courtneyrobert

Hi Guys,

My partner and I are looking at planing a trip to the West Coast in Aug/Sept of 2014. We are looking at spending 3ish weeks. Wanting to go to Los Angeles, Vegas, San Francisco and San Diego. Obviously we want to do the "usual tourist things" however we are also wanting to explore a bit and go to places and see things that aren't as commonly known about! Any help and ideas would be great - neither of us have been to America before!

Thanks in advance!

Courtney & Robert

StuDudley

Welcome to Fodors (there are "Gals" here too).

Here are my recommendations for things to do & see in the San Francisco Bay Area.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

Stu Dudley

tomfuller

Plan on flying to Las Vegas rather than driving. Rent a car to see a lot of places outside the city of Las Vegas such as Hoover dam, Valley of Fire, Death Valley NP, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP and one side of the Grand Canyon NP.

dulciusexasperis

Well beyond the 'usual tourist things' (whatever they are) you would need to provide some info on what your interests are specifically if you want additional suggestions.

For example, I might suggest visiting the Anza Borrego Desert State Park but that would only be a good suggestion if you were into outdoor things like, hiking, seeing bighorn sheep, bird, etc. If you're a city person with no outdoor interests I'd be wasting my time suggesting it. I don't like wasting my time, do you?

jamie99

Should be a good time of year if you can avoid Labor Day (first weekend of September). September is a great time to visit all over the state and kids are back in school and lodging rates may be down a bit.
I agree with providing your interests would be helpful.

boom_boom

Depending on time and interests, at that time of year think about driving from San Francisco, to LAke Tahoe and then down US 395 to the Bodie Ghost town (actually several miles off 395, but worth the detour) then to Mono Lake and into Yosemite via Tioga Pass. Then you can decide to go north or south on the historic Golden Chain highway, SR 49 to either Placerville and a return to SF or south via 49/41 to Fresno and on to the LA area. You also do the reverse if starting in LA.

janisj

I second boom_boom's suggestion . . . with one minor problem. Rental car contracts almost always have clauses forbidding off road or dirt road driving. To get to Bodie - the last 3 or 4 miles is unpaved and it would void your rental insurance if anything should happen.

(I really LOVE Bodie - but am super cautious re abiding by contract terms)

courtneyrobert

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am under the impression that we are unable to hire a car as we are both under 25 and if we can then it will be very expensive.

We are very open to any suggestions, city people who also love the outdoors so nothing will be knocked back!

Also, any suggestions as to how many nights would be good to spend in each place would help =P

Thanks again!

emalloy

I'm a totally drive it yourself person, but if you can't do that there are escorted tours that are not much more than car rental and hotels. If you google something like cheap tours of the US west you will find several sites.

emalloy

hit submit too soon, this is one of themhttp://www.tours4fun.com/west-coast-tour-packages/
http://www.tours4fun.com/west-coast-tour-packages/

StuDudley

You can easily visit San Francisco without a car - in fact, that's what most visitors do. From San Francisco there are guided day-trips to the wine country, Muir Woods, and you can bike over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito & ferry back.

I grew up in the LA area, and I would never try to visit LA without a car, unless you wanted to just stay in one place - like Laguna Beach.

Stu Dudley

janisj

OK -- you can manage SF, Vegas and San Diego easily w/o a car.

LA is more problematic, but not impossible. There is some public transport and it is really important that you book a hotel convenient to one of the subway lines.

For excursions like to Napa/Sonoma, or Lake Tahoe or Yosemite -- there are bus tours from SF to each of those.

jamie99

You can rent a car but will pay a surcharge of $10-25 per day.

Tomsd

You can easily fly from SD/LA/Vegas/SF - and as noted - get around without a car - even in LA but it's a little harder there.

What do you want to see most?

rjasnumberonefan

You did mention a car rental might be expensive, so I am assuming you'd rather spend more money sightseeing than traveling.
Flying into Vegas would probably be cheaper than SF. You could use a bus service like Bolt or Megabus to get you a cheaper roundtrip to Los Angeles or use Amtrak for $55.
From LA you could book a roundtrip to San Fran through Amtrak for about $61 and a roundtrip to San Diego for $37. Totals a little over $150 each.

Option two would be the same roundtrip from LV to LA, but purchase a $159 California Rail Pass from Amtrak and go wherever you want from LA. Many options and you get 7 days of travel during 21 days.

Las Vegas-Los Angeles
Los Angeles-San Francisco
San Francisco-Los Angeles
Los Angeles-San Diego
San Diego-Los Angeles
Los Angeles-Las Vegas

rjasnumberonefan

Oops. The cities above were suppose to be above the last paragraph. It is option one.

kawh

bir sur is always at the top of my list... and if you can possibly go to esalen, i rate that as one of my top 10 places in the world. you could not schedule a visit ahead of time unless you take a workshop... but maybe you could find a weekend workshop to take. (many offer professional credits).otherwise, they will only let you stay there if there is room, which is calculated only last minute.

the grounds, the farm, the food, the thermal water tubs on the cliffs of the ocean... it's a magical place.

also, if you go north of san francisco, go to 'the river' area... in sonoma county... (guerneville and such) ... from there you can go to the redwoods, do wine tasting, hop over to bodega bay for some hikes... so much variety.