San Francisco.....

flutterbyuk25

As everyone else has said Alcatraz and Golden Gate bridge are a must (try cycling over the bridge!).

You can hire Go-Car's which are motorbike engines in a tiny fibre-glass shell, seats 2 and you can drive round the city, either on a GPS guided tour with commentary or go off on your own. They are terrifying! (in a good way!) and a great way to see the city. They only do max 30mph, and you kinda have to jump up and down in them to get to the top of the big hills!

Or you can go on a segway tour too.

There is a lovely bar/restaurant in the Fisherman's Wharf area, Bueno Vista Bar, right by the cable car turnaround point which has the best Irish coffee ever!

Go see the Sea Lions at Pier 39, very noisy and smelly!

Haight Ashbury area is great for vintage shopping, the centre of San Fran has all the normal chains and a big indoor mall.

Pack warm clothes cos it get very very very windy!

Have fun

x

PS LA is an hour by air, flights one way from $60 (when I flew in Sept 08), however I wouldn't bother with LA, San Fran is way better.

davidalangriffiths

If you go to Macy's you can ask for a visitors loyalty card. It gives you (last year it did) an extra 11% off most things

realised

I'm going to San Francisco this summer and driving to LA...

However, we're going through the Big Sur which is meant to have some amazing views... It will take a good 6-8 hours though

Jasper27_2

OP will you be hiring a car? If so there are some good factory outlets in Gilroy about 90 mins away. Also Monterey is about 2 hours drive away and a very nice area, lots to see and do.

shoppaholic_returns

Restaurants for something really,really special Ruth Chris's steakhouse & Mcormac & colletos(fish),both outstanding, not cheap,but best steak & sides I've ever tasted, and fantastic fish at m&c's!

shoppaholic_returns

Oh and I'll second the monterey trip!

neilbond007

shoppaholic_returns wrote: »

Restaurants for something really,really special Ruth Chris's steakhouse & Mcormac & colletos(fish),both outstanding, not cheap,but best steak & sides I've ever tasted, and fantastic fish at m&c's!

do you mean mccormick and schmicks?
they have excellent freshly caught fish. http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/

ruth chris's - only been to 1. very good steak. re-mortgage your house before going

shoppaholic_returns

No, I meant Mcormac & Colletos,It is not a chain,just a very good fish restaurant, I didn't say the restaurants were cheap,I was recommending for something special and good quality!

shoppaholic_returns

OP was asking for restaurants,where I would recommend,not where was the cheapest.

neilbond007

shoppaholic_returns wrote: »

No, I meant Mcormac & Colletos,It is not a chain,just a very good fish restaurant, I didn't say the restaurants were cheap,I was recommending for something special and good quality!

OK!
well i was just checking... i know i get places wrong, well most of the time.
so that's 2 fish restaurants they can choose from!