Soldato
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Cheers! xo
Road Tripping in the USA!
- Thread starter [TW]Fox
- Start date
Cheers! xo
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
This comes up all the time. Somebody says oh I will spend a day there and people come back and argue that unless you spend 3 years there with an expedition crew you'll miss out.
Yes, spending days in Yosemite is amazing. Yes, you see much more when you do hikes. Yes, you miss some of what it's about by day tripping.
But a day in Yosemite is still great, you still see wonderful things and you still get a taste for what it is about. When you are on a 2 week holiday you simply cannot cover anything in depth, it's all about getting a taste for the various areas and perhaps planning return trips.
So that part of your trip, for me, works - perhaps not going all the way to San Francisco on the same day.
Exactly what I did - overnight in Bishop, then a day in Yosemite, then overnight in Modesto, then into San Francisco for lunchtime. Worked well.
Near enough the same trip I did in September, albeit I did 20 nights.
Firstly I think it's a shame you are missing out on LA, one of the best IMO I'd much rather spend a day there than San Francisco.
San Diego - The zoo is worth a visit, but my main recommendation is the USS Midway, such a great experience. Food wise the highlight for me was The Burger Lounge, best burger I've ever had.
Vegas - Grand canyon tour if you haven't already, and then just a general wander of the hotels and strip. Food wise, take your pic!
Death Valley - Make sure you stop off at Dante's view and Zabriskie point, both have spectacular scenery. This was easily the best driving experience from Vegas to Mammoth Lakes, leave Vegas early in the morning so you can enjoy getting out of the car for some epic photos without dying from the heat. Also take a packed lunch, there's no food joints!!
San Francisco - Alcatraz was probably the only highlight for me here, for scenery head to Twin Peaks and also drive over the Golden Gate, don't take the "tourist" first right, take the second right, then take a left, then head up the trail for some amazing scenery overlooking the bridge with SF in the background. Food wise here, I actually really enjoyed Bubba Gump Shrimp on the pier.
Monterey - Do the 17 mile drive around Monterey and Carmel, you'll see some lovely houses, and hit the coastal route. There's also the famous Pebble Beach golf course.
But yeah, if you can knock a day off in Vegas, and do a one day tour of LA, if like me you love it, you'll head back on the last day to spend another day there. I went with the Rastabus company, and there tour was excellent.
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;30451322 said:
Thanks Fox, nice to have a bit of reassurance that end of the trip will work out. Im aware two weeks is short and I'll miss out on certain things, but I can always come back and do the things we missed or only got a taste of.
Its a toss up at the minute between Bishop and Mammoth Lakes, Bishop is cheaper and less travel from Death Valley, but then it takes longer to get to Yosemite, And Mammoth Lakes is the opposite.
Wow thanks for the tips and recommendations, I'll add them to the list! The big ones you mentioned are already must do's in our book.
Ive done a West Coast trip before years ago with the family, and I thought LA was terrible. Beverly Hills was obviously amazingly decadent and ostentatious, but I didnt like much else. We do have a pretty much full day until about 9pm on the day we leave to have a poke about LA after leaving Santa Barbara, but I think i'll be avoiding the main downtown region.
I think your Golden Gate bridge spot may be the place we ended up before, there was one bloke fishing off a small wooden jetty and not a tourist to be seen! Parking was readily available right outside it too.
Absolutely, loved the place even though it was so long ago I cant remember half the stuff we did
I just remember loving it.I did Vegas to Mammoth Lakes and found it was fine, we left Vegas at about 9am and had plenty of time in DV (went to all the main sites), stopped in Bishop for an early dinner at about 5pm and Mammoth Lakes is only 45 minutes further up the road. We then spent a few hours in the morning in and around ML before driving onto Yosemite and staying in the park. ML really is beautiful and some of the areas around there were as good as those within Yosemite.
Soldato
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That's pretty much settled it for me then, where did you stay and would you recommend it? Is there any decent places to eat there or should I stop like you did in Bishop? Don't want to have to go hunting for a hot meal.
I didn't realise Bishop was a popular place. We stayed at the Thunderbird Motel which was $70 for the night. It was pretty sketchy, especially going from the $1k/night room we had in Vegas, and I was quite surprised to wake up in the morning lol
We ended up eating at a small restaurant off the main street. It wasn't anything amazing but it was a friendly place.
We ended up eating at a small restaurant off the main street. It wasn't anything amazing but it was a friendly place.
We stayed at the The Westin Monache Resort - Mammoth Lakes. One of the best hotels on our entire trip, loved it. Sat in the outside jacuzzi late at night in the darkness star gazing.
There's plenty of food and drink places, it's a ski resort, but is also very busy in the warmers months too with mountain bikers. We were pretty tired after our drive from Vegas so just stayed in the hotel, but when we went for a drive to the local supermarket there was many busy places, with people eating and drinking outside.
I'd love to go back to Mammoth Lakes and spend a bit more time there. Which is enough of a recommendation to opt to stay there than some random town. Depressingly my next stop was Modesto. Wish I'd just plowed on and drove into San Francisco.
[TW]Fox;30451322 said:
I agree with Fox but I do think the balance of your trip would be improved if you dropped a night in Vegas and spent a night in/near Yosemite this will allow you a load more time in the park which will mean you can get out of the car more and wander around without feeling the constant pressure of knowing you need to be quick so you can get back in the car for a long drive, also means you can be there earlier/later in the day when the crowds at the big sights will be reduced.
We changed hotels in Vegas but we did it via a night at the grand canyon which was brilliant as once again it meant we were there before and after the day trippers sunrise and sunset were both spectacular.
End of the day it's your holiday you will have a great time with that itinerary and everyone is different I'm just always weary of squashing too much in and I'm the outdoors type who would happily swap your itinerary to three nights max in Vegas and spend the rest in the countryside.
Fox - have you rented from Alamo Miami at all? I booked a 'premium' class with Alamo for our East Coast road trip starting in Miami in March but I'm wondering if i should keep the booking or go with a different provider like hertz who seem to offer the Maxima in the same category and price. The Premium booking says Impala or similar though the same category on the West Coast gets you the MKZ which I was hoping for.
Fox whats the best time to book for Los Angeles going at the end of September?
Convertibles which I like, are currently over £800 for 20 days.
When I booked in Sepember 2015 for the same amount of days, I got a Camaro for £565. Odd why it's so expensive now.
Convertibles which I like, are currently over £800 for 20 days.
When I booked in Sepember 2015 for the same amount of days, I got a Camaro for £565. Odd why it's so expensive now.
The value of the pound has dropped massively against the dollar since 2015.
£565 was worth $904 in Sept 2015.
£800 now is worth $1008.
That really rams home the effect of the drop in the pound!
Flights all booked now. Out to Houston on Thursday 18th, return on Saturday 11th.
Will stay Houston Thursday night then head up to Austin for the gp weekend,then something along the lines of the following.
Dallas
Oklahoma
Memphis
Nashville
Chatanooga
Smokey Mountain Park
Charlotte
Atlanta
New Orleans
Baton Rouge
Houston
Will work out some finer details but will leave it flexible and book hotels when we're there for the majority.
Need to get the car sorted next, what class do I need then fox?
Will stay Houston Thursday night then head up to Austin for the gp weekend,then something along the lines of the following.
Dallas
Oklahoma
Memphis
Nashville
Chatanooga
Smokey Mountain Park
Charlotte
Atlanta
New Orleans
Baton Rouge
Houston
Will work out some finer details but will leave it flexible and book hotels when we're there for the majority.
Need to get the car sorted next, what class do I need then fox?
Route looks good.
Alamo Luxury (book from the UK) - Cadillac ATS, 3 series etc is a good option if you dont want an SUV or a muscle car. I've tried all three: 328i, Chevy Tahoe and Camaro SS convertible. All have their plus points; it depends on what you want and how many of you there are.
Edit: if you're wanting more than one driver then look at Alamo Gold. Almost the same price as the driver upgrades but you also get to return the car empty of fuel as well.
Alamo Luxury (book from the UK) - Cadillac ATS, 3 series etc is a good option if you dont want an SUV or a muscle car. I've tried all three: 328i, Chevy Tahoe and Camaro SS convertible. All have their plus points; it depends on what you want and how many of you there are.
Edit: if you're wanting more than one driver then look at Alamo Gold. Almost the same price as the driver upgrades but you also get to return the car empty of fuel as well.