Trip of a lifetime to America

Snail30

Hi guys 2 of us are going to the States for a month in April and are planning to hit San Fran, Vegas, Chicago, NY and Boston. Any advice on places to stay would be greatly appreciated. Hotels/Guesthouses/Nice hostels...anything would be great! Also any recommended places to see would be great. Thanks in advance!

mada999

stay in the circus circus on a weekday night in vegas....pretty cheap...then sit at the 2c slots and wait until you get served free drinks...then tip $2....nice!

drive from san fran to san diego to vegas....make sure you drive the coast..(and maybe camp one night in the big bear park )tis sweet..

Snail30

Great thanks a mil - that sounds fab!

peter1892

Cartwright Hotel in SF - nice place close to the city centre (a few blocks up from Union Square, walking distance to Chinatown & there's plenty of transport options from there).

I also stayed in the Mark Twain Hotel, again it's near Union Square, good hotel but the area isn't the best at night (can't remember exact address though!).

Edit - Mark Twain hotel is on Taylor Street, across the road from the Hilton.

joeblogg1

You Lucky *****
My Wife and I were in CA and Nevada 2 years ago and I wish I was back there now !!!

IF in or around LA go to Universal Studios or Disney for a day
Definitely when going up or down the coast from SF to LA spend a night or two in Carmel .

Visit Monterrey for a few hours (near Carmel) and do the 17 mile drive which is close to both. It is 17 miles of glorious Pacific Coastline including Pebble Beach Golf Club. It costs $8 to bring a car into the drive but well worth it.

On the road from SF to La visit the small dutch town of Solvang, well worth a few hours

Also Hearst Castle worth a visit half way down the coast

We stayed in 4 different hotels for the 4 nights we were in Vegas (Mandalay Bay, Circus Circus, New York, New York and Luxor- All Great). Each were around $100 per room per night but only midweek as it gets v dear at weekends.
All around California in San Diego, LA, San Fran (down near Fishermans Wharf), Carmel etc we stayed in motels and they are generally great quality for around $ 100 per night

Drive from SF or LA to Vegas as it is about the same price as the internal flight but nicer. 2 warnings

If you intend to fly to Vegas from LA or SF book it on the web before you go. It is cheaper and easier than doing it over there.

If you want to drive from LA or SF to Vegas check it out with the car hire people as most will give you a good car for driving around California but will not let you take it out of the state. When we decided to drive from SF to Vegas we had to return the car and get another older one from them (Hertz)

It is indeed the trip of a lifetime so enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

flanzer

joeblogg1 wrote:

You Lucky *****
My Wife and I were in CA and Nevada 2 years ago and I wish I was back there now !!!

IF in or around LA go to Universal Studios or Disney for a day
Definitely when going up or down the coast from SF to LA spend a night or two in Carmel .

Visit Monterrey for a few hours (near Carmel) and do the 17 mile drive which is close to both. It is 17 miles of glorious Pacific Coastline including Pebble Beach Golf Club. It costs $8 to bring a car into the drive but well worth it.

On the road from SF to La visit the small dutch town of Solvang, well worth a few hours

Also Hearst Castle worth a visit half way down the coast

We stayed in 4 different hotels for the 4 nights we were in Vegas (Mandalay Bay, Circus Circus, New York, New York and Luxor- All Great). Each were around $100 per room per night but only midweek as it gets v dear at weekends.
All around California in San Diego, LA, San Fran (down near Fishermans Wharf), Carmel etc we stayed in motels and they are generally great quality for around $ 100 per night

Drive from SF or LA to Vegas as it is about the same price as the internal flight but nicer. 2 warnings

If you intend to fly to Vegas from LA or SF book it on the web before you go. It is cheaper and easier than doing it over there.

If you want to drive from LA or SF to Vegas check it out with the car hire people as most will give you a good car for driving around California but will not let you take it out of the state. When we decided to drive from SF to Vegas we had to return the car and get another older one from them (Hertz)

It is indeed the trip of a lifetime so enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was going to post a thread like the OPs today also. I too am heading to CA and NV on a roadtrip. Starting in LA for a day/night, then up to Santa Barbara for a night then onto Monterey for a night, then arriving in San Fran and staying for 3 nights. We were advised to hire a convertible for this drive so we've hired a Mustang!! After 3 days in San Fran it's then onto Yosemite Park from there for 2 nights, onto Death Valley for 1 night (to break up the drive to Vegas) then the lights of Vega for four nights including a Plane/Helicopter/Boat trip to the Grand Canyon one of the days!

Can't wait....... Does anyone know of a good website for route planning the roads? Or a good map that could be purchased?

(This thread is gonna get me real bloody excited now...Thanks OP!!:D)

dingding

Done this last year, got all the hotels on priceline.com average US 100 per night. betterbidding.com is good for researching priceline.

dingding

Went on this lasy year. Got the hotels on priceline.com with advice on betterbidding.com price was on average 100 sterling per night, enjoy

hunnymonster

great info JoeBlogg1. Thanks.

Tom Dunne

flanzer wrote:

Can't wait....... Does anyone know of a good website for route planning the roads? Or a good map that could be purchased?

www.map24.com - used it to plan my trip to New York next week, along with driving routes to/from outlets, including obligatory stops en-route.

It allows you to virtually "drive" the route - very impressive.

flanzer

tom dunne wrote:

www.map24.com - used it to plan my trip to New York next week, along with driving routes to/from outlets, including obligatory stops en-route.

It allows you to virtually "drive" the route - very impressive.

That's sweet, thanks... virtual drive is the biz!

joeblogg1

As I said in earlier post I would advise booking and internal flights from here before you go

Regarding hotels/motels we found lots of them everywhere. I have travelled all of Europe and sometimes when you arrive in a town it can be difficult to find a hotel but this is not the case in the States and the motels are also of very good quality. You are guaranteed to find a Best Western or its ilk in even the smallest towns and you will get best rates when just walking in off the street as they are unlikely to rent the room to anyone else later in the day. Oh God how I wish I was back there cruising down Highway 1 now !!!!!!

joeblogg1

flanzer wrote:

onto Death Valley for 1 night (to break up the drive to Vegas)

Up to you flanz but no need to waste a night just to break up trip in my opinion. We left San Fran at 8 am and steady 60mph later we arrived in Vegas at 5pm. reasonably long time driving but it gives you another night in Vegas.

Dont know if it interests you but we enjoyed spending 4 nights in Vegas in the 4 diff hotels. It didnt take long to move from one to the other as wife and I are happy to live out of a suitcase and we got to see the different ones.
We booked into one for a night at a time and while walking around in the evenings booked another for the next night. Just need to be careful that there is no major conference on as sometines all 12 or 13,000 rooms in say the MGM are booked out by the one conference

flanzer

joeblogg1 wrote:

Up to you flanz but no need to waste a night just to break up trip in my opinion. We left San Fran at 8 am and steady 60mph later we arrived in Vegas at 5pm. reasonably long time driving but it gives you another night in Vegas.

Dont know if it interests you but we enjoyed spending 4 nights in Vegas in the 4 diff hotels. It didnt take long to move from one to the other as wife and I are happy to live out of a suitcase and we got to see the different ones.
We booked into one for a night at a time and while walking around in the evenings booked another for the next night. Just need to be careful that there is no major conference on as sometines all 12 or 13,000 rooms in say the MGM are booked out by the one conference

Thanks for the advise Joe but we'll be driving down from Yosemite Park which I believe is an hour or 2 further than the drive from San Fran.

We've already a confirmed booking with the MGM grand for Mon-Friday (4 nights) for $445. It was a mental price to stay on the Friday night but we head back home that day anyway

Snail30

Sorry guys I don't get to log on too often. Thanks so much for all the advice. I think we are going internal flights all the way but now i will consider driving some of it. It seems that NY and Chicago are the hardest places to find accomodation so any other suggestions of places to stay would be great. Is Fisherman's Wharf as good base to explore San Fran?

I know I am really lucky..honestly I do!

Tom Dunne

Snail30 wrote:

I think we are going internal flights all the way but now i will consider driving some of it.

Don't be surprised if you have trouble booking internal flights with an Irish credit card - I certainly did. Some airlines will allow you, some won't. If you book all flights at once, you may be ok, though.

Snail30 wrote:

Is Fisherman's Wharf as good base to explore San Fran?

It certainly is a touristy (read: tacky) part of San Fran, but you are that bit out of the city center. Not that that is a problem, you can easily hop on the trams/trolleys and head for "downtown". It's not a big deal really. There's a nice Holiday Inn there and plenty of things to do.

Another tip - book Alcatraz as soon as possible if you are going. They were booked out 5 days in advance when I was there two years ago.

joeblogg1

Also if you have a car when in San Fran drive over to the Napa side accross the Golden Gate Bridge there is a great viewing place just past the bridge where you can look back at the bridge and the city.

Union Square in the centre of San Fran is nice also

Ballyman

And while out that side of SF carry on out the road for an hour and you are in the middle of wine country.

Be sure and drive on HWY 101 from LA to SF. Takes a bit longer as it's the Pacific Coast Highway and very windy but the views are beautiful.