West Coast of America

lalamb

Looking for some advice for a trip to America next summer. We are looking to go the first 3 weeks in August, so we have 21 days in total. We would do the obvious California, San Diego and Vegas.......but I'm not too sure if we could do another stop like Pheonix? Is that somewhere worth a visit We definitely want at least 10 days in California......leaving us 11 days to do the rest. I'm looking for someone to give me their experiences so I can hopefully get some inspiration.

5 of us going, 3 adults and 2 children 9 and 10

I've had a look at Expedia for flights for next March......flights for August wont be released for a few more months. At the minute flights for next March is £3000 that's a return from Man to LAX I don't think that price is too bad but it will most likely be more expensive in August, the thing is we don't really want to fly back from LAX. Ideally we would fly out to Cali and then get our return flight from Vegas but there is no direct flight from Vegas to Manchester is there?

Are we better leaving flights to a few months before or as soon as they are released? I'm not used to doing DIY holidays, I feel more comfortable with a package but this would push our prices through the roof. When we go to Florida I don't see any benefits of doing DIY, we've been really happy with our package prices.

There is so much to do, it's a mine field and very scary!

Caz3121

great thread here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3248860

I am doing west coast in a couple of weeks, we are flying into SFO and back from PHX...only flights booked so far so going to be spending the weekend sorting out car and hotels....once we decide on our route!

lalamb

Caz3121 wrote: »

great thread here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3248860

I am doing west coast in a couple of weeks, we are flying into SFO and back from PHX...only flights booked so far so going to be spending the weekend sorting out car and hotels....once we decide on our route!

Thanks, I will have a look at the thread.

I hope you don't mind me asking but did you get a good deal for your flights? How far in advance did you book your flights? And are your flights direct?

Edited to add: OMG That thread you linked looks brilliant, lots of reading to be done there, thanks again!

Caz3121

lalamb wrote: »

I hope you don't mind me asking but did you get a good deal for your flights? How far in advance did you book your flights? And are your flights direct?

my flights are all booked with miles so as far as a good deal, yes, we are flying business class for taxes only so around the same fare as an economy ticket :beer:
Have a look on kayak for flights when they are available and use multicity - it will let you search flying out to one airport and back to another

it is a fab thread and has been my bible when planning for CA

lalamb

Caz3121 wrote: »

my flights are all booked with miles so as far as a good deal, yes, we are flying business class for taxes only so around the same fare as an economy ticket :beer:
Have a look on kayak for flights when they are available and use multicity - it will let you search flying out to one airport and back to another

it is a fab thread and has been my bible when planning for CA

Thanks I will have a look at kayak. Just going through some of the trip reports now, some great inspiration already! My husband will be so pleased when he comes in from work and I bombard him with ideas......NOT!

janey183

Pheonix is nice, good shopping mall, but IMHO thats about it.
Spent 3 days in Vegas and once youve done the casino thing, it all gets a bit tiresome (again imho!)
Spent 3 wonderful days in Hollywood, could spend the rest of my days there, but then some people hate it.
Last time I was in the USA I travelled West Coast to East Coast in 17 days, not for the faint hearted!!
Have fun whatever you do and I am soooooo jell!;)

lalamb

janey183 wrote: »

Pheonix is nice, good shopping mall, but IMHO thats about it.
Spent 3 days in Vegas and once youve done the casino thing, it all gets a bit tiresome (again imho!)
Spent 3 wonderful days in Hollywood, could spend the rest of my days there, but then some people hate it.
Last time I was in the USA I travelled West Coast to East Coast in 17 days, not for the faint hearted!!
Have fun whatever you do and I am soooooo jell!;)

Thanks.
One of our original plans was to do West to East over 21 days but I don't think my boys are the right age to do it. I know people do it with very young children. My boys are 11 months apart in age difference and all they would do is argue or be daft......3 weeks of driving around with that...... I'd rather not! lol And I think I would like to spend 3 weeks on the east side to sample more of that area. We can do central the following year, and the west the year after if we really wanted to and if money allows it.

The idea of Phoenix was more of a 'let's fit another place in to our itinerary' rather than 'I really want to go there'. I don't know, we have plenty of time to research it, we just want to make the most of our trip and see as many hot spots as we can.

travellerboy

Vegas in August will be like being in Hell with temperatures likely to exceed 110F. No fun with children, as it is a concrete jungle in the desert with little to interest a family group that can be bettered almost anywhere else.

If you have set your mind on going there, ensure you avoid the weekend as prices go thro' the roof. The only benefit is the proximity to GC for a day trip.

lalamb

travellerboy wrote: »

Vegas in August will be like being in Hell with temperatures likely to exceed 110F. No fun with children, as it is a concrete jungle in the desert with little to interest a family group that can be bettered almost anywhere else.

If you have set your mind on going there, ensure you avoid the weekend as prices go thro' the roof. The only benefit is the proximity to GC for a day trip.

Thanks, didn't really consider that.....we did Rhodes when our boys were 2 and 3, there was a heatwave and temps were above 40 for the majority of our stay we almost went crazy with it, and we had the sea to cool us down, goodness know what it would've been like without the water. But we still had a fab holiday and would definitely do it again. So do you think Vegas would it be ok for 1 day? We wont be doing the casinos anyway because of the kids being with us, I read you have to be 21 to enter any gambling facility, is that right?

travellerboy

Vegas would be too much for me, I don't enjoy gambling, the shows are ridiculously expensive with nothing else worthwhile even for a day. I spent 3 days there last year and regretted every minute, never too be repeated.

jackieblack

With children, and it being August, I would forget Las Vegas.
There is plenty to fill 3 weeks just in California, I'd start with a few days in San Fran, from SF out to Napa, then to Yosemite, then back to the coast and drive down the PCH to San Diego.
There are lots of places worth stopping at for a day or two (or three, in some cases ) on the way, one of our favourites was Monterey (whale watching & aquarium).
Lots of people stop in LA for a few days (Disneyland and Universal Studios).
There is lots to do in San Diego and the surrounding area. You could easily spend a week there.