California help needed

[pbensur]

I've been to California several times as we have relatives out there. You definitely have to take a few days in San Francisco. Stroll along Fisherman's Wharf, take the ferry out for a tour of Alcatraz and see the Golden Gate Bridge. Also, I would recommend going to Muir Woods to see the Giant Redwoods.

If you do stop off in Boston, do the Freedom Trail and take in the Northend sometimes referred to as Little Italy. The restaurants are amazing (especially the Florentine cafe) and there's an Italian pastry shop with the largest selection of desserts and delacacies I've ever seen and anything you choose will be to die for!<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Mach 2
Has anyone ever rented a house in Southern Cali, I would love to drive some of the Pacific Coast Road but I am not interested in the cities[msnsmile2]
[/quote]

We never rented a home in Southern CA, but we did rent one in San Francisco a couple years ago. It was up above the city with the most gorgeous view ever!

[E. Cosgrove]

We have rented in CA a couple of times ( Tahoe and Palm Springs ) but hugely expensive compared to Florida. $3000 a week for a pleasant 3 bed home. Nothing special,no pool, no internet access, no free phone calls etc etc. and a cleaning fee of $200 on top of the rental fee with $1000 security deposit!!

Just shows what excellent value rental homes in Florida are [msnwink]

Having said all that it is a great place to visit ( if you exclude LA ) but very different to Florida and it wasn't the kids cup of tea when they were younger.[msnsmile]

[Suzy]

Thanks for all your replies, I'm getting the feeling that San Francisco is better than L.A? We are thinking of going approx mid Sept, but don't know if we can wait that long it could well end up being May/June.

[eclipsed]

Hi Suzy, my family and I decided to take a break from Florida this year and we are off to Garden Grove California in a couple of months time.We are only 10 mins from Disney and the have been told we can watch the disney fireworks from the garden of villa we have rented.We are all theme park junkies and I wanted to try the rides at Six FLags Magic Mountain before I get too old.[msnsmile2]It was quite difficult finding the right villa, many were near the beach and were very expensive to rent.We also found that flying into John Wayne airport worked out cheaper than LAX.We are going to Las Vegas whilst there and the internal flight was only $97.Can't wait to take in the views from the Stratasphere tower.I will let you know what it was like comparing it to the usual fun we have in Florida.

[DiannaUK]

We went in 2002 and loved San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas (went back to LV in 2004 since because we loved it so much). We hated LA unfortunately, just concrete and traffic jams, and the Universal park there wasn't a patch on FL.

We'd go again to San Fran and to Las Vegas - the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Lake Mead are must visits in LV and Alcatraz in SF.

Dianna

[Cruella DeVilla]

We went to California 2002 and did LA, San Fransisco and San Diego in one 3 week trip. LA is a dump, San Fran and San Diego are both great. We also did the scenic route.

Don't expect brill weather in San Fran though. We were there in August and it was freezing! I had a goretex hat and gloves on at night. Their summer is very short lived. San Fran is one of my fav places in the US as well as Memphis, Nashville (a bit lively), New Orleans and Miami. New York was pretty cool as was suprisingly Atlanta. Least fav states were Mississippi and Alabhama.

Lynne we got married and spent 10 days in the state of Nevada (LV) and had our wedding dinner in the revolving restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere tower, great views and great food but would not stay there, the coaster up there is always on the list of the most thrilling rides on tv!

[Albert the Frog]

We did the San Francisco -LA run a few years back on Route 1 down the coast taking in Big Sur , Santa Barbara etc-San Francisco is great but only a 3-4 day visit, Vegas is possibly 5 days if you also take in the Grand Canyon. LA is, on my humble opinion , a dump-no soul-We went to Muscle Beach which looks lovely but turn around and look at what is in effect an inner city ghetto. The driving on a 6 lane highway-albeit in rush hour on a Friday-was horrendous. There are loads of absolutely lovely places to stay outside of the LA conurbation-our favourite was indeed Santa Barbara- so if it was me-I'd concentrate on San Francisco, Route 1 taking in the smaller towns, and Vegas.

[Nina A]

Sue, think you're probably being a bit ambitious!

LA is so spread out and has no real centre. Santa Monica is quite nice and you should see Hollywood etc but otherwise I agree that San Francisco has far more to offer.

Napa Valley, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur and 17 mile drive are well worth doing. If you're there on a Sunday, brunch at Pebble Beach golf course is well worth the money, the view is stunning.

Our daughter and her partner are off to California next month before joining us for a few days in Florida. He has never been to the USA before, so it'll be interesting to hear what he makes of it all.

Boston is lovely especially in the fall.

Have a great trip.

[CarolAnn]

We arrived San Francisco, drove highway 1 , coast road down to Santa Monica, stopping along the way. Adored Santa Barbara, but it just didn't compare to Florida for me at all. The only reason I would consider going back is to watch DB play at the Home Depot stadium for LA Galaxy[msnwink] I except there was planty more to see, Hurst Castle was an unexpected highlight, and we have friends in LA, but found it generally a more agressive place, faster pace, and don't even start me on Disney, there is only one in my opinion, Florida I think we rowed most of the trip for one reason or another

[ShirleyD]

We hate LA, to me it is just 12 lanes of traffic going nowhere [msnscared]

All the other places mentioned above though are fantastic [clap] We have breifly visited most of them on 2 separate tours, one 2 weeks one 3 weeks.
With just a 2 week holiday, I would consider flying into San Fran, then driving accross through the top road in Yosemite, hoover dam, death valley and Las Vegas. You could then fly out to the Grand Canyon and then onto Boston. I think Yosemite is one of the most beautiful places in the world!