West Coast USA

misa.blue

Vikki_74 wrote: »

I don't know who sets up these things, but as it seems to be a popular topic would it not be possible to have a 'sticky' like there is for Las Vegas, New York, Orlando etc where everything could be kept together?

Agree Vikki, I used to go to other West cost thread, which had loads of info, but cannot find it anymore!
We want sticky!!:j
There used to be thread with budget California, which I really need.
We will be doing our accommodation on budget, want to spend £40-£50 per night (except for San Fran). It is not impossible, it just requires a lot of searching, reviews reading and monitoring Travelzoo and other useful websites.
We got married abroad in the summer and our wallets are still bit thinner since then, therefore we want to save money on hotels, we are going there to see California, not to sit around hotel watching TV:D
What we save will then be used on attractions, Universal Studio, Alcatraz, Grand Canyon trip, Penn & Teller show in Vegas..Just so much to pay for:eek:
My plan also is to book and pay for most of things in next 3 months before we go, so we can spread the cost a bit..Car, hotels..
Is here anybody else who is not in current possession of fat wallet and looking to do this trip on budget but still in hotels not in the tent?:money:

northwest1965

misa.blue wrote: »

We will be doing our accommodation on budget, want to spend £40-£50 per night (except for San Fran). we are going there to see California, not to sit around hotel watching TV:D
My plan also is to book and pay for most of things in next 3 months before we go, so we can spread the cost a bit..Car, hotels..
Is here anybody else who is not in current possession of fat wallet and looking to do this trip on budget but still in hotels not in the tent?:money:

Thats us too, whenever we're away we use our hotel to sleep and wash. We got married in NYC in October and considering it was our honeymoon aswell, hardly saw the hotel room:). If you find some good sites, let us know.
Did you see this, which Vikki posted earlier?
http://smartervegas.com/

tingtong

Out of interest, here's the trip we have planned for April/May:

Fly into SFO
San Fran - 3 nights
Monterey - 2 nights
Pismo Beach - 1 night
Santa Barbara - 2 nights
Santa Monica - 3 nights
San Diego - 7 nights
Fly back from LAX

Comments
Don't like 1 nighters, that's why there's only one
I've booked refundable hotel deals so we still have flexibility
Missing out on Vegas completely this time, although I do keep trying to fit it in somehow !
Never been interested in LA but decided to have a look around this time as we are passing through
For loads more info, take a look at the forum on https://www.roadtripamerica.com

Happy holidays everyone !

Vikki_74

northwest1965 wrote: »

Can you feel my head banging against the wall?:rotfl:(yours too by the time I do this trip)

We had decided to fly to Vegas and home from SF.

Our thinking was to leave the bottom end of the California coastline for next time when we do San Diego.
From Yosemite I think we'll take your advice and go to Monterey (we can do Carmel/Big Sur from there if we wantto?)

For us the musts are Vegas/Yosemite/SF. We're not people that like to lie on a beach more than 20mins. Having said that we are equally at home in the city/country/coast. Can you see why its so difficult.
Thanks for your help (and everyone elses too:))

I know, it's really difficult isn't it - California's just too damn big with too much to see! I had 3 months off work last year after badly breaking my leg so was able to do a lot of researching on routes etc...not something I'd recommend doing but I honestly don't know how I'd have done it all if I'd been at work!!

Based on what you've said, I have a couple of suggestions on how you might still be able to tweak your route a bit...just let me get the maps out and I'll post again in a few minutes...

Murphy_The_Cat

misa.blue wrote: »

Agree Vikki, I used to go to other West cost thread, which had loads of info, but cannot find it anymore!
We want sticky!!:j

Try a look at this thread "Touring Holiday to Nevada, Arizona & California".
It is a couple of years old now, but it runs to over 500 posts and a lot of it is really relevant to this thread - if nowt else, its a great research/reference thread

Murphy_The_Cat

tingtong wrote: »

Out of interest, here's the trip we have planned for April/May:

Fly into SFO
San Fran - 3 nights
Monterey - 2 nights
Pismo Beach - 1 night
Santa Barbara - 2 nights
Santa Monica - 3 nights
San Diego - 7 nights
Fly back from LAX

Comments
Don't like 1 nighters, that's why there's only one
I've booked refundable hotel deals so we still have flexibility
Missing out on Vegas completely this time, although I do keep trying to fit it in somehow !
Never been interested in LA but decided to have a look around this time as we are passing through
For loads more info, take a look at the forum on www.roadtripamerica.com

Happy holidays everyone !

thats a cracking itinerary (IMO), plus, if you did get the urge to visit LV, its only a short hope by plane from SD (& then back to LAX, if needs be), plus, with your hotels being refundable, you wouldn't be paying out for accommodation that you didn't use

northwest1965

tingtong wrote: »

Out of interest, here's the trip we have planned for April/May:

Fly into SFO
San Fran - 3 nights
Monterey - 2 nights
Pismo Beach - 1 night
Santa Barbara - 2 nights
Santa Monica - 3 nights
San Diego - 7 nights
Fly back from LAX

For loads more info, take a look at the forum on www.roadtripamerica.com

Happy holidays everyone !

I notice you are driving North to South and not the more scenic way?

I joined the roadtripamerica site it is really useful

tingtong

northwest1965 wrote: »

I notice you are driving North to South and not the more scenic way?

I joined the roadtripamerica site it is really useful

North to South is the more scenic way plus it gets warmer as we go

tingtong

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

thats a cracking itinerary (IMO), plus, if you did get the urge to visit LV, its only a short hope by plane from SD (& then back to LAX, if needs be), plus, with your hotels being refundable, you wouldn't be paying out for accommodation that you didn't use

Been to Vegas for the last 4 years but still got this nagging urge that makes me want to go again, whilst we're 'in the area'

misa.blue

northwest1965 wrote: »

If you find some good sites, let us know.

northwest: Travelzoo have great offers on hotels:
http://www.travelzoo.com/hotels/los-angeles/

Also is good to sign up for Groupon:
http://www.groupon.com/deals/holiday-inn-las-vegas?utm_campaign=holiday-inn-las-vegas&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&c=btn&addx=katka.verde@googlemail.com&utm_content=las-vegas_interleaved_sidebar