Trip to the States end of Jan 2024

[bjmarren]

Hi All,

We are planning a trip to the States at the end of next Jan for my wife's birthday. Our initial thoughts are visiting maybe California (i.e. LA and San Francisco). Has anyone got any advice for such a trip, as in what to see and do and how long do you think we would need for such a trip. We're happy hiring a car to get around if that would be regarded as important.

Thanks in advance,

Brendan

[NearlyThere]

Hi All,

We are planning a trip to the States at the end of next Jan for my wife's birthday. Our initial thoughts are visiting maybe California (i.e. LA and San Francisco). Has anyone got any advice for such a trip, as in what to see and do and how long do you think we would need for such a trip. We're happy hiring a car to get around if that would be regarded as important.

Thanks in advance,

Brendan

We did a road trip in 2010 LA, San Francisco, Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Joshua Tree, La Jolla (San Diego)

The drive up Route 1 is great. When visiting San Francisco we stayed in Tibouron, a small town across the bay. You can catch the commuter ferry for a few dollars which goes into the city at Fishermans Wharf past Alcatraz and get a great view of the Golden Gate bridge. Yosemite was stunning also. I wouldn't spend too long in LA. San Diego and La Jolla are much nicer. Vegas is Vegas.

The Lodge at Tibouron was a lovely place to stay.

Enjoy your trip!

Neil

[JohnB]

That's a great route, but be careful when crossing the Sierra Nevada in winter. Most of the passes are closed by snow, and a storm can drop 10' on them.

You might find car hire companies offer cheap "open jaw" rates that would allow you to arrive in SF and leave from LA. The former is much better.

[wanderer]

I spent time out there when I was studying at UCLA. It's an absolutely amazing place. My suggestions:

- Car is essential. If you're renting a car separately and not part of a fly drive package then buy excess insurance before you go from an independent provider: you will save a lot of money
- Motel/travelodge type accommodation is plentiful and cheap - road trips with lots of overnight stops en route along with diner visits are huge fun
- If you're going to California then step into Arizona and Utah as well for some great sights, stunning scenery and amazing night skies. It will all be covered on the same car hire contract as the three states are usually bundled together
- lovely and/or interesting places to visit, in no particular order: San Diego, Monteray, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Laguna Beach, Malibu, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Grand canyon, Yosemite, Page, Monument Valley, San Francisco, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Sedona
- I am not a skier but there are plenty of opportunities for that if its your thing. You can ski in the morning and be on the beach in the afternoon... Hiking opportunities are endless
- LA itself is a bit meh, although it is a good place to fly in and out of and Santa Monica, Hollywood, Mulholland Drive, etc are all worth a stop if you're there. In LA, Pacific Pallisades is good for chilling... Brentwood and Westwood for star spotting... I quite liked parts of LA but then I was there for quite a while!
- If national parks are your thing then consider an annual pass, as you save money very quickly. The lodges in the parks are state owned - functional, very good value, but book up pretty quickly
- The weather is not going to be great in January. It will be hot in Palm Desert/Palm Springs but you will need snow chains for the car if you're going to Yosemite or similar. You will have far fewer crowds but there will be less sunshine than in, say, April. Appreciate it's being organised around a birthday, so maybe the date is very much fixed, but....
- Put the car away in San Francisco : it's the most European type of city and you can actually use public transport to get around. I have to say that whilst it was very nice when I was there 15 years ago, it appears to have gone downhill.
- if you go to Arizona then definitely consider one of the nighttime star spotting/astronomy "tours". Seeing the rings of saturn through a telescope was something I will never forget...
- we didn't do wine country as we had a young kid in tow, but that's north of San Francisco. Sedona, on the other hand, is on the border with New Mexico. California is a big big place and there's so much to do - have a blast!!
- make it three or four weeks if you can. You won't run out of things to do! If not, then you can see plenty in a fortnight but probably would need to choose between San Diego and San Francisco.

[mc2fool]

Ah, yeah, a couple of people have mentioned some national parks (and have also mentioned weather) and if you are interested in them very definitely do your research first, especially for that time of year.

I did a trip round a bunch of them some decades ago in May and the north rim of the Grand Canyon still had snow on it (and the south rim was pretty cold). We went onto Yosemite from Nevada into the "back" entrance (Tioga Pass) and it was like driving through a snow canyon. The road had been perfectly well ploughed but there was 8-10 feet of nearly vertical snow banks either side. That was in May. I gather that entrance is closed during winter, but while you won't be going in that way remember that just the valley itself is at 4000ft, so be sure to check conditions before you go....

[Lootman]

That's a great route, but be careful when crossing the Sierra Nevada in winter. Most of the passes are closed by snow, and a storm can drop 10' on them.

The northern freeway route through the Sierras (I-80 from SF via Truckee to Reno) is not closed that much but chains are mandatory during snow unless you have hired a 4-wheel vehicle. You get pulled over and pay for the privilege, but at least someone does it for you.

The southern freeway route (I-10 from LA to Vegas) skirts the higher mountains and is usually fine.

The smaller roads get closed a lot and some are closed all winter.

Also note that the coastal route through Big Sur (CA Route 1) is a great scenic drive but landslides and mudslides in winter can close it, and it is a looooooong detour in that case.

LA itself is a bit meh, although it is a good place to fly in and out of and Santa Monica, Hollywood, Mulholland Drive, etc are all worth a stop if you're there. In LA, Pacific Pallisades is good for chilling... Brentwood and Westwood for star spotting... I quite liked parts of LA but then I was there for quite a while!

Put the car away in San Francisco : it's the most European type of city and you can actually use public transport to get around. I have to say that whilst it was very nice when I was there 15 years ago, it appears to have gone downhill.

I go to LA a lot, for family reasons, but do not particularly like it other than Santa Monica and Venice Beach.

San Francisco has gone downhill but it is still a great place. Its downtown has not recovered from Covid and is a bit of a ghosttown. But SF is really all about its neighbourhoods - like London it is a collection of villages, each with its own charm and style. So take the bus, streetcar or BART, or walk, to the Mission district (Hispanic), Castro (gay), the Haight (hippies), Golden Gate Park, ChinaTown, North Beach and the Presidio.

I recommend the night tour of Alcatraz - dress warm for that. Best to book in advance.

Like any US city be aware, and there are some areas to avoid, like the Tenderloin and Bayview/Hunter's Point. You will see a lot of people sleeping rough, and some open drug use, but those folks are not usually any trouble.

[Gerry557]

You will probably need a car. You get looked at for walking from the hotel to the diner next door. OK it a couple of hundred meters and quicker than driving but unless you are Jack Reacher wannabe a car is a must.

[bjmarren]

Thank you all for your replies,

We're looking through them and there's plenty of great advice and info. We'll be getting back to you all again for some more advice and help if you can stand it!

Brendan

[tjh290633]

We did a trip in 1999 which involved some time in the SFO area. On this occasion we stayed in the Carmel area for a few days, then moved to Davis to stay with a relation and finally stayed in Petaluma to look around the Napa Valley and visit San Francisco itself. We avoided driving into the city by taking the ferry from Larkspur.

We also did a flydrive in 1981, taking Laker to LAX. After doing the film studios and Disneyland, we spent a night in Santa Barbara to visit a friend. Then up the coast road to Monterey for a look around, then to Sonoma to stay with relations for a few days. The family flew to Truckee by private plane, owned by the relations company, while I drove there, then to Lake Tahoe and thence to the south and Yosemite before going over the pass to Fresno, Bakersfield and LA. We drove through Yosemite, but stayed outside the park. Good scenery but not worth staying in the park.

A car is essential. Booking hotels in advance is a good idea. Holiday Inn or similar is easy. Usually you can find places as you drive along, but I recall one crummy motel in upstate New York.

Good luck with your trip.

TJH

[Lootman]

We drove through Yosemite, but stayed outside the park. Good scenery but not worth staying in the park.

Very few national parks in the US have hotels or motels anyway. They are usually clustered just outside the park boundary. Overnight visitors camp in the many campsites and RV parks that are inside the parks. Yosemite is an exception and has the wonderful Ahwahnee Hotel. But it was $600 a night when I went a few years ago, so no bargain.

Note that even if you just drive through a NP that you have to pay the vehicle entrance fee. Figure $20 or more.

A car is essential.

A few things about driving in CA:

1) You can turn right on a red light or stop sign. But only after stopping and yielding to any cross traffic. I never understood why we cannot turn left on red here.

2) If there is a bike lane then you must move into it when making a turn

3) You are supposed to pull over if there are 5 or more vehicles behind you.

4) Some freeway exits are on the left i.e. from the fast lane and not the slow lane.

5) You can overtake on either side but, even so, slow traffic is supposed to keep right.

6) Do not be shy about using the car-pool lane (also called HOV lane) if there is one and you have enough passengers, usually 1 or 2 as signed. Can save a lot of time, at least in LA

7) Just for fun drive along the 5/405 merge/intersection in LA. At its widest it has 24 lanes.