Going to the US next next year.......

BrandNewDay

Another piece of advice: be open to alternate airports. Example: instead of flying into Los Angeles' main airport (LAX) look at Burbank airport fares. NYC has La Guardia, JFK, and Newark. Be sure to plug those in to any search engines.

BrandNewDay

Oh, yeah, I wanted to add:

If you go for any alternate modes of transport (trains or driving) be aware that the distances can be very great. Now, if you were to hire a car and drive from NYC to LA, that could be a vacation in itself (and a very cool one, at that.) But, you can spend an entire day just crossing Texas.

You know, though... if you've got three weeks, hiring a comfortable car and driving from NYC to LV then LA could be really, really cool. It's possible to drive from coast-to-coast in four days of hard driving, but you could be quite leisurely about it and take 8-10 days and still leave several days for the big cities.

tanith

We went to the US for only 10 days and drove from SF to LV and then to LA the drive was through some spectacular scenery and we didn't feel that we were rushing anywhere. The journey was a great part of the holiday and the driving in the States is not nearly as stressful as at home, with the wide roads and the air con it was a pleasure.......

Half the enjoyment is in the planning.......

Lifesaver

Hi Tanith I do a similar route when I go, but start at LAX, get a car and drive up to Vegas then down to San Francisco and back along the Pacific Coast Highway to Los Angeles, doing this route enables one to drive on the side of the PCH which runs along the sea and makes it easier to stop and enjoy the views.

Murphy_The_Cat

Lifesaver wrote:

Hi Tanith I do a similar route when I go, but start at LAX, get a car and drive up to Vegas then down to San Francisco and back along the Pacific Coast Highway to Los Angeles, doing this route enables one to drive on the side of the PCH which runs along the sea and makes it easier to stop and enjoy the views.

& what fantastic views they are.

If you do decide to drive the PCH, it is a looonnnnnggg drive and it is worth breaking your journey and taking it a bit easier.

I found San Luis Obispo yo be the dictionary definition of small town America, it was gorgeous.. and if you fancy blowing the budget on one night of decedance, this place is worth every single cent.

from the North, Hearst Castle is about 43 miles from SLO and some people love oit, some people don't, but if you do fancy it, make sure that you book your tour in advance.

MTC

Lifesaver

I also stayed at the Youth Hostel with my kids for 2 nights 25miles outside San Francisco off the PCH

It was gorgeous, right on the cliff tops next to a light house - and cheap!

Here's the link
http://www.hihostels.com/affiliates/hiusa60087.php?country=US&city=a60087&AffiliateID=97060

If you're lucky you can see whales and dolphins

wdyw

doodle_bug wrote:

I've always found prices to be cheapest first week or so in January. I recently went to vegas and it cost £450 with BMI direct, most of the year the ticket cost £650 and it went to it's lowest price £411 the day before the flight, that would be taking a big risk though.

We went to vegas June this year for £164 pp including taxes. Booked a week in advance and £30 more expensive than it was the day before.

3 weeks for west coast and NYC.....hmmm......my advice would be to try and not cram too much in. It's easy to say you must see/do:

Pacific Highway,
Yosemite,
SF,LV,
Sequoia,
Hoover Dam,
Grand Canyon,
Monument Valley,
Bryce Canyon,
Zion National Park,
Arces NP
Canyonlands,
Canyon De Chelle
etc etc

but you will end up driving far too many miles and spending too little time to do each location justice. Vegas you will eirther love or hate but its a great place to travel on to places. If I was advising someone on how to spend 14 days in the west (as a first time visitor) I would....

Day 1 fly to Vegas
day 2 - Hoover
day 3 - Grand Canyon via copter
day 4 - drive to sequoia
day 5 - sequioa and drive on up to Yosemite
Day 6 - Yosemite
Day 7 - Yosemite
Day 8 - Drive to SF
Day 9 SF
Day 10 - Drive to San Luis Obisco
Day 11 Drive to Santa Barbara (or on to LA if you like)
DAy 12 LA/Santa monica/Universal Studios - whatever you prefer
Day 13 Drive to Vegas
Day 14 fly to NYC/home depending

Obviously you can safe a day or two flying out/back of different airports, and with thwe above you miss what IMHO is the eigth wonder of the world - Bryce Canyon. antway, once you do this first trip, you will be back as soon as you can to do more!

Murphy_The_Cat

If you can get to stay in San Luis Obispo on a Thursday night you get a real treat for free. They close the main street off and turn the area into a really big farmers market and open air barbecue.

Great stuff.

MTC

doodle_bug

wdyw wrote:

We went to vegas June this year for £164 pp including taxes. Booked a week in advance and £30 more expensive than it was the day before.

Where did you get that price from?

The cheapest I've been to vegas was in march 2 years ago and it cost me £198 the taxes on this recent flight were £130 ish

Murphy_The_Cat

doodle_bug wrote:

Where did you get that price from?

The cheapest I've been to vegas was in march 2 years ago and it cost me £198 the taxes on this recent flight were £130 ish

Ouch, thats alot - I would expect a figure closer to £60 for tax to the US.

MTC