'Weddingmoon' in the States - New York -> Vegas -> California

VincentHanna

VincentHanna

VincentHanna

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I got engaged on Christmas day and we have put a deposit down on a 19 day trip to the states, but I need some help/critique of the road trip part of the Holiday

We fly to New York on in August for 3 nights staying around Times Square. I went to New York 11 years ago but fiancee has never been so i'm pretty comfortable with that part of the trip

Fly on to Vegas for 3 nights at the Wynn, and yes, we're planning on getting married out there. I know some ([TW]Fox :) ) thinks it tacky but we quite like the idea of getting married there and not worrying about everyone else.

So basically after all that, we have 12 days in which I was hoping to hire a proper V8 muscle car like a Mustang GT or Camaro SS and drive from Vegas, and end up at San Francisco where we fly back to the UK.

Day 7
Pickup car in the morning, then drive from Vegas towards San Diego. Planning to go through Joshua Tree and Palm Springs and maybe stay the night there? Worth it?

Day 8
A few hours drive to San Diego, staying around the Gaslamp and then go out around there. Perhaps the Marriot?

Day 9
Still San Diego - Zoo, Marina etc.

Day 10
Drive towards Los Angeles via the Ontario Mills outlet mall (my girlfriend will love that). I've been to LA before so I know it's a smoggy hole, but was thinking we could stay around Santa Monica for a night so she can also come to the same conclusion :)

Day 11
Drive Pacific Cost Highway to Santa Barbara and stay the night here. Any recommendations. I've actually been before with friends but I was so jet lagged I pretty much slept for 18 hours straight! I'm sure somebody mentioned some cool place near here with Yurts and stuff but can't find it on search now.

Days 12-16
Getting a bit fuzzy here. I want to do all of PCH route 1 to San Francisco but we stopped in Monterey in 2008 and it wasn't all that. Most places were shut and there wasn't much to do. That was in April time. I remember the aquarium was good and that they had a lot of Sea otters there but that was about as exciting as it got.

I've been to Yosemite before but that's quite a bit of a detour and the waterfalls won't be that spectacular in August/September

Days 16-19
San Francisco. Any tips on where to stay and where to go?

Also if anyone could recommend a place that lets you hire a proper V8 muscle car that isn't too expensive and let you do a one-way drop off I would appreciate it as it looks a bit thin on the ground from my internet searches.
 
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VincentHanna said:
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Also if anyone could recommend a place that lets you hire a proper V8 muscle car that isn't too expensive and let you do a one-way drop off I would appreciate it as it looks a bit thin on the ground from my internet searches.
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My recommendation would be to book your car hire from a UK reseller or, my personal preference, from the UK arm of a big US car hire firm (Hertz, Avis, Alamo, Enterprise, etc), as that will almost definitely come with all the included insurances as standard. The car rental companies tend to charge at least $100 to $150 one-way "surcharge", and I have anecdotally found that they tend to give up their worst/not-so-good cars to one-way rentals (as they likely won't get that car back). Hertz and Avis tend to have some of the better mainstream muscle cars, although Enterprise does some very nice cars in it's exotic collection (https://exoticcars.enterprise.com).

The Las Vegas Airport Enterprise Exotic Car branch lists the Lamborghini Huracan, Porsche Cayman S, Porsche Panamera, and Porsche 911 Cabriolet (as well as many others like the Jaguar F-type (although it's super cramped so don't rent one if you're over 6 foot tall), Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Camaro SS), so you might be in luck: https://exoticcars.enterprise.com/en/locations/las-vegas-airport-las.html :D ;)

My wife and I rented a BMW 430i hard-top convertible from Alamo in Portland, Oregon a few months ago, while we were on our honeymoon, and it was a blast. :) We had only booked a bog standard Ford Mustang convertible, but told the counter staff at the time of collection that we were on our honeymoon and were given the upgrade for free. :) It only cost us about £65 /day in the end.
 
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can't be too specific for stuff that might help you, but something that might be interesting/romantic/whatever - if you're in Vegas around mid August you could try and drive out into the desert away from the city lights and you might get a storming show from the Perseid meteors. my mom was lucky enough to be on one of the boat trips through the Canyon and they turned all the lights off and she said the view was amazing.

ive heard the main road from LV to LA can be grodlocked to Hell, so look into that as regards your travel times to avoid wasting hours [literally, i've heard].
 
What do you want to get out of it? Going to cities or going and exploring the scenery? You are trying to cram in an a lot for 19 days.

The Wynn is a good pick, I've stayed there twice and its fantastic. Some people say it's not a great location because its basically the last hotel a the top of the strip but if your able bodied everything including the LV sign is in walking distance. There is so much good outdoors stuff around Vegas like Death Valley, Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire which are will worth a visit but will be really hot that time if year.

There is no a lot interesting about driving from LV to SD, it's just a long straight freeway with not much on it and its pretty busy. Also getting around the LA area takes so long and you are crisscrossing a bit. You could skip Palm Springs and go from LV to SD via Ontario Mills which will give you an extra half day in SD and break up the drive. you could also add in Red Rock Canyon here. There is so much to see in SD and it is much better than LA.

From SD you could then drive up the coast via La Jolla and do the whole Hollywood thing. Your new wife will agree its as pretty as a sweaty arm pit and you can leave and head to highway 1 and stay the other side of LA. Doing this would save you so much time getting across LA.

In terms of the PCH the main places to go are Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach/Moro Bay, Big Sur, Monterrey/Carmel/Pebble Beach and Santa Cruz.

Be prepared to be bent over in SD and SF for hotel parking in the down town areas, especially in SF. Staying out of town is always an option and walking or getting public transport/driving in daily. It's not like your going to have many late nights and have loads to drink with the itinerary you are on and you'll need to be up pretty early to maximise your time and by the time you get to SF you'll be pretty knackered.

In SD we stayed up on Hotel Circle and drive into town daily, parking isn't too bad.

SF is a pain if you have a car to find a reasonable hotel. They start at expensive and only go up, parking charges are extortionate for hotels in the tourist areas as its valet only ($40-$50/day). We stayed in the Marina Motel on Lumbard Street and walked in but the hotels are really not the best up there but still relatively expensive for what you get. It was recommended in the road trip thread but I didn't rate it at all. The amount we paid for the Marina motel wasn't much less than we paid for the Wynn but it was comparable price wise to the surrounding hotels. The other options are to ditch the car on the way in and rely on public transport or to stay well out of the city and drive in daily. Daily parking rates add up quickly though.

There are a couple of attractions you will want to book well in advance if you want to go. If you want to go to Alcatraz which I highly recommend if you haven't been. Tickets are released 3 months in advance and sell out well before the day. I recommend the night tour, its really adds to the experience but it sells out fast, only book direct with Alcatraz Cruises. If you are wanting to go up to the top of Statue of Liberty then you also need to look at booking well in advance as that also sells out quickly. Tickets are released 6 months in advance, only book via State Cruises. Tickets to go to the island only are normally available to a few days before but you can't go inside, pointless doing that if you ask me.

You may also have a big fee with the one way rental for something decent, I know there are rules that apply to California where they are not allowed to charge you extra but I don't know if that also applies to Vegas.

As far as hire car goes, just book it through a reputable UK site, it should then include all the relevant insurances you need but the main one is damage collision waiver (zero excess). It's also normally cheaper. Alamo, Hertz, Dollar, Avis, Enterprise etc. are all pretty much the same. If you want a guaranteed car then booking direct is your only option and it costs more. If not fussed which V8 sports car you get then its cheaper. Also bare in mind the trunks on these types of car are tiny and will not fit 2 big suitcases. You are better off with soft holdall type bags.

There is a massive USA road trip thread in the motors section have a read of it. If I was honest with only 19 days I would suggest ditching NY and save it for another time and do the 'full loop' starting and ending in LA (LA>SD>LV>DV>YNP>SF>PCH>LA). You can include Yosemite and Death Valley then, Death Valley is well worth it.
 
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That's more like it :)

Thanks for the comprehensive post and info. I checked Alcatraz cruises for the entire time we are there and it says sold out already!

Edit - Derp, it is indeed 90 days in advance. I wish companies would say 'not currently on sale' rather than sold out.
 
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No worries, a couple of additional things:

When you finally go to pick up your car from the rental place they will try and up sell you even more insurance (even additional break down cover!). Feel free to decline and don't hire a sat nav, just buy either a USA sim card or a Three sim (slow as hell when roaming) and use google maps.

When I booked our Alcatraz trip the day tickets went on sale first and the night ones didn't go on until a couple of days later so keep checking it.

If you can I would also switch your NY and California bits round because of the way the time zones are. If you take off from NY its a 6 hour flight, allowing 3 hours getting to and from the airport at each end, getting there an hour before and 3 hours time difference, so about 13 hours total.

Where as if you go California to NY it's all the above but it's less 3 hours time difference so only 10 hours in total.

It also helps with the jet lag coming home but with just 19 days I would do it all in California. A long weekend in NY for a 1st anniversary ;)?

I did the loop I described above with a couple of nights in NY on the way home this year but we went for longer than you and I felt like we only scratched the surface in California and NY was a bit rushed but it was a great trip overall and you will enjoy it. Be prepared to be shattered by the end of it.

The day you spend going from LV to SD is lost really, you only have the evening to do anything. Same with going from NY to LV.

You'll also need half a day to get married, you have to pick up your paperwork in person which is between the Strip and Fremont street (got married in LV a few years ago, check the Clerk County website as the process may have changed). You can pretty much spend as much or as little as you like but if you need a witness the venue will normally be able to supply one.

'The deuce' bus which goes down the strip to Fremont street stops very close by. You can get 3 hour, 24 hours, 3 day tickets with unlimited uses. The area between the LV convention centre and Fremont they call the 'arts district' is a bit rough but well travelled by tourists on the bus. From what I remember the office you had to get your paperwork from wasn't exactly well signposted outside and I was not roaming on my phone to google it when we went. I ended up asking someone for directions.
 
Did it with BA.

Economy flight from Heathrow to JFK
3 nights in The premiere New York (near Times Square)
JFK to McCarran (Las Vegas)
3 nights at the Wynn with breakfast
San Francisco to Heathrow

£1100 each.

£300 deposit.
 
I can highly recommend the Cosmopolitan in LV. My (now) wife and I stayed there when we were getting married last September and it's so much nicer (and newer) than a lot of the boring, drab beige Vegas hotels. Treat yourself and splash out on a fountain view 1 bedroom suite. The view is absolutely stunning.
 
We did something similar but we flew between SF - LA - LV and tbh it worked out well. Plenty to do within the reach of public transport within the cities. We will be heading back at some point to fly-drive. Flying I feel did maximise time at the cities and helped keep us fresh.. But my few cents worth

SF - Fishermans Wharf has some great fish restaurants, shopping is brilliant and well centred. If you want to ride the trolley Cars its best to get on at a terminus stop. IF you want to tour Alcatraz book for a evening tour. Ours was in the middle of a lightning storm in late September and the atmosphere was brilliant. Public Transport is easy to navigate.

LA - Arrived expecting a mediocre visit but was very pleasantly surprised. Well services with 'hop on hop off' style buses, brilliant public transport system to getting to places like Santa Monica, Hollywood and Downtown. Some very nice high level restaurants and bars to wine the evening away. Plenty of high end shops inc. Beverly Hills to keep the good lady happy.

LV - We slightly cocked this one up.. Instead of chilling during the day we did the tourist thing, so by the evening we were knackered. Depending on where you stay it can be a small trek to get from the Hotel Room to the strip, we stayed at the MGM Grand (Signature) and it was a good 10-15 Minute walk to get out of th hotel.. Plenty to do on an evening if you like the casino scene. Personally 3 days is more than enough for LV. Make sure you visit |Fremont street for the street Zipline and the Mob Museum. Enjoy the old school LV.

Take a helicopter trip into the Grand Canyon, we took a sunset tour which although a little pricey was well worth the experience taking in the Hoover Dam aswell as the GC.

QJ
 
I did the wedding in Vegas (7 nights there) last April then onto Santa Monica for 5 days. Didn't do any driving myself so can't help on that front. I echo the poster above me, the helicopter tour of Grand canyon was well worth it. So was Battlefield Vegas for some gun shooting :). As was the hop on hop off bus tours around LA/SM/Venice beach. We spent a day on it just taking it all in.
 
FishFluff said:
I can highly recommend the Cosmopolitan in LV. My (now) wife and I stayed there when we were getting married last September and it's so much nicer (and newer) than a lot of the boring, drab beige Vegas hotels. Treat yourself and splash out on a fountain view 1 bedroom suite. The view is absolutely stunning.
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Cosmo is nice but Wynn/Encore are quite a bit smarter, however Cosmo has a much better location
 
You weren't wrong about SF hotels being expensive!

We were considering staying around SoMa, which I know is good for food but not so sure about night life.

Any recommendations?
 
I've been to SF a few times with work.

1) Spending a day driving down the Cabrillo Highway to Santa Cruz if you enjoy amazing empty beaches and getting out of the city.
2) California Academy of Sciences as there's also an art museum right across from there too if you're into that sort of stuff.
3) Fishermans Wharf is a total tourist trap so I'd go on Yelp to see what you fancy eating and the locals recommend.
3) A boat tour of the bay was good, I got tickets on the day so no problems pre-booking.
4) Walk from Fishermans Wharf up to the Golden Gate Bridge, you'll find loads of stuff along the way, very popular with locals out running, sitting on the beach, bbq's etc.
5) If you're fit, go on a bike tour.
6) Coit Tower, massive landmark, worth walking up there for the views.
7) I thought Alcatraz was overrated, smelt like pee and it's exactly what you'd expect.

From my last trip:
39692732702_1217f00d99_b.jpg
 
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