San Fransisco area tips please....

Encantador · 2 February 2005 at 12:49AM

Thinking about a last minute fly drive to US west coast. What is the best way to do it on a budget.
Need to travel in the next 2 weeks and stay about 10 days.

Never been to East Coast and would like to see SF, LA and if pos LV.

Getting a reasonably priced fly drive on teletext seems simple enough but have no idea on the other basic costs, fuel is cheap compared to here. What could I expect to pay per night for motel type accomodation. Don`t really fancy camping or backpacking type accomodation.

I will be travelling alone.

Any thoughts, tips, ideas welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Galstonian · 2 February 2005 at 11:19AM

That's quite a distance you want to travel. My wife and I did SF -> LA -> LV and we ended up breaking our journey on both legs. SF->LA because the coast road was closed and we ended up on a detour

LA->LV because we got stuck in LA traffic

The moral of that story I think is a) plan better than we did and b) have a backup plan just in case. It also means that any advance bookings for hotels can get screwed up too so get all the phone numbers you need before you set off. Good standard rooms are cheap and with the $ so weak they are great value for UK visitors just now, I'd be tempted to make a reservation for the first night or two and then see what you can get - then again you don't want to spend the whole holiday surfing the net, you can do that at home! You could always try priceline for car and hotel and take a shot at naming your own price. Its quite good for car hire as, if I remember correctly, insurance is included and that can be expensive.

SF: Japanese tea garden in the park
LA: The beaches and board walks
LV: hoover dam & horse riding in red rock canyon

blindman · 2 February 2005 at 11:22AM

Encantador wrote:

Thinking about a last minute fly drive to US west coast. What is the best way to do it on a budget.
Need to travel in the next 2 weeks and stay about 10 days.

Went to the WEST coast over Xmas new Year 04\05

Booked flights and car hire separately
Airline network
seem to have good deals on both flights and cars.

One way drop offs for Car hire in California are free so you can arrive in SFO and leave from LAX.

Never been to East Coast and would like to see SF, LA and if pos LV.

SFO San Fran
LAS LAs Vegas
LAX Los Ang

Distances are quite large:
SFO to LAS is about 600 miles (If I remember rightly)
LAS to LAX is about 400 niles (boring!)
SFO to LAS is about 500 miles.

have no idea on the other basic costs, fuel is cheap compared to here.
What could I expect to pay per night for motel type accomodation. Don`t

Fuel is around the $2.00 per Gallon, depends on the car and your driving but expect about 25 miles\gallon.
Motels:
Cheapest (dive) + using coupons found in Travell magazines in petrol stations etc around $40.
Priceline can get you a similar price but better hotel.
I stayed in the 2.5* Residence Inn in LA for $45 inclusive of all taxes.
Free parking, free breakfast, free booze\snack at 5pm (!!) free internet (Broadband) a bargain!

You do not need a car in San Fran. Too expensive to park and a good public transport system.

You can drive down the 'Big Sur' coastal road towards LAX, very scenic.
Stop of at Hearst Castle at San Simeon, very impressive.This time of year though landslides can block the route.

You do not really need a car in LAS, but to see sights nearby (Hoover dam etc) you do.

LAX is HUGE and a car is almost a must. There is a subway and bus system, but parking and Driving are not that easy!

Hope that helps.

Murphy_The_Cat · 2 February 2005 at 12:38PM

if you are into big stuff, i loved going around the aircraft carrier USS Hornet that is in Alameda Point, alemada which is on the other side of the harbour. Also, going to Alcatraz is GREAT fun, especially if you can go at night (a word of warning, tickets sell out fast, book online first and collect them on the day) other than that did'nt really like San Fransisco too much.

As blindman pointed out, the distance are huge. We broke our trip from San Fransisco by stopping in Pacific Grove, Monteray (where Turner & Hooch and lots of other films were done, + Monteray home of Monteray Aquarium & place to go whale watching from) top spot much recommended. Then drove down the Big Sur and stayed at Sa Luis Obisbo which is the idyll of a typical small American town, it is just a fantasctic, beautiful, peacesful little place (if you go when the farmers market is on, they shut the centre of town and the market takes over) we stayed at https://www.applefarm.com. IT IS NOT CHEAP, but it was worth every penny, if you are going to push the boat out DO IT HERE.

We then drove down the coast road (Highway 101 - not Highway 1), stopping at Santa Barbara (highest Mercedes ownership in the world apparently- VERY nice place) and ended up in LA.

LA you'll either like it or not. We went on a tacky tour of the stars and loved it. Dropped the car at the airport, flew to Las Vegas (for about £30),

Did the Las Vegas thing (if your budget runs to it, a helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon via the Hoover Dam was spectacular) for 3 nights, stayed at the Luxor (book online cheap as chips). Flew to San Diego (for about £30)
Stayed San Diego 2 nights (Loved it) came home.

We had a Blue Whale of a time and would gladly give you more details of things we enjoyed and thing which were so/so. I could go on for pages - if you want me to drop me a PM.

MTC

chriseeboy · 3 February 2005 at 5:34PM

Hi,

I have friends in Santa Cruz and so have visited the area a lot.

The tip about the coast road to Big Sur is understated. To quote a famous Nike ad' logo; Just Do It. You won't regret it.

When in San Francisco go to the top of the Hilton Hotel. There is an open plan restaurant with 360 degree panoramic views of everything. Tip; go on a clear day and you will see everything. Its a nice way to have a beer and a sandwhich.

Have fun.

Velvet_Waters · 3 February 2005 at 5:59PM

Hi been looking at flight to san fran so reading thread quite interesting have got 2 weeks off at the tale end of easter, love to know any cheap flight sites thou
Cheers
Velvet waters

Encantador · 4 February 2005 at 2:03AM

Thanks for the input so far. Just realised my passport runs out in June so will need to be replaced before I can go anywhere.

Anyone know what the new Visa regs mean for travel to US on a new passport?

Thanks again.

SallyD · 5 February 2005 at 1:03AM

All passports issued now have a readable Bar Code and this is the type you would need for entry to the USA without a Visa if you are a British Citizen.

I travelled by road Las Vegas to San Fransisco just the once and now fly. Parking in LA is the pits. The International Youth Hostel in SF is an okay place to stay as is the one in Santa Monica,Los Angeles. I got around just fine on the buses and found them to be clean and the drivers very helpful,polite and cheery.

telly-addict · 10 May 2005 at 11:19AM

Follow up point on the passport - you need it for June anyway, but replace a passport so that it is issued before 26 October 2005 to avoid the need for a US visa, assuming you meet the Visa Waiver criteria, that is. The UK won't have biometric data on passports by then and so the US will demand a Visa for all passports issued after 26 October 2005.

This applies to children as well, as far as I have been able to find out. My daughter's passport was going to expire next June but we have replaced it now - you get the last 9 months of validity added on to the new one, so if you judge it just right, you won't lose out.

San Fransisco area tips please....

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