Holiday Help (LA / San Fran / Vegas)

As someone said, head south on PCH and plan a stop in Santa Monica (wave as you go by my office). Not a lot going in LA other than to say you have been there, same with Hollywood.. Beverly Hills etc...

In fact, the only thing worth visiting in LA is the space shuttle at the Science Center.

Take a visit to the ghirardelli chocolate place in San Francisco, its about the best chocolate you gonna get over here. Americans are very bad at making it in general. Ride the cable cars and check out fishermans wharf.
 
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Most of the above is good advice. In LA I can recommend Santa Monica and Venice beach, also some of the the movie studio tours are well worth it, my fav is Warner Bros. Petersen automotive museum is good too and newly refurbished. Also have the theme parks if you want, which one depends on what you like. For proper roller coasters checkout Six Flags, I prefer Universal over Disney but both are fun in their own way. If you want to shoot some guns the LA gun club is fun and has an ok selection.

In San Fran def do Alcatraz, cable cars, cycle over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausilito and get the ferry back. I also quite enjoyed the Segway tour.
 
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Amp34 said:
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.
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And for GC you might as well stay at the GC.
 
Vegas is the marmite place of the USA some love it and some call it Blackpool on steriods.

If you go there knowing that every person there wants your wallet its great.

I hope the exchange rate gets better for you but you are going on Honeymoon so life will be bliss where ever you go :cool:

I wanted to do Yosemite and GC in June and looked last September but most of the good hotels were already full don't wait too long if you want don't fancy a caravan or tent.
 
I did exactly the same I September for my honeymoon, expect we drove to San Francisco via to yosemite and then flew to Vegas from San fran.

One gem id highly recommend is stopping off in pismo Beach and visit the cracking crab restaurant
 
Ive been to Vegas with friends before for 5 nights and loved it. The Mrs hasnt been so its on the honeymoon list and we've alloted 6 days/nights for it which I think is perfectly fine.

We don't like rushing around trying to cram things in as much as poss, like to be a bit more leisurely.

Also If you don't like loud, in your face places then yes, Vegas probably isn't going to be your cup of tea, but its right up our street and we don't even gamble!
 
Pffft people don't know how to have fun. I've done weeks in LA and Vegas. It depends what you want from it though.
Vegas I ate at some fantastic places and partied hard. I got in about 7-8am most mornings, had a ball, met some interesting people. Good times. Body struggled to keep up mind. Lots to explore outside of the main buzz of the strip if you like though, especially grand canyon etc.

LA - No one spends a week downtown. Or anytime downtown. West Hollywood is the place to stay, and there you can take in the area and the history, as well as eating well. But then you have the coastline as well... make your way up through Malibu and greater LA and there are some fantastic places to visit. Then keep driving north up the coast and that whole coastline has some great places to visit. (many mentioned in the thread already, but Carmel is one to see)
 
G-MAN2004 said:
These threads are normally filled with people suggesting no more than one night in Vegas. Don't listen to that.
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Max three tbh. There is not much out there but it is good for a few days.

Also San fran - hire bikes, go over the bridge out of town there's some decent stuff out there with great views and scenery, and you can get a ferry back so easily.

LA - **** that place. It's a hell hole and one day is all you need.

If your in cali I recommend going to solvang for a few days it's a Dutch wine town. Small but great to see, simply bc it's so un-American and spend a few days especially if you like drinking wine/cider
 
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Dont understand the beef with LA too.

Take a morning to nosey around Hollywood, check out the walk of fame, chinese theatre etc, do a bus tour round Beverley Hills, do a walking tour, do some shopping down at The Grove or mooch around the Farmers markets, visit Rodeo Drive, do Disney and/or Universal, go to the big music shop (its name escapes me), go clubbing, visit one of the many museums/observatories in the area, head down to Venice Beach or any of the other beaches.

I don't know why it gets so much stick, there is plenty to see and do in LA. Granted you don't need weeks there but those people saying spend only a day there are doing it a injustice.
 
LA has some fantastic restaurants but you really need to know someone local to get the most out of your stay. It's not a very good city for tourists who don't have that insider knowledge.
 
LA

Plenty to do,

Night time

Griffith observatory (then you can see how big LA really is)
Long Beach (from about 1500 onwards)

Daytime

Getty Museum (its also free and awesome)
Park up at Santa Monica and walk down to Venice beech
Peterson Car Museum (Bat BIKE !!!! )
Whale/Dolphin Watching with Captain Mike (special catereman with glass in the floats)
A day trip Joshua national park, maybe the day after Venice beech (you will need it)
Tar Pits and Museum of Modern ART (more or less next door to each other)
Drive along the coast road to Malibu (and be jealous of the lifestyle)
Maybe go Skiing.

Take a drive up and through route 2 (even better if you can hire a motorcycle)

Enjoy, a week in LA will be fun, hope the hotel is nice you will need to get away from the madness and size of it.

Oh and dont let the traffic get you down.

(I always hire a bike now when working over there)
 
Qjumper said:
I am planning on hiring a car and travelling out from the respective centres.. Should help the itinerary.
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The Mrs and I drove from Seattle to L.A. along the pacific coast in May last year for our 10th year anniversary.

I have to admit that L.A. wasn't our cup of tea and lived up to all the stereotypes. It took us 3 1/2 hours to drive through L.A. to Anaheim thanks to the rush-hour traffic, and a lot of it just looks like a giant strip mall with shifty-looking locals loitering outside 7-11s etc. By the way, Disneyland in Anaheim isn't worth the trek either. It's surprisingly small and quite run-down to be honest, so it was a bit of a let-down after visiting Disneyland and Disney Sea in Tokyo in 2015. To be fair, we didn't spend a whole week in the area, so we probably just missed out on the best bits (as is evident in the posts above).

That being said, there's lots to do in the San Francisco area, especially if you don't mind going further afield by car. Stop by Mendocino north of S.F. - it's well worth it. The road that takes you there is a little hair-raising if you opt for the scenic route though. :D

Have a great trip!
 
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