cffabian

We are first timers in the U.S. How many days should we (5 persons) spend in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York? We will only be in the U.S. for 14 days so an in-depth trip in each place is not an option for us. We would like to visit as many place as possible and should we rent a car?

marvelousmouse

Ok. First: who is "we"? Kids? Young Aussie backpackers? I'm hoping it's the latter. Where are you from? Interests? When is the trip? Budget? SF and NYC are two of the most expensive cities in the states. There are some conventions in SF you'll want to avoid. And if you're thinking you can do 5 people in one room, you usually can't.


We need to know ALL of this to help you. In general, though, you just haven't got enough time. Jet lag, time zone, travel time are all working against you. Consider that geographically speaking, 14 days is insufficient for even just California. At the very least, I'd pick east or west coast. And if you haven't priced out your plane tickets you should. If this is summer, that's going to add up FAST.

Sassafrass

You certainly do not want to try and drive from place to place, just too far and you do not have time. You do not want a car in NYC for sure. I probably would not get one anywhere.

Even flying from place to place is going to eat up tons of your time.

I understand you already know it will not be an indepth tour, and want to visit as many places as possible, but you can't visit many places anyway and the ones you have chosen take time to get around in. Even flying from place to place is going to eat up tons a lot of time, getting to airport, going through security, flight time, getting to next hotel is going to eat up 3/4 of a day between NYC and any West Coast city, 1/2 day between LA and SF.

What is your interest in each of the places you have chosen? Are you absolutely set on those? There might be better options. You could see a lot more by visiting only one Coast. Example: NYC and Washington DC.

Do the 14 days include arrival day or departure day? When is the trip? What is your arrival city? What is your departure city?

janisj

Have you booked your flights yet? If so, where are you flying in/out of? And do you actually have 14 days on the ground (which would mean 16 days all together)

jamie99

When is this trip and are there any kids or folks under 21? If so I would not spend more than 2 nights in Las Vegas.
Ordinarily I would suggest flying into LAX or SFO, spend 3 nights in SF, pick up car and drive to Yosemite (if you can get reservations inside the park) for a couple of nights, then drive Highway 1 with 2 overnight stops. However with a bridge damaged beyond repair and not expected to be replaced until this fall or next spring (depending on which source you believe), you cannot get all the way through Big Sur and would have to backtrack to Highway 101.
LA has fire code regulations preventing more than 4 people in a room, although there are exceptions. Look into a suite hotel like Residence Inn (full kitchen, free hot breakfast) or Springhill Suites or similar.

nanabee

I would spend the 14 days on the West Coast. YOu could arrive in San Diego then drive the 2 hours to LA, then from there it is about 6 hours to San Francisco. Maybe fly from there to Portland, OR or Seattle, WA OR fly to Hawaii and then fly home.

San Diego (2 days)
San Diego Zoo, lots of beach activities (snorkeling, kayaking), Coronado, La Jolla,

Los Angeles (1 day) tour an LA city bus tour.

San Francisco (2-3 days ) As you drive from LA to SF maybe stop and spend time in Santa Barbara (visit the beautiful Mission built by the Spanish friars around the 1700's). Then continue up the coast visiting Carmel, Monterey.
Lot's to do in SF.

Then fly to Portland or Seattle. (2 days)
Hawaii? at least 2 days

San Diego
http://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/
https://www.lajollakayak.com/tours/
http://www.lajollaseacavekayaks.com/
http://www.midway.org/
https://www.coronado.ca.us/
https://www.lajolla.com/

jamie99

It's only 6 hours from LA to SF if you take I-5 where the OP can discover why agriculture is California's largest industry. I don't think you can even make it in 6 hours on the 101.

Michael

Fly between the cities you list, and don't even consider a car rental. Use taxis or car services like Lyft and Uber for L.A., San Francisco and NYC have good public transportation systems.

dwdvagamundo

Like Nanabee, I'd advise staying on the West Coast. I'd rent a car and drive from LA to SF, see Napa Valley, Redwoods, etc. Then fly to Las Vegas if you must.

suze

How are you going from one city to the next? Plane, train, automobile???

Obviously you have to fly east to west coast (to include NYC). But you could drive LA, SF, Vegas.

14 days is extremely short to cover all 4 places (and one that is 3000 miles away!).

Would you be willing to skip New York this time?

janisj

Until the OP returns (might not -- a new member who may be waiting for that elusive alert from Fodors) none of our suggestions are really useful.

If they've already booked flights in/out of NY then they wouldn't have all that much time for the west coast -- maybe NY/SF/LA/NY all by air. If they are flying in/out of LA then NY makes little sense. If they haven't booked anything -- then all options are possible.

suze

I agree with everything you say janisj.

If flights are booked in and out of New York, I'd try to encourage them to stay 'back east'.

If not booked yet, I'd encourage in and out of either SF or LA and do only 'west coast'.

Hopefully they will check in again sometime and add to the conversation.