California

ljs_3

I want to go to California in early October for around 17 days. I need to book flights, book a hire car and some accommodation. I want to see San Francisco, travel the coast road, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Can anyone offer me any help ? Is this too much to do ? Do I need to book all the hotels or can we just book as we go along ? Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

moob_2

ljs wrote: »

I want to go to California in early October for around 17 days. I need to book flights, book a hire car and some accommodation. I want to see San Francisco, travel the coast road, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Can anyone offer me any help ? Is this too much to do ? Do I need to book all the hotels or can we just book as we go along ? Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

I've done this before, except I did 5 1/2 weeks with mate when I was a youngster at 22 - great time.

We just booked into places as we went along, using The Rough Guide to USA book for accommodation recommendations - worked out well.

What you're describing is well do-able, and sounds great.

Get yourself onto Mapquest, and enter route details to see what the best way of getting from each area you want to visit is. Get a copy of the aforementioned book, visit tripadvisor for more info and ideas on hotels and locations, and check out this thread on how to bid for hotel prices on priceline etc, you can save a fortune, and it's fun!

There is plenty of info in those links, but as I'm off stateside tomorrow, I won't be about. There are however many helpful people on here who may be able to assist.

Good luck!:beer:

ljs_3

moob wrote: »

I've done this before, except I did 5 1/2 weeks with mate when I was a youngster at 22 - great time.

We just booked into places as we went along, using The Rough Guide to USA book for accommodation recommendations - worked out well.

What you're describing is well do-able, and sounds great.

Get yourself onto Mapquest, and enter route details to see what the best way of getting from each area you want to visit is. Get a copy of the aforementioned book, visit tripadvisor for more info and ideas on hotels and locations, and check out this thread on how to bid for hotel prices on priceline etc, you can save a fortune, and it's fun!

There is plenty of info in those links, but as I'm off stateside tomorrow, I won't be about. There are however many helpful people on here who may be able to assist.

Good luck!:beer:

Thanks very much for this. Can anyone suggest a reasonable hotel in San Francisco for 2 or 3 nights?

gmac9i

Im watching your thread with intripidation as i am planning something similar for next year.

Gmac9inch

blindman

Do a search of the board there are threads galore about this type of trip.

Recent thread

Good post by Little John

Good thread info (from me!)

I did this trip about 3 years back. Used priceline for most of the hotels.

Got the 4* Parc 55 in San Fran for $70

Nice hotel!

Diddidi

Hi there- I did exactly this the same trip many years ago (before we had internet access!!) I travel quite a bit to the US and it's really easy to book as you go along. Only suggestion I would make is to ensure you have booked your first night (you don't want to arrive off a long flight with full blown jetlag worrying about where you will stay next). Use the concierge facility at your first hotel to help you with ideas for your next stop.

Enjoy the trip - it's a wonderful place

Diddi

ljs_3

blindman wrote: »

Do a search of the board there are threads galore about this type of trip.

Recent thread

Good post by Little John

Good thread info (from me!)

I did this trip about 3 years back. Used priceline for most of the hotels.

Got the 4* Parc 55 in San Fran for $70

Nice hotel!

Thanks for your help Blindman. I've checked the reviews of Parc 55 but not sure how much to bid on priceline? Shall I use that same site for Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon ?

cabbyman

Leaving at the end of September.

Virgin to SFO. Hotel fusion for about 3 days.

Car down Highway 1, overnight at Days Inn, Monterey. On to Anaheim then Hollywood. Fly to Las Vegas, Stratosphere Tower Hotel with helicopter to Grand Canyon, fly back Virgin after 14 days. Did most of it on Expedia, they also have an itinerary section with the status of each idea you've entered. eg, pending, booked, etc.

torbrex

Make sure that you have your first night booked and take a print out of the booking with you. US customs are insistant that you can prove that you have a booking for the first night of your stay and I have been asked to show proof of my booking twice.
Other than that you do not need to book a motel as there are so many that you can just turn up and get in, try to get checked in before about 7pm as (it has to be said) some of the night clerks are not too bright and can get confused with accents.
Remember to consider the distances when planning your trip, if driving it can take 2 days from San Fran to Vegas and another full day to the Canyon and that does not allow for taking in the sights along the way, also if you are planning to drive the coast road you will be cutting back on yourself.

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

cabbyman

Torbrex, that was useful. Any ideas about motor insurance for injury to third parties? This one is scaring the s*!t out of me.

See my post in this thread:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=457361&highlight=california

blindman

ljs wrote: »

Thanks for your help Blindman. I've checked the reviews of Parc 55 but not sure how much to bid on priceline? Shall I use that same site for Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon ?

You need to read this guide regarding priceline.
Moob mentioned it in his post.

Register with Betterbidding and ask questions there.

You can't bid for a specific hotel, just an area in San Fran.
4* lowest winning bid tend to be about $75 (then there's the priceline fee + tax)

I wouldn't use priceline in Vegas as many bargains can be found depending on the time you visit (Thread on Vegas)

Similarly priceline is not a very good bet at the Grand Canyon as the accomodation that uses priceline is scarce I beleive.