SusieQ78

Hi everyone
Since I was a small girl I've always dreamed of going to the states and FINALLY - this September it is coming true!
I have four weeks holidays and want to cram in as much as I can!! My partner and I are going alone and don't intend on using any travel agents.
My initial thoughts were to fly into San Francisco from Brisbane, Australia, with a 3 night stopover in Honolulu.
My partner then wants to fly into Seattle to go to the Boeing factory - not my thing but apparently something he's always wanted to do!
Then we would like to hire a car and drive to Yosemite, then drive Big Sur down to LA and San Diego. Other things we would like to do are Vegas, Grand Canyon, a day in Tijuana, and Disney land.

Any thoughts on a itinerary would be much appreciated and any suggestions of things to do and see along the way will help us tremendously!!

Many thanks

janisj

Flying from SF to Seattle and then driving back to CA makes NO sense - honest. Unless you want to spend 7 to 10 days of your holiday on the Oregon/Northern California coast - here is what I'd do:

Fly from OZ to Honolulu for 3 days. Then fly from HI to Seattle. Then after 2 or 3 of days in Seattle - fly to San Francisco. Spend about 3 or 4 days in SF w/o a car and then you'll have about 2.5 weeks for CA. We can help you work out a good itinerary.

Sept is the BEST time of year on the CA coast. What is you budget for accommodations?

But one thing - I'd 100% definitely skip Tijuana!!

Anonymous

That trip sounds wonderful. It's a relief to see a realistic itinerary here; I half expected you to toss in a few East Coast cities en route. As janis pointed out, a slight rearranging of the order of things would make more sense, working your way south, unless no flight is available.

tchoiniere

This is a very loaded question that will be difficult to answer.

You may want to break it down to say how many days you expect to stay in each City.

Honolulu - 3 nights
San Francisco - 4 nights
etc

Personally, I would skip the Seattle part so that you can concentrate on California. That being said, I really enjoyed Seattle as it is a great city with a lot to offer. I would rather skip LA and go to Seattle.

Definitely skip Tijuana. Not worth the time and hassle.

You should also post what your interests are - Sports, Nature, Museums, wineries, etc.

Your budget would also help for recommendations.

Sights I would recommend in San Francisco (search for posts by Stu Dudley for a lot of great advice)

1. Walk over the Golden Gate Bridge
2. Alcatraz tour
3. Fisherman's Wharf
4. Chinatown
5. Union Square area
6. Ferry Building

For San Diego
1. Zoo
2. Wild Animal Park. Could also do 1 or the other depending on time
3. Sea World
4. Drive down the coast from La Jolla
5. Cabrillo Monument
6. Coronado Island
7. Gaslamp District

FainaAgain

Is it possible to fly from Honolulu to Seattle, then to San Francisco? We have Southwest Airlines, rather inexpensive.

Hades

Hit up Portland,Oregon on your way down to California.

1. Great wine and beer from local brewers and wine makers.
2. Amazing food
3. Outdoor activities in and near the city.

There are many other reasons which I would love to tell you about if you have given Oregon a thought.

Personally I wouldn't bother with Tijuana. If you make it to Disney Land rent a wheel chair.

gail

Does Boeing give factory tours? I have never heard that they do.

It is unanimous - do not waste your time on Tijuana. Why? We were in San Diego (from Boston) a few years ago and our teenagers wanted to go, primarily so they could say the set foot in Mexico. What a depressing place, with absolutely nothing positive I can say. What one encounters within about a mile of the border are liquor stores, trinket shops, "pharmacies" selling over the counter every kind of medication you could imagine - and who knows how authentic it is, some seedy bars, a few creepy restaurants, and a lot of really impoverished people selling stuff on the street.

Things to do between Seattle and California. See Mt St Helens (site of incredible volcano many years ago and area around is a living laboratory for natural renewal of life in the area) and/or Mt Ranier.

Stop and see sequoias/redwoods in northern California.

I would see if you can fly into either the northern most city on your list - Seattle (or even Vancouver, British Columbia) and drive south or reverse and fly into Los Angeles and drive north - then fly out of the other city.

Check and see from what city you can do the cheapest round trip to Las Vegas. Fly into LV, drive to Grand Canyon (and possibly Bryce Canyon and/or Zion National Park) and then back to west coast.

This is fun - by the time we get done adding things your trip will be 4 months rather than 4 weeks.

Anonymous

Yes, Boeing has a big tour center.

http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/tours/

SusieQ78

WOW - so many responses so quickly - thankyou all so much!!

Roughly the days we would like to do are
Hawaii - 3 nights
SF - 4 nights
Seattle - 2 nights?
Yosemite - 2 nights (not sure of the driving distances here?)
Driving Big Sur to San Diego - possibly 3/4 nights?
A couple of nights in San Diego
3/4 nights Vegas/Grand Canyon
4 nights LA
A couple of days at Disneyland

We have been saving for awhile, so our budget is quite large!! If spending a bit of money doing internal flights means we get to see more than we are more than happy to do so.

Our interests are more natural, scenery, less museum type things. We also like to go places that are a little bit quirky, where less tourists venture!

cheryllj

I have to agree with everyone that Tijuana would be a complete waste of time. I don't know what you're expecting, but you are bound to be disappointed. It's pretty sad and depressing.

soccr

"Personally, I would skip the Seattle part so that you can concentrate on California."

'Scuse me but California by itself does not equal "the states," which is what SusieQ says she intended to see. Noted that even you, tchoiniere, couldn't justify skipping Seattle in favor of Los Angeles.

SusieQ, I'd never skip the Northwest, assuming you've ruled out trying to do a little of the country east of the Rockies. And Yosemite, Grand Canyon are must-sees; you have to know what you're doing in the Big Sur area, so read up on it here and elsewhere (e.g., Carmel vs. Monterey etc.); and FORGET Tijuana!

You'll help yourselves a lot by getting a good driving atlas of the US and actually plotting out what you have in mind.

Dayle

Hi SusieQ,

How fun to finally plan a trip like this! I agree you should not waste any time on Tijuana!

If you really like scenery and nature and place where tourists don't go, you might want to seriously rethink Disneyland, LA and Vegas.

Seriously, at least make time in the trip for Bryce and Zion national parks. Awesome! And - the CA northern coast and Sequoia Natl park giant redwoods.

Happy planning

Dayle

Oh, I did the Boeing tour last summer just because we happened to be staying at a hotel literally across the street when visiting friends.

It was amazing just for the incomprehensible size of the building. Seeing multiple 747s inside a building did help put it in some perspective.

Other than that, it was kind of blah. I certainly wouldn't go to Seattle just for that. I would go to Seattle as a distination city, BUT not on a first trip to US. Just my opinion.

tchoiniere

The only reason I said that is that it did not sound like she had a lot of interest in going to Seattle. I was coming back on to suggest flying from Hawaii into Seattle but obviously am too late. I agree that the NorthWest should be included and should not be missed. I read the OP as that she wanted to fly into Seattle and then drive to Yosemite which would make the logistics of the remainder of the trip a nightmare. Flying into Seattle and then to the Bay Area makes a lot more sense.

Orlando_Vic

SusieQ78-

Welcome to our country. Here are a few random thoughts:

Yes, by all means. Skip Tijuana. It is in no way typical of the interior of Mexico.

If you drive from Seattle to San Francisco,consider a brief stopover at Crater Lake in Oregon.

Make your Grand Canyon reservations NOW. I assume you want to go to the South Rim?

Agree with gail's suggestion about Bryce and Zion National Parks, particularly if your "interests are more natural, scenery".

SusieQ78

Okay - it seems unanimous - we will avoid Tijuana! I guess it was more just to say we had been to Mexico than actually achieving anything from it!!

Dayle - I understand that LA, Vegas and Disneyland are all really touristy, but I guess coming from Australia, these are the things that we hear about most often. I think I would regret at least not having seem them for a couple of days each!

gail & janisj - I had meant to say that we would fly into SF from Hawaii, then grab a return flight from SF t0 Seattle, I had never intended on putting us through that much driving!!

Thankyou for the tips on Bryce and Zion National Parks - are these accessible from Las Vegas - driving distance?

Orlando-Vic - when you say make your Grand Canyon reservations now - what do you think is the best way to see the Canyon? I was thinking a helicopter flight followed by a boat ride? I saw this on an Australian travel show not long ago!

I'm aware that there is definately more to the US than California, but I'm also trying to keep this trip realistic, not sitting in airports for four weeks and flying north to south and east to west!. I had originally wanted to fit in NY, Washington, and the south - but have come to my senses!!

Orlando_Vic

"I understand that LA, Vegas and Disneyland are all really touristy, but I guess coming from Australia, these are the things that we hear about most often. I think I would regret at least not having seem them for a couple of days each!"

I think Surfers Paradise probably embodies all of what Las vegas and Disneyland offer, but at least you can say you've been there,done that. Personally I'm glad I spent some time on your Gold Coast and would go back again.

Regarding Grand Canyon, it is probably on a par with Uluru. Consider taking a mule ride down to the bottom of the canyon.

enzian

Zion is right on the way to the Grand Canyon from Vegas if you go to the North Rim. Driving time is 2.5 to 3 hours from LV to Zion; Another 2.5 to 3 hours from there to the Grand Canyon North Rim. Or, you could drive around via Lees Ferry and Page (where you can take a half-day flatwater boat trip) to the South Rim.

If you saw on that travel show a helicopter ride down into the canyon, landing there, followed by a boat ride . . . that was at Grand Canyon West, outside the national park, and away from the really spectacular part of the park. The most beautiful part is INSIDE the national park, from either the North or South Rim. This is where the canyon is deepest, and the colors the richest.

You can take a helicopter flight from the South Rim---there is an airport just outside the park in Tusayan. Several companies operate helicopter flights from here. They do not, however, go down into the canyon. To do that, you either walk or ride a mule. Mule rides must be reserved well in advance.

For a real adventure, if you have the time, book a mule ride with an overnight stay at Phantom Ranch, at the very bottom of the canyon. It is like another world there; very remote and peaceful. Also very rustic.

It may be too late to book a room at Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim, but at the South Rim there are 6 lodges inside the park, some of them right on the rim. Book online at www.grandcanyonlodges.com. The North Rim Lodge is run by a different company; they have a website for information but I think you have to call for reservations:

http://www.grandcanyonlodgenorth.com/

For Zion, you can book the Zion Lodge inside the park at www.Xanterra.com. Or many people prefer to stay in the town of Springdale, right at the park entrance. One very nice place there is Desert Pearl:

http://www.desertpearl.com/

Bryce is only about 90 miles from Zion, so you can visit on a daytrip if you don't want to change lodging.

Save a few days to spend around Seattle if you include that on your trip. (I live here so I'm biased, but it is lovely in September). We took the Boeing factory tour last November and found it very interesting. Some people also visit the Museum of Flight, which is just south of Seattle. And if you care to rent a car for a day or two, Mt. Rainier, our local volcano, is beautiful in September. It is a short drive (2 hours or less) from downtown Seattle. You can get a look at what you can see there on this website:

http://www.mtrainierphotographs.com/

Other things you can do here: rent a kayak to paddle on Lake Union or Lake Washington; ride a ferry 30 minutes to an island for lunch or dinner, enjoying views of Seattle and Mt. Rainier from the water on the way, . . . that's probably enough to fill a few days here!

We'll be in Zion ourselves in late September. I'll listen up for an Aussie voice and say hello!

enzian

One more thought---you could save time by flying to Reno, Nevada from Seattle (instead of to San Francisco); pick up a car there and drive to Yosemite via the eastern entrance, and then across the state to San Francisco. This would save you crossing the state twice. If you did that, you could return the car in Las Vegas, after visiting the Grand Canyon. Since it is the same state, hopefully the drop charge won't be too bad.

SusieQ78

I've just been looking into flights from Oz and it's actually cheaper for me to fly into Seattle than SF anyway, and with a $100USD airfare one way to SF from there. Thanks for the advice on this!

So I think I'm settled on my first bit of the itinerary
3 nights Honolulu
2 nights Seattle
4 nights SF

Now comes the bit which I'm assuming will be most difficult - the drive from SF to Yosemite and then down the coast all the way to San Diego.

Can anyone advise what the drive is like from SF to Yosemite? Hours? Is it going to be painful? Is there an easy way to go back from Yosemite to the coast without going all the way back to SF and without missing too much on the way? I am currently sourcing a good road atlas but the book shops in my local town aren't overly helpful in that department!!

Cheers!