First Trip to US!
 

Hi Guys,

need advice. Thanks to new sale from British Airways I was considering three good trips for my next wedding anniversary in August next year and I don’t know if it is worth it to extend it to Hawaii. I thought that it is a best idea to ask here.

Three options:
1. Las Vegas and Los Angeles:

around 5 days in Vegas including trip to Grand Canyon and the rest in Los Angeles ( don't know really what to do there yet)

2. Las Vegas and San Francisco:
around 5 days in Vegas including trip to Grand Canyon and the road trip to SF via Death Valley, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park and Napa Valley

or extreme option, extending either to Hawaii (around a week on first option, around 5 days in the second option).

I truly don't know if Hawaii justifies 20+ hr flight back to the UK.

I think personally I am pretty much set on option no. 2, but myself and my wife we do love the beach and the ocean that is where Hawaii comes from, do you know any other place in California, where we can potentially go after Napa?

Thanks all in advance!
Dan

From Napa, it's a 2ish hour drive to San Francisco. Another 1.5 hours south of SF is Half Moon Bay, which has a sandy beach and a quaint Main Street area. I'd also "recommend" Stinson Beach in Marin County, which is north of SF.

But coming from SoCal, I can't recommend any of the NorCal beaches over the ones down here. Not that our water's that warm, but it's downright frigid up North. Just something to consider anyway.

Also, why 5 days in Vegas? The part of the Grand Canyon that's "near" Vegas is the West Rim... nice, but not part of the National Park and also not the famous deep trench that you may be thinking of.

Here's a decent comparison of the different areas:
http://www.arizona-leisure.com/grand...n-arizona.html

As for Hawaii... it's fantastic, but probably more enjoyable if it's done on a separate trip, IMO.

Thanks for the answer, which is similar to what I was reading.

I have changed the itinerary and probably will settle for:

3 days in Vegas,
Start of a road trip with Grand Canyon (South Rim)
than continuing by car to Death Valley, and through Sequoia, Yosemite to Napa Valley (at least 1-2 days drinking wines), than to San Francisco to see Alcatraz etc
than flight to LAX for beaches and Disneyworld ;)
and back home to UK.

all in two weeks! Hawaii next time!

One hell of a road trip! Sounds like a better schedule IMO :).

Another thing to note... I only saw news blurbs, but the recent rains have damaged many of the historical sites in Death Valley (but I don't remember specifics). I'd suggest that you research what's going on there so that you don't arrive to a site under construction or off-limits.

Another suggestion: When you get to SF, I would ditch the car and start taking rideshare (like Uber or Lyft... avoid the taxis), or public transportation to get around. That way, you don't have the hassle of trying to find parking (which is either a miracle if you find street parking, or expensive for private lots).

LA is more car friendly, but if you're just sticking to the beaches, you may not need a rental car there either.

I just had a stream of consciousness, so here's a list of my personal "gems" for the trip:

One quick stop I'd recommend on your route is to stop at Bishop, CA and grab some of America's best jerky at Mahogany Smoked Meats. They'll let you sample everything first... my personal favorite is the Sweet and Spicy Beef Jerky. They also have exotics like buffalo and boar jerky.

Also on your drive from Vegas to South Rim, if you see a roadside shack that sells Fry Bread, stop in for a tasty snack. It's exactly what it sounds like... fried bread dough. It ends up being like a donut, but with a more yeasty/bready flavor.

In Napa, I really enjoyed the Oxbow Public Market... great variety of things to eat, something for everyone. It's counter service so everyone picks what they want then sit at the communal tables. I especially liked C Casa (tacos) and Ritual Coffee Roasters, and have had Three Twins (ice cream) at their location down here.

More than happy to provide other suggestions if you'd like. ^

The drive from SF to LA on Hwy. 1 is a great experience but really requires at least several days so probably one for next time.

I would recommend the drive as well, if you had more time. Sounds like you have a Hwy 1/PCH drive + Hawaii trip already preplanned for you @:-)

(And definitely SF>LA for a more unobstructed view, since the road will be on the coastal side. LA>SF means constant traffic and cars interrupting your view.)

I'll just throw out a couple of thoughts.

First,

August... Death Valley...

Please don't tell me next that you want to rent a convertible Mustang for this drive.

Want to know why it's called Death Valley? Want to take a guess?

Look, I love the UK and lived there for a number of years, but I simply do not get the British infatuation with visiting Death Valley in the summer. It will be hot. I mean, harmful, dangerous hot. I mean can't get-out-of-the-car hot. Seriously. Belay the thought my friend. Visit DV in January or March and you'll be able to enjoy the many fabulous things to see and do there.

Second,

August... Yosemite...

If you don't have accommodation booked right now, good luck with that. You will be joined by thousands and thousands of your new friends queuing up to see waterfalls which, given the current ongoing drought in California, will be trickles at best, but (most) will probably be dry. Come in May, different story. And if next year is (God forbid) anything like this one, a visit to Yosemite might help you familiarize yourselves with forest fire fighting and the detours and awful conditions that accompany fires.

My recommendation instead: https://goo.gl/maps/v4SaWuoxCWK2

Start in Vegas, which is an excellent place to let your body clocks adjust to the 8-hour time change. When the clock says 4 AM but your body says noon, no worries, things are happening downstairs or out on the Strip anyway.

Do the Grand Canyon, then instead of backtracking to Death Valley, head for Joshua Tree National Park and Palm Springs instead. Joshua Tree is spectacular, and while it too will be seriously hot, it's frankly a national park where you can see a lot from the car, or visit some of the sites quickly and in reasonable comfort, and still have time at the end of the day to head (an hour) into Palm Springs, where you can stay in some seriously cool lodgings, splash in the pool, drink Margaritas at sunset, head up the Aerial Tramway for sundowners, and all with a very cool mid-century vibe.

Then I'd head to the coast to Santa Barbara, bypassing LA for now, and follow Hwy 1 north from San Luis Obispo to Monterey, stopping at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, at Big Sur, Point Lobos (state park with stunning coastal scenery and a lot of wildlife) and Carmel. On the way, you could hit some vineyards around Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley, of "Sidways" fame - a very happening wine district, less touristy and less expensive than Napa.

Then visit the Big Basin Redwoods near funky Santa Cruz and into SF for the rest of the trip as planned.

Even with two weeks you will be rushed with this itinerary, but nothing like trying to fight the heat, hugely long drives, and masses of humanity that your main proposed route would cover.

For beaches, during your stay in greater LA, you can stay in Huntington or Newport Beaches and still have easy access to Disney, or just before flying out, stay in one of the South Bay beach suburbs in LA, such as Manhattan or Hermosa Beach, both 20 min. from LAX.

And please, not the Mustang. I believe that if they weren't rented by Brits none of the rental car companies would even have any.

(And I hope you know that a big ;) prevails throughout this post.)

Of course not the Mustang... everyone knows the Camaro is so much more fun :)

There was a thread a while back where someone wanted to have the American experience of driving a full-sized American muscle-y sedan, like a Dodge Charger.

I say, for the full-on Yankee experience, OP should rent a Suburban. Plenty of room for the family... and another family.

Only if they can't get an Escalade with blackout windows and chrome spinners on 22" wheels.

Wow, thanks for all the tips!

Please do remember that a trip to the West Coast is not something you can do every day hence we want to see as much as we can ;)

The August timing is simply coinciding with our Wedding Anniversary and we try to do some nice trip every year.

As to the heat in Death Valley I did Syria/Jordan trip in September few years back (before the awful war) and I know a thing or two about the heat - and I agree it is bad, but as I said earlier I don't know if and when I will be back on West Coast. Your itinerary looks absolutely great and will look into it deeper!

@IceTrojan - I will look for the beef jerky signs :D!

I bought the tickets last night (flying out 20th of August and back on 3rd September, with SF-LA flight scheduled for 30th of August) so the most important bit is done and now I can calmly focus on planning the details!

As for the Mustang Convertible, I was looking on Pick-up trucks as well :D In the UK we have the second number of convertible cars per head in the world, but not really an option to drive one here hence sun of CA and NV sounds appealing :) Also nobody knows us there!

If you go that route, be very careful, or else set aside a day for the emergency room in some hospital to deal with your burns. Remember the Grand Canyon south rim is 6800 feet, an altitude you don't have in the UK either, and the high altitude UV will make crispy critters out of you in minutes.

Thanks, duly noted!

Itinerary for the road trip will probably change multiple times between now and Christmas when i want to start booking some hotels as well. Thanks for all the tips, going through Santa Barbara instead of Napa is as well appealing, as we definitely want to get some quietness and rest during at least part of the two weeks.

There's a town called Solvang that has a few good wine tasting rooms, one of which was awesome (but I forget the name :eek: ). Drive a little farther top Los Olivos for olive country and olive oil tasting.

The Central Coast is home to some of California finest wineries.

Take a look at these articles:

Gardyloo's suggestions are spot on. You can reasonably expect Death Valley in August to be 110F (43 C) at least. And his proposed itinerary gives you a really nice flavor of California and Vegas/national parks. Hell, I'd like to do that itinerary, and I used to live in California. :)