First trip

My husband and I are planing our first trip. We are flying to Los Angeles in June and fly back from San Francisco July. We have booked a car and want to visit the Grand Canyon not bothered about Las Vegas but would like to spend some time in Yosemite. We have 14 days to complete our tour. We will be in San Francisco for the 4th July can you surgest a hotel that has a good view of the bay for the 4th of July fireworks plus nice fish resturant, and any other places that you can recomend to stop at on the way.

First trip

The Griffon Hotel, Hyatt Embarcadero and Harbour Court Hotel are closest to the fireworks display. Do you want a fish restaurant exclusively? Or do you want a restaurant on the bay near the fireworks display that day that serves fish?

Others may have a different opinion but it seems that you are going to be spending a lot of time in the car during your two weeks, driving, but having little time to actually be in the places that you have named. These are very long distances to cover in two weeks. What is most important for you to see? Do you plan on sightseeing in L.A.? How many days in the Grand Canyon? How long in Yosemite? How long in SF?

First trip

BetterthanBings said 芦Others may have a different opinion禄

Indeed I do!

芦 but it seems that you are going to be spending a lot of time in the car during your two weeks, driving, but having little time to actually be in the places that you have named.禄

You are planning one of the most fabulous trips it%26#39;s possible to take on this planet. Round trip is about two thousand magnificent miles (3200km) of awe-inspiring mountain scenery, breathtaking desert vistas, and arguably the most incredible geological marvel in the known universe. Ignore the nay-sayers: You have the right idea.

If you make this your route you will have had one of the greatest travel experiences possible:

Los Angeles to Las Vegas . . . Here%26#39;s ';A bit of non-gambling Las Vegas'; with about a dozen useful links: geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/LasVegas.html

If you%26#39;re there on a Monday, go to the bar in the back of the Stratosphere at 20:00 for a Blues Jam that%26#39;s a blast.

. . . to the Grand Canyon via Williams and return to Las Vegas to go through Pahrump and Shoshone through Death Valley to the Eastern Sierra Highway 395 to Mono Lake, thence through the Tioga Pass (it should be open in June) into Yosemite Valley, then via Highway 49 to Sacramento to come here.

Better yet would be starting in Las Vegas as it would save you perhaps two days on The Road if you don%26#39;t have a specific reason to start in Los Angeles.

The ';Don%26#39;t-miss SIGHTS in San Francisco'; page geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Sights.html has enough to keep you busy for nine twelve-hour days. It includes links to your best source of advice on WHERE TO EAT here, the UseNet Group ba.food, and the quite-good sfSurvey. It also has a WEATHER CHART with a link to current conditions.

The best on-line MAP of San Francisco is an inter-active PDF created for the San Francisco Municipal Railway: geocities.com/iconoc/Grafix/CityWide.pdf. I recommend 150% or greater magnification. There%26#39;s also a link that will tell you HOW TO GET THERE FROM HERE. Other links on the page, geocities.com/iconoc/Grafix/FlagMaps.html are a map of our CABLE CAR ROUTES and a superb map of GOLDEN GATE PARK.

The frequently-updated SPECIAL EVENTS page has irregularly-scheduled music and dances as well as links to seven calendars of regularly-scheduled dances, a composite of five of them, and one of dance cruises and events around the world: http://geocities.com/dancefest/Specials.html

[Funny. I%26#39;m feeling excited just THINKing about this trip. You should be, too.]

Thanks Betterthanbings for your reply. We are looking for a fish selling only restaurant. After reading more into our trip it does seem we will have a lot of time in the car. We were hoping to spend 2 nights in LA, 1day Grand Canyon, 2 nights in Yosemite and 4 night in SF then over night stops to get there. Does that seem realistic?

Thanks Swingcha you have gave us loads to look at and start planning.

Is the best way to the Grand Canyon to go to Las Vagas as we are realy not bothered by this and we wood like to see some small towns on the way. We have booked flights to LA so we need to start there and finish in SF for flights home.

Sharon098 said 芦Thanks Swingcha禄

You%26#39;re welcome.

芦Is the best way to the Grand Canyon to go to Las Vagas禄

Yes. You won%26#39;t be disappointed. Drive The Strip from the Luxor to the Stratosphere in both directions after dark. You won%26#39;t regret it. It%26#39;s about six miles but the traffic moves slowly so it takes a while so that you can see what there is to see. Also try to catch The Fremont Street Experience before midnight. There are four versions.

芦We have booked flights to LA so we need to start there and finish in SF for flights home.禄

That%26#39;s an excellent route. You%26#39;ll enjoy it.

Dear Sharon

My husband and i did a similar trip last year and it was the best holiday we have ever had!

We started in Las Vegas however, then drove to the Grand Canyon. If you can, and you only have one day there you could consider taking a flight with Scenic Airlines. (Possible to book before leaving the UK) We flew to the west rim from the south rim, then took a helicpoter down into the canyon, then sailed on a raft on the Colorado. We set off about 7.30 in the morning and we were back at the south rim by 3.00pm, it was a trip of a lifetime and you see so much more of the canyon itself. However if you cant fit that in, I can still promise you that you wont be disappointed.

I too thought Las Vegas was not my scene but it is an experience, and I can recommend going to the top of the stratosphere tower and watching the sun go down and the lights come on - MAGICAL!

Yosemite is also fabulous, we only had one full day there (a two night stop) and unfortunately it rained all the time that day. However the following morning we woke to bright blue skies and snow everywhere (We went at Easter) and as we drove through the park again it was just awesome.

San Francisco is a wonderful city with something for everyone - my one recommendation to eat would be Ana Mandara (It is a Vietnamese restaurant) and it%26#39;s fabulous! Lovely friendly people, great food, and a bar upstairs with live music (a jazz trio) where you can sit before or after the meal and just soak up the atmosphere.

You dont have to take up any of my suggestions, but what ever you do I%26#39;m sure you will have the trip of a lifetime - have fun!!

I wasn%26#39;t being a nay-sayer; I love doing a long road trips and these are magnificent places Sharon098 wants to visit. I was suggesting that she has a lot of ground to cover in two weeks, and so I wanted to know what her objectives were so that her trip came out to her expectations. These are long distances that you don%26#39;t find in the U.K. They are great to drive, but if you want to stop and smell the desert roses in the time you have, you need some help in the form of air travel to speed you along. So...

Sharon: Since your parameters are an arrival in L.A. and departure from SF, and you only have two weeks to enjoy all this, I would sugest the following:

1. Fly from L.A. to Las Vegas one-way, and rent a car in Las Vegas for the rest of your trip. Southwest Airlines is one of my favorites and you can get some cheap internet fares 3-4 months from your departure. (www.iflyswa.com)

While that may eliminate some of the things you would see by car heading east to Las Vegas, you%26#39;ll see plenty more as you go back west from Las Vegas to Yosemite (some of it is not very interesting, and some of it is amazing).

2. Arrange to drop your car off in SF as soon as you get there, since parking is expensive and cars are largely unnecessary for tourists. If you have some sightseeing that is outside of the city, plan that on the first day of your stay, then ditch the car (I didn%26#39;t hear you say you wanted to go to Napa, so I don%26#39;t see any reason yet why you would have any outside of SF sightseeing).

3. Las Vegas can be a short overnight stay, the better to see the city at night, then to get an early start for the Grand Canyon.

4. Enter Yosemite from the backside, I-395, for a beautiful drive through the Eastern Sierra. You will find many helpful posts about this route on the Yosemite and Death Valley fora on this site. There are some great places to stop along the way to stay. It is gorgeous here, so you should plan an overnight somewhere along the way. You go from desert to mountains and it%26#39;s just indescribable.

5. You can head into San Francisco from Yosemite from there.

Key advice in January: Book your hotel (Yosemite Lodge or Ahwanee Hotel) NOW for a June visit. Lodging inside the national park books up fast. There is lodging outside, but you spend your time driving in and out. It%26#39;s not horrible, but perhaps you%26#39;d rather wake up inside the park.

http://www.yosemite.com/

http://www.nps.gov/yose/

SwingCha said 芦You are planning one of the most fabulous trips it%26#39;s possible to take on this planet.禄

prettybullet said 芦My husband and i did a similar trip last year and it was the best holiday we have ever had! . . . You dont have to . . . but what ever you do I%26#39;m sure you will have the trip of a lifetime禄

Thank you for your support.

BetterthanBings said 芦I wasn%26#39;t being a nay-sayer禄

My plural reference was broad and general, neither specific nor personal.

Prettybullet

Thanks for the advice I will book with Scenic Airlines before we arrive.

Thanks for the restaurant tip we will try it out.

It sounds as though you had a great trip cannot wait for ours.

Thanks again Sharon

BetterthanBlings

Thanks for the great tip of flying to LA and renting car there we never thought of that. With the time it will save we will certainly be taking your advice.

Great advice about trying to book at Yosemite Lodge or Ahwanee it is mostly fully booked.

Thanks again Sharon

you just need to keep your eye on the Tioga pass, as one of the earlier posts said it should be open but last year it didn%26#39;t open until June 17 and in %26#39;06%26#39; it was June 24th and on the odd occasion it has been July, it is over 10,000 feet high and I managed the drive last October after 6 years of trying! so it may be worthwhile planning it late in the trip because it will be a high point, no pun intended, the Sierras also record the highest snowfall levels in the country and the ski slopes at Mammoth have been known to still be open on Independance day so you could be at the mercy of this years El Nino.

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