Hi there all,
I'm a newbie from the UK looking for some advice!

Next year we are looking to do up to 3 weeks, taking in Las Vegas, Anaheim, San Diego and San Francisco as our must dos - to include trips to Disneyland, the Grand Canyon and wine country. We are also toying with the idea of doing New York on the way over or back.

We've found a company called Trailfinders that seems to be able to book our flights for us, however I'm looking for advice on when we might be better to drive rather than do internal flights, must sees and recommendations for how long we stay in each location, hotel recommendations etc.

Total newbie to the west coast, so touristy things are good!

Thanks in advance!

What time of year are you planning to come?

You could easily book your own flights on line, and I would reccomend flying into SF, driving to all the stops and flying home out of Vegas. NYC is doable as a stop in either direction.

Thanks for your reply.
We're flexible on when we travel, but were thinking possibly October.
Are the drives many hours between cities?

I agree that you canbook your airline flights yourself.

Look into Southwest Airlines especially. Their flights are inexpensive if booked sufficiently ahead of time. They also have a senior rate, if you are over 65.

For example, at the moment, if you book sufficiently in time, you could fly from New York (La Guardia Airport) to Las Vegas for as little as $109/pp plus tax and fees. You could also fly Las Vegas to Los Angeles for as little as $69 plus tax and fees. For the New York-Las Vegas segment, look for flights that has only ONE stop, which is the majority of their flights. youdon not need to stop more than once on that long flight. Southwest also allows baggage (within reason) to be checked free.

In the West, the segment that I would suggest flying is Las Vegas-Los Angeles.

You could also do all this in reverse: Fly NY-San Francisco, drive to Los Angeles, then fly to Las Vegas (drive to Grand Canyon), then fly back to New York for your visit there.

If you want to spend time in San Diego which I recommend then you would just add: Fly NY- San Francisco, drive to LA then San Diego is a short 2 hour drive down the coast from LA.
You can fly out of SD to Las Vegas (it's only an hour or so flight) for cheap.

To find the hours of drive time between 2 cities, click the "directions" tab in mapquest.com or map.google.com and put in the city names and it will give you the drive times along with the driving directions. I also think that if you book your own flights on Southwest Airlines website you might save a lot of money on airfare.

The web site is very good advice montereybob.
For planning purposes the drive up or down the coast from San Francisco to San Diego (if you drove straight through) would be less than 6-8 hours.

I would recommend the drive from SF to LA because on the way you can visit Monterey, Carmel, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Point Lobos, Big Sur coastline, Cambria, Santa Barbara, Malibu-------all great tourist destinations. Also I would highly recommend the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This trip would take several days depending on how often you stay overnight and how how much time you spend at each major sight. When leaving SF, it's best to take Hwy 280 instead of Hwy 101----it's more scenic and has less traffic.
Have you considered seeing Yosemite? IIMO it's a not-to-be-missed experience.

For planning purposes the drive up or down the coast from San Francisco to San Diego (if you drove straight through) would be less than 6-8 hours.

I agree with both montereybob and nanabee that flying into San Francisco and driving down the coast would be the smart thing to do. But I'll also repeat what I've said before, the drive to San Diego is more like 8-10 hours driving straight through (at 3 a.m. with no traffic, and then going above the speed limit). That doesn't matter much if you're stopping along the way, but it is farther than you initially think.

Also, LA-Las Vegas is about a 5 hours drive. So you could fly or drive. Unless you plan to leave the Strip and downtown areas, you would not need a car in Vegas. The strip is very close to the airport, and once there, you wouldn't want a car anyway (lots of traffic on the main drag).

Thanks all again for all the advice.
When checking in for an internal flight in the states, how early do you have to arrive at the airport?
In the UK you're meant to check in 3 hours before the flight, so depending on whether this is the same in the US, it may influence our decision whether to drive or fly....

It depends on the airport, but 2 hours is more the norm for a domestic flight. If you fly Southwest and have access to a computer, you can print your boarding passes the day before the flight, and reduce the check-in time accordingly. I usually arrive about 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours before a SW flight (and am often one of the first people at the gate).

If you fly Southwest, one of the advantages is that you can preprint your boarding pass starting EXACTLY 24 hours beforehand.

If you have a boarding pass, then you really don't need more than an hour beforehand. However, to be absolutely safe, you should arrive about 1 1/2 hours in advance.

If youdon't have a boarding pass, then youneed to line up at the airline counter and get a boarding pass before going to the security line.

If you have a boarding pass, you just walk up to the security line and present your boarding pass and Photo ID (usually your passport). This might or might not be time-consuming, depending on how many people are in front of you.

At the security line, get a number of those grey bins. You have to remove just about everything - belt, watch, coins, wallet, phone, coat, shoes - and put those items in the bins. It's best to have as few loose items as possible and put them all in your backpack, suitcase, or purse and just walk through security with your boarding pass and ID.

We almost never arrive more than an hour to an hour and a quarter in advance of a domestic flight (usually from SFO). The longest security line we have ever found was 45 minutes long. If you can't print your boarding pass in advance, you can still check in online or by phone, then the line to get your boarding pass is usually quite short unless you're checking in luggage (it's just a machine that you put your credit card into and it spits our your boarding pass, whether you previously "checked in" or not -- it's a good idea though, as easytraveler said, to check in exactly 24 hours in advance for Southwest Airlines because of their system -- no reserved seats, you get your boarding order based on the time of check in).

Check the rules with the airline you fly as to their cut off times for both boarding and luggage. The airlines are very strict on both post 9/11. Better to go a little early in case there is a long security line.

October is a super time weatherwise for your trip.

Don't miss Hwy 1 along the coast from SF to LA, it is beautiful. While it is a boring ride from SD to LV you would at least have your car for the Grand Canyon if you drove. Have fun planning!

Wow,

I have lots of advice on this, since it's my stomping ground.

(1) Add Yosemite. Start you trip from Fresno. Drive to Yosemite. It's only 60 minutes from Fresno. You get to see the waterfalls and some huge Sequoias. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite

(2) Stop at wine country on the way to SF. (About 4 hours)

(3) Then, drive to San Francisco -- about an hour and half Make sure to go to Alcatraz and Muir woods (Big old redwoods are there -- http://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm)

(4) Drive down the coast to LA -- take a few days Stop at

-- Monteray Aquarium,
-- Julia Burns State park -- amazing waterfall close to the parking lot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_P...rns_State_Park
-- Drive along the amazing coast line of Big Sur
-- See Hearst castle (which I think is up there with any thing I've done). It is just so cool. As far as I'm concerned, its up there with the Alhambra, Versailles, and the topkapi palaces. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Castle
-- Stop at Santa Barbara for the night.

-- Then, do LA, Vegas, and the grand canyon.

Happy travels.

I am wondering about the order of your destinations near the end of your trip.

If you are planning to stay overnight at least one night at the Grand Canyon, I would change the order to save a little driving time. Drive directly from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon, which takes about eight hours. Stay at the Grand Canyon a day or two and enjoy. (Book early for lodgings.) Then drive from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas.

This will save you a couple of hours driving time as compared to the suggestion of LA to Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. (Also, the drive from LA to Las Vegas was pretty boring.)

However you get there, be sure to go to the Grand Canyon's South Rim. My brother-in-law got coaxed into taking a West Rim bus tour instead and it didn't end up being that great.

I agree with the advice given above. I would add that some drives are long but worth it.... the journey IS the destination with such drives. I think the drive around san francisco, the wine country, and the drive south on the coastal hwy 101 to san diego is worth the time. The drive to vegas is boring. You can put in that 5 hours; it's not that long but it's also no big deal to just fly that segment. sounds like a great trip!

Thanks once again all for all the help.

Seeking yet more advice....

How is it best to get to Disneyland, fly to LAX then drive? Or fly into Anaheim?

Also, wine country - any recs as to where we visit?

Thank you oh wise ones!! ;o)

I haven't read the entire posts.

I would add Yosemite and drop Grand Canyon. It is going to cost you a lot more time and while it is truly amazing, I find other places just as amazing and other places offer far more things to do. If I were doing Grand Canyon, then I would stick with Vegas and add some of Utah's parks.

Spirobulldog.

I told them to do that too.