West Coast in 2 Weeks!!
 

Hi

I have NOT yet started any research on how am I planning this trip. Am open to any suggestions that fit in 2 weeks.

Places I am thinking of visiting: LV, SF, Yellowstone or Utah NP, Grand Canyon and Highway 1. Can add/remove places.

Time of visit - Any 2 weeks from Aug to Oct. I guess these months are best to visit the west coast.

Travel from - Bombay, India. Would be grateful if someone can give info about which place to fly into (say A) and which place to fly from (say B) to make best possible use of time and route that covers maximum places from A to B.

Interests: Drive, Adventure sports (like Sky diving, bungee, scuba etc), National park, cruise (optional)

People traveling: Two. Will be travelling with my wife.

Would help if someone helps me plan the trip with days to spend in each location.

Thanks in anticipation.

Cheers,
AD

With two weeks I do not think you have time for both California and LV plus Yellowstone area, drop one or the other.
Try and go after Labor Day (first weekend in September) when kids are back in school and prices drop. It is still a very popular time to travel for those without kids.
September is a very popular time for conventions in San Francisco, check the convention calendar, there is a large one called Dreamforce or something mid-September, Oracle World is not until late October this year.
Fly into LA or SF depending on price, 3 nights LA, 2-3 nights driving Highway 1 (Santa Barbara, Cambria, Monterey or Carmel) then 3-4 days SF (drop car upon arrival, parking is expensive). Maybe see if you can get reservations for Yosemite National Park (probably will have to call daily, as sites book up to a year in advance, but people to cancel all the time). You could then fly from SF to LV, or alternately drive Hwy 395 through the Sierras. Have fun.

>>Places I am thinking of visiting: LV, SF, Yellowstone or Utah NP, Grand Canyon and Highway 1. Can add/remove places.<<

Good that you can remove some because you don't have time for all (and definitely don't have time to <i>add</i> any).

Just SF, the coast, LA and/or San Diego, a day/night at the Grand Canyon plus a couple of days in Vegas would fill two weeks.

If you mean the entire Hwy 1 from the Redwoods in the north to San Diego in the south -- that alone is a two week trip.

I agree with the two j's !

You're going to need to focus on certain places and elminate the others. Two weeks isn't enough time to see all those places, as already said.

jamie99 gives a good itinerary.

Another option, fly to San Diego, rent a car and spend 3 or 4 days here.
Fly (very cheap) to LV. 2 days there.
Fly to LA. Rent a car and take 2 days to drive Hwy 1 to SF.
SF drop car and spend 3 days there.

That's just one option but there are a variety of ways you can visit. just not to all the places you want to go.

I wouldn't do this in August. Late Sept / Oct would be less crowded. But, as jamie said, check to see if any big conventions are in town before you book flights in SF.

Certainly fly into one major city and out another. The cheapest and fastest way to get to Las Vegas is to fly. Southwest Air is probably pretty good. No charge for luggage. Maybe instead of Yosemite (you'll need reservations) you might consider driving north of San Francisco to the wine country.. Sonoma not Napa. See the Redwoods in Armstrong Woods State park instead of crowded Muir woods outside of SF. It will be a lovely trip. IF we get rain, and we certainly hope we do, it usually doesn't start until late Oct. So you have plenty of good weather for traveling.

Change 2 weeks to 4 weeks and you may be able to do all you desire. Ask Narendra Modi for more time off work.

Scuba- not in US mainland. Suggest Great Barrier Reef in Australia that is a short flight for you.

Bungee - After a long trip from India, this is your best opportunity near Moab, Utah on public land:
Google: corona arch swing
You won't be the first to die on this bungee jump

Vaga

There is actually good diving off of Catalina Island and elsewhere off the CA coast. The kelp forest is beautiful and late summer/fall offers the best combination of water temperature and visibility. However the water never gets warm and even in southern CA, you would need a full wetsuit, hood, gloves, booties. Central/northern CA water is even colder.

You need to narrow down your own interests. There are more than a few different two week trips that could be made from all the places you mention. But no way can you do all of them!

I love California and two weeks, flying into Los Angeles and out of San Francisco, and seeing the coast and inland state and national parks would be one great trip (for example).

Diving -
I used to dive for Abalone at Fort Ross, Ca.
THAT is cold! Twice was the limit for me.

Prefer warm weather like Cozumel, Grand Bahama, Belize and, hopefully some day, Great Barrier Reef.


Vaga

A lot of these choices depend on whether you want wilderness beauty (Yellowstone, Utah national parks), coastal scenery (especially from Santa Barbara to San Francisco), or urban experiences (SF, Las Vegas, LA).

I like a combination of the three and might be tempted to just do the San Francisco area and north/south of it for a week (Carmel, Napa Valley and Bodega Bay are favorites), and then fly to Las Vegas and do a loop through southern Utah and hit the Grand Canyon for the second week. You could fly out of Las Vegas. That is desert scenery and will still be quite hot in September. You could also substitute the Bozeman, Montana; Yellowstone; Grand Tetons; and Jackson, Wyoming area for the Utah/Arizona/Nevada loop, In that second option you will have a northern Rockies experience and maybe even see a bear. Might have to fly out of Salt Lake City, Utah for that one.