Southwest USA & The West Coast (California, Arizona etc) - General Thread

jackieblack

droow wrote: »

So, I'm currently planning a mammoth drive from Miami/Ft Lauderdale (where I have friends) across to St Pete, follow the gulf coast to the mississippi, up to memphis , then a bit lost for what to do between there and colorado. Over the rockies/million dollar highway to colorado state park, moab, monument valley, grand canyon, vegas, death valley LA, A1A, San Fran, yosemite. The end!!

Anyone any opinions on the best time to do it? I'm looking at six weeks to two months. I'm currently thinking march/april - april/may.

Oh, not that it's particularly important, but I'm in a wheelchair

Cheers

Andy

Finishing in Yosemite? Seems an odd place to end. Where are you flying home from?

droow

Flying back from San fran. Ok not technically 'ending' in Yosemite but I'll have already done a few days in San fran after driving up the a1a then over to Yosemite then back to SFO.

jackieblack

You might consider detouring at Monterey to Yosemite and back to San Fran, to avoid doubling back on yourself.
When we were at the Grand Canyon in April a couple of years ago they had heavy snow the day after we left which trapped people in their hotels for a couple of days.
When we were in San Fran and Yosemite in April last year they had very heavy snow around Tahoe the day after we arrived in San Fran and closed several roads, we weren't sure whether we were going to be able to get up to Yosemite, but when we arrived a couple of days later they had just finished clearing the main roads although the smaller ones were still closed. Car rental companies don't always allow snow chains to be fitted and the National Parks won't let you in without them if road conditions are bad. We had booked a hotel just outside Yosemite on a bus route into the NP just in case, although we didn't need to use this in the end.

I'd say April/May would be a good time to visit, but just be aware that you could still encounter snow at altitude. (Tioga Pass didn't open until mid-June this year.)

droow

The detour idea sounds like a good one. Snow in April? I don't need that! Would I be better knocking it back to June?

jackieblack

It's an idea, provided you're ok with the hotter temperatures across the deserts.
With such a varied itinerary the trick will be getting the balance right.

The waterfalls at Yosemite will be at their most spectacular in the spring due to the snow melting at higher altitude.

Looks like a great trip BTW, we've been to Florida a couple of times and have done Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, LA, San Diego (a couple of years ago) and San Fran, Yosemite, Monterey, PCH to LA (last year). Never done the bit inbetween though (yet! Monument Valley definitely on the 'to do' list!)

nololly

Doing one week in each next August. What are the must see attractions for both? Have done Grand Canyon Heli trip and will be booking Alcatraz, so looking for suggestions for more attractions. We will relying on public transport as not confident enough to drive over there. Any help appreciated

realised

For San Francisco, there were a few things that we did which we really enjoyed. Alcatraz is a definate must it was really good. Whilst in the area, we also went to fishermans wharf and pier 39.

We also went to the golden gate bridge and I would also recommend you go to Chinatown, it's huge and you can get some really cheap souviners there.

We drove whilst in SF, it's really the best way to go around in America so can't really comment on public transport but I hear San Francisco public transport is quite good.

If you do decide to get a car, we also went to the Jelly Belly Jelly bean factory which we (2 adults!) really enjoyed. I love Jelly Belly jelly beans and it was fun seeing how they were made. I think if you have children (or are big kids like us) it's a fun day out.

(Edit: Wrap up warmer when you go to Alcatraz, it can get a bit chilly!)

With regards to Las Vegas, I would recommend Mac King's comedy magic show and definately go and watch a Cirque du Soleil show too, it's amazing (we saw KA)

Also look on the Vegas board, they're really helpful on there and have plenty of ideas on things which may interest you

northwest1965

NOLOLLY wrote: »

Doing one week in each next August. What are the must see attractions for both? Have done Grand Canyon Heli trip and will be booking Alcatraz, so looking for suggestions for more attractions. We will relying on public transport as not confident enough to drive over there. Any help appreciated

Recently back from SF and LV. Alcatraz is a must. As soon as we arrived in SF we gave our car back It is very expensive to park in SF. The public transport is great. Just do your research as to what busses you need to catch. We took 2 busses to get to the Golden gate.

Vikki_74

NOLOLLY wrote: »

Doing one week in each next August. What are the must see attractions for both? Have done Grand Canyon Heli trip and will be booking Alcatraz, so looking for suggestions for more attractions. We will relying on public transport as not confident enough to drive over there. Any help appreciated

Definitely Alcatraz - we went during the day and found it really interesting, but I've heard the nightime tour is even better.

Don't forget a ride on a cable car - I think the cost is $5 for a one way trip but included if you buy a travel pass (we had just a 3 day version, something like $20-$25 but I think there's a 7 day version too as you'll be there for longer). If you look at the links in the first post I think I put details of a self guided tour we did using 2 or 3 of the different cable car routes which was a really good way to see the city, and free / cheap if you'll be buying a pass to use the buses/trolleys anyway.

Sign up for Groupon deals for both places and see what comes up...we got an excellent offer for a sunset cruise on SF Bay with drinks and appetisers on there last year which was excellent and less than half the normal price. Details on Groupon etc are in the first post if you need to know more.

Other than that, just enjoy the city...it's a fantastic place and great to just wander around and soak up the atmosphere of the different areas.

Bri1

We also just got back also from SF via Los Angeles, Hollywood, Universal, Malibu, Redondo, Thousand Oaks, Monterey, Carmel and the 1 highway, we stayed in South San Francisco with free parking which was a better quality cheaper hotel which seemed to be in a better looking area than some rather expensive one's we saw in the centre, it was worth the short drive into Downtown SF as we were quoted $45 a day to park in Central SF & the Fisherman’s wharf area on top of the more expensive hotels when looking around for a hotel to stay in online before we booked.

So I would recommend this to save a lot of time on public transport as with the cheaper petrol price & convenience to see many more places in a short time that you cannot use public transport to access easily if at all, especially outside of downtown / the docks.

We drove across a load of different bridges in the SF area the Golden gate is not really the most impressive one either, the Bay bridge is massive and nicely lit up at night, we got into Emeryville, Oakland, the Golden gate national park above Sausalito & many other obscure places you would not see without a car and a cheap Wallmart sat nav.

We booked everything ourselves online also getting cashback via Topcashback for everything from Hotel rooms, car hire, insurance to even KGB vouchers for food, everything went without a hitch, who needs travel agents commission on top!