Where to go in the states ?

rovers2001

Hi guys.
Planning on a two city break to the states in june with the missus.Las vegas is definately going to be one stop so looking for any ideas on where else we should go.It will probably be four nights in each city wherever we choose but cant make my mind up on which second city to visit.We have been to New York so thats out the window something is telling me to try Chicago.Any ideas as to where to go and reasons why greatly appreciated.Thanks.

rossie1977

chicago is alot like NYC in many ways

seeing as you are going to vegas (great choice btw) i would recommend san francisco, its only 75 min plane ride from vegas, whereas chicago is 4-5hrs

complete contrast though from vegas, for me americas most beautiful big city, much more to see and do in the city and surrounding areas than chicago. 2hr drive outside SF is yosemite national park which is stunning. weather should be nice, much cooler than chicago in june, little or no humidity, lots of steep hills though in the town itself :mad:

poundhound

Agreed. San Francisco is great. I was there in Sept last and stayed for 6 nights and loved it.

event

yeah last year i was in san francisco (amazing), LA (shít hole), san diego (amazing again) and vegas

so id choose san francisco or san diego, they really were amazing

Ponster

San Francisco +1

deisebabe

chicago! its a great city. large but with a small city friendliness. We stayed in the palmer house hilton http://chicago-hotels.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g35805-d111501-Reviews-The_Palmer_House_Hilton-Chicago_Illinois.html . we managed to get a cheap deal there and it was nice, close to everything.

rovers2001

Thanks guys i appreciate the help San francisco does sound good alright should i go to Vegas as the first leg of our tour or second.

rossie1977

aer lingus flies direct to SF from Dublin so i would leave vegas till second, so much to spend your money on in vegas in terms of shopping, nightlife, gambling and tons of other stuff, that you may end up in SF when less than you thought

Gran Hermano

I'd do Vegas first and SF second for a couple of reasons, jet lag is less of a problem in
Vegas as it's a 24 hour city and you can easily do most of what you want at any hour of the
day. Big deal if you sleep in late or want to have an early night.

I also found SF pleasant to unwind in after a chaotic week in Vegas again
making it easier to adjust when back home here. SF is a great city and very
different to any other US cities I've visited, especially the East Coast,
much more European in many ways. The only problem I have with is the
incessant amount of begging and bums. To me it's no longer worth the
hassle visiting the city centre.

rovers2001

Any ideas of a good hotel to stay in las vegas they all seem good and reasonably priced.Thanks in advance.

Pythia

rovers2001 wrote: »

Any ideas of a good hotel to stay in las vegas they all seem good and reasonably priced.Thanks in advance.

I recently stayed in Treasure Island. Reasonably priced and a nice hotel. I liked the look of New York New York, although I didn't stay there.

Gran Hermano

Bellagio still gets my vote.

finbarrk

I found the MGM fine.

rossie1977

rovers2001 wrote: »

Any ideas of a good hotel to stay in las vegas they all seem good and reasonably priced.Thanks in advance.

mid strip is where you should stay first time, this would be my ranking of mid-strip

best put also most expensive in order (wynn/encore, bellagio, venetian/palazzo)

just below the top level (caesars, mirage, paris, planet hollywood)

mid range (treasure island, flamingo, monte carlo, ballys, NYNY (south of midstrip))

budget (bills gambling hall and saloon which has no pool, imperial palace, harrahs, excalibur (south of midstrip))

treasure island, mirage, paris are great choices as they can be got for about $50-70 during the week these days, mirage has a far better pool than paris or TI though

ncmc

I also agree that Vegas 1st followed by SF is the way to go, you may find you need somewhere a bit more chilled out and relaxed after 4 days in Vegas. I would highly recommend a trip to Yosemite (or even better, an overnight stay if time permits) it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

In Vegas, I stayed at the Mirage and thought it was fab, the rooms are all recently renovated and are really swish. It is in a great location and has a lovely pool.

Wherever you decide to stay, please check out these sites www.fatwallet.com and www.smartervegas.com we were able to get our room in The Mirage for $72 midweek when the rack rate was $149. Both these sites use promo codes, but you actually book directly through the hotel, so they are very reliable.

There should be serious deals to be had in Vegas at the moment, with the state of the economy, but the best deals often don't appear until 3 months before, so it's worth holding on.

In SF, I would recommend the Chancellor Hotel http://www.chancellorhotel.com/ lovely hotel, right on Union Square (the cable cars run right past the door) it is a boutique style hotel, so smaller and more intimate than a big chain.