OMG! Was that HER in that Boyle Heights bar?

I knew it!

Get the best car insurance that money can buy... and be warned and very very careful. LAPD as well as the highway patrol and the state police,have zero to minus zero tolerance for drinking and driving. A smell of alcohol and you are in the slammer.

Air options from the Grand Canyon area aren't great. From the canyon airport, your options are very small planes to Vegas (often cancelled due to weather during the monsoon). From Flagstaff, the only carrier is US Airways, which means flying on a plane operated by Mesa airlines and connecting through Phoenix. Personally, I try to avoid both of those things and would suggest you just drive.

August is the monsoon season in the southwest, so expect afternoon thunderstorms during your time at Grand Canyon. As a word of warning, if you do decide to do some hiking or even just walking on the rim: make sure that you account for the altitude as regards sunscreen (a significant portion of injuries at the Canyon are in fact severe sunburns / sun poisoning) and proper hydration.

PCH repairs should be complete or close to by the time you get there, so that shouldn't be a worry. Consider driving up from Grand Canyon / Vegas on the inland route to see the mountains then swing down the PCH on your return to LA.

First, too much time in LA. Not enough time in northern California. Go to Yosemite and spend at least one night. Stay at the Ahwanee. Do drive at least down to Big Sur on the PCH. Monterrey/Carmel is wonderful with some nice hotels. A car is a PITA in SF, but OTOH, SF is not an easy city to get around in without one.

Just over the GG Bridge in SF: Sausalito with drop dead gorgeous views and cute hotels, Marin Headlands, Muir Woods (if you didn't see the redwoods in Yosemite at Mariposa Grove). For a wine tour, I much prefer Sonoma to Napa: less touristy, more vineyards that are small operations and happy to chat with you and offer free samples.

I'm not much of a night life person and I hate Las Vegas, but you may be (and tons of others are) different.

I can't think of a thing to do in LA other than go to Santa Monica.

I would say if you can make time take this trip. I did it with a group of 5 friends and probably one of the best things we have ever done and it worked out cheaper than staying in Vegas.

For the price you got a small fixed wing flight that lands in the canyon ( very north east) then he Helicopter ride that lands on the river bed followed by 2 nights camping at the base with amazing food!

I can't say how great it was and fantastic value.

http://www.westernriver.com/trips/grand3day/

This is just one pic of us landing at the bottom to start the trip.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2124/...cb152f99_o.jpg

Try to visit Long Beach. It is a fabulous place with short drive from Beverly Hills that you should not miss with many nice restaurants and marina.

You can spend a full day there and see the queen mary ship and the local aquarium.

That sounds like an AMAZING thing to do with a group of friends. Not cheap (can't see how that would be cheaper than staying in Vegas...) but worth it I'd say. Great tip!

It was about $1000 at the time and that was £500 when we did it. We were paying £150 per night in a hotel at the time and with food, booze, gambling it was cheaper :) Also the helicopter ride and plane trip would have been big money on their own.

I have loads more pics from that trip if interested. It really was fantastic to wake up under the stars with the Canyon walls eaither side of you.

It really isn't THAT short drive from BH.

And river rafting is really fun, have done it on the Russian river up in Kern County.

Yeah, I noticed it was $1295 now (or $5180 for 4, excluding tips etc). Still a great deal since staying at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is a rare privilege but I can see this maybe too much at age 20ish, especially since you can also stay in Vegas for $300 a night in a two bedroom. It is considerably more expensive but I would seriously consider it.

The one great thing about being in the bottom of the Canyon is you can't spend money!! So no chance of have a couple of cocktails too many, hitting the tables then going fizz crazy.

Some of this might have already been covered but this is what we did last year, in August!

Flew in to LAX and stayed in a B&B for a few nights. free parking & WiFi, friendly hosts and a beautiful organic breakfast to start the day.

If your going to do Universal make sure you book the VIP Backlot tour, gives you your own private tour guide and includes a superb buffet lunch and front of line access to all the rides. Last year we got taken into one of the soundstages, we couldn't go down wysteria lane as they were filming, got to see them filming Pirates of the Caribbean 4. Great day out and worth the money.

If you want to chill by day in vegas and party by night I highly recomment the four seasons, the pool and service during the day are superb. Keep the car, parking in Vegas is free. Driving to the GC is madness. Although drive to the Hoover Dam, its only 45 mins. Make sure you park in the new parking lot on the way down and take a walk over the new bridge for some amazing photos.

We did an extended trip to the GC which meant a flight from a small airport in vegas to the GC national park, we then took a helicopter trip over the widest part of the GC then a coach to the GC Visitor Centre, only cost about $50 more than the hellicopter to the southrim and was much better.

We drove up through Death Valley, the views are amazing and stopped in Mammoth for a night, we then drove over the tioga pass and through yosemite. In hindsite I wish I had planned a couple of days in yosemite as I feel we missed out on so much. We litterally drove right through it. This is something we will do at a later stage.

The drive from mammoth to SF is just as picturesque as the drive from vegas to mammoth. Keep the car for a day in SF so you can drive out to the muir woods, sausalito and the Golden Gate Bridge. Then dump it.

We're going back this year to do LA, Palm Springs and Vegas, but it's going to be more of a chill holiday than a running around holiday!

ISTR it was about 120F when we drove through in August 2002 :eek: But it's a dry heat :D

Anyway, more importantly, as Glaswegians you'll also be needing pub recommendations! It's been nearly 10 years since I lived in SF, but here are some of my favourites:

Cafe Vesuvius, corner of Columbus and Broadway in North Beach. This is an SF institution, frequented by the Beat Generation as it's next door to City Lights bookshop.

Specs (or The Adler Museum), up a short alley off Columbus, opposite Vesuvius and City Lights. This is a bar for people who like bars :D. Was in here with a bunch of friends once, and one of the young-ish women was being 'hit on' by an American at the bar. She wasn't enjoying the experience, but was a bit too young and inexperienced to just tell the guy to go away. The barman came over and slid a 'business card' to the guy - printed on it was the line "Sir, the Lady is not interested in your attention" - he left shortly afterwards, and my friend still has the card to this day :)

The Gold Dust Lounge, Powell St., just north of Market and near union Square. This is a great old bar with a bunch of regulars and jazz music pretty much every day. It's also very handy for the Cable car which runs from Powell up to Fishermans Wharf - you must do the Cable Cars, and this is the best route - get on late and stand on the running boards rather than taking a seat, great fun (and invented by a Scotsman! :))

The Irish Bank, somewhere near Union Square (memory getting a bit hazy). The best Irish bar in downtown, and does a very good burger.

4th Street Bar and Deli - part of the Marriott on 4th Street (duh) just south of Market. Great for cold beer in frosted glasses on a hot day, and has (I reckon) the best hot wings in the City.

The Lone Palm, around 22nd and Guererra (I think), down in Mission. A cool little bar in a cool part of the City. Even if you don't come here (and I'm not even sure it's still around) make sure you visit the Mission district.

I reckon you could do this comfortably in a couple of days, with an overnight in Big Sur. As someone else said, doing the full 'loop' (LA-Grand Canyon-Vegas-Yosemite-SF-Big Sur-LA) would be fantastic experience.

Enjoy your trip, I'm not a bit jealous :p

tf

Little Fruitcake would not forgive me if I failed to mention Disney at Anaheim. :D

Thank you once again
 

The great suggestions keep on coming, very greatful guys^

Where to start...

If we could fly out of LAX and do a clean loop then we would, however SFO was what availaibility had for 4 in F; on the plus side, we will receive a better F ground product I understand.

I know LA(ish), and Downey is simply where we have a nice place to stay when we need it, I know it is ideal for Disney, even as a gateway for OC although not great for Hollywood and above...

Huntington i understand is a drive from Laguna, Newport, Dana Point although these will be our easy going, alcohol free beach days so the driving should be tolerable plus we really do have a great rate for a stay here.

Las Vegas, never knew parking was free... at the Andaz and W's we are looking at $28per day so assumed LV would be similar. Plus with me now considering spending less time here, having a car idle for 2 days does not make me feel so guilty about it. We are keen to go to LV at the weekend, and do it 'hard' -is the accom. price at the weekend really considerably more Raffles?

Now... still unsure where to go from here, positives for each option. I would love to do a river rafting/camping adventure suggested by CT-UK, although the finances will not permit, even the Helicopter tour @ £200 might be hard to convince my friends. I like the idea of driving out, staying over, possibly a day down into the gorge.

From here we either go back to LA, or continue up to Yosemite via Death Valley & Tioga pass... here is the 4 options I reckon we have for the rest of the trip, I would love to know your thoughts:

1) Go back to LA after the Grand Canyon; few days in So Cal and then take PCH up to SF, with a day trip to Yosemite once there.

2) Continue up to Yosemite after the GC. Drive back to LA after a night(or 2) here, before taking PCH upto SF a few days later to finish up here(for a few days of course)

3) Continue up to Yosemite after the GC. Night or two and then head across to San Fran for possibly a night(do the stuff good for a car), then drive down PCH towards LA for a few days. Dump the car at LAX, take a flight to SFO and end here with a day or two car free.

4) Or alternatively.... push back Vegas a few days and Leave LA for good, with all of our luggage in tow. Head up to Yosemite, spend a 2-3 days here, finish in San Fran.

Please bare in mind I like Randy Newman do love LA, I have family and Friends there and I do think it has alot to offer 4 guys in their 20's. With the upmost respect, I think Nr California and wine county in particular would be best appreciated when we are a little older:p