Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

We're doing a road trip starting and ending in San Francisco and taking in Highway 1 down to LA/Vegas/Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon/Route 66 - Sedona/Death Valley/Yosemite

Neither of us have been to the States before so any suggestions and recommendations of things to do and see, hotels/motels to stay in, places to eat on the way will be most welcome

FlightMan

In SF, Alcatraz. Afternoon tea, yes really, on the 55th Fl of the Bank of America building. Union Sq shopping. Ride the trams. Tram museum.

Between the 2 cities, Hearst Castle. 17 mile Drive/Pebble Beach,Carmel. Monterrey and the aquarium.

In LA. Santa Monica shops, and pier. Muscle beach for a laugh. Universal studios. Disney if you're into it. Catch a sports event if you're into sports.

Enjoy!

Nigel H

Recommend a baseball game - they can be quite cheap (£10 a ticket) and there's plenty to eat while you watch the game!

The 17 mile drive I really enjoyed around Pebble Beach - we saw some sea otters and the view are good.

Enjoyed Mels drive in for the American Diner experience

melsdrive-in.com

Take your own satnav - buy the US maps - and load it up with stuff before you go. Makes for a really stress free holiday.

Lee247

Are you going to the States for your jollies, Sal. No one would ever guess

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I might have mentioned it once or twice

Thanks chaps, just the sort of info we need I'm buying the TomTom USA maps before we go so that I can put lots of POI's in and work out rough times and distances.

I've also mentioned in passing to Bob that our arrival in San Fran happens to coincide with a Gay and Lesbian Festival, oops I'm going to book the Alcatraz tickets well in advance as a friend tells me that it's always fully booked if you leave it until you're there. Afternoon tea on the 55th floor of the BoA sounds interesting, we may just have to try that.

We were hoping to get to a Nascar race but the only one on isn't on an oval and doesn't fit in with our plans so I think we'll do the baseball thing instead.

I'm quite worried about the food out there, it sounds cheap, plentiful and very fattening!

Leslie

You have a good selection alright. Mount Charleston near Vegas is worth a visit and look out for the "Hole in the Wall" where the infamous gang used to hang out in the old days. Its on top of the ridge on the left as you approach the beginning of Death Valley and looks like a slit in the rocks. Don't forget to have plenty of drinking water with you on the van for Death Valley-they insist on it. There is a park with a lot of petrified rocks and trees etc just north of Vegas, I cant remember its name but you might see it on the road maps. The cheapest and best place to eat in Vegas is in the casino restaurants, the food is subsidised to get the punters in

Hope you have a great time.

Les

Daryl

In SF, take a drive over the bridge to the Golden Gate recreational area, for stunning views across the bridge and Bay.

Santa Cruz is a nice place to stop for an hour or two on your journey south.

As others have said, make sure you do Monterrey, 17 mile drive and Carmel. Stop at Pebble Beach golf links for lunch and a beer in the famous Tap Room and admire the view across the famous 18th hole (non-golfers are welcome!).

After that carry on down Highway One to Big Sur, the scenery is breathtaking. You might even see migrating whales if you are lucky!

Santa Monica is great, not so keen on Los Angeles itself.

Dark

iTrader: (1)

Between LA and LV it's worth stopping in Joshua Tree to admire the boulders and stay at the 29 Palms Inn.

The 29 Palms Inn in Twentynine Palms by Joshua Tree National Park.

If traveling from Death Valley to Yosemite then you have to stop at Monolake which is absolutely stunning.

Mono Lake

Have a great trip!

Mark

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Thanks folks, much appreciated

Les. we've scrapped the RV idea in favour of a drop top Mustang It's booked and will be waiting for us at the airport when we arrive, there will be a fight for the keys I think

Has anyone done the helicopter/plane flights over the Grand Canyon? I want to book but prices and durations seem to vary a lot.

Dark

iTrader: (1)

Yes, we did a day trip from LV. Flight out to the canyon was in a small ~6 seater flying very low and into the canyon . Then a bus tour along part of the canyon rim before a flight back to LV in a much bigger plane with ~50 seats.

Our's was a fairly basic package, the costs escalate if you have the small plane both ways, an actual flying tour of the canyon instead of just travel there & back, etc.

I'm sure Leslie will be on in a minute with stories of flying down the Grand Canyon in his Vulcan on route to some competition or other!!!

Mark

SJ_Skyline

Check the schedules to see if there's anything on when you visit?

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Monterey, California
Infineon Raceway

Markus

I second the suggestion to check out a ball game. Have to say I'm not a massive sports fan (barring F1 and other motorsports) but I have taken a liking to Baseball, and it's not that expensive to go and see a game, it's certainly far, far cheaper than (ice) hockey, which I do like, but an NHL game is just stupidly expensive to attend, but I get my fix as my soon-to-be brother-in-law plays in a local league, and it's always good to go down to the rink to watch.

If you're doing the Grand Canyon, then don't forget about the Grand Canyon Skywalk

little-ginge

we had a red 'stang when we went to florida .... i wanted to bring it back with us - but the bleddy thing wouldn't fit in my suitcase

johnnyroper

i went on the sunset trip on helicopter landed in grand canyon for an hour or so,then flew back over the strip at night limo transfers included.

used these Sundance Helicopters Tours

there is also another company that lands in the canyon.


Las Vegas to Grand Canyon: Helicopter & Sunset Ranch Adventure Tour: G-05

Sonic'

Oh dear, what have I done

As others have suggested too

Alcatraz. please make sure you DO catch the last ferry off the island, it can be a long night otherwise

Get yourself down to the Pier too (cant remember the number, but its near the Alcatraz ferry port part) also do the crookedest road in the world too, but by christ dont try and walk up it like we did

Death Valley I would suggest booking one of the motels in advance as we turned up they told us they had no rooms, and it was getting late and our only alternative would have been to sleep in the car or pay astronomical rates for the 5 star hotel (there are only 3 hotels/motels in the entire Death Valley area) I cant remember the name of the one we stayed in now, but it was pretty big, and reasonable, and it was next door to the only petrol station in Death Valley and the National Park visitors centre

Oh you are supposed to buy a ticket for Death Valley, but we erm oops forgot ,

Back to the subject of Alcatraz dont do what we did and steal some of Alcatraz (the offence if caught is 10,000 dollar fine, or 12 months imprisonment :eek) I didnt want to pay for some official souvenir rock, (as im tight, only 10 dollars I know) so I stole a load of rock from one of the cells they were renovating, then paid 16 dollars for a posh wooden box to put it in :rolleyes

If it rains, then buy a plastic mac from one of the shops for 99 cents, not 4 dollars like the Alcatraz ones we bought, there was (and usually is) an ex con in Alcatraz that you can speak to, the guy we met was one of the last 30 inmates off the island before it closed down, I bought his book on his story, and it was actually quite interesting

If you can, go to Lake Tahoe too, we did South Lake Tahoe and one side of the traffic lights, is a quiet nice motels, ski resort, with fantastic views of the Lake, the other side of the traffic lights is a full on Casino fest like a mini Las Vegas as its the border line


San Francisco is the gay capital of the world, so do be surprised to see so many camp people in one place we had a wander down to Golds Gym (bro in law always finds one on holday and buys a t shirt) and just past the Lamborgini showroom was the biggest trolley park tramp hang out I have ever seen

Make sure Bob has his camera fully charged and plenty of batteries and memory cards too

Try and catch the Grand Canyon for either Sunset or Sunrise you will most definatly NOT be dissapointed and is a sight to behold, we watched it from Desert View Tower (a really nice very very twisty road for miles and miles all around the edge of the Canyon, from the main Visitors Centre) its also the tallest point in the Canyon, but be warned it closes at 5pm

The Pizzas are really nice in the restaurant in the village as you come out of the Canyon and the old Air Base is quite good too on the way in

Sonic'

Forgot to say we did Fly over the Canyon the first year we went, and drove their on subsequent years, but standing on the edge worrying about falling off down the 1 mile drop is pretty interesting

Sonic'

Oh, and one more thing, Please can I come with you

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Steve If you weigh less than 32kg and can fit in a suitcase no more than 158cms big then you're most welcome

I was looking at the helicopter flights that Johnny posted above and one of them does a flight from Vegas into the canyon, lands at the bottom then takes off at sunset and flies back over the strip I think we'll probably do the heli thing just for the experience then drive out there ourselves but I won't be going anywhere near the edge I might try the Skywalk but I don't know if I can do it

I'm going to sit down this weekend armed with TomTom, my road Atlas and Google Earth and start planning some journeys so that we can book some things in advance.

One of the options I'm considering for Frisco is staying at a motel near the airport (cheaper and good, free parking plus views of the planes ) then using the free shuttle to the airport and taking the BART into town. Has anyone done this?

Sonic'

PMSL at all the google ads now on this thread

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I can't see them without logging out, what are they advertising?

Is it worth taking out an additional Car Hire Excess Policy such as this company offer: Car Hire Excess Insurance | Insurance4carhire.com We're covered for LDW on the hire car and personal cover on our travel insurance but I believe we're liable for any damage to the tyres, underneath, windows, roof etc. I've had a quick scan through the guff but I'm still not clear.

Sonic'

Its a load of Ad's for Grand Canyon helicopter tours


I cant remember whether we bothered taking out the extra excess policy, we might have done, or where we told its a scam and a way of getting you to spend extra money

Ray T

Your right about the food, I was there a few months ago for 6 days, only had breakfast and evening meal (plus occasional cookie) and managed to put on 6 lbs!!
Definatly book the alcatraz tour Alcatraz Island - Official Tickets Site - Guaranteed Lowest Price the headphone guided tour is one of the best I've done.

As well as the BART there is the Caltrain for getting in and out of SF, I was staying down near Stanford Uni/menlo park, if your considering buying/being bought some Tiffany, there is a slightly lower tax at the Menlo mall shop compared to the SF union sq shop, and do I know the girlfriend got me in both!!

have a good trip

ray t

Leslie

Haha -not far off as a matter of fact. I arranged with the Rangers there to fly a Vulcan into the Canyon for publicity photos and they were looking forward to it, but the RAF publicity blokes wimped out because they said it was too expensive to get the RAF photographer from Vegas to the Canyon! Shame, it would have been an amazing photo to see it climbing out of the Canyon. You have to get special permission to fly inside it anyway.

They do have light aircraft and helo trips, pricey I think but it looks just as good from the edge of the South Rim.

All understood about not taking the camper-hope you enjoy the car, but dont forget to have plenty of water with you at Death Valley or they wont let you enter it during the summer. Watch out for the Roadrunners They do exist, just like the cartoon!

Les

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Les, it never occurred to me that Road Runners were real

I'm still looking for advice on the car insurance thing - see post 20 above