USA 2020 - Itinerary

Travel & Holidays Travel & Holidays: Chat / Discussions
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Hi,
Just thought I’d post up a rough plan of my ideas for next year’s ‘Pension pot’ holiday of a lifetime to the USA.

I’ve decided not to go with a tour operator because we don’t want fly/drive and we certainly do not want to be cooked up on a coach for many hours a day either, seeing sights we’re really not interested in. Instead, we will be booking a “West to East” vacation. This way we can pick and choose our trips out, plus we will have more free time, more rest time (in fewer hotels) and enjoy time at our leisure to explore.

I can’t wait to get this booked and paid for. We’ve never done anything as elaborate as this before as we’ve never had the time or money. It’s not extravagant, it’s something we will only ever be able to do the once so we’re treating ourselves. It’s about time with twenty years of paying off loans and cards almost out of the way now.

Here’s the plan:

USA HOLIDAY 2020

Manchester 1 night
Los Angeles (Santa Monica)/Hollywood 6 nights
San Francisco 3 nights
Flagstaff 2 nights
Boston 3 nights
New York 5 nights

HOLIDAY ITINERARY:

DAY 1
Home to Manchester Airport (drive or taxi)
Hotel: Holiday Inn or Premier Inn

DAY 2
Manchester – Los Angeles (inc. Hollywood) (6 nights stay at Santa Monica)
Hotel:
Flight time: 11 hours approx. (Luxury travel on flight)

LOS ANGELES & HOLLYWOOD SIGHTSEEING:
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Hills
Sunset Strip
Hollywood Boulevard
Universal Studios or Warner Bros. tours
Day trip to Malibu
Great white shark boat trip?

DAY 3-7
Los Angeles/Hollywood (Santa Monica)

DAY 8
Fly from Los Angeles to San Francisco (3 nights)
Hotel:
Flight time: 1hr.25mins.

SAN FRANCISCO SIGHTSEEING:
Golden Gate bridge
Alcatraz Island & Prison
Fisherman’s Wharf
Haight Ashbury
Pier 39
Union Square

DAY 9-10
San Francisco

DAY 11
Fly from San Francisco to Flagstaff, Arizona (2 nights)
Hotel:
Flight time: 2hr.05mins.

FLAGSTAFF SIGHTSEEING:
Grand Canyon (book helicopter ride)
Monument Valley
Flagstaff town

DAY 12
Flagstaff

DAY 13
Fly from Flagstaff to Boston, Massachusetts (3 nights)
Flight time: 5hr.05mins. (Luxury travel on flight)
Hotel:

BOSTON SIGHTSEEING:
Day trip to Chicago
Martha’s Vineyard (setting of ‘Jaws’)
New England Aquarium
Boston Harbor
Bunker Hill Monument
Newbury Street (upmarket shopping)
Harvard University

DAY 14-15
Boston

DAY 16
Fly from Boston to New York City (5 nights)
Hotel:
Flight time: 1hr.25mins.

NEW YORK SIGHTSEEING:
Broadway (see a show?)
Madison Square Garden (see a concert?)
Manhattan
Brooklyn Bridge
Coney Island
Chinatown
Little Italy
Statue of Liberty (Liberty Island)
Ground Zero (9/11)
Macy’s
Times Square
Grand Central Station
Central Park
Day trip to New Jersey (Asbury Park)

DAY 17-20
New York

DAY 21
Fly from New York – Manchester
Flight time: 6hr.50mins. (Luxury travel on flight)
Manchester – Home (drive)

COSTS
• FLIGHTS (6):
• HOTELS (6):
(Breakfast only at all hotels)
Taxis, subway, coaches, boats:
• Spending money:
US Dollars required:
Credit Card

Both need U.S. Visa card for entry to USA.

Luggage: Travel light!

1 Like
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I can see you’re looking forward to every minute. :smiley:

I could never do a holiday like this, there’s enough in there for a dozen holidays.

3

Looks great.

Im off to Las Vegas in November AGAIN.

You don’t a visa you need an ESTA which you can get on line for $14.

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/?fbclid=IwAR0eD-0ilo4OWg8M_czkySmrFl9n34qcuZiVETSmCbRySjTube0rfIfJjdI

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It will be fine tuned, d00d. That’s a basic ‘want to do’ list.
I’ll wait to see what my wife reports back with, she’s been out all day and she hasn’t seen it yet.

I looked at Vegas, Galty, but I know my wife isn’t keen. It would have been a good break between SF and Flagstaff, but not to worry.
On the agenda originally was just California and Vegas but San Diego doesn’t really interest me, nor does Carmel and some of the wasteful days like wine tasting at Vineyards. So I decided to look at going coast to coast and it looks workable.
Thanks for the heads-up about the Visa, Galty. I had no idea we didn’t need one…perhaps it’s just for people who go to the US to work? I’ll certainly make sure we look at getting ESTAs.
We are going to go over all of this with a friend’s daughter who is a travel agent. She will sit with us and book our hotels and flights as I want to make sure we have enough time and do it properly.
Thanks bud :cool:

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I hope your plan works out and that you enjoy your holiday.
Pick the best season - some places get extreme temperatures.

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It will be June, Besoeker. We’ve already booked time off work so that’s fixed at least :slight_smile:

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Word of warning temps in June are over a 100 but humidity is low so you sweat but not be wet and you don’t feel hot you need to drink loads of water because you will become very ill,

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Yes I reckon it will hottest mostly around the Grand Canyon area in Arizona, Galty. We’ve got two nights there so I’ll ensure that we’re stocked up with water when we get there :slight_smile:

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And sunscreen. The temperature range between day and night can be extreme.

https://www.google.com/search?q=temperature+in+flagstaff+in+june&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB763GB763&oq=Temper&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0l4.5816j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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Oh golly yes mate.
The main thing we’re doing there is going on a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon but there will be time to walk around Flagstaff and so on. We’ll keep ourselves out of the sun if we can :004:

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Hey Floydy. Is this your first trip to the US?..Maybe you’re an old hand but if by any chance it’s your first time in San Francisco, a few tips depending on how much time you have. If you’re wandering through the CBD around Market and Van Ness be careful not to stray into The Tenderloin district. It is a bad place especially for tourists and it’s easy to end up there by accident. One minute you are surrounded by banks and business suits, boutiques and art galleries and you literally cross a corner and you’re in the worst part of town. LOts of dodgy dudes, pickpockets, shysters and thugs. The locals will help you avoid it. Pier 39 is fine and Bubba Gumps seafood palace is an experience but there’s better restaurants elsewhere you can try if you have time. Golden Gate park is beautiful especially the arboretum. Make sure you have a good jacket because SF is a very cold place especially in summer weirdly enough. And Alcatraz is FFFFFFREEEEZZZZING!!..Rug up for that. Maybe you know all this already. Have fun. I’ve spent a fair bit of time in SF. I feel quite at home there. I Lived in Noe Valley for a while. SF is Sydney’s sister city. They are similar in many ways.

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That’s really useful info, thanks Keezoy :023:
I’ll make a note of the Tenderloin District and stay clear when we go. I want to go to Haight Ashbury as I know it’s a hive of activity with the music scene. A friend visited a few years ago and recommends the area.
Alcatraz is a must too and we’ll pack our coats.

No I’ve only ever been to the USA once. I was on the way back from Belize with the RAF and we had to refuel at Washington but were in uniform so we had to stay in the airport. Central America, yes, but not the USA :cool:

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Yep best avoid The Tenderloin although the locals there kind of look after you and steer you out again if you stray in. It’s pretty grim. It makes Kings Cross here (Sydney’s “equivalent”) look like Mayfair. Haight Ashbury has some good places to go. It’s a kind of museum these days with lots of hipsters and gentrified sub areas. Still plenty of weirdos around. Mostly old hippies that have survived with a bit of brain intact. If you’re staying around the Embarcadero/ Fisherman’s Wharf or Marina area and you want to go it alone on the cheap you can get the tram (Not the little cable cars The electric streetcars -) From there to The Castro. The line you want is the F line unless it’s changed. Then get the Muni bus from there to the Haight. It’s a great ride and you see a lot. Golden Gate Park is just a bit further which is awesome. Also don’t forget to stop off at The Presidio on your way to the Golden Gate. That is really worth seeing along with Chrissy Field which is a great recreation area. Not many people that haven’t been there realise how small San Francisco is: only 48 square miles and 850,000 pop. But’s it is incredibly dense and has a “big city” feel. It’s easy to see a lot of it in short time. Anything else you want to know about SF just ask.

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Floydy It all sounds fantastic. ENJOY

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I’m sure you will love it Floydy.

we did a similar holiday going from east to West but not Boston sadly. We also planned on the helicopter ride up the Grand Canyon but it was cancelled due to snow.Yes, it was snowing, whist up the road in Vegas was 90 deg.

New York is a great place and feels much safer than London. Try the subway if you get the chance, the trains are great (just like the movies). remember though that to travel in the opposite direction, you go up or down a level, not over to the opposite platform as in the UK.

I’m envious mate, you will have a great time.

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I just remembered the first breakfast we got in the hotel, similar to a full English but with pancakes and syrup. It was so funny hearing all the Brit’s complaining that they had not ordered them. :-p

Oh and Floydy, if they ask you if you want ‘Links’, they mean sausages… I thought she was saying Linx :shock:

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I just remembered the Clam chowder in Sourdough bread and I’m suddenly feeling hungry.

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Blimey, now that is really some trip, sounds absolutely fantastic, definitely a trip of a lifetime.

Never been to USA and left my run too late I think. Have a wonderful time, it sounds great.

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This is great lads, I’m frantically making notes of all of this. Thanks for the tips :cool:

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Thanks folks, will do :cool:

Lol about the sausages - were they trying to say you smelt?! :lol:
As long as they don’t put one of these Lynx on my plate I don’t mind: