help with California trip Itinerary

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kobiak

1615 posts

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#1681295 2-Dec-2016 14:13

For these who interested and looking for a similar road trip.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1RgvtlkPc0Kf24tYakEzIxsnowz4&ll=35.99507516442322%2C-116.88567999999998&z=7

3 Nights in LA

- madame tussauds

- walk of fame (twice :)

- hard rock cafe

- universal studio (must)

- LA downtown

- Santa Monica (must)

- Venice (must)

- Hollywood sign and Observatory

1 Night in Kingman on the way to Grand Canyon Village

- road 66

- bottle tree ranch

- peggy Sue's 50's cafe (must)

- Calico Ghost Town (must)

1 Night in Grand Canyon Village

- South Rim Walk (the most left side of South Rim, there's 13km walk along the edge. EPIC) (must)

- Sunset Desert view watchtower (must)

1 Night Bryce Canyon

- stop at Desert view point in the morning for EPIC view once again (must)

- UPPER Antelope Canyon in PAGE (must)

- Horseshoe bend in PAGE (must)

1 Night Zion Canyon

- 2 walk in Bryce Canyon (must)

- drive to Zion Canyon (must) There's scenic drive, drive and stop as required but the most EPIC drive from EAST

- Narrows track (must) but be prepared to walk in cold water for 2-3 hours. It was too cold in November :( and we did not have enough time

2 Nights in LV

- valley of fire (can drive to most of the points) (must)

- attend a show in LV (we went to Cirque de So lei)

- outlet shopping

1 Night Big Pine

- death valley (must) there're different points to stop as required (very long drive :( we hopped that Tiago pass would be open, but no luck, closed 4 days before planned pass)

2 Nights Yosemite Park

- as we had to drive around Sierra Nevada, we decided to visit Sequoia Park (must, epic for sunset)

- Yosemite Park lot's of points, easy and hard walks, we decided with easy walk as 2 days of rushing in desert valley and Sequoia Parks

4 Nights SF

- fisherman's warth

- chilling in bars/cafes

- golden bridge

- shopping

We rented car from SIXT60 (brand new GLA250 with just 50 mileage!) for 770 USD for 10 days including LDW and drove over 3500 KMs

Overall, WOW! Not enough time for National Parks, we decided that we could easily stay for 3-4 nights at each.

LA is meh, awful city. I'd move to SF anytime now, and LV is just huge entertainment/shopping mall :)

helping others at evgenyk.nz

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MikeAqua

7767 posts

Uber Geek

#1681312 2-Dec-2016 15:06

A general tip is to ask when you check in to accommodation whether your room includes breakfast, wifi whatever. You won't always be told ... particularly at biger hotels.

Vegas: There is lots of stuff to do. I would spend at least two nights. Go see a show one night (there always seems to be great entertainment on offer) have a party the other night. Don't neglect Downtown: it's much cheaper and kind of kitschy/quaint. Freemont St is a blast. During the day there are actually some cool things to do. When I was there Luxor had a really neat aquarium exhibition (with sawfish which I've never seen in an aquarium before). Shopping is good if the exchange rate is favourable. Vegas has a good bus service up and down the main drag. Use it. Distances along the strip are long. Some people hire mobility scooters.

Grand Canyon: Well worth a look. I drove there from Albuquerque, staying at Williams. Cool little town. It still has a piece of Route 66 running through it. It was any easy drive in the morning via Tusayan - that town seemed pretty dead to me, apart from it's a very busy sightseeing air-strip.

The Canyon itself is spectacular to look at for the first hour but .... after your mind adjust to the scale it's just more of the same from the canyon rim. The mule trips are supposed to be really cool, but I was too big for the mules. You need to book ahead for accommodation at the canyon itself and for mule trips or any ranger lead activities.

You can do all inclusive helicopter trips to the Canyon and Hoover Dam from Vegas. Not cheap. But not ridiculously expensive. If I went back I'd do it that way

Monterey: +1 for Monterey Bay Aquarium. The Monterey Wharf restaraunts and SFO Fishermans Wharf are interchangbale.

SFO: Alcatraz is worth a visit. Yes it's a cliche but it's actually pretty interesting especially the audio tour guiode, whihc is narrated by people who lived there (on both sides of the fence). Fisherman's Wharf gets old fast, although the Buena Vista Cafe does amazing breakfast and Irish Coffee. North Beach (no longer a beach) has nice Italian. China Town is good. Sausalita across the bridge is cool.

Mike

Rikkitic

Awrrr
18517 posts

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#1681318 2-Dec-2016 15:09

Different people have different tastes but San Francisco is a great city and I would have no problem spending many days there. You can't go wrong in the national parks. I echo the suggestion to drive up highway 1. There are some beautiful spots along that route. If you have the time, carry on further north of SF. You will see some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in the world.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

wsnz

642 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1681326 2-Dec-2016 15:18

For something different in Las Vegas - if this is your type of thing - try visiting the National Atomic Testing Museum.

MikeAqua

7767 posts

Uber Geek

#1681329 2-Dec-2016 15:22

wsnz:

For something different in Las Vegas - if this is your type of thing - try visiting the National Atomic Testing Museum.

The mob museum is interesting too.

We drove the Pacific Coast Highway (1) from LA to SFO. I wish we had done it the other way as we would have been on the sign nearest to the ocean and that's where most of the attractions are.

Mike

Technofreak

6512 posts

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#1681437 2-Dec-2016 18:35

Sounds like you had a fantastic trip.

Makes me want to go back again.

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lchiu7

6457 posts

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#1682062 4-Dec-2016 16:06

Most of the advice has already been given so I will just add a few points.

You didn't say if you had kids? I guess not since you are not visiting Disneyland. Having just come back from LA/SF/Vancouver (mainly to see family and friends) I can make the following suggestions.

Universal Studio is certainly worth a visit. Try to go on a week day so you can get a cheaper ticket. I had been several times before (my last in January) but we wanted to check out the Harry Potter area. It was okay but the VR ride (there is also a small roller coaster) had to be the most gut wretching VR ride I've been on ever.

You either love or hate Vegas. I normally go once a year for CES and I don't gamble but do enjoy the buffets! My favourite is the Cosmopolitan but Caesars has a good one also.

If your wife likes shopping then make a trip to the Outlet Mall near the strip. It's huge and worth a visit. You can get there on a bus or Uber. Make sure you allow plenty of time for shopping and baggage space.

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/las-vegas-south

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

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