TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- USA - West Coast / Las Vegas
-- vacation help from a domestic foreigner

vacation help from a domestic foreigner

BackGround:
I am visiting the west coast for the first time in my life with my GF. I been up and down the east coast by car/plane from prince Edward island in CAN to the southern most point in Keywest.

Details:
Trip Date: 8/17-8/22

NY->Las Vegas(Flying)-8/17-8/18
Las Vegas->Los Angeles area(Driving)-8/18-8/20
Los Angeles area->Oakland area(Driving)-8/20-8/22
Oakland->NY(Flying)-8/22

I have a couple of questions for your guys to help me with the planning of the trip with some of your knowledge out there.

1. Are NY to Las Vegas(one way) for around the 150$ decent price or can I do better? Also from Oakland back to NY around 150$ as well per ticket?
ANSWER[JFK-LAS, SFO-JFK, 305 RT THROUGH EXPEDIA]

2. What are some things to do in Las Angeles i.e(tours, bars,sites, great restaurants like in&out or jack in the box )
ANSWER[WB TOURS, VENICE BEACH]

3. When driving to Oakland should I take 15 or another route
ANSWER[POSSIBLY TAKE THE 101 ROUTE]

4. Anything I missed that I should know or input from what you seen above?
--------------------------UPDATE---------------------

5. Can someone recommend a great buffet in Las Vegas to try? I heard the rio hotel has a great international one if anyone could recommend any more

6. Recommend a hotel to stay near west Hollywood area?nothing too fancy 2-3 stars is fine

7. San Fransisco I have lined up is seeing Alcatraz and fisherman's wharf. Anything else up there to check out?

--------------------------------------------------------
Thanks if anyone can help with these 4 questions of mine

All I know about the west coast is I watched 90210 back in the day, your governor is the terminator, and movies are made there

For LA to Oakland you are going to take the 5. 15 is used for LA to Las Vegas.

Look into jetblue.com for flights from JFK to LAS to see what they offer.

While in LA, check out tourisy cities like Hollywood, Santa Monica and Venice Beach. You may consider a tour bus from Hollywood (I'm pretty sure it goes to cities like Beverly Hills)

What weekday or weeknights are you in LA? Check out the lineups at Vanguard, Avalon and Circus for Saturday nights. But it looks like you are in LA Tuesday to Thursday, there may be some nightclubs that play house music.

any chance you can fly from NYC-LV-LAX on 1 ticket with a layover in vegas and just making the layover overnight? That could be some savings in flight cost.

Virgin america flies from NY,LV,LAX and SFO. so i would recommend checking them out.

oh and if youre in SOCAL there is always the happiest place on Earth, DISNEYLAND since you are coming with your GF.

Re: vacation help from a domestic foreigner

quote:

Originally posted by Trancealot 3. When driving to Oakland should I take 15 or another route

15? there's 3 routes up north: hwy-1, 101, hwy-5

1 is the longest and most scenic, it follows the coastline all the way up

101 is the middle route, it skims the coast a couple times and runs through sf

5 is the quickest, b-lines through the central valley, but is quite boring (read farmland)

Oh man! I just thought of that one part on the 5 that smells really bad due to all of the cows.

go up the 5, cut accross on the 126 to the 101
stop off in santa barbara and enjoy the day scenery, then continue north on 101 all the way up to sf, enjoy the night scenery then head over the bay bridge into oakland.

If this is your first time and you're not in a rush. Definitely take 1 all the way up. It's a beautiful drive and there are a lot of wonderful coastal towns up the way.

quote:

Originally posted by bigperf go up the 5, cut accross on the 126 to the 101 stop off in santa barbara and enjoy the day scenery, then continue north on 101 all the way up to sf, enjoy the night scenery then head over the bay bridge into oakland.

There is no 5 involved with your scenario. He can just get on the 101 from Hollywood or take the 405 to the 101 from West LA.

yeah I f'd that. I should of said route 5 for 293 miles as google said.

quote:

Originally posted by bigperf Virgin america flies from NY,LV,LAX and SFO. so i would recommend checking them out. oh and if youre in SOCAL there is always the happiest place on Earth, DISNEYLAND since you are coming with your GF.

Yeah I got around the 150 range from them for Virgin American when i was doing some research before. Is flying across county for 150 sound reasonable. I did from NY to Ft Lauderdale for around 100 but that is half the distance so it seems reasonable...?

I knew someone would say that. Funny thing my GF has a friend who lives in OC and said its in that area so that might be one of the things we do. I would not mind Great Adventure/edit*six flags magic mountain though

quote:

Originally posted by mar46017 There is no 5 involved with your scenario. He can just get on the 101 from Hollywood or take the 405 to the 101 from West LA.

yeah when I meant should I take the 5 i was thinking some people would say that side road on the ocean so I might do that to avoid that smell you guys are telling me about

from the look of things from the ocean to the east I have route 1,101,5

quote:

Originally posted by Trancealot yeah I f'd that. I should of said route 5 for 293 miles as google said. Yeah I got around the 150 range from them for Virgin American when i was doing some research before. Is flying across county for 150 sound reasonable. I did from NY to Ft Lauderdale for around 100 but that is half the distance so it seems reasonable...? I knew someone would say that. Funny thing my GF has a friend who lives in OC and said its in that area so that might be one of the things we do. I would not mind Great Adventure though yeah when I meant should I take the 5 i was thinking some people would say that side road on the ocean so I might do that to avoid that smell you guys are telling me about

ive seen NYC to LA for $109 earlier this year. but since it's summer thats probably not going to be possible.
$150 sounds reasonable for summer. If you do the disneyland thing, have your friend get you guys the $99 tickets for 3 days.
A hopper ticket(entrance to both parks) for 1 day is $94 i think, so what you can do is use the tickets for 1 day and then your friends can have a couple of days to use them at a later time. you guys can split the cost :-)

Re: vacation help from a domestic foreigner

quote:

Originally posted by Trancealot jack in the box

Unless you enjoy trans fats, I'd stay far away from that crap. You can do much better than fast food when visiting LA. Though, yes, you should try In N Out.

Re: Re: vacation help from a domestic foreigner

quote:

Originally posted by skell Unless you enjoy trans fats, I'd stay far away from that crap. You can do much better than fast food when visiting LA. Though, yes, you should try In N Out.

yeah I was being sarcastic so I meant nicer restaurants but in & out could be for late night after the bar snack if they are 24 hours??

Re: Re: Re: vacation help from a domestic foreigner

quote:

Originally posted by Trancealot yeah I was being sarcastic so I meant nicer restaurants but in & out could be for late night after the bar snack if they are 24 hours??

They are not 24 hours, but most of the restaurants are open til 1:00am. It's a definite must!

Re: Re: Re: vacation help from a domestic foreigner

quote:

Originally posted by Trancealot yeah I was being sarcastic so I meant nicer restaurants but in & out could be for late night after the bar snack if they are 24 hours??

Most are open till 1:30 AM.

Re: Re: Re: Re: vacation help from a domestic foreigner

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Scott They are not 24 hours, but most of the restaurants are open til 1:00am. It's a definite must!

quote:

Originally posted by skell Most are open till 1:30 AM.

sometimes 1:31AM

*bump*

I added some more questions at the top of this post 5,6,7 if anyone could maybe fill some in with suggestions that would be great.

fishermans wharf is a tourist trap(oh wait you are a tourist)

if youre planning on doing some shopping you have lots of shops in union square. if you want to check some sights, there is always chinatown/northbeach, golden gate bridge&palace of fine arts, the cable car museum(free), Sunset view from the top of the mark at the mark hopkins hotel in nob hill; the grace cathedral is down the street and worth a look if you are already there.

5.
I prefer not to buffet it...

But, if you must, just splurge and go to the Bellagio one.
(the Rio one used to be good, but now is sub-par)

If that is too $$$, then do Paris.

If you have money to spend, then go the Sterling Brunch at Bally's (Sunday only); Bally's is a dump, but for some reason, this buffet is amazing.

6.
If these are too much for you, I apologize:
Ramada in West Hollywood
the Standard
Andaz


7.
I love Golden Gate Park, or if you're in SoMa, go to MOMA or Yerba Buena.
I'm a foodie, so I like the Ferry Building.
I enjoy the Mission district for awesome Mexican food.

If you have to be more touristy:
Lombard Street
Take a cable car
Union Square is fun if you wanna shop


Fisherman's Wharf is awful. Stay away.
I think the food in SGV is better than in SF Chinatown.

Harris Ranch ftw! Also Andersens Pea Soup restaurant is fun to go to. Both great stops from LA to the Bay

quote:

Originally posted by Trancealot 7. San Fransisco I have lined up is seeing Alcatraz and fisherman's wharf. Anything else up there to check out?

if you're into nice views of the city and it's sunny out, rent a bicycle at the wharf (or the marina) and ride it up the marina, through crissy field, across the golden gate bridge, up to the top of slacker hill in marin and back. takes about 2 hours, but you get to soak in some nice sites. also check out the views from the top of coit tower, the top of twin peaks at sutro tower, the top of dolores park, the edge of treasure island, the pier at aquatic park, lands end and china beach. if you're into shopping, there's union square and the westfield mall. also worth checking out is golden gate park, the presidio, lombard street (between hyde and leavenworth), giants game @ at&t park, haight & ashbury, civic center plaza, the wall murals of the mission district around 24th & capp, asian food in sunset district, burgers in hayes valley, mexican food in the mission and italian in north beach. that should keep you busy for 2 days. there's not much to see in fisherman's wharf besides a whole lot of tourists. alcatraz at least has some cool views.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.