LizzyBear
19 Jul 08, 03:04 PM
Just thought i'd share :) Two adults, mid 20's, first time California and Las Vegas visitors!
18th September: Fly from Manchester to San Francisco. We'll be flying with Continental and changing in Newark. Use the BART or a taxi/shuttle to get from the airport to San Francisco. No plans for today other than find the hotel (Columbus Motor Inn), check-in and unpack.
19th-21st September: 3 full days to explore San Francisco. We have Alcatraz booked for 10:30am on 19th and a Mr Toad's Tour (http://www.mrtoadstours.com/) booked for 11am on 20th. We also want to visit Fisherman's Wharf, China Town, Golden Gate Park and possibly Sausalito too.
The hotel is in an Italian neighbourhood with loads of nice restaurants. I have a list of possible places so we'll probably just head to wherever we fancy at the time. Some definites are: The Cheesecake Factory in Macy's for lunch or dinner, Mama's on Washington Square (http://mamas-sf.com/) for breakfast and the original Mel's Diner (http://www.melsdrive-in.com/).
We decided not to get the car for this section of the trip as the public transport in SF looks like it will be fine for our needs
22nd September: Pick-up hire car from downtown SF and drive to Monterey. Considering going on a whale-watching cruise today which we will book on the day if we arrive in Monterey on time for the afternoon cruise. If we don't make it in time we'll visit the Monterey Bay aquarium instead and do the cruise tomorrow. Spend the night at the Super 8.
23rd September: Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium or go on the whale-watching cruise (depending on the events of the day before!) then drive down Highway 1 through Big Sur to San Luis Obispo (if I lose my nerve there's always the 101 option!) Spend the night at the Vagabond Inn.
24th September: Look around San Luis Obispo then drive to Los Angeles, stopping at Solvang (http://www.solvangusa.com/) on the way there. Check in to the Hollywood Orchid Suites.
25th-27th September: Three full days in Los Angeles. We have tickets for Six Flags Magic Mountain and Universal. Also have the Dearly Departed Tour (http://www.dearlydepartedtours.com/DDT/index.html) booked for 1pm on 27th which sounds awesome so I hope it lives up to the glowing reviews. We're also hoping to fit in the touristy stuff in Hollywood (Walk of Fame etc) which are all within walking distance of our hotel, a visit to the LA Ink shop, indulge our geeky side at the Page Museum (http://www.tarpits.org/) (AKA La Brea Tarpits as seen in My Girl 2!) and maybe do some shopping too!
Again, I have a list of possible restaurants but definite ones are the Disney Soda Shop (http://disney.go.com/DisneyPictures/el_capitan/soda_fountain/main.html), Pink's Hotdogs (http://www.pinkshollywood.com/) and In-n-out Burger
(http://www.in-n-out.com/)
28th September: Visit Santa Monica Pier and/or Venice Beach then drive to Anaheim and check in to the Fairfield Inn. Planning on spending the evening at Disneyland as it's open late and it'll be our only chance to see the fireworks.
29th September-1st October: Anaheim for 3 full days. We'll be visiting Disneyland/DCA for two (we have 3 day hoppers for Disney) and San Diego Zoo for one.
Definite restaurants are Cafe Orleans (http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/parks/dining/detail?name=CafeOrleansDiningPage&bhcp=1) in Disneyland and House of Blues in DTD. I also want to try a Tigger Tail in Disneyland!
2nd October: Drive to Las Vegas, we plan to visit a 'ghost town' on the way. Check in to the Gold Coast hotel. I'll be buying tickets to see Penn & Teller (http://www.pennandteller.com/) for either tonight or one of our other nights, just waiting for our dates to become available.
Quite a few if our meals in Vegas are looking to be buffets and definites are the Bellagio (brunch) and the Wynn. Also considering Rio, Paris and Spice Market at Planet Hollywood. Another definite is the Cheesecake Factory in Caesar's Palace.
3rd-5th October: 3 full days in Las Vegas. We definitely want to visit the Hoover Dam so we'll probably combine it with a tour of the Ethel M chocolate factory (http://www.ethelschocolate.com/jump.jsp?itemID=117&itemType=CATEGORY) Other than that we'll probably just play it by ear: Explore the strip and casinos, go on the rides, take lots of photos, play the nickel slots, drink cocktails etc! We plan to visit the cut price ticket booths to see what evening shows are available on our three free nights. Our hotel also has a bowling alley which i'm sure we will visit at least once.
6th-7th October: (time difference means we get home a day later) Drive to Las Vegas airport/drop off car. Flight home to Manchester from Las Vegas (changing in Newark again)
18th September: Fly from Manchester to San Francisco. We'll be flying with Continental and changing in Newark. Use the BART or a taxi/shuttle to get from the airport to San Francisco. No plans for today other than find the hotel (Columbus Motor Inn), check-in and unpack.
19th-21st September: 3 full days to explore San Francisco. We have Alcatraz booked for 10:30am on 19th and a Mr Toad's Tour (http://www.mrtoadstours.com/) booked for 11am on 20th. We also want to visit Fisherman's Wharf, China Town, Golden Gate Park and possibly Sausalito too.
The hotel is in an Italian neighbourhood with loads of nice restaurants. I have a list of possible places so we'll probably just head to wherever we fancy at the time. Some definites are: The Cheesecake Factory in Macy's for lunch or dinner, Mama's on Washington Square (http://mamas-sf.com/) for breakfast and the original Mel's Diner (http://www.melsdrive-in.com/).
We decided not to get the car for this section of the trip as the public transport in SF looks like it will be fine for our needs
22nd September: Pick-up hire car from downtown SF and drive to Monterey. Considering going on a whale-watching cruise today which we will book on the day if we arrive in Monterey on time for the afternoon cruise. If we don't make it in time we'll visit the Monterey Bay aquarium instead and do the cruise tomorrow. Spend the night at the Super 8.
23rd September: Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium or go on the whale-watching cruise (depending on the events of the day before!) then drive down Highway 1 through Big Sur to San Luis Obispo (if I lose my nerve there's always the 101 option!) Spend the night at the Vagabond Inn.
24th September: Look around San Luis Obispo then drive to Los Angeles, stopping at Solvang (http://www.solvangusa.com/) on the way there. Check in to the Hollywood Orchid Suites.
25th-27th September: Three full days in Los Angeles. We have tickets for Six Flags Magic Mountain and Universal. Also have the Dearly Departed Tour (http://www.dearlydepartedtours.com/DDT/index.html) booked for 1pm on 27th which sounds awesome so I hope it lives up to the glowing reviews. We're also hoping to fit in the touristy stuff in Hollywood (Walk of Fame etc) which are all within walking distance of our hotel, a visit to the LA Ink shop, indulge our geeky side at the Page Museum (http://www.tarpits.org/) (AKA La Brea Tarpits as seen in My Girl 2!) and maybe do some shopping too!
Again, I have a list of possible restaurants but definite ones are the Disney Soda Shop (http://disney.go.com/DisneyPictures/el_capitan/soda_fountain/main.html), Pink's Hotdogs (http://www.pinkshollywood.com/) and In-n-out Burger
(http://www.in-n-out.com/)
28th September: Visit Santa Monica Pier and/or Venice Beach then drive to Anaheim and check in to the Fairfield Inn. Planning on spending the evening at Disneyland as it's open late and it'll be our only chance to see the fireworks.
29th September-1st October: Anaheim for 3 full days. We'll be visiting Disneyland/DCA for two (we have 3 day hoppers for Disney) and San Diego Zoo for one.
Definite restaurants are Cafe Orleans (http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/parks/dining/detail?name=CafeOrleansDiningPage&bhcp=1) in Disneyland and House of Blues in DTD. I also want to try a Tigger Tail in Disneyland!
2nd October: Drive to Las Vegas, we plan to visit a 'ghost town' on the way. Check in to the Gold Coast hotel. I'll be buying tickets to see Penn & Teller (http://www.pennandteller.com/) for either tonight or one of our other nights, just waiting for our dates to become available.
Quite a few if our meals in Vegas are looking to be buffets and definites are the Bellagio (brunch) and the Wynn. Also considering Rio, Paris and Spice Market at Planet Hollywood. Another definite is the Cheesecake Factory in Caesar's Palace.
3rd-5th October: 3 full days in Las Vegas. We definitely want to visit the Hoover Dam so we'll probably combine it with a tour of the Ethel M chocolate factory (http://www.ethelschocolate.com/jump.jsp?itemID=117&itemType=CATEGORY) Other than that we'll probably just play it by ear: Explore the strip and casinos, go on the rides, take lots of photos, play the nickel slots, drink cocktails etc! We plan to visit the cut price ticket booths to see what evening shows are available on our three free nights. Our hotel also has a bowling alley which i'm sure we will visit at least once.
6th-7th October: (time difference means we get home a day later) Drive to Las Vegas airport/drop off car. Flight home to Manchester from Las Vegas (changing in Newark again)