we too are considering california instead of florida... so i'll be sticking to this post to see if i can pick up any hints or tips too
we're hoping to get flights to las vegas (september) , grand canyon etc and drive to los angeles for a few days at disney/knotts berry then drive up to san francisco for more 'toursty' stop offs, alcatraz & yosemite?
MrStoat ..... you're from my neck of the woods... hello!
Well Haloo There!
We flew out and back to LA, was a lot cheaper than Vegas and slightly cheaper than Frisco. Surprisingly it was just around the price of Florida flights. We ended up flying Air New Zealand who we would happily use again. Remember if you are a one way car rental there will be extra charges as you are returning the car in a different state!
We spent 3 full days in LA, Hollywood Tour, Knotts, shopping and USS Iowa. Picking up your car at LAX and straight into that traffic is frightening but a taxi out to Buena Park or Annaheim is about $110, so try booking transport beforehand. From there we headed up the coast with stops at Moro Bay and Monterey. If you want to visit the Aquarium, then get a San Francisco City Pass. That gives you the Monterey Aquarium, you can upgrade it to do the Alcatraz tour, SF city municipal transport including the cable cars, De Jong museum and the Exploratorium. Alcatraz was a very good trip, best audio tour I have ever taken and an unusual souvenier shop. Ran out of time to do the De Jong as we only had 2 nights and one full day there.
We then trundled across the bay to Marin county to see the John Muir Forrest then off into Mariposa for Yosemite. Stayed there 3 nights with 2 full days in the park. It is about 45 mins drive from the park but it is one of the closest towns to the park, you can get accomodation closer but it is in the middle of nowhere. We stayed at the Miners Inn which I would recommend, very frriendly, complimentary breakfast, very good onsite restaurant with the most helpful waitress I have ever run across. One day spent in the valley itself, Bridal Veil falls, visitor center and Mirror Lake Trail. Next day up Glacier Point road with a break to walk the Taft Point Trail. Astonishing views here and Glacier point itself, afternoon at the Mariposa Grove.
From there over the Tioga pass (with photostops) to Mono Lake and Bodie ghost town, overnighting in Mammoth Lakes. Next day up to Devils Postpile then drove to Furnace Creek in Death Valley, 9000 ft down to minus 250 feet!
Death valley is fascinating, visited Scottys Castle, then some bits in the south of the valley before scuttling off to Vegas. You already know what we did there, used Grand Canyon Tours for the trip, would use them again without hesitation.
If we went back again, we would spend a little more time on the California Coast, another night in Death Valley watching the shooting stars and coyotes, and cut out LA. It is one huge urban sprawl and while it was nice to see once, it would not encourage me back.
If you need any more details or where we stayed, just ask.
) and then drive down to Anaheim for 5 nights in a condo across the street from Disneyland.
