carrom

Hello US Friends,
this is the itinerary I would like to suggest to my family for a long overdue trip to the States. But before I do, I wanted to get some advice from the locals.
We are travelling from Italy, kids are in their 20's - one works in the wine industry and we all like eating, drinking, cities, walking, driving....
Here goes:
Rome -San Francisco 2/3 days in the city
3 days Driving round Napa Valley
Head South stopping one night Carmel/Monterey
One night St Louis Obispo
2 nights L.A:
2 nights San Diego
Fly to Los Cabos (San Lucas or San José?) for 4 nights
Fly to Houston (1 night to visit old friend)
Fly to New York - 3 nights
Day 21 fly back to Rome
My questions are...is it worth stopping in San Diego? We have never been there but we have been to L.A.
Is Los Cabos fun? Worth the trip in February? Presumably too cold to swim. Is it an interesting place to visit? We don't really go for resorts or mega hotels but we did want to go somewhere warm with a good vibe. (will also post this on Mexico forum)
Any suggestions for things to do/see/eat on this trip.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Michael

3 days Driving round Napa Valley

Really? or do you mean day three in the Napa Valley. At any rate, I would recommend the Sonoma valley instead. The town itself has a nice square and historical buildings, the Jack London State Park (check to see if it is still open) is definitely worth a visit. The Benziger winery is right next to Jack London State Park and has a nice tour of the vineyard and a tasting room.

doug_stallings

I think you can skip San Diego. I'd spend 2 nights in Santa Barbara instead of one in San Luis Obispo so you can tour the Central California wine regions (for your son). Add the remaining extra night somewhere else.

Here's my feeling about Los Cabos. You can't really swim regardless of when you go. The current is too strong generally. You can go out on the water, and it should be lovely in February, if sometimes a little cool, but actually going in the water isn't really worth it.

I might actually spend time in New Orleans instead of Los Cabos if I were choosing. It's a great city and well worth exploring for a few nights. Just be sure you aren't there during Mardi Gras (fun but too crowded and expensive). It's not as warm in New Orleans as in Los Cabos, but I think it's a fair trade-off. If you want to go to a really warm place, then go to Florida. Miami is fun and also worth exploring. But I'd probably skip Los Cabos for this trip if it were me.

sf7307

Doug's suggestion of New Orleans is great, especially since you're going to Houston anyway (going to Houston for one day on this trip seemed very "out of the way", but if you add New Orleans, it starts to make sense to include that part of the country).

tomfuller

Know at the time that you rent the car in San Francisco or SFO what the drop off fee will be if you leave the car in LA or SD.
You might want to turn the car in back at SF after seeing Carmel/Monterey and flying or take the train to Santa Barbara, LA or San Diego. One way car rentals can be very expensive with some companies.
If you decided you like riding the train, The Crescent is a great way to get from New Orleans to New York City.

janisj

I would also skip Cabos. Especially since you say you don't like resorts.

I'd normally add that time to San Diego and the CA central coast and maybe New Orleans as suggested.

But Feb might not be the best time for exploring the CA coast. The weather could be totally fine - or it could be very wet/wintry. Feb is the rainiest month in Northern California and along the central coast.

I much prefer the coast/Big Sur -- but time might be better spent in San Diego in Feb. (Napa/Sonoma could also be wet/rainy -- or not)

Aduchamp1

I am NY'er, so I am prejudiced. But unless you have been to NY or plan on returning, 3 days in New York is not enough time to have lunch. You can decide where else to subtract starting with Los Cabos.

nytraveler

For New York in Feb you need to be ready for real winter weather. You may be lucky and get temps in the 40s - or you may get temps in the 20s (and colder and night) with snow. Usually not much - a couple of inches - but we do get a real blizzard every couple of years.

Do NOT birng silk ski underwear - as it is generally hot indoors and you will die of the heat. But do bring layers including a warm winter coat, hat, scarf, gloves and water proof non-skid boots of some kind.

carrom

Thank-you, I'll take these one at a time!
Michael, I did mean 3 days. I take it that's too long, right? I thought we would do Napa and Sonoma and I reckoned we needed the time but maybe I can knock a day off and use it somewhere else which is always good.

New Orleans...nice idea but we've already been a few times for the film festival so would like to go somewhere new. Los Cabos seemed to be the closest warm place en route.
I will also look into Santa barbara. I was under the impression that the wineries of San luis Obispo were very special.

The only reason we're going to Houston is that there are no direct flights from Cabo to NY and Houston is in the right direction and cheap. Plus an old school friend lives there!

Thanks for the tip about the car Tomfuller. I'll check it out.

Thanks all, I'll go and do some more homework based on your suggestions!

carrom

New Yorkers, don't worry! NY is one of our all time favourite cities and we've been loads of times though not recently with the kids which is why we thought we should at least make a stopover. 3 nights is better than nothing!

jamie99

You might want to consider staying in Cambria instead of San Luis Obispo. There are some very nice wineries in the Paso Robles area just inland from Cambria. Cambria is also closer to San Simeon if you had any interest in Hearst Castle.

Have not been to Los Cabos in a long time but it is a bit pricey. Consider a short trip instead to Puerto Vallarta, just got back from a week there, tons of great restaurants and that time of year you will see whales as well. Alaska flies nonstop from LAX to there. Flight time is 2.5 hours to PV from LA.

Don't know if they provide rental coverage to Italians but have seen good reviews on another forum from UK travelers for a company called carhire3000.com. They usually get the one way fee waived and provide the insurance you need.

carrom

Thanks for the car hire web site, Jamie. It seems really cheap!

carrom

And for Hearst Castle - have just been looking at the web site. Amazing! Will definitely make a stop there. Thanks

janisj

"Thanks for the tip about the car Tomfuller. I'll check it out."

I would not faff about w/ renting one car, dropping it, flying or taking the train, collecting another car, yadda yadda etc.

You would end up back tracking, missing the most gorgeous part of the coast, spending a lot on train or airfares, and wasting time.

Even IF the one way drop fee doubled the cost of the car (which it probably won't) it is worth it for the convenience and what you'd see that is not possible from the train or 25,000 feet up.

You have to understand, our tom suggests everyone do this car two (or six) step on the CA coast.

Some rental car fee must have permanently scarred him

Michael

Sonoma or Napa can be visited in a day as an excursion from San Francisco. Make it two days if you want, although I would prefer another day's outing to Mt. Tam and Point Reyes.

carrom

Have cut the wine valleys to 2 days and added Santa Barbara.
Could also reduce San Diego to one night.
Still stuck on Los Cabos to go or not to go. Other forums seem quite enthusiastic and I especially liked the look of San José but this forum is putting me off.
My other alternative (completely different) was heading to Grand Canyon where we've never been but I don't really think it's the right weather.....do you?
We will definitely stick to one car!

Smart3

Rome to San Francisco - Day 1
Day 2 & 3 - San Francisco
Day 4 - day trip from San Francisco to Sonoma (not Napa)
Day 5&6 - Santa Barbara
Day 7-9 - Los Angeles
Day 10-12 - San Diego
skip Cabo
Day 13-14 - Houston
Day 15-20 - New York
Day 21 fly back to Rome

___________

Grand Canyon is a bit overrated.

Personally I adore Cabo san Lucas, but I would never advise someone to go there unless on a Mexico trip. (Cabo San Lucas, Veracruz and Mexico City)

Good luck making your decisions.

--- California Native ---

Smart3

Oh it seems you've already been to NY multiple times.

In that case, remove 3 of the NY days and instead go to another East-Coast state. Possibly Philadelphia in Pennsylvania?

doug_stallings

If you want to relax, you could go to Canyon Ranch in Arizona. It won't be that warm, but it would be a relaxing alternative; it's a beautiful spa getaway and quite different from a typical beach resort.. Go to Los Cabos if you want to do 1) whale-watching 2) golf 3) relaxing in a resort. If not those three things, then skip it. Sorry I'm not more enthusiastic ... but it's not exactly on the way anywhere ... you are taking a 1,000-mile detour each way.

MichelleY

I replied on your thread on the Mexico forum. With only 4 days, I would skip Cabo and add the days to the central coast of California. I think with your 20 year olds, San Luis Obispo/ Pismo/Cambria would have plenty to do, plus the SLO and Paso Robles are great wine areas. You could also take a
day from Napa/Somoma and add it to Monterey/Carmel.

Good luck with your planning.