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from ireland to u s a.

my wife and i are planning to take a holiday this july/aug in the u s a . last year we visited carolina and the year before new york and cape cod.so this year we are thinking of the west coast it will probably be for 10/14 days.should we stay in one place (where) or should we travel around (where to) any advise would be helpful

If you get to Calif., be sure to visit San Fransisco, Carmel, Big Sur in Northern Calif. You might enjoy coming up the Oregon coast, and then visiting the Puget Sound area in Wash. Another state to visit - Arizona and enjoy the Grand Canyon.

dave, welcome to the usa! hope you enjoy visiting this continent as much as i enjoy europe. california is a large state with a variety of landscapes. my favorite part is the northern half along the coast. but it would probably be interesting for you to see LA and San Diego also. A great thing to do is to travel along Hwy 1 from Southern Calif to Northern. It is along the coast and a beautiful drive. Lots of places to stop and enjoy. Especially Big Sur and Carmel by the Sea. You can make this trip a two day adventure easy. Of course further north than Calif is Oregon and Washington (state, not the capital). They are also very nice. As far as accomodations I don't have any specific recommendations but I would probably do a search on this website. It probably has good information of that sort. Good luck!

Some thoughts: Los Angeles is a town nobody seems to be neutral about: some people can't imagine why anyone would want to live anywhere else, others think it is the worst place on earth. If you hate driving a car, it is definitely the WORST place to visit in the US. However, you could easily spend 14 days in the immediate area, going hiking in the morning, surfing in the afternoon, shopping in the evening, and then club hopping all night. San Diego is a more "genteel" version of Los Angeles, with many of the plusses and fewer of the minuses. San Francisco is a favorite city of many non-American tourists, particularly the younger crowd (you didn't mention your age). Great restaurants, ethnic and cultural diversity, and even history. If you like natural beauty, you could make a great two week trip by visiting the national parks of the West (Sequoia, Yosemite, Redwoods, Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, Olympic).August is not the best time to visit these, but there really isn't a bad time. Can't give honest advice on cities in Oregon and Washington, but many people love them just as well.

Arizona, southern Utah and Colorado are all spectacular. Do keep in mind that it is very hot in Arizona, easily 35-40c degrees, and yes, even at the Grand Canyon, although it will cool down a bit at night. It is a "nice, dry" heat and may not overwhelm you, but wearing cotton and drinking plenty of water should be in order. Monument Valley, located in northern Arizona and southern Utah, is a must. Get yourself some really good guidebooks to help with the overall planning and then zero in on all the particulars that look interesting.

Hi Dave. You are planning to visit a huge territory. California alone is something like 160,000 square miles, which makes it about 6 times the size of Ireland. So there is a lot to see. Oregon is close to 100,000 square miles, but a good bit of the eastern part is not very touristy, and a good bit of the south eastern part it is as dry as a bone. You can see big chunks of it from a high hill -- one sand pile looks about like another. Having toured that area off and on all of my life, I think you need to decide what it is you want to see. Keep picking our brains and you will come up with a good plan. As a general rule, I don't like cities. But San Francisco is special and many people find it interesting if not fascinating. My recommendation would be to start in SF and work your way north. The sights to see in California include the wine growing area of Napa Valley, Yosemite NP, Mt. Lassen NP, Lake Tahoe (if you can stand the ruination of a beautiful lake by commercial growth), Crater Lake in Oregon, the Redwood Groves along the northern coastal areas of California, and the Oregon Coast with its big beaches and rocky headlands. In Portland, there is a fantastic rose test garden where you will find bed after bed of world class roses. In Washington State there is Mt. St. Helens,which can be seen from a nice view point, and Mount Ranier, an awesome hopefully dormant volcano that soars 14,000 feet from its base. Seattle is an interesting city as well with some good attractions. A northward loop trip from San Fran could well take more than 14 days, but it is quite possible to take a good sample and hopefully some day come back for more. There is a lot to see and the size of it all argues against staying on one place. But, I think you need to prioritize and select your targets. In 10 to 14 days you could run yourself to death if you don't. I will be happy to communicate with you directly via email if you would like. I don't pretend to be an expert, but my wife and I have travelled over those areas in the past, some of it more than once. Motels are easy to find along most of the route. My favorite one is at town on the Oregon Coast called Yachats. The name of the inn is the Fireside. It sits on a rocky headland that juts into the Pacific. The waves crash against the rock with a hypnotic sound. By the way, my wife is at least 50% Irish; and that part that isn't is Welsh. Her father's name was John Canavan and he came from the northwest corner of the land. (And she did have jet black hair in her youth!)

I am a native Californian and have lived all over the state. I now live in San Diego and spend a lot of time in the San Francsico Bay area. I take exception to the previous poster that said San Diego is a more genteel version of Los Angeles. There is no comparison between the two other than weather though San Diego doesn't get the smog. San Diego is a beautiful city with a lot to do and see. I would personally start in either San Diego or San Francisco and work my way north/south along the coast. You can use San Francisco as a base for short trips to Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite etc. You are very easily going to burn up 10-14 days just in California. Save Oregon and Washington for another trip.