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

Aphrodite

Thanks everyone for the advice, it sounds like there is a lot to do in San Diego. What is the best part to stay in? During Comic Con we are staying downtown which is within walking distance of the convention centre. However, I was wondering if before hand we should stay up near the airport or along the coast/on the island?

I think the internal flight to Las Vegas does sound like the most sensible thing so far if we wanted to visit there. What's the general opinion on Las Vegas? It seems like it might be something that splits people (a la marmite). I've always wanted to go mainly for the spectacle of the lights etc but I'm worried I won't actually find it particularly interesting. Also, I've read that it might be 40 degrees...?

Another option that you've made me think about, is to drive up to the theme parks near LA, would these need more than a day each to go round though? (particularly interested in Six Flags, not sure if that's better than Disney though!). I understand that Death Valley is drivable from LA area? So might be an option instead of going to Las Vegas.


Thanks again!

jackieblack

Aphrodite wrote: »

Another option that you've made me think about, is to drive up to the theme parks near LA, would these need more than a day each to go round though? (particularly interested in Six Flags, not sure if that's better than Disney though!).

If you are thinking about Six Flags Magic Mountain, it isn't really 'in' LA, it is in Valencia, to the north of LA, about 3 hours drive with no traffic (there is never no traffic )
My DD & DH are rollercoaster junkies and loved it, I'm not and there was literally nothing for me there. Luckily I had a good book and a newspaper.

elantan

hi all,

going to west coast u.s.a in august for 3 weeks , our plans so far are

fly to vegas from gatwick

stay 7 nights in the platinum hotel and spa mainly resting and time by the pool as we have had a very stressful couple of years, we arnt into gambling and wont pay the money they are looking for the shows ( although i do love the theatre) ,

meet up with a group of american friends that we have and go to grand canyon south rim for a day trip and hoover dam for a day trip ,

drive to death valley on the 8th sight see round death valley stay at a best western, get up do parts of death valley we may have missed, drive to yosemite park

stay at a best western in yosemite park for 3 nights, first day relaxing, second day a visit to local caves, third day a day at yosemite followed by a star gazing trip at night ( my 40th birthday) next day finish off yosemite park before driving to san fransisco

arrive at san fransisco on the 12th stay with friends in pleasanton for several days taking in a trip to alcatraz and visiting with another american friend before heading with friends from pleasanton to lake tahoe for 2 nights, one day at lake tahoe one day at redwood national park , before heading back to pleasanton for another few days then flying home from san fransisco airport to heathrow


can anyone suggest any ideas that can make this trip more fun, enjoyable etc ?

Vikki_74

Ok, first off how set or flexible are your days in each place?

If you're not already tied to hotels or set plans with your friends then I have a couple of suggestions just as a starting point to improve your route a bit and avoid some doubling back on yourself:

1) Lose a night in Vegas or elsewhere and stay overnight at the Grand Canyon - sunrise & sunset are the best times to be there and this will give you more time to enjoy the place than a day trip spent mostly in the car. It would also allow you time to visit Hoover Dam either on your way there or back - it's on the way - rather than as a separate trip. You might be too late now to get lodging in the national park itself but there are reasonably priced hotels in the towns nearby which are only a short drive to the GC.

Whether you do this or not, I would recommend driving through Valley of Fire either on your way to/from GC or as part of a loop of you stick with Hoover Dam as a separate day trip.

2) Change your route to Yosemite - Lake Tahoe - San Francisco to cut out a bit of the driving up there.

Also, if you're not into gambling or spending a fortune on shows etc, is Vegas really the best place to spend a week? Yes they have nice hotels and pools to chill out but so do plenty of other places which won't be so crazy hot in August, or so expensive for eating out etc. It's all down to personal preference but we had 5 nights there, did 3 shows & a bit of (very small time) gambling and still think that was too long!

northwest1965

Vikki_74 wrote: »

1) Lose a night in Vegas or elsewhere and stay overnight at the Grand Canyon - sunrise & sunset are the best times to be there and this will give you more time to enjoy the place than a day trip spent mostly in the car. It would also allow you time to visit Hoover Dam either on your way there or back - it's on the way - rather than as a separate trip.
Whether you do this or not, I would recommend driving through Valley of Fire either on your way to/from GC or as part of a loop of you stick with Hoover Dam as a separate day trip.

Also, if you're not into gambling or spending a fortune on shows etc, is Vegas really the best place to spend a week?

I would tend to agree, whatever you do, spend a night at Grand Canyon. We only spent 1 night but next time will stay2. Loved it! Hoover Dam, that really wasnt my thing, after about 30mins it was enough for me.

If you dont gamble or going to do any shows, then a week in Vegas is far too long.

elantan

Vikki_74 wrote: »

Ok, first off how set or flexible are your days in each place?

If you're not already tied to hotels or set plans with your friends then I have a couple of suggestions just as a starting point to improve your route a bit and avoid some doubling back on yourself:

1) Lose a night in Vegas or elsewhere and stay overnight at the Grand Canyon - sunrise & sunset are the best times to be there and this will give you more time to enjoy the place than a day trip spent mostly in the car. It would also allow you time to visit Hoover Dam either on your way there or back - it's on the way - rather than as a separate trip. You might be too late now to get lodging in the national park itself but there are reasonably priced hotels in the towns nearby which are only a short drive to the GC.

Whether you do this or not, I would recommend driving through Valley of Fire either on your way to/from GC or as part of a loop of you stick with Hoover Dam as a separate day trip.

2) Change your route to Yosemite - Lake Tahoe - San Francisco to cut out a bit of the driving up there.

Also, if you're not into gambling or spending a fortune on shows etc, is Vegas really the best place to spend a week? Yes they have nice hotels and pools to chill out but so do plenty of other places which won't be so crazy hot in August, or so expensive for eating out etc. It's all down to personal preference but we had 5 nights there, did 3 shows & a bit of (very small time) gambling and still think that was too long!

thanks very much for the help, i would love to go to the grand canyon for a few nights and dont really fancy vegas an awful lot ( although i may land up loving it) we just thought we really need a time by the pool and doing nothing, we thought vegas would be ok as there is a pool and plenty of restaurants, we are also meeting up with friends and as they havnt finalised their dates yet we thought of staying in vegas gives them a week to sort out their dates, hubby really fancies the hoover dam (he is into those kinda things) so that part of the holiday is for him ( although i am sure i will enjoy it as well)

we also thought that moving to so many hotels puts alot more pressure on us ( living out of suitcases, driving etc) which is why we thought the bus tour of the grand canyon would be better, we also have the car hire organised for when we leave las vegas so that we can spend a week not driving ... but i will look at accomadation for the grand canyon and factor that in

the lake tahoe idea, well unfortunatley that wont work as it is our friends that own the property we are going to in lake tahoe, so we are picking them up on the way ( they live in pleasanton)

thanks very much for the help though will look up accomadation for the grand canyon, would you say the south rim is the best rim to go visit?

elantan

northwest1965 wrote: »

I would tend to agree, whatever you do, spend a night at Grand Canyon. We only spent 1 night but next time will stay2. Loved it! Hoover Dam, that really wasnt my thing, after about 30mins it was enough for me.

If you dont gamble or going to do any shows, then a week in Vegas is far too long.

i was thinking that a week in vegas would be too much tbh will look into hotels in grand canyon ... thanks

elantan

just looked at accomadation for grand canyon it was coming in at $259 a night for the best western which is generally much cheaper, other accomadation was coming in more expensive ... hmmm will keep looking though

Vikki_74

elantan wrote: »

the lake tahoe idea, well unfortunatley that wont work as it is our friends that own the property we are going to in lake tahoe, so we are picking them up on the way ( they live in pleasanton)

I thought that might be the case...wish I had friends with a property up there, I'd never leave!!

elantan wrote: »

will look up accomadation for the grand canyon, would you say the south rim is the best rim to go visit?

South & north rims are the "proper" Grand Canyon, west rim isn't - it's outside of the national park, on Native American land.

The north rim is too far from Vegas really for a day trip so you have a choice of south or west. I've only been to the south rim so can't personally compare the two, but general consensus is that south is the better option.

West rim is the closest to Vegas and has the Skywalk which does look pretty cool but is expensive to visit, plus there are potential issues with driving there in a hire car as part of the route is not technically a road which may invalidate your insurance should you run into any problems.

elantan wrote: »

just looked at accomadation for grand canyon it was coming in at $259 a night for the best western which is generally much cheaper, other accomadation was coming in more expensive ... hmmm will keep looking though

Not sure of your dates, but there is still some accommodation at the various lodges inside GCNP for August which if available should definately come in cheaper than $259. It takes a bit of searching to find out what is available when, but it's worth a look on their official site if you haven't already done so.

One other thing I thought of - 7 nights in Vegas will mean having to stay over a weekend one way or another, when prices can be at least double what they are in the week. If you could cut a couple of nights over the weekend that should save you a decent amount of cash to put towards a hotel at the GC or elsewhere.

elantan

well the good thing about our accomadation in vegas is were getting each night for $129 including the weekend thanks to a great mse'r ( dont want to name drop without permission) and it's in the platinum so that is good ... also my friends will probably only be able to make the weekend ...

i am really lucky with having friends that live in the area ... the girl we are staying with was my bridesmade for my wedding ... she moved out last year so it will be great to catch up

but i have to admit i am now really fancying staying at the grand canyon for a few nights lol

had a look at that site you linked ... no accomadation ... but possibly a train journey .... now that might be nice ooops just saw the price ... we will forget that one then lol