West Coast USA tour advice

[Molotov]

Planning on a three week holiday to USA West Coast. I’ve only been to US on business so never done any of the sightseeing or tours. 

Looking at all options and would like to pick the brains of some of the good people of P&B.

We have a decent budget saved up so happy to look at all options.

Planning to start in San Diego with plans to visit Los Angeles , San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Some questions:

- flight options - who would you recommend travelling with? Worth upgrading? 

- accommodation experiences - any recommendations on hotel chains?

- Anyone traveled around in a motorhome or car around that area that could offer advice?

- what key places to go and see in each place

- is Tijuana in Mexico worth a day trip from San Diego?

- is it worth scheduling a short cruise from San Diego as we’ve never sampled that type of travel aside from heading to Millport/Arran! 

- what theme parks would be best to go to? We have no kids. What advice on tickets and fast track experience.

- is it worth going to a baseball game or some other sports event?

- we are keen on music gigs while out there. Any good venues? Whiskey in LA?

Thanks in advance!

 

 

[pozbaird]

Have been to all the cities you mention. Could go on and on about this restaurant or that restaurant etc and be here all day. So won’t.

In San Diego, if you are staying in the city, definitely take a trip to Coronado Island. The famous hotel Del Coronado is on the beach at one end, and there’s a great walk from the hotel along a big straight avenue, that leads you to the other end where there are restaurants, cafes, shops, and great photo opps’ looking back towards San Diego. The hotel is an attraction in its own right, and is where the Marilyn Monroe film ‘Some Like it Hot’ was filmed.

We only had a couple of days in Los Angeles, so did the usual touristy tour of Hollywood Boulevard, saw the Hollywood sign, all that stuff. Had to be done, but that area is so touristy and tacky that it’s off the scale touristy and tacky. What I did enjoy was going along Sunset Strip and seeing the clubs where the likes of Van Halen, Guns & Roses, and Motely Crue played in the crazy hair metal days. As a big rock music fan, these clubs, and the stories of those mad days, were legendary in my mind. Had to see them, chalk it off the bucket list. This may be of zero interest to you and, I suspect, many others.

Las Vegas petty much takes care of itself. Only advice I ever give to anyone going for the first time is to take a huge deep breath and don’t run around like a madman trying to do too much too quickly. It’s an assault on the senses, and the first time we went, we felt rushed and skitted from one big hotel to the next, too quickly. Definitely book an on-Strip hotel, I know folk who booked an off-Strip hotel like Rio, and hated it as it wasn’t near the action. At one end, we have enjoyed Mandalay Bay, at the other end, we like Wynn, and ‘in the middle’ we enjoyed Bellagio, Caesars (it’s awfy’ big and busy though), and The Mirage. Definitely take a trip to the Fremont Experience and see the lightshow and older downtown part of Vegas. There’s a good shuttle service on the Strip that is a ton cheaper than taking cabs everywhere, and stops at all major points. Think they still do a three day pass. If you go to Stratosphere Tower to do all the rides, let me know if there’s still a place called Roxy’s Diner - best strawberry milkshake I ever had. Probably shut down years ago!

Haven’t been to San Francisco for years, but unlike the touristy stuff in Los Angeles, we enjoyed the touristy stuff in SF a lot more.  Coit Tower, Lombard Street, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Golden Gate Park for great views of the bridge. Don’t miss out on sampling Ghiradelli chocolate.

Hope at least something in here is semi-interesting or semi-helpful. Whatever you get up to, have a great trip.

[Molotov]

@pozbaird thanks for the feedback!

I’m also a massive rock fan of that era so would like to go to the Whiskey a go go or the LA Forum, etc

Definitely want to go to where Lemmy used to hang out at the Rainbow. 

Will even pour myself a large JD and coke in salute of the man as I play on the one arm bandit. 

I’ve read so many books down the years about Lemmy, GnR, etc after having seen them live down the years.

Seems like a good idea to see where they had fun!

I am already looking at booking some gigs while out there. 

Would rather go to a gig than the American sports. 

[hk blues]

We did California by coach and have also done Vegas and San Francisco as stand-alone trips.

The main events were San Francisco,  LA, Las Vegas with stops in Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Monterey, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Carmel and a few other places.

I'd say San Francisco, Vegas, Tahoe and the Grand Canyon were the highlights, Yosemite was also good but not great IMO. I'd personally give LA a miss as it was mostly tacky but I suppose you have to see it once.  The other places were fine but all much of a much and nothing so special.  

We found San Francisco great and safe enough but it seems it's gone downhill since according to what I've read - we stayed around Union Square both times rather than down at the wharf.  For Vegas, we stayed in the Hacienda (now Rio) and also MGM and Flamingo.  Definitely stay on the strip as per above post. For me, both San Francisco and Vegas take care of themselves in terms of stuff to do and everyone wants something different so won't recommend anything in either,  Tahoe was fun as there are casinos - we're not gamblers but enjoy the atmosphere.  The Canyon was a little boring at night IIRC but spectacular daytime.  As for Tijuana, my old man and dear went but didn't seem that impressed. 

Theme Parks - no kids either but other than the usual Disneyland and Universal Studios, Epcot I cannot recommend anything. 

Restaurants are so numerous there's no point recommending - too many variables. 

One piece of advice - don't overdo it and spend more time in less places.  

[TxRover]

Starting in San Diego is a bit off if you are driving, and in the U.S. you need to be driving in all those locations except Las Vegas (the only one with marginally passable transit and reasonably compact). Using the highway routes, San Fransisco to Las Vegas is 570 miles and 8+41. San Fran to LA is 383 and 6+07. I assume these numbers are why you are considering flights to connect, internal U.S. flights don’t have the cheap options you get in the UK/Europe. Personally, the cheapest options like Frontier are not worth it due to 1) the typical add-on costs for the bags you will have with you because you are traveling internationally 2) for even getting boarded early enough to get the overhead space they likely charged you for 3) the God awful hours they generally fly at, and you have to allow for arriving 1-2 hours before departure.

OK, so airline data…

Frontier, Spirit and Sun Country are the U.S. versions of easyJet, nickel and dime you on add-ones and costs.

Southwest is the (often) secondary airport serving major carrier that doesn’t assign seats, the automatic checkin for $15-20 (each) is worthwhile if you need to sit together and you nearly always gets boarding in the first 60 people, if not the first 30 (Southwest opens check-in 24 hours before the flight, assigns boarding numbers as you check in, and boards in groups of 30). Alaska and JetBlue are similar, with features of the main line carrier below, and some Southwest style touches.

American/Delra/United are legacy major carriers with three to five levels of booking (and different names)…Basic (no seats until check-in, limited or no carry-ons, fees for checked bags), Standard, Preferred (more leg room, earlier boarding, looser change rules, some bags, etc), Business and (perhaps) First-Class (unusual on internal flights except coast-to-coast).
 

Airline Hubs matter because flights mainly work hub and spoke plus where you fly into and out of from home…LAS (Vegas) gets direct flats from smaller airports, but otherwise something like SFO-SAN often stops in LAX for Delta and America, for instance. United Hubs at SFO and LAX, American and Delta at LAX, Frontier uses DEN (Denver) with a secondary at LAS, Southwest uses LAX and OAK (Oakland), Spirit and Sun Country use LAS, JetBlue use LGB (Long Beach), Alaska somewhat uses LAX.

The airfares will eat your lunch, but the drive time would too. If you were doing San Diego, LA and Vegas, I’d say drive it…San Fransisco makes that a nightmare, unless you wanted to travel more slowly and do the Pacific Coast Highway.

 

Anyway:

San Diego, amazing…Mexico side trip is iffy. Tijuana is marginally safe in the tourist areas, but it’s a tourist trap. The U.S. State Department has it as reconsider travel (second worst level). You’ll see better Mexican culture in Los Angeles.

LA is huge and a  bit meh, with some great places.

Vegas is, well, Vegas. It’s not for kids, but has something of everything otherwise.

San Fransisco has some serious issues with homelessness and street crime these days. There’s the standard tourist crap, and some interesting stuff, but the stuff around it tends to be more attractive now.

 

How many weeks are you traveling and where are you flying into? If it’s two weeks or less, I think it’s too many places.

[Molotov]

1 hour ago, TxRover said:

Starting in San Diego is a bit off if you are driving, and in the U.S. you need to be driving in all those locations except Las Vegas (the only one with marginally passable transit and reasonably compact). Using the highway routes, San Fransisco to Las Vegas is 570 miles and 8+41. San Fran to LA is 383 and 6+07. I assume these numbers are why you are considering flights to connect, internal U.S. flights don’t have the cheap options you get in the UK/Europe. Personally, the cheapest options like Frontier are not worth it due to 1) the typical add-on costs for the bags you will have with you because you are traveling internationally 2) for even getting boarded early enough to get the overhead space they likely charged you for 3) the God awful hours they generally fly at, and you have to allow for arriving 1-2 hours before departure.

OK, so airline data…

Frontier, Spirit and Sun Country are the U.S. versions of easyJet, nickel and dime you on add-ones and costs.

Southwest is the (often) secondary airport serving major carrier that doesn’t assign seats, the automatic checkin for $15-20 (each) is worthwhile if you need to sit together and you nearly always gets boarding in the first 60 people, if not the first 30 (Southwest opens check-in 24 hours before the flight, assigns boarding numbers as you check in, and boards in groups of 30). Alaska and JetBlue are similar, with features of the main line carrier below, and some Southwest style touches.

American/Delra/United are legacy major carriers with three to five levels of booking (and different names)…Basic (no seats until check-in, limited or no carry-ons, fees for checked bags), Standard, Preferred (more leg room, earlier boarding, looser change rules, some bags, etc), Business and (perhaps) First-Class (unusual on internal flights except coast-to-coast).
 

Airline Hubs matter because flights mainly work hub and spoke plus where you fly into and out of from home…LAS (Vegas) gets direct flats from smaller airports, but otherwise something like SFO-SAN often stops in LAX for Delta and America, for instance. United Hubs at SFO and LAX, American and Delta at LAX, Frontier uses DEN (Denver) with a secondary at LAS, Southwest uses LAX and OAK (Oakland), Spirit and Sun Country use LAS, JetBlue use LGB (Long Beach), Alaska somewhat uses LAX.

The airfares will eat your lunch, but the drive time would too. If you were doing San Diego, LA and Vegas, I’d say drive it…San Fransisco makes that a nightmare, unless you wanted to travel more slowly and do the Pacific Coast Highway.

 

Anyway:

San Diego, amazing…Mexico side trip is iffy. Tijuana is marginally safe in the tourist areas, but it’s a tourist trap. The U.S. State Department has it as reconsider travel (second worst level). You’ll see better Mexican culture in Los Angeles.

LA is huge and a  bit meh, with some great places.

Vegas is, well, Vegas. It’s not for kids, but has something of everything otherwise.

San Fransisco has some serious issues with homelessness and street crime these days. There’s the standard tourist crap, and some interesting stuff, but the stuff around it tends to be more attractive now.

 

How many weeks are you traveling and where are you flying into? If it’s two weeks or less, I think it’s too many places.

Hey! Thanks for the reply. Great information. Noted about Mexico. Not worth the hassle. 

Planning 3 weeks. Would most likely look at internal flights between the cities.

I’m very used to driving long distances but since we’re on holiday for a limited time it would probably be best to split the time up between the locations and fly. 
When we eventually retire we’d like to do more extensive travel where we might hire a motorhome. 

I’m not sure I like the idea of a coach trip but would be keen to know if anyone has positive feedback on that approach. 

If you were going to visit the theme parks what would you recommend?

Only ever been to Blackpool and Alton towers!  

 

[BillyAnchor]

I lived in San Diego 91-2000 so can help a bit, just revisited in February and it has changed! Unless you want to say you have been to Mexico then I would avoid Tijuana.  We stayed in the Hercor Hotel in the city of Chula Vista just south of San Diego, its way cheaper than the city and was a great hotel right next to the trolly/train that takes you downtown. Free parking too. Ocean Beach is an interesting part of the city, kind of San Diego's version of Venice Beach and worth a look, the touristy beaches are Mission and Pacific and then La Jolla. Downtown has a great bar scene and worth visiting at night.

If you get a chance I'd head into the desert and spend a day in Palm Springs if only for the Aerial Tramway that takes you up the mountain and has amazing views, a lot of snow too in winter. Joshua Tree is nearby also. Not that far out your way.

LA is a mess but worth seeing at the same time. Santa Monica and the beach cities over Hollywood but spitting on the Trump star seems worth visiting Hollywood for (in February we passed it a few times and someone seemed to be constantly). Traffic is awful almost all the time but especially worse at rush hours, use the car pool lanes whenever you can. Hollywood still has a few good dive bars.

I can't help much further up north.

[Doctor Manhattan]

17 minutes ago, Molotov said:

I’m not sure I like the idea of a coach trip but would be keen to know if anyone has positive feedback on that approach.

If you'd asked me a few years ago I'd have said I would NEVER have done any kind of coach trip anywhere. However, at my wife's insistence we've now done a couple in the States and it wasn't actually that bad. ("New England in the fall", and a tour of the Southern states, taking in New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, and Savannah, among others.) As you might suspect, the old duffer demographic is well represented, but there was actually a reasonable spread age-wise. We're well used to planning our own itineraries, but there is no way we'd have seen even half of the stuff we did if we'd been driving ourselves. Accommodation can be variable, but we've had some really nice hotels & lodges along with the more basic ones.

@pozbaird's feedback above is spot on. The only thing I'd add re San Francisco is to do the Alcatraz "experience" if you can.

[TxRover]

1 hour ago, Molotov said:

Hey! Thanks for the reply. Great information. Noted about Mexico. Not worth the hassle. 

Planning 3 weeks. Would most likely look at internal flights between the cities.

I’m very used to driving long distances but since we’re on holiday for a limited time it would probably be best to split the time up between the locations and fly. 
When we eventually retire we’d like to do more extensive travel where we might hire a motorhome. 

I’m not sure I like the idea of a coach trip but would be keen to know if anyone has positive feedback on that approach. 

If you were going to visit the theme parks what would you recommend?

Only ever been to Blackpool and Alton towers!  

 

OK, with three weeks I’d say fly into LAX. Rent a car and plan to drive to San Diego (120 or so miles). Do the LA and SD stuff, then drive back to LAX, return the car and fly to either Vegas or San Fran…both are doable on foot/Lyft/Uber, a car in each isn’t terrible, but more useful in San Fran. Optionally, reverse that and you’ll possibly be accustomed to the traffic more for driving, and better rested.

Assuming you fly into LAX, check the prices from all of LAX, SFO and LAS on the return, sometimes a multicity is cheaper, like maybe into LAX direct and return via LAS and DEN, ORD or JFK.

In this case, randomly picking dates with United into LAX from EDI, and returns from LAX, SFO and LAS to EDI, Vegas is $150 more expensive than LAX or SFO.

[Fuctifano]

We're doing some of this as honeymoon in November. Going from Vegas- SF then down the coastal road to LA over 11 days. Neither of us really wanted to go to LA but the flight onto the last bit of honeymoon was best out of LAX and as others have said there's enough to pass a couple of days. Really not looking forward to driving in the big cities and I note part of Highway 1 is closed for landslides, but other than that it sounds amazing. 

We can't really do Yosemite at that time of year in a rental car due to lack of snow chains so giving that a miss. Trying to stay as flexible on accommodation as possible rather than have a fixed itinerary* but aware that certain thing e.g. Alcatraz will have to be booked well in advance (it's 6 months in advance so not long now) and work round that.

*I may well have one eye on the NFL fixture list coming out next month but she doesn't know that (yet).

Edited April 26, 2023 by Fuctifano

[pozbaird]

In reference to something I said in my initial reply in this thread, in an idle moment, I wondered ‘does Roxy’s Diner still exist at the Stratosphere Tower Hotel’? Google is your friend and all that - first thing, I never even knew the hotel had been re-branded as ‘The Strat’… wanky pish, is there a Vegas hotel called ‘The Gibson Les Paul’, no, don’t think so… ach, anyway… Roxy’s Diner seems to have also been re-branded as ‘The Strat Cafe’, but whaddya’ know, in the blurb, there’s still a photo of what still may be the best strawberry milkshake known to mankind*

*except maybe for the ones in the Ghiradelli Cafes. Fight! Fight! Fight!

In reading about the dining options in ‘The Strat’, I never recognised a single restaurant from the last time I was in that hotel. Things move so fast in Las Vegas. Blink, and they implode it, re-build it, re-brand it, or change its name. I wonder how many of my old favourite restaurants in Las Vegas have been killed off, to be replaced by the next new thing?…

Time to check if that Mexican Cantina in Mandalay Bay is still there, or the Italian in New York New York….

Shockeroonie… ‘Il Forniao’ Italian in New York New York, and the ‘Border Grill’ Mexican in Mandalay Bay are still there. Happy days. Must go back.

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by pozbaird

[Molotov]

43 minutes ago, Fuctifano said:

We're doing some of this as honeymoon in November. Going from Vegas- SF then down the coastal road to LA over 11 days. Neither of us really wanted to go to LA but the flight onto the last bit of honeymoon was best out of LAX and as others have said there's enough to pass a couple of days. Really not looking forward to driving in the big cities and I note part of Highway 1 is closed for landslides, but other than that it sounds amazing. 

We can't really do Yosemite at that time of year in a rental car due to lack of snow chains so giving that a miss. Trying to stay as flexible on accommodation as possible rather than have a fixed itinerary* but aware that certain thing e.g. Alcatraz will have to be booked well in advance (it's 6 months in advance so not long now) and work round that.

*I may well have one eye on the NFL fixture list coming out next month but she doesn't know that (yet).

That sounds a great plan. 
What airline carrier are you using?

This is a great site to find flights including upgrades.

https://www.momondo.co.uk

Looking like we might be best flying into LAX too.

I’m always knackered after a flight and the last thing I want to do is drive a car in a foreign country so considering taking the https://www.pacificsurfliner.com to travel south to San Diego.

I’m not that fussed if it runs late.
We are used to train delays up and down to London over decades. 

Or perhaps a greyhound bus. 

perhaps @TxRover may offer advice on that leg of the journey. 

Already got my eyes on two music gigs in different cities (San Diego and Las Vegas) so working travel schedule around those right now. 

Looking at LA-San Diego-Las Vegas-SF.

 

[Fuctifano]

Flying with Virgin from Heathrow direct to Vegas, flights have  been sorted since new year, it's just the road trip bit that's still open. Looking at auction for first class upgrade potentially as I'm not sure telling the check in agent it's your honeymoon is guaranteed to work. It's really no value for money at all but I guess if there's one time you're going to do it... (well the plan is only to get married once) 

Already got car hire booked as well, probably what I'm looking at from this thread is what area and in what type of establishment (hotel /Airbnb type place) to stay in LA and San Francisco, for the latter I wasn't sure whether it would be better staying out of the city to keep cost down and getting the BART in and out. 

Certainly in LA there are lots of different areas to stay which are miles apart so we'll need to keep the car for that. 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Fuctifano

[pozbaird]

6 minutes ago, Fuctifano said:

Flying with Virgin from Heathrow to Vegas, flights have  been sorted since new year, it's just the road trip bit that's still open. Looking at auction for first class upgrade potentially as I'm not sure telling the check in agent it's your honeymoon is guaranteed to work. It's really no value for money at all but I guess if there's one time you're going to do it... (well the plan is only to get married once) 

Already got car hire booked as well, probably what I'm looking at from this thread is what area and in what type of establishment (hotel /Airbnb type place) to stay in LA and San Francisco, for the latter I wasn't sure whether it would be better staying out of the city to keep cost down and getting the BART in and out. 

Certainly in LA there are lots of different areas to stay which are miles apart so we'll need to keep the car for that. 

When we visited Los Angeles we stayed in the Hyatt at Long Beach, which we loved. Not sure what the post-Covid world has done to prices for there these days though. The prices of many things in the USA has gone mental.

[David W]

We found accommodation in SF to be expensive. I'd suggest you make a start on that as a priority.

Vegas on the other hand will be much cheaper for a good hotel on the Strip.

Go to baseball. Loved SF even though it was cold, really cold. Didn't really see the fascination with Dodger stadium. San Diego looks nice, never been though.

[TxRover]

If you fly into LAX, I’d consider a hotel with an airport shuttle, and maybe look to do a bus tour or a couple of easy to get to spots there the first and/or second day, then get a car and start the fun. Don’t know about the train, and I wouldn’t take a Greyhound, but that’s me wanting control. Online forums posters from SoCal suggest the Surfliner over Greyhound unless you are trying to save every penny…draw your own conclusion.

BART is a question mark. It suffers from low ridership, mainly due to crime and people being bothered. It wasn’t the worst, but the reputation it built wasn’t good. They’ve added police, but still advise not hanging around outside the turnstiles to avoid being accosted…but that’s a lot of San Fran now.

Some things may vary depending on when you’re going (are local schools in or out can make a huge difference at parks and stuff), but the San Diego Zoo is truly amazing.

[BillyAnchor]

1 hour ago, Molotov said:

That sounds a great plan. 
What airline carrier are you using?

This is a great site to find flights including upgrades.

https://www.momondo.co.uk

Looking like we might be best flying into LAX too.

I’m always knackered after a flight and the last thing I want to do is drive a car in a foreign country so considering taking the https://www.pacificsurfliner.com to travel south to San Diego.

I’m not that fussed if it runs late.
We are used to train delays up and down to London over decades. 

Or perhaps a greyhound bus. 

perhaps @TxRover may offer advice on that leg of the journey. 

Already got my eyes on two music gigs in different cities (San Diego and Las Vegas) so working travel schedule around those right now. 

Looking at LA-San Diego-Las Vegas-SF.

 

The train from San Diego to LA used to be wonderful.  It goes right up the side of the ocean, on one side you have great Pacific views, on the other often stuck traffic on the 5 freeway. I cant vouch for trusting it regarding keeping time (the entire country is short staffed so I assume this is also affected).

[vikingTON]

San Diego to Las Vegas is also piss-easy by bus. 

[hk blues]

15 hours ago, Molotov said:

I’m not sure I like the idea of a coach trip but would be keen to know if anyone has positive feedback on that approach. 

 

We did it by coach as per my message above.

It was excellent but that would entirely depend on the individual coach company.  Ours was not too over-organised and plenty of time to do your own thing outside of the travelling from A to B to C.  Hassle-free but less flexible than driving but that worked for us. 

Overall, unless you hate being organised at all, I'd recommend it.

[MONKMAN]

I spent a few weeks in California last year.

Started out in Vegas - don't think it needs much explaining, 5 nights was ample.  Helicopter ride to grand canyon for sunset and kayaking on the Colorado river, were a good escape from the mayhem of the strip and downtown.

Hired a convertible mustang and drove from Vegas through Death Valley to Yosmeite, stopping at Lake June in the Sierra Nevada mountains for a night on the way.  4 nights staying in the Yosemite Valley, hiking and camping in one of the sites on the valley floor.  Yosemite was incredible and probably the highlight of the trip.

From Yosemite, then drove to San Francisco and ditched the car.  Stopped into Oakland on the way and donated our camping gear (purchased on the cheap at Walmart) to a homeless charity, who were very grateful.  The area around the charity HQ was prety grim  and felt a bit unsafe, so we got out of there as quickly as possible.   San Francisco was great and to be honest didn't think the homelessness was as bad as made out, although we did see a few people smoking crack in shop doorways, down near the beach.  I believe they're trying to clean up the city and force all the tents and homeless into specific areas, similar to skid row in LA. 

Alcatraz is a must, we did the night tour which was good.  Hired bikes and cycled over the golden gate to Sausalito, which is a stunning place, ended up getting pissed and got the ferry back.  Could spend hours wandering about Chinatown, food is incredible although a lot of the places didn't have menus in English, which was interesting. Fisherman's wharf was good for seafood and seeing the sealions. Would definitely go back.  Was there 6 nights and could have spent double that, just wandering about.