Paragkash

I am Travelling with my wife to USA for the 1st time. Reaching at San Francisco Airport at 4 pm on 11th June 2013 after a long 23 hours of flight. I have 7 1/2 Days before I fly to Vancouver for the rest of my trip of Canadian Rockies and Banff national park. Need An Itinerary Help.

Day 1- Check in at San francisco Hotel by 6 pm- San Francisco by night
(On check out, Keep the main luggage in the hotel and travel only with 1 Haversack for 7 days)
Day 2- Take an afternoon flight to Las Vegas ( 2n)
Las Vegas by evening and night seeing some shows

Day 3- Take a Day trip bus tour to Grand Canyon South (Morn to night 9.30)

Day 4- Morning flight to San Diego- San Diego sightseeing

Day 5- 1st Half- Tour of Tijuana, Mexico second half transfer to LA by bus and check in into a hotel

Day 6- LA sightseeing--- Overnight Bus to San Francisco

Day 7- San Francisco tour

Day 8 - A Day tour out of San Francisco- ( Which one? Wine testing/ Redwood forest/ ??)

Day 9- Morning flight to Vancouver

San Francisco- Which is the area in which I should stay in for easy sight-seeing. Any recommendation of Hotel below 120 USD ( staying near the airport could be practical but boring)

San Diego and LA- Which is the area in which I should stay in for easy sight-seeing. Any recommendation of Hotel below 120 USD

Please help

jamie99

I'd rent a car and drop Vegas and the Canyon this trip, taking the bus will take you via the boring I5 inland, missing the beautiful coastal drive with 2-3 nights to stop.
Skip Tijuana, although they are trying to clean up their act, it is still a gritty border city, with lots of kids begging you for money.

JulesK73

Stay away from Tijuana. It is not representative of the resort-style Mexico that Americans go to vacation. Tijuana is full of kids begging for money & can be quite dangerous, especially at night.

sf7307

I have never in all my years of being on Fodors seen such a rushed itinerary (and I am far from being a "slow traveler"). You have no to time in any of the places you're planning to go. 7-1/2 days and you expect to see San Francisco, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, San Diego and Los Angeles, not to mention Tijuana? I would ditch at least two more places, in addition to skipping God-forsaken Tijuana.

Tomsd

Agree that now - not only is Tijuana possibly dangerous (you never know when some kind of narco fight can break out) - but there's really not that much to see there. If you want to go a little further south - to say Rosarito - or Puerto Nuevo - you see the pretty coastline and you could have a lobster lunch/dinner - but really - that takes longer and it's a lot of work when there is more to see/do here in San Diego.

You could visit Old Town - and maybe have a Mexican dinner at our favorite place - Casa Guadalajara, where they have a Mariachi band: http://www.casaguadalajara.com/

For future reference - consider staying somewhere like the Los Rocas resort if you want to get a little flavor of a Baja/Mexican get away. http://www.lasrocas.com/

And yes, you are covering a lot of ground - buy I like to do that sometimes - in what I call a "survey" type trip - to then determine where to return and spend more time.

Not sure of the prospects for a good hotel at the $120 or less rate - but you might try the Priceline type web sites and see what you can "score".

As far as an overnight bus trip from LA to SF - there are a number of fairly reasonable flights you might check out. Much easier.

Tomsd

BTW - suggest you each take a carry-on luggage with you.

Tomsd

Oops. Here in SD you can find some hotels in the $120 range. You might try finding something by Old Town - as it's close to the airport (they probably also have shuttles) - and you can then ride the trolley around SD. http://gothere.com/sandiego/oldtown/sleep.htm

WhereAreWe

I agree that you are trying to do far too much. I also think you'd be better off spending your first couple days in San Francisco, instead of one night and then flying off to Las Vegas. Flying 23 hours then jetting of Vegas for a night, then taking a day long bus trip to the Grand Canyon and catching a flight the next morning for San Diego? Honestly, that sounds awful.

I understand the thought that you should skip this or that and come back later...but since you're coming from India and spending almost a month over here, I doubt you'll be coming back anytime soon. So don't skip Vegas and the Grand Canyon, but choose either Los Angeles or San Diego, not both. And forget about Tijuana completely.

The late shows in Las Vegas start around 9:30pm so it's a stretch to try to see one the night you come back from the Grand Canyon. That leaves you just one afternoon/night to see or do anything in Vegas.

Stay in San Francisco for 3 nights. Fly to Vegas on the morning of day 4. Spend that day exploring Las Vegas. Day 5 go to Grand Canyon. Day 6 in the morning, fly to Los Angeles for 2 nights, then take the bus or a flight to San Francisco the evening of day 8.

5alive

If you would only take your luggage with you, this would solve some wasted time.

Take two decent carry-on suitcases and a backpack per person. Plan on a day to slow down and do laundry here and there.

Do WhereAreWe's schedule, but spend 3 nights in Los Angeles and then fly from there to Vancouver BC.

Paragkash

Thanks to all. This is why I like Fodorites.. 1st hand info and genuine advice. I released that I had planned my itinerary based on the Thomas cook/ Globus kind of guided tour and not leaving any time to absorb things. Skipping Tijuana is the 1st thing I have done. I know that even this one is pretty rushed up. But as suggested by "WhereAreWe" and Tomsd I would rather do this as an orientation tour and hope to come back to make the full use of my 10 years multiple entry tourist visa
We shall be travelling with only one shoulder bag each with camera and minimum things with us.

So now that leaves me with..

3 Days- San Francisco and around (which tour for the surrounding area)
2 days- Las Vegas and Grand Canyon (I have heard that Bryce Canyon is even better but is far)

2 Days- LA or San Diego- which one to choose

I am trying to compensate this hurricane tour by staying 7 nights at Banff and not do too much of running around.

Please send more suggestions... Thanks in advance

zootsi

As the others have said, your plan is very very busy. You will be spending much of your time travelling between points. Stay in San Francico for at least a few nights when you arrive. Then rent a car or take a tour up to wine country, some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere. The Grand Canyon is amazing, and Vegas is good for a day or two. You might want to skip Tijuana and LA, and relax in San Diego.

bamafam

I'm going to be the contrarian and suggest that you stick to the Grand Canyon and California coast. I know how tempting it is to try to squeeze so many places in, especially since you are coming from halfway around the world and may not be back any time soon. But I think you will compromise the enjoyment of your trip by hopping between so many states.

I don't like Las Vegas and think you could give it a miss. That's just me though. I also felt a little let down by the Grand Canyon - it is amazing and spectacular but the crowds, fees, etc. really took away from the experience.

San Francisco, San Diego and LA are all worth at least two days just by themselves.

Paragkash

I understand what you all are trying to advice. Most of the times it is that people want to be seen in the foreground of all those pictures that are published in the tour company's brochure. More like "been there, done that"
if i ask myself, I would love to see the country side or national parks rather than Vegas or Universal studios like theme parks. I have too little time to do all that.
Will try and stick to the coastal scenic route.
Would surely do the vineyard tour.

Any more suggestions on things to see around and between SF and LA?

WhereAreWe

Well, if you want to see the countryside and national parks, then for sure do a vineyard tour, go to Yosemite, drive the coast and skip San Diego and Tijuana.

It might be best to make a loop of sorts - start in San Francisco, take a couple days to drive down to LA, then head inland and stop at Sequoia/King's Canyon and Yosemite before heading back to San Francisco. Throw in a day at the vineyards and you have a full itinerary with that loop.

Paragkash

WhereAreWe, Thanks for the suggestion..
Considering all the suggestions, the revised itinerary

11 June- Land at SFO. Check in. Stroll at Fisherman's cove etc
12 th June- San Francisco Walking tour in the 1st half
Flight to Las Vegas by 3 pm./ Las Vegas by night
(To Big an attraction to miss)
13th June- Coach tour to Grand Canyon- South Rim. Back to Las Vegas by 8 pm- Overnight bus to LA

14th June- LA City tour

15th June- Hire a Car for a 3 day Drive on Highway 1 to San Francisco- Visiting Santa Barabara, Solvang, Herst Castle- Overnight Halt en route ( Suggestions Plz)

16th June- Big Sur- to Monterey- Overnight Halt.

17th June- Monterey to SFO - I may return the car at San Jose rather than SFO- SFO city tour and overnight

18th June- SFO relaxed day

19th June- Morning flight to Vancouver

1 night in LA after a whirlwind tour of LV etc is a bit tight.
But I am not keen on seeing big cities.

Please comment...

tenthumbs

Your current itinerary sounds much less harried than your original! However, on June 12, if your LV flight time is at 3, don't forget to factor in transportation time to SFO and time to get thru security. If you haven't already booked that flight, you might consider making it a bit later in the day to give you ample time to do one of the walking tours in the morning.

jamie99

Much better itinerary, and if you want to see some vineyards en route without going to pricey Napan, there are very good vineyards in both Santa Ynez Valley north of Santa Barbara, and also Paso Robles just inland from Cambria (near Hearst Castle).

Paragkash

Thanks for advice tenthumbs..Thanks to all the advice from fodorites..(which I have been following for a few years now).. Stuck between " wanna see all, do all" and absorbing the place.. Spoke to and read fellow fodorite Indiancouple"s trip report on the west cost. Downloaded it and read it again and its 2 am in the watch. This planning stage is so damn interesting. Sometime I wonder if I love this more than the trip itself.
Would love to get a glimpse of Yosemite and Napa Valley. Thanks to Jamie99"s suggestion. my wine tasting will be done at Paso Robies..Am skipping Yosemite as I will be going to Canadian rockies and staying at Banff for 7 days. I hope to get similar scenery there.
Is Cambria the right place for a 1st night halt from LA.
Can I do this in a day and stay directly near Big Sur, Carmel or Monterey?

easytraveler

7 days in Banff and 7 days for all of California plus Las Vegas plus the Grand Canyon? Sounds really lopsided to me, even though Banff is gorgeous.

I would suggest reconsidering a better distribution of your days.

Also, yes, the California coast is beautiful, but the one-way drop-off fees for cars can be huge. Also I would hesitate to recommend that someone who is used to driving on the left-hand side of the road tour the curvy roads along the coast in a rental car. It's how comfortable you will be driving on "the wrong side" alongside the ocean.

Using Priceline to get cheaper rates for hotels would be great. If you have not used Priceline before, do come back and ask for tips.

Paragkash

easytraveler, You are right in your thinking. I have a timeshare membership and try to use it once a year. I get a week rental and it cannot be split. Hence Banff for 7 nights. I will be driving down with friends from Vancouver, and will do day trips from Banff, It is also my 24th Wedding Anniversary and beginning of the 25th year that we wish to celebrate. I generally have a dual paced tour where I do one part as a little fast paced with more of sightseeing and then slow down at some tranquil place. I will fly to Toronto on Canada Day, onto Niagara, then to Washington for 4th July and then for 7 days to NY to slow down with friends and relatives.
It was difficult to allot time and I made a mistake of booking the tickets after studying a Thomas Cook itinerary.

I have driven on the right side of the road in Turkey, Greece. I hope I will catch up again. Highway 1 drive is probably everyone's dream.
I am not getting a rate for drop off at a different location. But if it is very steep, I may consider doing it from SF as a loop and skip Santa Barbara and Solvang.