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Where to visit West USA?

ronki23

ronki23

Well-Known Member
I am from the UK and 10 years ago I visited New York,New Jersey and Toronto. I LOVE Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty is fantastic. I have visited France,Dubai and China (Shanghai,Xi'an and Beijing) before but USA is my favourite place in the world!!!

I wish to visit the West USA, particularly:

California
LA
Hollywood
Beverley Hills

Arizona
Grand Canyon

Nevada
Las Vegas

I am thinking of doing 5 days in the state of California, 5 days in Vegas and 2 days at the Grand Canyon.

As I want to do it in a total of 2 weeks, would Beverley Hills be worth it? Or should I replace Beverley Hills with San Francisco? It all seems very far away (Google shows over 4 hours between San Francisco,Los Angeles,Las Vegas and Grand Canyon in a car!!!!)
 
Curious George

Curious George

Veteran Member
ronki23 said:
I am from the UK and 10 years ago I visited New York,New Jersey and Toronto. I LOVE Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty is fantastic. I have visited France,Dubai and China (Shanghai,Xi'an and Beijing) before but USA is my favourite place in the world!!!

I wish to visit the West USA, particularly:

California
LA
Hollywood
Beverley Hills

Arizona
Grand Canyon

Nevada
Las Vegas

I am thinking of doing 5 days in the state of California, 5 days in Vegas and 2 days at the Grand Canyon.

As I want to do it in a total of 2 weeks, would Beverley Hills be worth it? Or should I replace Beverley Hills with San Francisco? It all seems very far away (Google shows over 4 hours between San Francisco,Los Angeles,Las Vegas and Grand Canyon in a car!!!!)
Click to expand...

San Francisco has better food, and it is more than 4 hours. It is about 6 hours but traffic can be horrible.

I think that it depends on what you want from your vacation. In what sort of activities do you like to engage? How much are you willing to spend?
 
Jayhawker Soule

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
First, let me say that I was born in Phoenix, raised in Southern California (near LA), and also spent around 11 years in San Francisco.

I would not visit Las Vegas. Nor would I allocate more than a day in Arizona.

LA is improving, but is hardly a tourist Mecca and Hollywood is horrid.

What are your interests?
 
ronki23

ronki23

Well-Known Member
Jayhawker Soule said:
First, let me say that I was born in Phoenix, raised in Southern California (near LA), and also spent around 11 years in San Francisco.

I would not visit Las Vegas. Nor would I allocate more than a day in Arizona.

LA is improving, but is hardly a tourist Mecca and Hollywood is horrid.

What are your interests?
Click to expand...

Visiting cities and landmarks. Hence my love for New York.

Or cities and beaches. California in particular I wish to visit LA,Venice Beach and Hollywood.

I've actually heard many people are disappointed with West USA. Is there a reason for this?

I also enjoy Hispanic & Latino culture but I assume that is not in the USA
 
Curious George

Curious George

Veteran Member
Jayhawker Soule said:
The best thing about San Francisco is the Bridge, Marin, and Napa/Sonoma.
Click to expand...

Better than the food? no. But Los Angeles has nice food as well. San Diego is wonderful, but the food is not as nice as Los Angeles or San Francisco. So does Portland and Seattle if you like the Northwest. I am not too keen on big cities. I prefer beach towns in So. CAL- I am not a huge fan of San Fran.
 
Curious George

Curious George

Veteran Member
ronki23 said:
Visiting cities and landmarks. Hence my love for New York.

Or cities and beaches. California in particular I wish to visit LA,Venice Beach and Hollywood.

I've actually heard many people are disappointed with West USA. Is there a reason for this?

I also enjoy Hispanic & Latino culture but I assume that is not in the USA
Click to expand...

That assumption is wrong.

I don't know why anyone would be disappointed with West USA beyond the fact that it does not live up to expectations of bumping into movie stars at every turn.
 
ronki23

ronki23

Well-Known Member
Curious George said:
That assumption is wrong.

I don't know why anyone would be disappointed with West USA beyond the fact that it does not live up to expectations of bumping into movie stars at every turn.
Click to expand...

Hence the reason i'm asking how many days I should allocate to the 3 areas LOL

1 day getting to USA

I want 5 days in California (Hollywood,LA and Beverly Hills/Bel Air [these 2 aren't important to me if they're nothing more than residential areas]. I wonder if Hollywood needs more than a day or if LA needs more than 2-3 days)

5 days Vegas (maybe here I can cut a day or 2 and add it to LA)

2 days Grand Canyon

1 day going home
 
Apex

Apex

Somewhere Around Nothing
ronki23 said:
I've actually heard many people are disappointed with West USA. Is there a reason for this?
Click to expand...
It is probably due to foreign tourists having the wrong idea of what to visit when coming out west. Most places tourists go to see the cities. Here in the west that is a very limited option. Your only real option is Vegas. To get the most out of the western US you need to head outdoors and visit the national parks. Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, Carlsbad Caverns, Redwood National State Park, and the list just keeps going and going and going.
 
Quagmire

Quagmire

Imaginary talking monkey
Staff member
Premium Member
ronki23 said:
I am from the UK and 10 years ago I visited New York,New Jersey and Toronto. I LOVE Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty is fantastic. I have visited France,Dubai and China (Shanghai,Xi'an and Beijing) before but USA is my favourite place in the world!!!

I wish to visit the West USA, particularly:

California
LA
Hollywood
Beverley Hills

Arizona
Grand Canyon

Nevada
Las Vegas

I am thinking of doing 5 days in the state of California, 5 days in Vegas and 2 days at the Grand Canyon.

As I want to do it in a total of 2 weeks, would Beverley Hills be worth it? Or should I replace Beverley Hills with San Francisco? It all seems very far away (Google shows over 4 hours between San Francisco,Los Angeles,Las Vegas and Grand Canyon in a car!!!!)
Click to expand...

Hi ronki23, I've lived on the West Coast for almost 30 years and my recommendations are:

I would skip Hollywood and Beverley Hills and head straight for Santa Barbara: great beaches and restaurants, low crime, semi-affordable lodgings, and you'll definitely get a taste of Hispanic & Latino culture here.

From there I would just plan on spending a cpl of days driving up the coast to San Fran. That'll take you through Big Sur, Carmel, Montery, Santa Cruz (which is kind of like a much bigger but cleaner and less depressing Haight-Ashbury), and from there it's a straight shot through Silicon Valley to San Francisco.

You'll see some of the most beautiful sections of the Pacific coast line and get a good dose of the redwood forests along the way (although you won't see the really big redwoods. You'd have to go up past San Francisco for those).

Other than that I'll second most of what Jayhawker Soule said. Unless you're planning on spending some time rafting, hiking, or camping I wouldn't set aside more than a day for the Grand Canyon.

Vegas might be worth a day or two just for the glitz factor, but it doesn't take any more than that to soak up the experience.

Anyway, have fun. :)
 
S

ScottySatan

Well-Known Member
I tell people in the UK to go to the Sonoran Desert, which surrounds Tucson, Arizona. Most landscapes in the US have something very similar in europe, except the sonoran desert. It's one of the few things in the US that will be totally unlike anything you've seen before.

I'm sure you've seen more than your fair share of palm trees and rocky coastlines. The grand canyon is good, but it's crowded. A Brit should be warned that the grand canyon will be dangerously hot inside. The rock walls make an oven.
 
Last edited:
ronki23

ronki23

Well-Known Member
Quagmire said:
Hi ronki23, I've lived on the West Coast for almost 30 years and my recommendations are:

I would skip Hollywood and Beverley Hills and head straight for Santa Barbara: great beaches and restaurants, low crime, semi-affordable lodgings, and you'll definitely get a taste of Hispanic & Latino culture here.

From there I would just plan on spending a cpl of days driving up the coast to San Fran. That'll take you through Big Sur, Carmel, Montery, Santa Cruz (which is kind of like a much bigger but cleaner and less depressing Haight-Ashbury), and from there it's a straight shot through Silicon Valley to San Francisco.

You'll see some of the most beautiful sections of the Pacific coast line and get a good dose of the redwood forests along the way (although you won't see the really big redwoods. You'd have to go up past San Francisco for those).

Other than that I'll second most of what Jayhawker Soule said. Unless you're planning on spending some time rafting, hiking, or camping I wouldn't set aside more than a day for the Grand Canyon.

Vegas might be worth a day or two just for the glitz factor, but it doesn't take any more than that to soak up the experience.

Anyway, have fun. :)
Click to expand...

Maybe i'd stay and live in Santa Barbara and go to LA from there by train/bus?

Why do some say avoid Hollywood? After all,it's Hollywood! I want to see the stars on the walk of fame, Chang's theatre, the sign,etc.

I'd even be interested in seeing Venice Beach where all the best bodybuilders train (I hear they relocated the Gold's Gym)

Perhaps I could make it:

Santa Barbara:2 days (stay here if it's only an hour away)
LA city: 5 days
Hollywood: 1 day
Vegas: 3 days
Tuscon Desert/Grand Canyon:2 days (1 day to get there)
 
Curious George

Curious George

Veteran Member
Quagmire said:
Hi ronki23, I've lived on the West Coast for almost 30 years and my recommendations are:

I would skip Hollywood and Beverley Hills and head straight for Santa Barbara: great beaches and restaurants, low crime, semi-affordable lodgings, and you'll definitely get a taste of Hispanic & Latino culture here.
Click to expand...

What is your favorite place in Santa Barbara? Or do you prefer Goleta?
 
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