Help Planning Manchester to California

Thanks for your efforts moby125.

Only problem with them (you weren't to know) is that is early July before the holidays, hence obviously cheaper.

They are also very, very long journey times.

(Edit - the big problem with their journey planner is when using the Advanced Search there is no option for "flexible with dates" so you have to keep retrying for every single date to get the best prices.)
 
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We did NY six nights - Las Vegas 1 week and Palm Springs 1 week in July with 7 people. 2 kids and 2 OAP's in that mix.

Glasgow - Heathrow - New York
New York - Las Vegas
Drove from Las Vegas to Palm Springs
Drove from Palm Springs to Los Angeles
LA - Heathrow - Glasgow ..... phew!!

After a lot of planning and consideration, and Virgin having changed their scedules, we are no flying from Manchester to LV return. So we are gfoing to skip SF / Yosemite (probably of less interest to the kids anyway).

So we KNOW we are going to spend time in Vegas and San Diego. We are also considering Palm Springs. Is there much to do there? Is it all about golf? (really not our thing!)

And where abouts in LA? I must admit that the thought of driving in LA is not something I'd look forward to. I was thinking of perhaps somewhere on the coast and taking the odd day trip into LA.
 
Not much to see in LA i'm afraid.

To be honest, I thought that was the case. I was there for a night or two on a stopover nearly 20 years ago, and don't have any memories of the place!

Any other suggestions as to how to use our time wisely would be welcome.

We have 14 nights.

Probably use 4 in total in LV (1 at the beginning, 3 at the end)
3 in Palm Springs
4 in San Diego

...which leave 3 nights somewhere else.
 
We spent 2 nights in Palm Springs at the end of our holiday and have to say their wasn't really much to do. We very much treated as a day and a bit to relax by the pool and wind down after the rest of the holiday. There is a very nice Italian and Mexican restaurant on Main Street though (and a great hotdog place that opened 3 days before we arrived called Atomic Dogs).

W also did Yosemite for a couple of nights and loved it. As well as some great views and drives we also went to Marrisota Grove which is where all their giant sequoias are. That place was great and could have spent all day there just in awe of the size of the things.

I'm probably still looking through things with rosé tinted secs though as it was one of my best holidays ever. But do tend to agree the LA didn't provide much excitement. A nice meal in House of Blues, a quick walk along some of the walk of fame and that was about it. We did go up to Griffin Observatory but it was closed Monday/Tuesday which was a shame as the place looks like a science geeks heaven! But you do get the best view of the Hollywood sign from there.
 
W also did Yosemite for a couple of nights and loved it.
We stayed in a yurt.

Kids loved it. So did the wife until she found the warning leaflet about snakes and bears.

California20020039Thu18Jul02_zpsf13612e8.jpg
 
What about a night in Death Valley. If you have a car it's not that far from Las Vegas. We stayed in the Motel at Stovepipe Wells. The scenery is fantastic and the sunset on the mountains is spectacular.
 
The original plan included Yosemite and Death Valley but the holiday was starting to look too much like a "road trip" and my 2 young girls in the back (12, 16) would not appreciate that. I can't pretend otherwise: they like sunshine, smart hotels, nice pools, and burgers and ice cream for tea. Sunsets, wildlife and exotic fauna are a long way down their list of priorities!

Perhaps LV for a night, Palm Springs for a couple, San Diego for 3 or 4, Santa Barbara for a couple, then a bit of a journey on the coast road to SF for a couple of nights before an internal flight back to LV for a few nights then home is achievable without the memory of the holiday being too much about sitting in a car.
 
I don't think spending 5 nights between Palm Springs and San Diego is the best use of the time really , when I did a California Road Trip we stayed in Palm Springs for a night and I don't remember it being very exciting I must admit. What I do remember was staying at Death Valley , visiting Monument Valley (amazing), the Grand Canyon helicopter flight and Yosemite (absolutely stunning place). San Fran was fantastic, LA wasn't anything special but there is Universal there of course which might make a change and then there's LV, simply amazing, such an atmosphere and of course with the shows there's something to keep you entertained if gambling isn't your thing. I must admit I didn't visit San Diego but does it really have enough going for it to justify spending 3 or 4 nights there, I'd be surprised. Have an amazing holiday anyway, it was over 10 years ago I went and I've been wanting to go back ever since but kids and expensive holidays don't mix :(
 
Thanks everyone.

We have booked one night in LV at the start (to recover from the flight) and 4 at the end (which only amounts to 3 days, and we are staying in a posh hotel so that'll be atreat!).

So we have 10 to play with, and we are definitely going to San Diego plus another place or two.

San Fran and Yosemite are just too far. (My wife and I have been to those places years ago and they were beautiful).

So any ideas how to use those 10 nights?
 
I'm actually going on a west coast road trip in 5 days time - i'll be doing most of the recommended things, so i'll be sure to let you know how it goes. Itinerary is:

San Diego (1st night to recover from flight)
Drive SD -> Las Vegas for 3 Nights
Drive LV -> Lake Tahoe via Death Valley/Yosemite etc and stay 1 night
Drive Lake Tahoe -> San Fran for 3 nights
Drive SF -> Santa Barbara for 2 nights via Monterey/Carmel on the Big Sur HW1
Drive SB -> San Diego for 2 last nights (via LA to see Los Angeles Lakers vs Oklahoma City Thunder :D)

I can definitely help you with food recommendations (i live to eat haha!) as well as hotels.

Thanks,

Phil
 
Thanks everyone.

We have booked one night in LV at the start (to recover from the flight) and 4 at the end (which only amounts to 3 days, and we are staying in a posh hotel so that'll be atreat!).

So we have 10 to play with, and we are definitely going to San Diego plus another place or two.

San Fran and Yosemite are just too far. (My wife and I have been to those places years ago and they were beautiful).

So any ideas how to use those 10 nights?

Hmm, it's a shame you are ruling out San Fran/Yosemite and all thats in between as there would be so many things to do in the 10 days.

San Diego is a must, a beach town and so many things to do.
LA central could be done in a day (all the usual hollywood things) but there is also Universal and Six Flags theme park.
Santa Monica is nice, Venice beach etc..
Santa Barbara has always been highly recommended by people i know who have been there - which is why i've included it on my trip (lots of places to visit in between so i've heard)!
 
Thanks lambbuster.

SF is not completely ruled out...we could drive from San Diego for 5 hours, stop halfway up the coast for a night, then another 5 hours on to SF. Then we would have to fly from SF to LV. This is NOT a road trip - that doesn't appeal to young teenage girls I'm afraid. (We got away with it in the Canadian Rockies and Virginia when they were younger.)

Yosemite is definitely out. Maybe if they were the outdoors adventurous type...but there's no point pretending they are. My wife and I were there in the snow nearly 20 years ago. Stunning.

Where can you recommend to stay in San Diego? I had identified a hotel called La Jolla Shores. Need to have a nice pool area and be within walking distance of a good selection of affordable restaurants (I like nice hotels, but not fancy restaurants. Give us Five Guys, Lone Star Steakhouse and Golden Corral and we are in heaven. :))
 
Thanks lambbuster.

SF is not completely ruled out...we could drive from San Diego for 5 hours, stop halfway up the coast for a night, then another 5 hours on to SF. Then we would have to fly from SF to LV. This is NOT a road trip - that doesn't appeal to young teenage girls I'm afraid. (We got away with it in the Canadian Rockies and Virginia when they were younger.)

Yosemite is definitely out. Maybe if they were the outdoors adventurous type...but there's no point pretending they are. My wife and I were there in the snow nearly 20 years ago. Stunning.

Where can you recommend to stay in San Diego? I had identified a hotel called La Jolla Shores. Need to have a nice pool area and be within walking distance of a good selection of affordable restaurants (I like nice hotels, but not fancy restaurants. Give us Five Guys, Lone Star Steakhouse and Golden Corral and we are in heaven. :))

The drive between San Diego and San Francisco with a night in between may be the ideal solution for you! I know you say that the kids aren't the road trip type, but the drive between SD and SF is all coastal with so many beaches and greats scenery etc all along the way. You could stop in Orange County, Laguna Beach - they may have watched the shows on TV about those places and might enjoy visiting them?

Once you get to San Fran there will be plenty to do - shopping/eating etc - you've been there before so you know what a fantastic place it is!

In terms of San Diego - i'm staying in the Gaslamp area - purely because its near all the shops/restaurants and bars in the centre of town. There are a lot of nice hotels, but it depends how much you are willing to spend! I don't have any experience of the outer areas of San Diego i'm afraid :(

Apparently Phil's BBQ is an absolute must, as is Hash House A Go Go for big 'over-the-top' breakfasts :D
 

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