Virgin's King of the Road Western Tour

[Wendywoo]

Hi

Having done WDW 3 years running we have decided to try somewere different and after looking in the new Virgin brochure we liked the look of the flydrive tours, Virgins King of the road western which covers Los Angeles,Palm springs, Lake Havasu, Grand Canyon,Las Vegas,Yosemite and finishing at San Francisco looks Kewl.

It looks like a lot of driving 1533miles over 14 days but we love driving, When we were over Florida we did 1100miles in 3weeks which we really enjoyed.

We have heard great reports of all the above places especially Las Vegas which is were our father is at this time,

The only concern we have with this holiday is will we feel like were just driving through these places and not getting to enjoy them and see very much.

Has anyone done this Flydrive or similar any advice would be much appeciated.

Thanks Wendy :)

[ju_itfc]

I am just having a look at that flydrive in the Virgin brochure, it sounds like a great trip.

The driving wouldn't be a problem 1500miles over 14 days, easy. We drove San Francisco to Las Vegas in 9 hours, about 550 miles. If you like driving then that won't be a problem.

My only concern is the same as yours. You have to ensure you don't just drive through these places because one night anywhere isn't really enough time to do it justice.

Certainly for the 3 big cities, LA, LV & SF I think you need a 3 night minimum to at least have a taster of what they are about.

In LA your base would be Sheraton Anaheim which is a great hotel, we stayed there in 2002 and loved it. It is ideal for Disney, just a short walk away but isn't really that great for the other sights of LA and the surrounding area. If you want your Disney fix, then great...if you want to see Hollywood, Beverly Hills etc then that is going to mean a drive north in serious traffic, but it can be done.

3 nights in Vegas, Mandalay Bay is very nice. I think you can get a good feel for Vegas in 3 nights, but it will mean not straying far from the strip. There are some great day/2day trips from Vegas to the likes of Hoover Dam, Valley of Fire State Park, Red Rock Canyon, Zion NP in Utah, Bryce etc etc but I don't how you will fit those in. If you just want to see the strip, then 3 nights will suffice. You can always come back again....

2 nights in San Francisco isn't enough imho. Each time we've been for 7 nights and still found new things to do each time. You will be based in Fishermans Wharf so ideal for Pier 39, Alcatraz, bay cruises etc etc but there is so much more to SF then just the Wharf area. The good thing is that public transport is great in SF, and it is only a short bus, tram or cable car ride down to Union Square and other areas of SF. Of course having a car will also enable you to get away from the bay area, but once again time constraints is going to be a problem.

As for the other places on the itinerary, I can only really comment on Yosemite. Your 2 nights will suffice here but I think I could stay there for a week, it is just the most beautiful place on earth. Lots of hiking trails, waterfalls, wildlife spotting...it really has everything, but just be careful to avoid peak time and crowds. Both times we have been it has been pretty quiet but I understand it can get very busy.

I have been to the Grand Canyon but only from Vegas via Helicopter.

My advice would be to try and price up an itinerary yourself and use the VH intineary as a guide. That way you can spend longer in the places you really need it (SF) and can omit places you are not so keen on. It's just a thought, but would be interested to see how prices compare to VH prices.

Hope this helps

Ju

[Wendywoo]

Thanks for advice Ju
I was on the phone to Virgin last night getting an idea of prices for Sept/Oct 14 nights with premium economy on the way back and upgrading car to luxury with plat insurance and it came out around £4900 for the three of us.
I asked if I could go for 3 weeks and add a day or two on each area and was told you can only add it on the last area.
They said I would be better off planning my own iteneary (as you suggested) and they said they would price it up and check availability.
Friends and family of ours who have been to these destinations say Las Vegas and San francisco are the best and say they didnt care For LA.
Our heads are a scramble at mo trying to decide were and what to see, Its a big place USA and we wanna see it all but which first ?? :confused2

[gail33]

Hi,
We've just come back from Florida and are currently deciding on next year's Holiday. We seem to be leaning towards vegas again, doing a flydrive Vegas-some where in between- San Francisco- Vegas type holiday. We did LA last visit and didn't like it, that said I'm glad we did one day Hollywood Tour/ City Tour. LA was a sad place lots of homeless people everywhere (they didn't bother you). We didn't feel very safe there unlike vegas which we loved.

[ju_itfc]

Wendy,

LA is a tricky one because it is so vast and you can pretty much have 3 or 4 different holidays in one during a 2 week break. Personally I love the Anaheim area, both DL & DCA are great parks and are different to the Orlando parks. The Dowtown Disney area in Anaheim is very nice and of course is walkable from both parks. There is also the block at Orange shopping mall which is great. It is difficult to compare Orlando & Anaheim, I love them both.
You can also do the city tours in LA, Hollywood and go down to the beach, Santa Monica is particularly nice but I didn't care much for Venice (Muscle) Beach. If you still want to do further theme parks then Universal is excellent in the Hollywood hills, the behind scenes tour is immense, worthwhile going just for that, and finally you have Six Flags Magic Mountain...great rides, but most of the type at least 2 or 3 of the big crowd pullers are down for maintenance.

In saying all that I would only probably go back to LA for Disney, and in the context of your semi plan of an itinerary there are better places to go, especially if you have had your fill of theme parks over the years.

Personally, I would fly into San Francisco and kick off there with at least 5nights...there is so much to do in the city itself and the surrounding area, Muir Woods is very nice and only a short hop north plus you've got the obvious like Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge & Park, Coit Tower, Cable Cars etc etc....I could go on all day about SF, one essential is to do a city tour.....it gives you a real feel for the diversity of the city, and also lets you see full on the seriousness of the homeless problems.

From SF it has to be Yosemite. With a car it is easy but twisty, I would say 3-4 hours but someone could put me right on that. Last time we went we got the train to Merced and then hopped on the transfer bus into the park. Yosemite is out of this world, I've been to New Zealand and Yosemite itself tops anything it has to offer. We had 2 nights there last time but you could easily spend more time, the hiking trails are plentiful. It is a good contrast to the city life of San Francisco and will also prepare you for the magnitude of Las Vegas.

From Yosemite you can try Mammoth for more scenery or just head straight to Vegas. I would then base myself in Vegas and see the strip but also head out on day trips to the likes of Valley of Fire State Park, Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam etc etc. If you fancy a couple of nights away elsewhere then the Grand Canyon is an obvious option but don't forget Zion National Park in Utah, we head there in September and it is supposed to be awesome.

Sorting your own itinerary is the way to go. At the end of the day it is quite easy if you follow my suggestions, a trip consisting of San Francisco, Yosemite, Vegas and the surrounding area is a cracking trip. You won't be disappointed with anything in that.

Do let me know what you decide on, and if you need further help PM or post on here.

Ju

[Puk]

Wendy,

We did the "King of the Road" tour back in August 2005. It was AWESOME!!!!

We went from LA - Palm Springs - Lake Havasu - Grand Canyon - Vegas - Yosemite - San Fran. The only changes we made was to add an additional night in both LA and Vegas and changed the Vegas hotel from Luxor to THEHotel at Mandalay Bay.

The driving wasn't a problem at all. Was actually good fun to be doing it, especially the desert drives from Palm Springs to Lake Havasu as we saw our first tumbleweed! (tip, don't hit it, they are not light and fluffy :D )

We fell in love with Palm Springs and Grand Canyon, so much so that we got married in the Canyon last year and honeymooned in Palm Springs.

The longest drives are from Lake Havasu to Grand Canyon which is nice and easy (2 roads) and from Vegas to Yosemite. For this one we left at 8am and got to Yosemite at 5pm. Was a long day but the changes in scenery was so worth it, was a breathtaking holiday really and the driving never got to much and we never argued once.

If you like we have our photos on FlickR. If you PM me I can send you the link to the sets so you can see the sorts of places you'll be going.

Also, we still have the PDF we created which had the route and lots of stops like Hoover Dam etc with traveling times etc if your interested.

Really, I would do it again in a heartbeat, it was a great experience and the best 2 weeks we spent abroad, almost as good as Disney. If you want anymore info just let me know, I'll be more than happy to help!

All the best,

Andy

[pinkypominnie]

We did a simlar trip many years ago and found it far better to organise our own itinery and just buy flights/arrange hotels etc seperately xx

[Wendywoo]

hiya guys

thanks for all your replys and info. We are considering different options about how we wanna do our holiday and your advise has really helped.

Will let you all know when we finally make our minds up.

Wendy :wavey: