Vammay

We are married retired Kiwi's ( from New Zealand ) arriving 30 June into San Francisco & need to be in Washington DC by 12 July, looking for suggestions to fill in 12 days on our arrival. Being retired we don't have loads of cash, so need to keep costs down.

Not really keen to drive the whole distance ourselves, so up for driving hire car part of the way, & then travelling by bus or plane to DC.

We have had couple of holidays in the past & travelled from Alaska down to San Francisco, been to Reno, Nevada & New Orleans & New York City. Now keen to see places not visited before.

We are spending 3 weeks in DC & 2 months in San Francisco area so would like to spend the remaining 12 days seeing other points of interest & scenic locations without driving long distances.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Vammay

Tomsd

I would suggest you drive down the Coast of California - staying in Carmel/Monterrey or Big Sur (3 to 4 hours from SF) for a night or two - and also tour Hearst Castle.

You might even visit some wineries along the way (Paso Robles, Cambria, Solvang/Santa Ynez Valley) - and finish up in LA - another 4 to 5 hours from Hearst Castle/San Simeon.

Then from LA - fly to DC - or drive to Las Vegas (4 hours) to see it for a day/two - and fly to DC from there.

Tomsd

And for some mini-trips - you could also drive up to beautiful Lake Tahoe for a couple of days - or to Yosemite, both about 4 hours from SF unless it's on a Friday afternoon going - or returning on a Sunday.

Another option is to drive to the Utah border from Las Vegas (2 hours or so) - and then you are close to the Canyons east of there (Bryce/Zion) - or take a day tour from Vegas to see the Grand Canyon (you could also drive it - 5 hours) - or take a helicopter tour from Vegas.

Utah and Colorado - as well as other western states are beautiful to drive - but they are a distance - even by Aussie standards.

Vammay

Tomsd, Thanks for the suggestions my husband thinks it will be too hot for us to really enjoy.

Where could we go to escape the heat of Las Vegas? previosly spent a month in Reno, NV in August & it was HOT!!! Loved Lake Tahoe it is so beautiful, went to a couple of outdoor concerts on the Lake just magic backdrop at Sunset.

sf7307

The only place in the US you can be fairly certain it won't be hot in July is San Francisco.

NorCal_Jo

If I understand correctly, you will arrive in SF and have 12 days before you have to be in DC where you will stay for 3 weeks and then return to SF area for 2 months? If so, seems you will have lots of time to do CA/regional short road trips (Yosemite, wine country, coastal highway, Tahoe, etc etc) once you get back to SF?

Also sounds like you haven't yet seen anything in the middle of America AND you don't want the high heat of places further south like Vegas so to me, it seems pretty clear cut - go to one or more of our beautiful national parks such as Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Rocky Mountain National Park, etc! The weather will be nice but not crazy hot and the Rocky mountains are gorgeoous! For example, you can drive from SF to Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 2 days 1 night and then tour around Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone for a week or so and then drive to an airline hub such as Salt Lake City and catch a flight to DC. I say Salt Lake City just because it is likely you can get a direct flight to DC for a reasonable cost - the local airports in Jackson WY, Billings, MT, Bozeman, MT etc might be more convenient options depending on where you go but they also typically are more expensive (as there won't be direct flights) so check your options....

nytraveler

Just want to be sure how this trip fits with your tourist visa. Not sure what you are allowed - but if you have 3 weeks in DC (and it will likely be very hot and humid that time of year)and 2 months in CA and 12 days in between that will be more than 3 months total.

If you are looking for cooler weather you might consider:

the pacific northwest
maine
northern michigan

for the best chance of some cooler weather