3 week honeymoon in West coast
 

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any advice. Me and my fiance want to travel round the west coast of america for three weeks for our honeymoon but have no idea what itinerary to plan! We will be going either August or Sept next year and know we want to go to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego see the Grand Canyon, see Alcatraz, not sure what else really! If anyone had any hints or even a suggested itinerary I would be really grateful! :)

First Congrats!

second usually cheapest to fly RT into

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www.carrentals.com works best for me out of LAX

roadtripusa.com

classic.mapquest.com

for your route for me www.hostoric66.com to Grand Canyon

then Vegas then Death Valley to Yosemite.com then SF

finish back down the coast carmelcalifornia.com ventanainn.com

Hearst Castle Santa Barbara if time then LA

betterbidding.com best hotel deals for me

Good guide like Fodors might help lots...

Happy Planning!

Thank you very much, very helpful! :)

I would suggest waiting until October if you want to get out and see any of the country surrounding Las Vegas....canyons, national parks etc. Southern California is also going to be very hot in August and September.

Just take a look at the Trip Report section of fodors to read about all there is to see and do in California and Nevada.

I don't know if I'd wait till October to do three weeks that included the canyons and the national parks. Late October can start getting pretty cold and believe it or not, October starts to get into the raining month in California. Maybe late September early October.

If you are interested in other natural areas like the Grand Canyon, then there is plenty to do in that general area. Grand Canyon, Sedona, Monument Valley, Lake Powell (Glen Canyon National Recreational Area) Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, then Las Vegas. While in California, you might consider Yosemite National Park and the Coast.

Utahtea

We drive Los Angeles to San Francisco on Pacific Coastal Highway (PCH) Rt.1, and its amazing. There are so many places to see and enjoy. i.e. Big Sur, Monterey & Carmel, Cambria, Morro Bay etc. Just rent a convertible and enjoy the drive!

My wife liked it so much, that she wants to go back there for our second honeymoon!! We are also young couple, age 25-27.

First, if possible (meaning if the airfare and car rental charges work for you), I'd highly recommend flying into one city and out of a different city (for example, into Las Vegas and out of San Francisco).

If you have 20 days "on the ground", you could do something like:

Las Vegas and Grand Canyon - 4 days
Drive Las Vegas to San Diego - 1 day
San Diego - 3 days
Los Angeles - 3 days
Drive up the coast to Monterey - 2 days
Monterey/Carmel - 2 days
San Francisco (including day trip to Napa or Sonoma) - 5 days

Tagging on to utahtea's comment... I would plan to come immediately after Labor Day when schools and colleges are back in session.

Hi,

Hmmmmmmmmph... you don't say where you're from, and it might help to know that in order to tailor some elements of a trip to suit you.

(for example, if you live near an ocean, then The Pacific coast might not be so important. If you live near mountains, then the mountains in the region might not be so important.

Additionally, for a honeymoon, one might tend to want fewer stops/moves than if one were taking a more typical 3-week vacation.

But, lets see, 3 weeks = 21 days... and how many days in each spot seems comfortable to you??? I guess maybe 4 or 5 could be the best answer.

I don't mind sf7307's layout there, although I hope that more nights can share the same hotel as a base, with 'day trips' covering some of those other spots.

Anyway, again, depending upon where you live, and how distant these spots ARE to you... I suspect it makes sense to have 4 or 5 days in the L.A. area... I'd do at least 3 days in San Diego...

You've surely heard enough about Vegas to want to spend a few days there...

Since it would be HOT inland... San Francisco is a more sensible spot to add than would be most anything to the east and/or south.

So, if you give 5 days to L.A., and 4 for each of San Diego, Vegas (including a side trip to the Grand Canyon - OR, if Vegas isn't that much of a draw to you, you could replace it WITH the Grand Canyon), San Fran... then you're up to 17 days/nights.

There are certainly strategic spots between some of them which might woo you for a night, but all are within a full day's drive if need be.

Your exact itinerary might be based more on cost than on anything else. With sooooooooooo many options in terms of where you fly in, where you fly out of, and in which order you tackle the various destinations, you have a lot going in your favor.

In fact, because you don't reeeeeeally need a car for the whole stretch (for example, much of Vegas, and much of San Fran can be wholly appreciated without a car - same is true of much of San Diego), you could further strategize and perHAPS create a 21-day trip with maybe 2 SEPARATE car rentals of "one week" each, and MAYBE an added rental car day dotted in the middle of that.

SAY, for example, you scheduled 4 nights in Vegas right in the MIDDLE of your 21-day trip: one weekly rental could end the day of your arrival in Vegas, at which point you put all of your belongings in your hotel room for the next 4 nights. Then bring the car back to the rental company. Then you goof around in Vegas for 4 days, perHAPS renting for ONE day in the middle of that, to visit the Grand Canyon on a day trip. At the end of your Vegas stay, you pick up a NEW rental car, for "one week"... and MAYBE you save some money that way, when the alternative is paying $30-50 for a day of car rental AND $15-20 or MORE for a day of parking at your hotel, when you won't even NEED the car.

(deep breath) So, what you need most, is perhaps something to narrow your focus and cause you to start picking and prioritizing various spots.

Not only that, but be sure to allow plenty of time to do things that honeymooners tend to do...


(If you understand all I've added, then you are probably no further in your planning than you were when you began this thread !!) (because some of it has to come from YOUR whims... and we here need to know a few more of your whims/decisions/desires to offer you pinpoint feedback)