California Road Trip!

carey_suz · 13 April 2011 at 2:46PM

I'm off on honeymoon soon to California. Starting in LA, driving up the coast to San Francisco, then through Napa Valley, Gold Country, Yosemite, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, San Diego and then back to LA.

Has anyone got any money saving tips or general recommendations for motels/hotels, eating out, tourist trips, Las Vegas helicopters etc etc that might help make our honeymoon more enjoyable without overspending?

Thanks so much for any ideas!
Suz

davetrousers · 13 April 2011 at 2:48PM

I'm doing a Mule trip at Bryce Canyon

irstaroo22 · 13 April 2011 at 2:55PM

Sounds like a fab trip

Whilst travelling across America I went to a few of the places you are visiting, although Im sure it will be very different from your trip as we stayed in mainly hostels. We didn't spend too much money in any of those places, although I would say to visit Alcatraz in San Francisco as it was amazing! Union Square is a pretty nice place to stay! When we went to Vegas you were allowed to carry drinks (alcohol) around the strip with you so we tended to do this, buying from off licences instead of in expensive casinos! We found that most things in Vegas were free, especially as we spent most of our trip just walking between hotels

Murphy_The_Cat · 13 April 2011 at 3:16PM

Take several credit cards with high limits on them and enjoy your honeymoon -- unless you are going to be eating at McDs/Subway all the time, or staying in Motel 8 rooms, America definitely isn't an economy destination.

p.s do a search of this section, there are multiple threads to help you :beer:

carey_suz · 13 April 2011 at 3:29PM

Oh yes not going to be too restrained it is our honeymoon after all, but hoping there might be a few secrets out there people can share!
(actually think my husband would be more than happy to eat subway every day)

Buy 1 get 1 free for Universal Studios anyone?

neilbond007 · 13 April 2011 at 3:39PM

Alcohol is expensive in 90% of restaurants (Mexican restaurants being the exception). I normally order tap water (don't feel strange doing this. 50%+ of Americans do too) and have a few beers back at home.

During the day (or after a night out) I tend to go to a fast food joint and order off their $1 menu. Most fast food places have them. A couple of $1 chicken sandwiches normally hit the spot!

Good tip on the buying of beer in Vegas. I bought 3 x 24oz cans for $4. Sat drinking them in the MGM sports book. A bloke orders 2 x 12oz bottles of beer. They cost $13. So $15 with tip. Quite a saving!!

Vikki_74 · 13 April 2011 at 10:07PM

https://www.restaurant.com would be my suggestion for saving a few $ on dining without having to resort to McDonalds

. If you haven't heard of it before, it's a site that allows you to buy vouchers for a load of different restaurants which give you say $25 off when you spend $35. These vouchers are supposedly sold on their site for $10, but voucher codes are emailed out very frequently if you sign up for their newsletter (or are always being posted on the web) which give you a further discount of up to 80% off this price - thus a lot of the time you can get a voucher worth $25 off for only $2. A meal that would normally cost you $35 would therefore be $10 + the $2 cost of the voucher = $12 plus tip.

We liked pretty much all the places we tried using these vouchers on our trip last year, which included:

* Butterfly - Pier 33, San Francisco
Unfortunately no longer available, I think they only offered the vouchers when the place was new.

* Lopez Restaurante Y Cantina - Monterey
http://www.restaurant.com/rdc/lopez-restaurante-y-cantina-monterey-mexicansouthwestern-rid=367380?&mcn=00070821
A few minutes drive away from the normal 'touristy' bits of Monterey along the coast but well worth it - yummy Mexican food, great Margaritas and lovely friendly service.

* California Market - Carmel
http://www.restaurant.com/rdc/california-market-carmel-american-restaurant-rid=349965?&mcn=00053007
Just south of Carmel, up on a bit of a cliff with an absolutely STUNNING view and gorgeous food. It's part of the Hyatt hotel up there and really quite fancy but they had no qualms at all about us dining with a money off coupon.

* Cafe Buna - Marina del Rey (near Santa Monica)
http://www.restaurant.com/rdc/cafe-buna-marina-del-rey-american-restaurant-rid=358511?&mcn=00061643
We went for breakfast as we were staying nearby, otherwise it might be a bit out of the way to the places most visitors to LA/Santa Monica would visit. Huge portions, a great choice of omelettes and other yummy American brekkie choices, fresh juice, good coffee.

* Lil' Piggy's Bar-B-Q - Coronado, San Diego
http://www.restaurant.com/rdc/lil-piggys-bar-b-q-coronado-american-restaurant-rid=379525?&mcn=00083417
Probably our least favourite of all the places we tried - food was fine but nothing really special, and we passed over what is meant to be a really great San Diego BBQ (Phil's) to go here instead. Nice setting on the waterfront on Coronado though.

* Fresh Grill & Bar - Miracle Mile / Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas
http://www.restaurant.com/rdc/fresh-grill-and-bar-las-vegas-american-restaurant-rid=333886?&mcn=00029776
Really just a fast food place but they have a great choice of salads, sandwiches, wraps etc and everything is freshly cooked to order - surprisingly very good and in a great location inside the Miracle Mile shops @ PH.

* Ben & Jerry's - Miracle Mile / Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas
http://www.restaurant.com/rdc/ben-jerrys-desert-passage-las-vegas-dessert-restaurant-rid=311415?&mcn=00006677
It's Ben & Jerry's, it's 50% off - need I say more?!

* Stripburger - Fashion Show Mall, Las Vegas
http://www.restaurant.com/rdc/stripburger-las-vegas-american-restaurant-rid=361871?&mcn=00065151
Search this on the Las Vegas thread - it's mentioned all the time, I'm not the only one who loves it. Probably the best burger I've ever had, delish milkshakes and massive portions of fries, onion rings etc.

There's a massive choice of places to choose from - I'm pretty sure a lot of them are not great, but I spent a lot of time searching through & cross-referencing against reviews on Yelp and we ended up having some great meals at bargain prices.

If you're interested and want anymore information on how to buy the vouchers (it can get a bit complicated!), have a search on the Las Vegas thread where the subject comes up regularly, or feel free to send me a PM.

jackieblack · 14 April 2011 at 7:57AM

Accomodation in Yosemite is limited and can get fully booked up well in advance.
Depending on how soon you're going you may want to think about booking your Yosemite accomodation sooner rather than later.
Yosemite is spectacular, well worth a few days stay.
We stayed here http://www.yosemite-motels.com/yosemiteviewlodge/ , just a few minutes outside the NP.

In San Diego we stayed here http://www.halfmooninn.com/ ,we loved it.
Halfway between LA & SF, we stayed in Pismo Beach, here http://www.kontikiinn.com/ , again, we loved this place, only had 2 nights but wished we'd had more time here.

misa.blue · 14 April 2011 at 10:01AM

Hi
We are doing very similar trip as our late honeymoon

(except for Yosemite)

This is our itinerary:

21 April Heathrow – Los Angeles – 12:05 – 15:05 BA flight
Thur 21-22 April LA Hollywood Liberty Hotel http://www.hollywoodlibertyhotel.com/hl/index.html

Sat 23 -24 April San Diego Holiday Inn Express Downtown http://www.hiexpsandiego.com/
Mon 25 April Laguna Beach Best Western Laguna Brisas http://www.lagunabrisas.com/index.htm
Tue 26 April Santa Barbara Sandman Inn http://www.thesandmaninn.com/

Wed 27 April Pismo Beach Holiday Inn Express http://www.hiexpress.com/hotels/gb/en/grover-beach/gvbca/hoteldetail
Thur 28 April Carmel by the Sea Mission Ranch (Clint Eastwood's) http://www.missionranchcarmel.com/
Fri 29 April - 3rd May San Francisco Baldwin hotel http://www.baldwinhotel.com/
Tue 3 - 7 May Las Vegas Flamingo http://www.flamingolasvegas.com/casinos/flamingo-las-vegas/casino-misc/pool-detail.html

Sat 7 May 09:50 Las Vegas - Chicago - London Heathrow American Airlines Sun 8 May 07:50 AM at London Heathrow

We used mostly Hotels.com via Quidco.

For San Diego I used the Friends & Family link that is published here on MS, that took cost of Holiday Inn Express to £55 per night (incl taxes) with breakfast. Same link used for Holiday Inn Pismo beach (£43 per night). See: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1535105

In Vegas I got link from SmarterVegas for cheaper Go Rooms in Flamingo - £52 per night.

misa.blue · 14 April 2011 at 10:45AM

carey_suz wrote: »

Buy 1 get 1 free for Universal Studios anyone?

Have not seen offer like that in past year. The only discount I could find is buying Arrowhead mineral water, taking it to Universal Studios to get $15 off ticket.

Any offers are always here (including Arrowhead):
http://www.mousesavers.com/universalhollywood.html

wdyw · 14 April 2011 at 1:03PM

davetrousers wrote: »

I'm doing a Mule trip at Bryce Canyon

Did this a few years ago. Would do it again in a heart beat (had never been on a horse before in my life) - If it's organised from within the Park they use (or used to) a mixture of horses and mules.

Yosemite- if you want to climb to the top of Half Dome you now need to book a place. You'll find the link to book on the Yosemite NP website.

California Road Trip!

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