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

daisiegg

Oh do go to Yosemite! We were in Cali last year and we totally did it wrong, we were supposted to be spending something like 2 days in Vegas and then 3 in Yosemite....but after our first afternoon of cocktails in Vegas (oops) we decided we loved it and booked 2 more nights there, leaving us only 1 night and 2 days in Yosemite. I'd been to Yosemite a couple of times as a child but OH had never been and once we were there, out of the Vegas cocktail haze, we realised we really should have had more time there

If you do decide to go to Yosemite though - book as early as humanly possible! Last year we were there in August, and I think we booked in March or April, and we couldn't get anywhere properly in the park - we ended up having to stay at the Wawona hotel which is an hour or hour and a half's drive from Yosemite valley, the central bit of the park.

daisiegg

Rahven wrote: »

Hey again
Ok so far booked we have:
5 nights Vegas (non-cancellable)
1 night GC (non-cancellable)
1 night boulder city (to then see the Dam the next day)

We have from 1st July (the day we see the Dam then start to head to the West coast) to 9th July (fly out at 3PM from SFO) and nothing booked as of yet. We were thinking either 1 or 2 days in Yosemite, and I think we'd like to spend 4th July in San Fran but otherwise we're pretty free and easy

Ooh I'm so jealous!! We were in California last year - it's my favourite place on earth. We did SF, Death Valley, Vegas, Yosemite, Santa Cruz. Didn't feel like we had enough time in any of them (except really SF - you don't need more than a couple of days there). Loved it!

Santa Cruz is really nice. If you like wine, definitely do a day trip (or a couple of days?) in Napa - really good fun. I have heard lots of good things about Monterey but we didn't make it there, I think it's worth a visit though. Are you driving around? If you're driving away from Vegas - the drive through Death Valley is just amazing and like nothing else on earth. You can drive from Vegas to Yosemite via Death Valley.

Oh - I am SO jealous of you! I so wanted to go back to Cali this summer but we couldn't make it work with flights (OH flies loads for work so we tend to do summer holidays using airmiles). We are going to NY, Toronto, Boston instead and while I know I'm lucky and I'm excited - I could spend every summer holiday for the rest of my life in and around Cali!

northwest1965

daisiegg wrote: »

(except really SF - you don't need more than a couple of days there)

things about Monterey but we didn't make it there, I think it's worth a visit though. Are you driving around? If you're driving away from Vegas - the drive through Death Valley is just amazing and like nothing else on earth. You can drive from Vegas to Yosemite via Death Valley.
!

I agree Sf is a 2 day visit for me aswell, I wouldnt go back.
If you can do Death Vallet you MUST. I was only saying to my hubby yesterday, if I could go back in time for 1 day it would be to Death Valley.
Again though, it depends on you as people and whether you like city or country.

pelirocco

northwest1965 wrote: »

I agree Sf is a 2 day visit for me aswell, I wouldnt go back.
If you can do Death Vallet you MUST. I was only saying to my hubby yesterday, if I could go back in time for 1 day it would be to Death Valley.
Again though, it depends on you as people and whether you like city or country.

I loved SF , we had 6 nights in total there , but we did do a couple of tours ( muir woods , napa valley etc ). There was far more to do and see , But I wouldnt want to spend more then a week there

Murphy_The_Cat

northwest1965 wrote: »

I agree Sf is a 2 day visit for me aswell, I wouldnt go back.

San Fran didn't do it for me either. It seemd to attract all sorts of weirdos & whackjobs !

michele-p

Hi, I've just seen your itinerary Rahven. Just thoght I'd mention that boulder ciry/hoover dam is only 30 mins drive maximum from Vegas, so probably not worth a night there. If you are going to the canyon by car you will probably pass the dam anyway. We went for the tour, which was very interesting, but really only a couple of hours visit max.

We did a trip from San Franciso via Carmel, Yoesemite, Death Valley, Vegas and LA on our honeymoon a few years back, and it was the most amazing holiday we've ever had. We loved it all, LA was a bit disappointing though! If you do go to Yosemite, it might be an idea to break it up with an overnight in Death Valley, as it's a long day. We did Yosemite to Death Valley and it was at least 6 hours through a sandstorm that day!

Have a great holiday

daisiegg

I really, really love SF but that's because I have cousins who live there so I enjoy going out drinking, eating at fun places etc - just as a tourist I think you can 'do it' in 2 days. I'd say definitely do Alcatraz, the Academy of Sciences (if you like that sort of thing), Chinatown is fun to walk through but wouldn't spend ages there, round Fisherman's Wharf area is fun, and maybe a little shopping. Other than that I'd rather do trips to Napa etc!

daisiegg

We drove SF to Vegas with an overnight stop in Death Valley, but then we drove Vegas to Yosemite all in one day - it was a looooong drive, 9 or 10 hours or something. I love road tripping in America though!

northwest1965

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

San Fran didn't do it for me either. It seemd to attract all sorts of weirdos & whackjobs !

Doesnt it just! I consider myself well travelled but I wasnt prepared for it!

Rahven

This has been eye-opening! Thanks for your contributions guys
We're pretty interested in the Dam, but didn't want it to cut into our Vegas time and we won't have a car until we leave Vegas on the Friday. I think we saw it as a convenient place to stop off on the way from the GC to SF (along with some more stops of course) that had things we wanted to see (would like to explore Boulder City as well as HD). I think breaking up the long drives is going to be important for us.
I did not realise SF would receive the comments it has! Makes me wonder if we could cut the time there and spend some days in other places instead. I'd quite like to see San Jose for example, and the hotel prices are about half that of San Fran from what I've seen!