We've mostly given up on hotel rooms and use condo rental instead. Since you will only be a few nights in each place, it might not work for you, but you should look into it, especially in the big cities. You get a whole apartment for usually less than a hotel and you kind of get that "living there" sense rather than just visiting.

Check out this site for all the places you are staying.

http://www.vrbo.com

It is very easy to send e-mails out as it saves your info for each inquiry.

In Vegas, you will have to stay in one of the theme hotels to get the whole experience. I prefer Paris for it's location and ambiance. They are all cool and you will end up walking through all of them so it doesn't matter too much where you stay.

SusieQ78:

The drive from SF to Yosemite is not bad at all - as long as you leave before or after the morning commute time. So either very early a.m. or sleep in and relax and leave after 9:30 or 10:00 a.m.

Most of the drive is just across the central valley and fairly boring. The last 1/3 is in the foothills and beginning of the mountains. Count on about 4 hours give or take. But not a difficult drive at all.

For back to the coast - no, you do not have to return to SF. There are various routes you could take depending where on the coast you want to get to. If you click on California - you will find many threads about SF/Yosemite/Coast/Big Sur itineraries.

Add my name to the

Drop Tijuana
Add Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.

At the 2 parks definitely do at least some easy hikes to really get into the scenery.

To follow up on what janisj has just stated, here is one route from San Francisco to Yosemite: http://tinyurl.com/26bfy8

Hi again SusieQ,

I was just poking a little fun at you on the Disneyland and Vegas thing. Of course, if it's your first visit to the States, you should see these two!

And, Seattle is a beautiful city with lots to offer. I especially enjoyed the Experience Music Project, but then I'm a huge Hendrix fan and I spent most of my time in that section.

I think if it were my first visit to the US (just personal interest), I would choose these for the major cities part (other than National Parks):

San Francisco
New York
San Diego
DC
Boston

Driving to Bryce and Zion from vegas is easy, as enzian said.

I actually posted the bit below in the wrong thread. The other poster had a party of 4, so I'm going to edit this to take into account that there are two of you. I still think it makes sense although the economics are slightly different.

Old/edited post -

I'm going to go back to your first post and make some recommendations that will part company a little with some other posters, but at this stage talk is cheap, right?

So you're flying into Seattle. Good. It's a wonderful city and in September you'll have plenty of low-key things to do to occupy your time. Hopefully you'll have recovered (at least partly) from any jetlag while you're in Hawaii.

The Boeing tour and FoF center (our spelling) - www.futureofflight.org) makes for an interesting morning and can be combined easily with a day tour of Whidbey Island and some scenic highlights of the Puget Sound region, so indulge your partner and then spend the rest of the day out looking at some nice scenery, good food and shopping, with ferry boat rides and plenty of late summer/early autumn farm stands etc. If you come in the first weekend of September, it will be during the wonderful Bumbershoot arts festival at Seattle Center - www.bumbershoot.org - if you or your partner have a craving for very current music or art offerings. Also on the airplane theme, don't miss the Museum of Flight - www.museumofflight.org - if your partner is into into things like jet simulators, a walk-through of a Concorde and a former US Air Force One, etc.

Here's where I depart from some others. When it comes time to leave Seattle, I'd recommend driving. Head down the Oregon coast (like the Great Ocean Road outside Melbourne but three times as long) until you hit the California state line, at which point you encounter the various state parks and federal Redwood National Park.

I have taken a number of overseas visitors through the Redwoods, and have to tell you that 100% of them said it was one of the most amazing things they've ever seen. We tend to take them for granted in the US, and of course you have big trees in Oz, but really there's nothing like it in the rest of the world.

The coast road then goes over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco (by far the best and most dramatic way to enter the city.)

After SF, you can head over to Yosemite OR you could explore the Gold Rush country (Calif. highway 49) and go up to Lake Tahoe, then loop through Yosemite using Tioga Pass. You can then drive down to southern California and do all required Disney or other tourist things before flying out.

I recommend the car for a couple of reasons. First, it gives you complete flexibility. Second, even with the drop charge for a one way rental in California, with two of you traveling the total transportation cost will be competitive with flying plus car hire in two or more locations. You really need a car in California (not so much in SF city itself but certainly if you want to explore the region - wine country etc.) and pretty much everywhere in southern California as well as the national parks etc.

Also, having a car will allow you to find accommodations in other areas except city centers, thereby also saving money if you're so inclined.

Four weeks is enough time to do this trip, and in September you'll have good weather most everywhere.

Gardyloo

Thanks so much for your recommendations - I have a lot of research to do - I want to see it all!! I wish more than anything that we could do a working holiday like we did a few years ago to the UK as it really gives you a chance to see a country properly. Anyway, I digress...

Thanks for the ideas in Seattle, as some people here have been a little negative about it when we mention it to friends here. My partner is so excited about the boeing stuff - he will be truly thankful for the museum info also! He is a transport buff, so planes and trains are his thing. I am really excited to go to Seattle as well.

Can anyone recommend a time frame for LA? I am hoping to see as much as possible in as little time as possible! I guess we would like to do Universal studios and see the main tourist things but I'm hoping a couple of days will suffice? My sister visited a couple of years ago and had four days but said she needed more, although she couldn't actually tell me what exactly it was that she filled her days with!!

Thanks again!

You should really check out www.thetripgeek.com. It is a US based travel planning and research service, and it can give you tons of ideas and information, especially with the west coast, as it it seems that is your focus. I would highly recommend going this route if you want this to truly be a dream trip! Good luck.

PS--The Trip Geek is not a Travel Agency!! I know you don't want that.

A research suggestion. Break this post into several, now that you have an idea which cities you want to see. For example "Three days in San Francisco - what to see". You will have quite a few threads to follow, but will get more info.

When you look at hotels, tripadvisor.com gives lots of reviews on each and prices. Just remember that people with problems tend to post more often than people with a regular, satisfactory stay.

haydensmama: When you registered this morning I'm sure you read the rules - yeah, right . . .

Just to refresh your memory - advertising is not allowed on fodors.

I've used this post elsewhere but to give you some ides of the things to do in Los Angeles I am repeating it here. I would suggest 3 to 4 days if you really want to see the city and not just drive through, or stop-over, and there really is enough to do to fill a week or more; plus two days at Disneyland with an overnight at one of the park hotels - we like Grand Californian. Universal Studios can be a full day or combined with Hollywood or a trip to Griffith Park Observatory. Not on my LA list but something your partner (the transportation buff) might enjoy - Peterson Automotive museum.

Los Angeles: with four days I would definitely carve up the area into smaller sections that you can really explore such as *the Beaches (Manhattan Beach, Hermosa, Venice, Santa Monica, Malibu, surf lessons, kayaking); Long Beach (Aquarium of the Pacific, Queen Mary, deep sea fishing, full day trip to Catalina Island); Downtown LA (Olvera Street, Chinatown, Disney concert Hall, architecture tour, Union Station); Dodger game; Beverly Hills & Westside (Rodeo Drive, Robertson, The Ivy, UCLA, Getty Museum, lots of shopping and fine dining); Hollywood (Hollywood & Highland, old movie theaters - see a movie in Hollywood, walk of fame, Farmer's Market, La Brea tarpits and LACMA); Pasadena (Huntington Gardens, Norton Simon, Old Town, Gamble house), go hiking in Angeles Forest or climb Mount Hollywood, Griffith Park Observatory

Four weeks to tour from Seattle to San Diego, including Yosemite and Vegas sounds wonderful. I second the recommendation to start in Seattle (wonderful city but I grew up there so some bias). You should decide early whether you are going to drive to SF or Fly as that makes a big difference from a timing and sights perspective. Next you should come up with a basic itinerary so you know when you hit the National Parks (Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion etc) as hotels can book up (though September is better than the summer months of June, July, August). September is my favorite time to travel the west coast. I would do what others have suggested and begin to break up your itinerary.
Have a terrific trip.

SusieQ78: just piping in to say if you take gardyloo's advice and head out of SF going directly east to Lake Tahoe (gorgeous)Yosemite, etc. you will go through my city of Sacramento. We have an excellent train museum, since you say your partner loves transportation.

The drive up to Tahoe is very scenic and you will cross the Sierra Nevada Mtn range. You can meander south through the gold country on your way to Yosemite, lots to see, pretty drive, wine stuff, caves and gold panning. It's mostly two lanes of road, so a slower pace.

As a "heads-up" when you are looking at maps, there is a major north/south interstate freeway called "I-5" that most people use to get around. In Washington and Oregon you'll get decent scenery, but in Calif. it cuts through all the boring, flat, valley towns. The speed limit is high, so you can make some time, but the view is pretty bleak most of the time.

Another vote to skip Tiajuana. I would take it a step farther and spend as little time in Los Angeles as possible. From Vegas you could fly to the airport nearest Disneyland (Orange County/John Wayne Airport) hit that and get out. The traffic is atrocious (some say like Rome)and you could eat up a lot of time driving around this sprawling, massive city. I only say this because I'm a Northern CA girl at heart and you mention you want to see scenery.

Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara, Highway 1 down the Calif coast are beautiful. I am also a Hearst Castle fan, so that would be a part of that leg.

Do not skip opportunity to see big trees! Amazing

Another poster mentioned getting Grand Canyon booked early, I think Yosemite is in that category as well. Very popular, but gorgeous.

Good luck and have a great trip!

HI

This is a input from a "fellow non American" although not Aussie..

Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara, Highway 1 down the Calif coast are beautiful. I am also a Hearst Castle fan, so that would be a part of that leg.

I Second this :Awesome..We just fell in love with especially Santa Barbara .

For LA i would suggest a studio tour Warner Bros should be the best..But not an expert.

Definately go to Universal Studios ,it's fun, interesting and will easily fill a whole day with fun.

Disney on the other hand was not "our cup of tea" .Smaller than we thought and very geared towards small children.maybe a bit better now after they opened the new "section".

If you are action/rollercoaster freaks six flags Magic mountains are simply the most insane rides you will see anywhere...and lots of them..14 if i am not wrong.

Have a GREAT trip..
I am sure you will

some of my post dissapeared.

i support your decision in seing all the touristy stuff..Its just a must. Especially Las Vegas ..Very special either you love it or hate it but no matter what its a must see..
We stayed at the venetian a few times ..Maybe not the very best hotel in Vegas but it is very nice and we feel its the most complete Vegas package ..its very hard to describe but very fun.

Don't know the pricelevel in Australia ,but for Europeans American outlets offers very affordable bargians..We spent almost 3 days going over outlet bargians..in varius outlets.