California. I'm sure this thread's been done, but hey..

[Howard-]

Hi guys,

A friend and I are planning to head off to California in the summer for a couple of weeks; we've both been bitten by the travel bug and it's a place we'd like to visit. So we need to start planning..

Two questions to start off with:

1. Car hire.. I'm 23 and my friend will be also. Ideally we'd have liked to cruise around in a V8 Mustang or similar but I understand they're a) expensive and b) most places won't hire one to under 25s, not even offering the option of a young driver excess. Is this the case, or do I just need to find a more "specialist" car hire company? Failing the V8 idea, what's the cheapest (in terms of cost and not having to pay a £2195234 excess if it gets dented) way of hiring a standard mid sized Chevrolet Chrysler whatever saloon which will take us around CA in reasonable comfort? I've found prices of around £180 after inputting my details into www.atlaschoice.com for one (they asked for my age but I don't know for sure if this cost includes a young driver surcharge, but it's a starting point )


2. What should we see and do?

Very broad question, I know. And I'm sure you've all got different experiences, but we need to start somewhere and the more information we have to digest and research and plan around, the better I guess some nightlife will be nice but we're not "party animals" so we don't intend to just sit on the beach all day and in nightclubs all night

Should we pop over to las Vegas?


Thanks, I'll add any more questions I may think of

Edited by Howard- on Saturday 6th February 22:28

[ben_h100]

Go to Perris Valley and do a skydive..! Tandem will be reasonably priced, it is probably the best place in the world to do it.

Other options are San Diego, San Fran, Los Angeles...

[K50 DEL]

It's been done before, but there's no reason not to do it again!!

CA is an amazing state, I did a big road trip around the area last year, you can read the travel blog here

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.ph...

If you don't have time to read it, then the one thing you must see, above everything else is Hearst Castle at San Simeon.

[Howard-]

Sweet, thanks. Interesting read

It's all a bit daunting at the moment, thinking how we're going to plan the 10 or so days!

[LilCat]

I have the following places on my radar at the moment for CA:

San Francisco
Yosemite
Lake Tahoe
Kings Canyon
Sequioa National Park
Monterey
Sam Simeon
maybe LA for one night
(Anything I am missing or should leave out?)

Planning to go early Sept for roughly 2 weeks. Hopefully can fit it all in!

If trees, parks and rocks not your thing maybe fly into Vegas for a few nights then to Los Angeles for 2 nights then drive up to San Fran?

[fatboy b]

LilCat said:

I have the following places on my radar at the moment for CA:

San Francisco
Yosemite
Lake Tahoe
Kings Canyon
Sequioa National Park
Monterey
Sam Simeon
maybe LA for one night
(Anything I am missing or should leave out?)

Planning to go early Sept for roughly 2 weeks. Hopefully can fit it all in!

If trees, parks and rocks not your thing maybe fly into Vegas for a few nights then to Los Angeles for 2 nights then drive up to San Fran?

We're off in a few weeks to do most of that list.

I'd add Napa Valley to it if you like a drop of wine.

[Polarbert]

I went last year, and I'll be going again in March. I was going to start a thread just like this as I want to do some more and find some more spots.

I went to Monterey and think that place is brilliant. My favourite place is San Francisco.

LA isn't that great but thats just my experience of it.

I'm 24 so looking for a similar deal on the hire car as well. I really want a convertible again but don't know about cost. I've got two ideas at the minute.

1)Stick with the mid size 2 door that I'm going to book and go with that.
2)Order the cheapest and try and upgrade to a convertible upon arrival hoping that the rate will be less.

[Polarbert]

Here are the car hire sites that I've found so far:

http://www.holidayautos.co.uk/
http://www.easycar.co.uk
http://www.carhire3000.co.uk
http://www.carrentals.co.uk
http://www.auto-europe.co.uk/car.cfm

[K50 DEL]

Polarbert said:

I went last year, and I'll be going again in March. I was going to start a thread just like this as I want to do some more and find some more spots.

I went to Monterey and think that place is brilliant. My favourite place is San Francisco.

LA isn't that great but thats just my experience of it.

I'm 24 so looking for a similar deal on the hire car as well. I really want a convertible again but don't know about cost. I've got two ideas at the minute.

1)Stick with the mid size 2 door that I'm going to book and go with that.
2)Order the cheapest and try and upgrade to a convertible upon arrival hoping that the rate will be less.

I kind of combined both your options, I booked the cheapest convertible that Budget had (no other rental place could touch Budget on the quote) and then upgraded to the 350z Roadster when I got to Budget LAX
For the 22 days, it should have been $220 extra, but even the manager couldn't make the computer system say Yes so I got the 350z at the same price as the VW Beetle soft top I'd booked.

I thought that was a bit of a result really.... not so much the cash, more the fact that I didn't have to drive a beetle for 3 weeks!!

[louiebaby]

I did something similar with a friend when I was 24. Though Alamo you could rent a car under 25, but the surcharge was pretty high, something like an extra $25 a day.

Be wary.

Other than that, enjoy! The places you've listed are all worth a good look!

[louiebaby]

LilCat said:

I have the following places on my radar at the moment for CA:

San Francisco
Yosemite
Lake Tahoe
Kings Canyon
Sequioa National Park
Monterey
Sam Simeon
maybe LA for one night
(Anything I am missing or should leave out?)

Planning to go early Sept for roughly 2 weeks. Hopefully can fit it all in!

If trees, parks and rocks not your thing maybe fly into Vegas for a few nights then to Los Angeles for 2 nights then drive up to San Fran?

Work out when Labour Day weekend is, (their equivalent of August Bank Holiday.)

Then go the day after.

We saw hundreds and hundreds of SUV's leaving Yosemite as we drove in on the evening of the last day of the long weekend. It's worth missing it!

[LilCat]

louiebaby said:

LilCat said:

I have the following places on my radar at the moment for CA:

San Francisco
Yosemite
Lake Tahoe
Kings Canyon
Sequioa National Park
Monterey
Sam Simeon
maybe LA for one night
(Anything I am missing or should leave out?)

Planning to go early Sept for roughly 2 weeks. Hopefully can fit it all in!

If trees, parks and rocks not your thing maybe fly into Vegas for a few nights then to Los Angeles for 2 nights then drive up to San Fran?

Work out when Labour Day weekend is, (their equivalent of August Bank Holiday.)

Then go the day after.

We saw hundreds and hundreds of SUV's leaving Yosemite as we drove in on the evening of the last day of the long weekend. It's worth missing it!

Thanks for that! Apparently first Monday of every September.

[Howard-]

louiebaby said:

I did something similar with a friend when I was 24. Though Alamo you could rent a car under 25, but the surcharge was pretty high, something like an extra $25 a day.

Be wary.
!

Yeah I did this whwen I went to Florida in 2008, prepared to pay it this time too. Worth the extra cost IMO, especially as there's no other way to get around


I've drawn up this rough plan/route to start with... Can anyone see anything wrong with it so far?


http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&a...

[LilCat]

Howard- said:

louiebaby said:

I did something similar with a friend when I was 24. Though Alamo you could rent a car under 25, but the surcharge was pretty high, something like an extra $25 a day.

Be wary.
!

Yeah I did this whwen I went to Florida in 2008, prepared to pay it this time too. Worth the extra cost IMO, especially as there's no other way to get around


I've drawn up this rough plan/route to start with... Can anyone see anything wrong with it so far?


http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&a...

That is a lot of driving!! How many days are you planning to do it all in?

[Howard-]

Not 100% decided yet, between 10 and 14. This is why I find threads like this useful, you lot can tell me if it's unfeasible to do x distance in x time whilst not being too rushed

[louiebaby]

Howard- said:

louiebaby said:

I did something similar with a friend when I was 24. Though Alamo you could rent a car under 25, but the surcharge was pretty high, something like an extra $25 a day.

Yeah I did this whwen I went to Florida in 2008, prepared to pay it this time too. Worth the extra cost IMO, especially as there's no other way to get around


I've drawn up this rough plan/route to start with... Can anyone see anything wrong with it so far?


http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&a...

Just have a look at where you want to go in Grand Canyon. We did an Anti-Clockwise loop round, with a chopper flight from Grand Canyon Village. We found the south side of the canyon prettier. Also, if you want to go to the Indian Skywalk, it's pricy, and there are sections of unsealed road.

Don't spend much on the hotel in Vegas, you won't be in the room anyway. We stayed at Circus Circus, which was a bit of a dump, but only £22 for a room with two double beds.

Going up the desert side, the 395, instead of through Bakersfield will save you a chunk of driving, unless it's the winter and you can't cut through Yosemite from the West. Although I don't know that bit of road, it might be good to do a bit of quiet desert roads. We gambled on minutes until the next car and miles till the next corner along the ET Highway, and the numbers got silly!

If you want to do Alcatraz, book online at least a week in advance during the tourist season, it books up real fast.

How long were you planning on spending on that trip? In 2 weeks it would a bit of a puch I'd have thought...

[Howard-]

Thanks. Like I said this is only in the planning stages so far so we can cut bits out etc if we won't have the time. We wanted to go to Bakersfield for the motorsport stuff etc if there's anything going on.

[louiebaby]

Bear in mind if you're doing LV, SF and LA, in a loop, you have three choices for flights.

Last year, only Virgin did Vegas, (this might have changed,) but it is very close to downtown, so you could have a couple of days without a car. Parking in Vegas is a doddle. (Make sure you go to the top of the Bellagio car park, the view is good, and it's free.)

San Francisco has a quick, cheap and easy underground from the airport to downtown, so you can do a couple of days without a car, then go back to pick up the car from the airport if you don't fancy driving out. Parking in SF is a mare.

Dunno about LAX, but I think the sights are a bit more spread out, so a car is useful.

Yosemite is worth including if you like walking. There are some great day hikes from Yosemite Village. Accomodation, as it's in a National Park, can be a mare, book it well in advance. Half Dome is a great walk, but only really do-able in a day if you get up early and really crack on.

Umm...

In terms of driving, as per the UK, the motorways are pretty dull. You see more on the smaller stuff. If you expect to average 50mph MAX for working out how much you're going to cover, then you're probably still being a bit optimistic.

If you're going into Yosemite, it's a bit hilly in places. We had the cheapest Chevy they make, and had to switch off the A/C, open the windows, and paddle with our arms to make progress. Check Budget for some reasonable deals, and if it's not too busy, you might get a sneaky upgrade when you pick up your car, they love Brits.

[LilCat]

Maybe move your LA to SF journey slightly left (Along the coast)

Edited by LilCat on Tuesday 9th February 13:03

[louiebaby]

LilCat said:

Maybe move your LA to SF journey slightly left (Along the coast)

Never done that drive, but I've been told it's stunning.