PWMFlyer19

Glad you took some advice. Since your young single traveller and will be on the go, you might want to consider looking at couchsurfing.com

chgoeditor

I doubt your time estimates. Immigration alone may take an hour. I assume you're taking the AirTrain to Penn Station (trains leave every 10 minutes, travel time about 35 minutes). Then you have to get from Penn Station to the Met, which is a bus or subway trip. Figure you won't be at the Met until 3:30 pm at the earliest.

doctor15

Personally I think leaving from DCA is much easier, even if you have to connect. DCA is right on the metro (15 minutes from most parts of DC) and security is generally quick there (5-15 minutes). No reason to get there much before 2:15pm. The only downside is the risk of missing your connection in ATL. I would make sure there are other flights to PHX that evening.

For BWI, I assume you are talking about the B30 bus? You will have to take a 30+ minute metro ride to Greenbelt, then a ~45 minute traffic prone bus ride to BWI. Also once you get there, security can sometimes be pretty long so overall travel time is probably only slightly faster then the DCA option. I don't want to discourage you from BWI, as its definitely doable, but to me a connection in ATL is easier if price is the same.

Fornebufox

[QUOTE=Powka;18209621] Do you think it's worth buying subway daily pass? Do I really need it? I assume I'll get on subway 2 times/day max.[QUOTE]

MTA fares were restructured a few months ago and the one-day "fun" pass is no longer available. Do a rough estimate of how many trips you might take, round *UP*, and buy a multiple ride Metrocard from a fare machine in a subway station. Over $10 gets you something like a 15% bonus, plus you get a single transfer bus-bus, bus-subway/subway within two hours (a single ride Metrocard won't give you transfer advantages, IIRC). In frequently scorching hot July you won't mind not walking the shimmering hot pavement for hours. As a local I usually buy the unlimited ride cards, but if I'm on a pay-per-ride card I'll strategize, starting my trip with a subway ride, accomplish a quick errand, and then board a bus within the two-hour limit, so two destinations for one fare. In general, count on at least a half hour to get from point A to point B in Manhattan.

It's worth seeing, especially if you've never seen a Frank Gehry building -- check to see if they have tours. It's also worth walking around downtown LA, with the Cathedral, lots of outdoor sculpture, a covered market, and Broadway, where stores selling gowns for Quinceanos (15th birthday) celebrations front the old 1930s movie palaces from Hollywood's early days.

NYC became very security conscious just over 10 years ago, and you will need to check large bags--just how large "large" is varies widely--and in some places even go through a metal detector before visiting certain sites. Be prepared for anything.

I'm no expert on connecting in Atlanta but I keep reading about how often that goes wrong. Fly nonstop, and research Phoenix ground transport before you take your flight. It's a sleepy town and things probably close down early.

Anna Phor

Transit links to help you out in DC:
www.wmata.com -- metro & bus
http://www.dccirculator.com/ -- crosstown circulator bus
You might also like the bikeshare program: $7 for a one-day or $15 for a 3-day pass, you can rent bikes for 30 minutes at a time. http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/pricing

I'd skip Meridian Hill Park--it's not near much else on your list and, well, it's a park. If you want a neighborhood experience where you can people-watch off the tourist track, head to Dupont Circle instead. It's 2 metro stops from downtown DC, one from the White House (and you can walk if you are staying downtown). Grab lunch or dinner to go and just sit on the benches in the circle next to the fountain.

cordelli

At some places there's two lines, sort of like the elite lines at the airport. One for those with a city pass, pre purchased tickets, etc, and one for everybody else. When you get to a location, if it's not clearly marked, there will almost always be an employee or security guard or guide who will be more than happy to point you in the right direction.

Powka

peersteve, yeah I'm leaning towards a direct flight as well. And I didn't realize that a train can be that late so that you would actually have to worry about that. Weird, why would it be late - it's not like there's traffic or something - unless there are some road works, which should be published on their website or whatever... Oh well. I'll take this into account too, thank you.

fredandgingermad, thanks for the link, and yeah, I will probably won't take the subway pass, I doubt that I will need it.

janehoya - good tip. If it's free and if I will be totally short on money, I will most definitely do this! Cheers!

obscure2k, alright, I'll skip the Olvera street then. But isn't Disney Hall on Olvera street? I'd love to see it from outside. I tried to find any events going on in Staples Center (and in Los Angeles for that matter), but there's nothing coming up. I guess I'll need to check it out closer to the trip. Would be good to get cheap tickets to a game or a gig. Never tried pastrami, but I like suggestions on where to dine - I'll try to give Langers a shot! Thanks!

hedur, thanks for the tips! Yes, it's a bit inconvenient, as I'll be in LA Monday-Wednesday, so no public transport for me then. Any other idea how to get there, except renting a car or taking a cab? And I've just included Santa Monica Pier, totally forgot about that one!

Serpent, well I'm to CA in the summer of 2013, so I'll visit Vegas for sure! As for Statue of Liberty, I'm using this: http://www.citypass.com/new-york/statue-liberty - I assume it does not include entry into the statue, hence less security checks (are there any checks for getting on the ferry/on the island?)

mikeef, I will indeed, thank you!

Wingman32, the hotel itself seems alright to me as I don't need any luxury, just somewhere to sleep in. But the area, as you mentioned, isn't the best - I didn't know that before you noticed it. I will be booking hotels about 1,5 month before my trip, so I still have time to research and find the one that would be good enough. I will also check out the link you provided.

emma69, my bank provides me with worldwide medical insurance, and I don't think I will need anything else as I won't have any valuable stuff, except a tablet and a phone, whose insurance also comes automatically with my bank account.

gfunkdave, I've checked P out previously, but it seemed to me that if they DO find a hotel based on your search terms then they charge you straight away without asking you if you really want to stay in there.

heffa, yes, I thought about that - I have emailed Alcatraz tours, but they haven't got back to me yet. I'm a bit unsure about this one, as they say on the website that they send the tickets by post, and I doubt they'll send them to London. Any idea what to do?

PWMFlyer19, I've looked into that some time before - not really my kind of travelling.

chgoeditor, thanks - that helped. I guess I'll only have a couple of hours to the MET (still, better than nothing, since I get it free with city pass).

doctor15, I thought so too, but missing a flight in Atlanta scares me too much, as that would screw me over for the rest of the trip. I don't really want to take that chance, think it's not worth it. And for BWI, I think of taking Amtrak train to near BWI station, and then a shuttle to the airport.

Fornebufox, thanks for the tip - I'll strategize some time closer to the trip. Thanks for the rest of the tips, and I'll be going from BWI now - don't really want to have that "connections go wrong" thing on this trip.

Anna Phor, thanks a lot!! For the links and the note on the parks.

cordelli, that's good - I'd love to skip at least a little bit of the line. Hopefully it's not going to be longer than an the line with people without city pass.

Just booked non-refundable tickets from London to New York, and from San Fracisco to London. There's no going back now. Cost me $1200 with British Airways, the cheapest I could find after a looot of research. Hopefully I didn't make any mistake, as I had a little bit too much rum n coke, lol

hedur

The official website recommends hiking. There are popular trails that lead right to the Observatory. And doing that would eliminate the need for Runyon Canyon. If you start from Fern Dell you can take a bus to near where the trail starts. Two resources:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/griffith-obs...ke-los-angeles
http://www.simpsoncity.com/hiking/griffith/ (there's also info here about hiking to the Hollywood sign)

Sounds familiar.

ksandness

Disney Hall is not on Olvera Street. Olvera Street is a short arcade of tourist-trap shops and taco stands near Union Station.

emma69

Check your bank policy before you travel - my UK bank policy was basic at best - ok in Europe, but not nearly enough for the US IMO (think it was a £1M cap, which isn't enough for medical in the US) and make sure the insurance will cover cost up front (as opposed to you paying then claiming it back).

Tablet, I'd reconsider it - if you are going to be leaving your bag in hostels, for example, when you go hiking. It's just not something I'd risk.

I haven't followed all the ins and outs, but in my experience, Amtrak's on time percentage makes British Rail (or its various privatized parts) look perfect! I'd build in an extra hour or two just in case (all the Amtrak trains I've taken have been delayed, anything from 20mins to 5+ hours!)

fredandgingermad

I've only arrived early into LA on the South West Chief (twice in a week!) remember that Amtrak don't own the railroad tracks the freight lines do, so freight trains take priority

CDTraveler

I love both museums, but the Academy of Sciences and the Museum of Natural History are not at all alike. One is extremely modern, state of the art interactive exhibits and live creatures, the other is gallery after gallery of, well, dead things. Fascinating dead things and cultural artifacts, I will add. The museums are very, very different.

The DeYoung admission is $11, so I wouldn't consider that elevator ride "gratis" unless they've changed their policy on access to the elevator.

To the OP: a cheesesteak and Cheesewhiz are very different. If you order Cheesewhiz at a Philly cheesestead stand, you'll either get laughed at or have something thrown at you. Cheesewhiz is a chemical abomination that oozes from a can and has very little to do with actual cheese.



p.s. Amtrak on the west coast rarely runs on time. My brother takes it between LA and Oregon a couple times/year; his record delay is 27 hours late into LA. On a tight schedule, I would opt for air over Amtrak.

bwiadca

From DCA you can also go non-stop to PHX. US Airways has 3 daily flights.
What about flying out of IAD? I would say its less of a hassle to fly out of IAD then it is to fly out of BWI.
You have several options to get to IAD from downtown DC. WashingtonFlyer bus or orange line to Falls Church + metrobus. The good thing about going to IAD in the afternoon is that the bus will use HOV and Dulles Access road.

gfunkdave

Yes, that's true. But you pick the area and star-level of the hotel beforehand so it's really not much of a surprise. I pick 3+ star hotels and always get something decent, if not outright nice.

There are also forums out there (I forget what they are) where people post what they put in and what hotel they got for what price.

Bidding for hotels on Priceline is really the cheapest way, a lot of the time. I've been doing it for years and never had a bad experience. You won't earn hotel points with a Priceline rate, however.

As for why Amtrak is late...it leases space on the tracks from freight lines. Most of the railroads in the US are owned and operated by freight companies. Amtrak trains have to shunt to a side track and wait if a freight train comes through. Also Amtrak in general is underfunded and hemorrhages money in any case. There's really no incentive for it to be on time. It's already ludicrously expensive. A one way Amtrak train ride from New York to Chicago with a sleeper car is usually more than a round trip plane ticket.

peersteve

More on Amtrak from Flagstaff...... just to give you an idea of how commonly the train to LA runs late (and there is just 1 train per day in each direction)........the Flagstaff Amtrak station is regularly scheduled to stay open until 11:45pm, although the train to LA is scheduled to leave at 9pm (and there are no other trains)

So....do plan your time in Flagstaff making a connection from GC bus.....and how to get from Flagstaff bus station, which is not in center city to Amtrak station which is right in center of town......the Amtrak station is also the Visitor's Center (see downloads of maps at flagstaffarizona.org and http://www.flagstaffarizona.org/down...gstaff_map.pdf)

If train is late.....how late will you be getting to LA?
Amtrak schedules have a lot of extra time built-in for making-up late-ness..... for example, your train FLG-LA is scheduled for 11hrs 18min.......but the opposite direction from LA-FLG just takes 10hrs 21min..... subtract the two times, and there is about an hour of extra scheduled time for the FLG-LA train to make-up lost time.

enjoy!