Account deleted by request

Right Mrs Chop never been to america and its been a few years since I have.

We have got 2.5 weeks at the end of September and I really am struggling to get inspiration.

I'm thinking I want to avoid New York as I'd like to save that for a city break.

Apart from that we want some thingsbto explore, other big cities and i'd quite like go somewhere very different like Alaska or North West Territories for a couple of days if it fitted in.

So far I have come up with;

East coast, Boston, Washington, Baltimore but not sure what to do after cities

West Coast, san fran, california, maybe drive to vegas.

Seatle and Vancover

Deep south

Go on share your knowledge and give me some ideas.

Thanks,

Chop

ChefDude

You like photography?

Antelope canyon, Yosemite, death valley are all on my list.

zip106

Get yourself over to Hawaii - Kauai in particular.
(forget Honolulu- **** hole)

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

why dont you do a fly drive. Sanfancisco to Vegas through yositmeete (ow er) park. ?

nizmo80

iTrader: (2)

I toured the west coast of America back in 2004.
Two places really stood out when I visited America.

San Francisco - amazing is how I would describe this city
Alcatraz was interesting and china town was inspiring to walk through
First thing in the morning when the Chinese people are out in the
Park all doing Tia chi all together it is so nice to see.
The fishermans warf down at the pier is very good for food.

Las Vegas - the place is like Disneyland for adults
I don't gamble but there is so much to do other than gambling
There is lots of shows and shopping is good


I hope this helps chopper

astraboy

pier 39 in san fransisco, was once a swanky harbour, until the sea lions moved in and started using it as a knocking shop and general house!

In the end the boat owners gave up and now it belongs to the lions!

astraboy.

Chip

Saw that on TV the other night and they really have taken over

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

San Francisco is cool.
LA/Hollywood meh! Maybe a few days in Beverley hills and some of the tourist hot spots, just so you can see what its like.
Miami/long beach - OK
Vancouver was in Canada last time I checked ...still worth going, as is Victoria Island
Oahu/Honalulu (Hawaii) Dissapointing. FFS even Waikiki beach uses sand imported from Long beach! Although Pearl Harbour is a good visit if your into war stuff.
Daytona - don't bother (big beach, race track, nowt much else)
Orlando - only if you want the theme parks.
Atlanta. Meh.
Nashville - not bad, but avoid if you hate country western
Memphis bit run down, but pretty cool. Especially if you're into blues and Elvis.
Chattanooga - nah.
New orleans...erm, it was a cool place before the floods. Don't know about these days though
Lynchburg...just to go round the Jack Danials factory

zip106

You went all the way to Hawaii and didn't visit the best islands?

Account deleted by request

Thank you, that was just what I was looking for

Working on a plan of;

San Fran for 2 maybe 3 days

Drive into Yosemite, Mamouth lakes area approx 7 hours.

Spent 4/5 days driving down through Yosemite and death valley to Las Vegas approx 6 hour drive if done in one go

3 or 4 days in Vegas

9 hour drive back to San Fran maybe split into 2 days with a stop in Santa Barbara

Could cut the last stop out if we spent longer in some places onthe way.

Lot of miles but would hire a nice 4x4 to do it in.

What are thoughts?

Chop

deano

One night in L.A is enough. Do the coach tour of the hills so you can tick it off your list. Hire a car and drive over to Vegas for some real fun. Pick a casino mid strip like the Mirage and have at least 5 night there. I'm from Manchester (the home of the curry mile) but never experienced an Indian meal like you will get in ******** @ Rio casino

chiroman

iTrader: (1)

Did self organised fly drive 4yrs ago. Flew into Las Vegas and out of San Francisco 3wks later.

Recommend:
Las Vegas, stay on the Strip, eg the Venetian. Everywhere is aircon, food cheap, great shows, car parks link to rear of hotels/casinos which are brilliant . Hoover Dam towards Grand Canyon old route 66 thro Williams, stay at Tusayan great steakhouse there.

San Diego stay near the old town which is a good visit.

Drive up the Big Sur highway 1 coast rd great views.

Further north Monterey, did whale watching, had great seafood, explored on foot.

Across inland to Yosemite then north on highway 49 the old goldminers trail, old western towns, even a staged gunfight in the oldtime saloon, what a hoot. Old steam railway and workshops at Jamestown, Senora, Columbia.

San Francisco, golden gate bridge, Fishermans Wharfe good area to stay, visit Crookedest st, Cable cars, Chinatown, Japanese gardens. Book in uk for alcatraz trip as v busy.

Great drive also from Las Vegas thro death valley, Lone Pine and over the sierra mountains - snow in May on the passes.



Enjoy

Ayde

iTrader: (6)

Yosimite is a must see! We did part of the west coast last year, started in San Francisco, got held up there as we wanted to see Alcatraz and had to wait a couple of days as the tickets had sold out. So book in advance if you are going. We headed up to Marin county but the weather wasn't so great. If you head down the west coast check on the status of the Big Sur before hand, there had been a couple of land slides when we went, luckily the 1st one was nearly repaired so we got through that - second one was much further down the coast and a friendly gift shop assistant showed us which back roads to take to get round it so we could see as much of the Big Sur as possible
We did all the main sites down the coast, then to Hollywood etc... Then stayed with friends in Riverside for a few days and used it as a base and travelled down to San Diego etc... Then we had a few days spare so we drove up to Yosimite - it didnt disappoint, the sheer scale of the place is amazing. We only had a couple of days there and we couldn't get up to Glacier Point as the road was still under about 8ft of snow, this was early May. Death Valley would have been nice to see but we just didn't have the time and we have previously been to Vegas. We went for 2 weeks, we had a convertible Mustang - my advice would be to go for a more prestigious convertible if you want one. As nice as the Mustang was it was really blowy and a bit tiring with the roof down on the freeways, having said that it was great on the Big Sur and in the Valleys of Yosimitee.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Didn't have the joys of trip adviser back then. Just what the tour itinerary suggested.

I did however flew over to Maui on some ancient radial-engined tin can with wings


Bermuda is better though.....its still British(ish), albeit ruined by American tourists waddling on/off giant cruise ships

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

One of your best options is to try to find a book on what to see in the US or a recommended tourist guide.
Pick where you want to go from/to or the round trip, the states is so big that you are probably best doing a few days here and there, even the yanks dont get to see it all but google tourist guides in the states or the likes and see what it comes up with.

Tony

mikeywilliams

route 66 (or whats left of it) is on my todo list in the next couple years

ChefDude

These are not my shots, but i'd be looking to take similar.

Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona


Horseshoe bend. arizona


Death Valley




Lake Tahoe, Nevada


Yosemite National Park


I might have to organize a photo tour in the next year or too - i will definitely be going one way or the other. People get quite excited about taking shots like these.

BOB.T

Route 66 is cool, lots of chances to take pics too. If you're gonna do Hwy1 between San Fran' and LA, do it Southbound, it's much better! You're closer to the sea and it's soooo much easier to stop!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Good stuff, keep it coming as we are planning on taking the kids this year.

Steve_PPP

iTrader: (3)

Agree with that, Vegas is cool - although you'll need 3 days just to look round the hotels! Drive to Grand Canyon via Hoover Dam.

Missed Yosemite as spend too long in San Fran then headed down Highway 1, wish i had made the time to get there. Its top of my list for when i go back

Give Pismo Beach a miss on Hwy1 too, its just an average beach with a load of motels and caravan/motorhome parks. Better off spending your time at Santa Monica.

astraboy

If you want a really nice beach, head for ocean beach in san Diego. It felt like Bohemia in comparison to the rest of the beaches I went to, with, loads of independent restaurants, surfer types and no buildings over 3 stories high.

It's Righto on the southern mouth of the Rio san Diego and if you fancy a look at non commercial America, it'll be right up your street.
Astraboy.

Leslie

If you are driving west, which is a good idea, don't forget the Grand Canyon. It is a sight not to be missed believe me.

Followed by the Boulder Dam and Las Vegas just to see the strip.

Les

LC Geezer

What time of your are you going? Arizona in mid-summer is epically hot !!! But the Grand Canyon is worth it !!!

hodgy0_2

you did good -- Maui, is by far the best Hawian Island

zip106

I plan to go back to Hawaii in 2 years time - we missed out Maui last time so it's the one to do next, along with Lanai.
Stunning place.