*Reposting in Hawaii forum.

Ok now i've seen photos of Kauai and i would like to visit that island as well.. I know that in ONE trip we can't see everything but please give me your opinions.

We're coming from Athens Greece so it's a long trip there.

Our itinerary so far is:

4 nights in San Francisco. (3 full days)
7 nights in Oahu (7 full days)
3 nights in LA (2,5 days)

But now i want to add Kauai as well!!

So i was thinking:
3 nights San Francisco
5 nights Oahu
3 nights Kauai
3 nights LA (although from Kauai to LA we will have one full day of travelling due to the fact that there are not direct flights)

Get back home completely exhausted from all the air travel!

What would you do? Would you add Kauai as well?

We would love to visit San Francisco and LA better and i know that in 2 days you just get a glimpse.. but i believe that it's not THAT difficult to do another trip to California. On the contrary Hawaii is really far and i'm not sure we will decide to do this trip again in the future, so we would like to make the most of it..

I would add in Kauai as ,in my opinion seven days on Oahu is too much and even five days is stretching it. There is just not that much to do there.

That's a lot of travel but do-able. Are you staying in Waikiki? If you are make sure you rent a car because there is plenty to see outside of Honolulu.
If you were coming from the mainland I might say stick to one Island, but since it may be while until you are on this side of the world then go for it.
Kauai is beautiful.

If you don't want to cut out one of the California cities (as suggeted by someone else, since you agree you will likely return to California), I definitely would do Kauai in addition to Oahu. I'd probably do 4 and 4, not 5 and 3. Both islands are worth visiting (now there's an understatement!), and obviously very different from each other. Kauai is lush and gorgeous, the views are spectacular, you might want to drive all the way down to Waimea Canyon and all the way up to the Napili Coast (and/or take a helicopter and/or catamaran cruise). On Oahu, you'll want to see Pearl Harbor, and drive up to the North Shore beaches, maybe Diamond Head and the Pali lookout. Then there's the beach, and relaxing, and shopping, and eating!!!

We split our time between Oahu and Kauai on a weeks vacation once and it was fine. The most important thing is to plan your time wisely at each place (including CA) to be able to see the things that are most important to you.

We now spend almost all of our time in Kauai....we prefer the laid back atmosphere that Kauai offers.

There are many things to do on Oahu that could keep you busy for seven days or even a month.

But Kauai is nice also.

Lots of info including sites with free brochures:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34812564

2 LA
5 Oahu
5 Kauai
2 San Francisco

cristine27~ There is no separate Hawaii forum. All post go under the general United States heading. So both your posts show up here, and are getting lots of replies and suggestions! aloha, Suze

Yes... without a doubt... add Kauai!!!!

Here's how I would do it:
3 nights SFO
4 nights Oahu (1 relax, 2 Arizona Memorial, 3 Polynesian Center/north coast, 4 relax)
5 nights Kauai (stay in Poipu)
2 nights LA

I love your itinerary...i think it is a good balance. Twelve oaks hasn't a clue....Oahu has everything imaginable and 2 weeks cannot possibly satisfy anyones curiosity.

I wasn't in on the initial dilemma, but I'm wondering why you are so set on going to LA? If you are planning on going to Disneyland, well, OK. But you won't need to see the beaches, since you will visit beaches in Hawaii. My children were born and raised 40 miles from LA and they have never been there. I have been to cities all over the world and LA would be at the bottom of my list for visiting.

that's what makes the world go round , different opinons. LA is at the top of my list for great cities, after new york.

and I think oahu is far less commercial overall than maui. yes, there is a big city, but that isn't the same as being commercialized.

That wasn't the reason guys... cristine said it was because they are flying all the way from Greece and originally wanted to break up the long plane rides with a couple nights in CA, in both directions, was the idea behind the original plan.

My children were born and raised 40 miles from LA and they have never been there.

I'm curious what you mean by "there"? When travelers refer to LA, they almost always are referring to the whole LA area, including Hollywood, Santa Monica, Malibu, even Anaheim, as opposed to downtown Los Angeles. Are you saying your kids have never been to ANY of those, or only that they haven't been downtown (which I can understand!).