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

John259

You could use the YARTS bus service to get to Yosemite:
http://yarts.com

Within Yosemite Valley there's an excellent free shuttle bus service provided by the National Park Service:
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/valleyshuttle.pdf

traveller

Hi, Ive done Vegas to LA without a car
. Many cities have megabus services from $1 per person and are like our national coaches. Don't rule it out ☺

PeacefulWaters

I would much rather drive on a USA rural freeway than on the M6!

John259

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

I would much rather drive on a USA rural freeway than on the M6!

Absolutely! I encounter more dangerous incidents and more frustration driving from the Norfolk village where I live to Norwich Airport than during a month of driving in the USA.

duchy

John259 wrote: »

Has your OH actually tried driving in the USA? Don't be scared of the unknown, and don't judge by television programmes and films. The reality is very different.

If you started and ended in Las Vegas, and avoided San Francisco and Los Angeles, then driving would be very easy and enjoyable and give you a much better overall experience.

Bit of a risk if he gets there and decides his instincts were spot on though.
I have driven in the US but I choose not to as it's no vacation for me if I do so I do get the OP#s husband (although hiring a car for one day to try it out might be a strategy for future trips)

OP I've done similar without driving it's certainly possible although for the time scale and with not driving I'd probably skip Yosemite (or do it as a one day coach tour to get a flavour for it as it really does need a car -might push the budget a bit though http://www.starlinetours.com/yosemite-tours.asp)

San Francisco- don't need a car - great public transit so start there then either fly or take a two day one night Pacific highway coach trip to LA - stay downtown LA one night max and do the Houses of the Stars tour which will take you to most of the Hollywood sights - it's pretty tacky there so one night will probably be enough then relocate to Disneyland (the LA area is vast)- lots of hotels right by the parks either walking distance or with their own shuttles - 2 days is enough to do both parks and most of the hotels have nice pools for some pool and chill time...from there you can take Amtrak (train) from Anaheim to San Diego and spend time there then fly San Diego to Vegas (Spirit airlines start as low as £50 one way) spend time in Vegas (and visit the Grand Canyon) and then fly home from Vegas. (I reversed the order so you don't blow all your spending money in Vegas at the beginning of the trip )

What time of year are you looking at Jen (and flying from where) and I'll play with prices- especially if you use ex Euro airfares I think it'd be do-able if you forgo Amtrak for some of the longer legs as flying is cheaper.

Murphy_The_Cat

duchy wrote: »

...from there you can take Amtrak (train) from Anaheim to San Diego

OP
the Amtrak trip along the Big Sur is (depending who you ask) one of the nicest train trips you can take. I've taken it from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara a couple of times and really enjoyed it. If it fits into your trip, I hope you enjoy it as well.

I did find this article that may be relevant to your planning.

Some of the Amtark advance fares can be very reasonable, but the AMTRAK takes a looonng time to trundle down the coast, which may not be your idea of fun !

Murph

duchy

I've heard the same and it seemed to work in well with the Disneyland stop (and that is a must for me in Ca too ) but I felt a bit of a fraud recommending Amtrak to SD as I'm finally doing my first US train trip later this month so it's all hearsay at this point

Murphy_The_Cat

duchy wrote: »

I've heard the same and it seemed to work in well with the Disneyland stop (and that is a must for me in Ca too ) but I felt a bit of a fraud recommending Amtrak to SD as I'm finally doing my first US train trip later this month so it's all hearsay at this point

The most surreal feeling (for me) when travelling on Amtrak is being sat in a loop whilst a freight train is given priority to overtake you !

Myself and Cat the youngest are taking the Amtrak Cascades
this summer from Seattle to Vancouver.4 hours, $48 and 150 miles.
Crossing the border by train, which will be a first for us both.
Happy, happy days :beer:

duchy

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

The most surreal feeling (for me) when travelling on Amtrak is being sat in a loop whilst a freight train is given priority to overtake you !

Myself and Cat the youngest are taking the Amtrak Cascades
this summer from Seattle to Vancouver.4 hours, $48 and 150 miles.
Crossing the border by train, which will be a first for us both.
Happy, happy days :beer:

Sounds fab - Battle Creek to Chicago for me - train seems to follow the line of the Lake

Murphy_The_Cat

duchy wrote: »

Sounds fab - Battle Creek to Chicago for me - train seems to follow the line of the Lake

I know that Amtrak isn't the quickest form of transportation, but the stations are (usually) centrally located, rather than being on the outskirts and you don't have the rigmorral of a 2 hour checkin, security, baggage checks and being jammed into a tiny plane seat.