california hints and tips

pavlovs_dog

the in-laws are off to california in june, after a fortnight in LA.

they've asked me to post here to ask for your expert advice on the best things to do and see in the area.

i believe they're staying in quite a central hotel. they dont have a hire car, so will be relying on public transport. all info and tips gratefully recieved :beer:

where2save

I'm a bit confused by your post. Are your in-laws spending 2 weeks in LA and are looking for something to do in California after that or are they looking for things to do with 2 weeks in LA?

Either way, can they be persuaded to hire a car? This will open up so many options for them - there are lots and lots of great places to go to in California but most are not all that easy to get to without a car.

Where is the hotel? If it's in LA, there's really no such thing as central - it's the most spread-out and sprawling city I can think of by a long way (and I live in London).

pavlovs_dog

no, they are first going to LA. this is for a fortnight, and is an organised trip..they have an itinery of things to do.

after that, they are leaving the group, and going on to california/san fransisco for a week. we want the hints and tips for california ..hence the title of the thread

not sure on the name of the hotel..will check and report back. TBH, i really dont think they are interested in hiring a car. we've talked about it, because we hired a car when we went to florida, and loved driving over there. they just dont seem into the idea

monkeyspanner

Yosemite National Park is a must. It is literally awe inspiring. SFO is a great city most of the centre is walkable and there is a good public transport system. If they remember the 60s Haight/Ashbury will probably be a disappointment. Alcatraz Island is much more interesting than you expect and worth a few hours visit. There are several places you can see Giant redwood forests around SFO. Lake Tahoe is spectacular but spoilt by the rather tacky low rise buildings on the California side which suddenly changes to high rise casinos on the Nevada side.

pavlovs_dog

ive always fancied the idea of going to alcrtraz. will definately bring that up that to them because they havent mentioned it but i think they would enjoy it.

FIL has expressed keen interest in going to the redwood forest - is it easy to get to on public transport?


thanks again for your helpful advice :beer:

photome

Yosemite and the giant redwoods are definitely worth going to. i did them both from SF but I had a car and stayed overnight, I think they are to far away not to drive and not to stay over as you IMO will need 2 days in yosemite to see most of it (even that is not enough time to see it all)

They have to ride a tram in SF and the seals are worth a look on pier 39

pbright

LA is great fun. What are they doing on their inteniery there? Will they have a car and time themselves there also?

pavlovs_dog

no pbright, they wont have a car in LA either. they are going with a company called travelsphere, so i think some if it may be coach based travel. i know they've booked a flight over the grand canyon.

their first night in california will be july 4th - independence day. anyone know what type of holiday activities will be going on? i know its a big day for the americans

monkeyspanner

pavlovs_dog wrote:

ive always fancied the idea of going to alcrtraz. will definately bring that up that to them because they havent mentioned it but i think they would enjoy it.

FIL has expressed keen interest in going to the redwood forest - is it easy to get to on public transport?


thanks again for your helpful advice :beer:

Glad the suggestions struck a positive chord. We had a car and did an overnight close to the Park but there are trips and I found this company which does one day bus tours starting at about $109 which sounds pretty good. They also do 3 day trips which would be a more leisurely approach as it is a fair distance from SFO to Yosemite.
Try this link:
http://www.extranomical.com/HTML_PAGES/YOSEMITE.htm?vcn=overtureUK&vcad=yosemite&utm_source=overtureUK&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=francisco+from+san+yosemite&utm_campaign=yosemite

pavlovs_dog

cheers monkeyspanner will raise it with them and see what they think

BlueVinney

How about catching the train from LA up the Californian coast? The 'Coast Starlight' runs directly from LA Union Station to Oakland (across the bay from San Francisco). It is due to leave at 10:15 each day and take about 12 hours to get there. Another way would be to get the 'Pacific Surfliner' which runs as far as San Luis Obispo (about 5 hours) and then the connecting coach to Oakland. You can get the details on https://www.amtrak.com

One of the pleasures of having a car in California is driving Highway 1 between San Francisco and LA (so the car is on the sea side of the road rather than going from SF to LA when it's not, but that's not a problem by train). Other than taking an organised tour this is probably the only way to enjoy some of the scenery.

San Francisco in particular and the Bay area in general is probably the best in the US for frequent and affordable public transport. The best deal in SF is the day ticket which covers all buses, trams and the cable cars.

Another must see is Las Vegas. It has good transport links to LA and is a real experience, particularly if you DON'T gambol. The casino hotels are really something and some good deals are available, particularly for Sunday to Thursday nights. The strip is nothing like as tacky as it's sometimes made out to be.

Hope they enjoy their trip.