Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks are both well worth a visit and you can drive from San Fran. The coastal bit of LA is worth a visit (we stopped at San Pedro and stopped off at Hermosa / Venice beach etc) on the drive back to the airport. Agree about Hollywood being overrated (just do the short tour would be my advice). Would avoid Vegas and focus on the beauty spots but that's just me. I got the grayhound from LA to San Fran and drove back to LA via national parks. Went in 2006 so some time ago now, but stayed with me.
Bearing in mind we can’t afford more than a few days in San Francisco and don’t want more than a couple in Las Vegas, where would you suggest would be good to stay for around 7 days? Or would you suggest just having a shorter trip? We’re not very confident about doing loads of stops in various places as we just wouldn’t get anything out of it due to stressing about the logistics and general temporary awkwardness each time arriving somewhere new. Being more normal isn’t an option, unfortunately.
You can also clear customs etc in Dublin making it much easier when you land in the USA apparently (you get treated like an internal flight). Given some of the waits I've had entering the USA it could be a good plan.
Have you thought about escorted coach tours where they arrange everything and then there's nothing to worry about? Haven't done one but was looking into it last year. There are a few companies. I remember looking at this one: America Tours & Touring Holidays 2023/2024 - Americasky (americansky.co.uk)
We saw an option that had a layover in Dublin but it added 5 hours onto the arrival time. We’ve done multiple transfers many times on the way to and from the US previously (3 each way to Hawaii which took 24 hours in total and 2/3 each way to Florida taking between 13-18 hours), I just want to get on a plane and get off when I’m there this time.
Yeah always fly direct now even if it means driving to Heathrow. It's worse when your change flights in the USA and have to get your bags and check in again for the connecting flight. Only did that once and have avoided it ever since.
As everyone else has said, Hollywood is crap. If you think you might not like Vegas then you probably won't and would be better off going to Yosemite or San Diego for a few days, or stopping off for the odd night at a few other places on your drive down the coast. I like Vegas but it is like Blackpool if it had been raised on supersteroids and unfettered capitalism. If the thought of that makes you shudder don't waste your money.
We've booked west coast this September for my partner's 30th. We're flying to Vancouver for 3 nights, bus to Seattle for 2 nights, then fly down to San Francisco. 3 nights there before hiring a car to drive down to LA on highway 1. Plan is 1 night Monterey, 1 night Pismo beach and 1 night in Santa Monica before flying home from LAX. Can't wait.
Also snap. Americans! Do you really need to eat that much? Had lunch in Santa Monica once and ordered catfish and fries. What turns up was a piled high mountain of fries into which was tucked 7 fish the size you’d get in a chippy here. No need.
Driving is both a lot easier than here - and it can be very scary when you pick your car up after a 10 hour flight (7 hours of which is flying over Canada) and pull out onto a 12-lane highway towards SF - and the one way system was too hard after a long flight. SF was walkable, but it can drop cold - even in Summer - when the fog rolls in. Alcatraz at least had to be booked in advance so you might need to do it online. It was 25+ years ago when I was there though. However, if you can drive I'd recommend hiring a car from SF, heading inland to Tahoe (past Napa Valley), then south through Yosemite/KIngs Canyon/Sequoia/Death Valley to Vegas, A day trip to the Grand Canyon, then east to LA and finish up the coast. Its easy driving, very, very, very beautiful and if you schedule stops at little places on the way it really doesn't feel like a chore. One note - Grand Canyon West is the nearest to Vegas but it isn't the Grand Canyon NP - which is North of Flagstaff. GCW has the Skywalk over the drop, and you get a lot of the views (and I think the Zipline) but not the walks down to the bottom of the valley. If you want to attempt that. We're going to Vegas and looping Route 66 to NM, north to Co and through the Utah parks back to Tahoe - to visit where we got married - and back down through the parks. Only issue is we go in 4 weeks and it was a bad winter for snow, so some of the roads are likely to still be shut when we get there.
How exiciting JamDrop! I did something similar with the family just over 4 years ago so based on that experience here's my suggestions. We flew into Las Vegas - at the time it was much cheaper than LA or SF. We didn't expect to like it much but really did. We barely went in the casinos so the smoking thing wasn't really a concern for us. Having a walk around the hotels on the strip is an experience in itself. We also did a helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon via Lake Mead. Highly recommend the Grand Canyon if you get the chance, it's amazing. We then flew from Vegas to San Francisco. To save some money we stayed in Tiburon, a really nice village about 20 mins over the Golden Gate Bridge. For us the highlights in San Francisco were Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Coit Tower (San Andreas film made the kids want to see it but it's a great view from up there), China Town and walking around other areas like Nob Hill. Oh and riding a cable car. Over the bridge is Sausolito which as others have said is great. The centre of SF around Union Square was a huge disappointment - dirty and with drunks / addicts seemingly everywhere. And as with any city centre I guess it's also really expensive. From there we drove to Yosemite. There was a huge fire which meant the entrance we were 3 miles from was closed and we had to do a two hour detour but it wads well worth it - Yosemite is stunning. And from there we drove back to the coast and down to Monterey. Monterey is nice. If you go there visit Carmel which is fantastic. We then went to LA, first to Santa Monica - ok. I had an impression that Venice Beach would be fantastic - in reality it was average. And the iconic Muscle Beach part is run down and dirty. We also had an airbnb closer to the city in West Hollywood. I agree with others - the area around the Walk of Fame is not nice. Be prepared to be accosted by someone selling something every few yardsor by a homeless person sitting / lying on the pavement. As an aside, I was there a few years earlier and that'd changed a lot, many many more people seem to be homeless in the US. Beverley Hills and that area is worth a visit though if you have chance. And then we drove back to Vegas for our flight home. But do be prepared for the traffic in LA - London is a breeze in comparison. We'll definitely go back to Vegas sometime. And probably Yosemite and San Francisco. Not sure I'd visit LA again though. Anyway, enjoy your holiday and give us all an update on your experience after it!
Helicopter is the best way to see the Grand Canyon. They land and you can have lunch and/or a drink there.
That was a really interesting read, thank you. There’s definitely bits there that appeal to us a lot.
It’s 16 yrs since we drove from San Francisco to San Diego down the coast road . As others have said LA wasn’t up to much , Venice Beach , Beverley Hills Council estate tour and that’s about it , Toronado (pub) in San Francisco was a highlight
I've done: LA > Santa Barbra > Monterey > San Francisco > Yosemite > Lone Pine > Death Valley > Las Vegas > Zion National Park > Bryce Canyon > Lake Powell > Monument Valley > Grand Canyon > Las Vegas > Palm Springs > LA On a four week road trip, the above are the places we stayed over, saw plenty of other places along the way. It was amazing and I'd return to them all, except LA, unless that's where the plane landed, and I'd drive straight out of there. Spent three nights in LA, which was three too many. My advice is do anything other than LA. There's more to see just in California than you could do in a lifetime but none of it is in LA. It's just a lot of straight roads and a lot of traffic lights.
Thanks, Jay. It seems like a lot of people share that view about LA. I do want to go to Disneyland, which I’m aware is really not a lot of people’s cup of tea, so we’ll need to spend at least a day there but it looks like the week we had planned in LA is definitely too much.
If there's something you particularly want to do, like Disney Land, then of course, but for just general tourist stuff, I'd really say not. Hollywood is a dump. You can't walk anywhere. You're all on to find a pub or a diner or a restaurant. You'll certainly not drop on one, you'll have to look up where you want to go and drive there. Griffith Park, where you can see the Hollywood sign and look out on Downtown is OK, not brilliant but OK. Costal LA, Venice Beach and Santa Monica are again OK, but compared to Santa Barbara just up the coast, which is fantastic, they're not worth bothering with. If you're going to San Francisco, which is brilliant, but take some warm clothes, then I'd either go up towards Napa and wine country or west to Yosemite (an unbelievable place) and then down to Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks. The Sierra Nevada mountains are just out of this world.
