Vegas then..............??

The_Organiser

Hi there,

There is usually a wealth of knowledge on here, esp re the USA.

Me and the lads are all heading to Vegas this Sept (not yet booked) for 5 days or so for a major birthday. I'm heading back after Vegas but the rest of the group want to make it a two week break, incorporating another two main destinations ideally.

None of them have ever been to the states before.

NY has been suggested but it was argued doing that after Vegas would be going against time (or something to that affect) so they are looking for alternatives. San Diego and San Fran have been suggested.

Can any of the experts out there offer any advice? Any will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

kentaddick

san fran is brilliant, my favourite us city. Vegas you can do in a few days easily, not much to it but gambling and er... hookers.

Macronate

have done LA, Vegas & SF over 2 weeks and would highly recommend.

below might help.

http://www.travelbag.co.uk/destinations/usa-canada/usa/las-vegas/multicenters

Brendan_O_Connell

San Diego is an hour flight from LV. It is an amazing place with a great nightlife.

Plenty of eye candy as well.

smiffyboy

Going Vegas 18th February looking forward to it, first time, staying in the bellagio with a fountain view

DamoNorthStand

Orange County and the rest of the SoCal beaches are just a short (by US standards) 4 hour drive away from Vegas through the Mojave. And a great drive through some stunning desert / mountain scenery it is as well.

Could then drive up the coast to San Francisco and fly home from there.

se9addick

Macronate said:

have done LA, Vegas & SF over 2 weeks and would highly recommend.

below might help.

http://www.travelbag.co.uk/destinations/usa-canada/usa/las-vegas/multicenters

Did this trip back in October and it was brilliant, particularly SF & Vegas.

ricky_otto

Was going to recommend LA, but noticed you had done that.

Davo55

SF is a brilliant city.

If you're looking for something different, try Lake Tahoe. Gorgeous scenery and half of the shoreline is in Nevada, so lots of gambling opportunities if you're not all wiped out in Vegas.

AFKABartram

welljel.com

O-Randy-Hunt

smiffyboy said:

Going Vegas 18th February looking forward to it, first time, staying in the bellagio with a fountain view

Bellagio was my favourite hotel and the fountains are quality. Bar in the bellagio called hyde which overlooks the fountains so I recommend going in there.

BowieAddick

If you are in Vegas and have time go to the Grand Canyon, been twice and it is stunning

cafctom

I'm going Vegas tomorrow for a work conference!

First time for me too.

WSS

The old "work conference" for tax breaks eh? :-)

Going for my 6th and 7th time this year hopefully. Stag do in May and a little treat for my old man's 60th in November.

paulsturgess

Cosmopolitan is a mint hotel, I reckon that's the one to stay at if you can all things considered. Wynn / Encore is also class but a bit further away from the centre of the strip. Cosmo's right in the centre next to Bellagio. It's a bit more expensive though (as is Bellagio / Wynn etc).

If you stay at one of the older, mid-range ones, you can get proper cheap rooms if you're not going when there's a fight on or something. They are still excellent, I would go for Caesars or the Mirage personally as they're in the centre of it all again. Wouldn't recommend the MGM as it's a bit old and out the way. Best to try and keep costs down as you will spend a sh*tload while you're there.

I would recommend Death Valley if you can't be bothered with Grand Canyon - Grand Canyon is miles away so you either have to spend forever getting over there or pay a fortune for a helicopter. You can hire a car and belt out to Death Valley in about 1 1/2 hours, which is a good amount of time to experience driving through the proper desolate desert with nobody about and a straight road of about100miles - without getting extremely bored of it.

San Diego and San Francisco are both class. San Diego is better for younger/ partying I reckon, more about the beach and lively bars / clubs. San Fran is class, more civilised, more historic, beautiful views, nice bars, class restaurants etc. Depends what you're after. Can get cheap internal flights from Vegas to either (or LA).

cafctom

Glad to hear good things about the Cosmopolitan - thats the one I'll be staying in from Saturday night onwards. Will be in the Monte Carlo tomorrow night.

DamoNorthStand

California is my favourite place in the world and has been my families second home for the last few years. Forget NY at that time of year - there is a reason why people say southern California has the greatest climate in the world. You may get unlucky and see one cloud in the sky but maybe not.......

The person who said San Diego has it spot on. I wouldn't bother with LA. It is San Diego up to Orange County that is the best bit IMO.

ForeverAddickted

Would definitely recommend San Francisco... You've the Golden Gate Bridge... Alcatraz and if you dont mind the journey Yosemite National Park is beautiful

paulsturgess

DamoNorthStand said:

California is my favourite place in the world and has been my families second home for the last few years. Forget NY at that time of year - there is a reason why people say southern California has the greatest climate in the world. You may get unlucky and see one cloud in the sky but maybe not.......

The person who said San Diego has it spot on. I wouldn't bother with LA. It is San Diego up to Orange County that is the best bit IMO.

If you go to San Francisco though you will almost certainly see clouds. Climate is a lot cooler up there and it is often very cloudy. First day I got there turned up and it was greyer than London and I thought Christ what am I doing here. Burned off in the afternoon though and was beautiful.

ForeverAddickted

paulsturgess said:

DamoNorthStand said:

California is my favourite place in the world and has been my families second home for the last few years. Forget NY at that time of year - there is a reason why people say southern California has the greatest climate in the world. You may get unlucky and see one cloud in the sky but maybe not.......

The person who said San Diego has it spot on. I wouldn't bother with LA. It is San Diego up to Orange County that is the best bit IMO.

If you go to San Francisco though you will almost certainly see clouds. Climate is a lot cooler up there and it is often very cloudy. First day I got there turned up and it was greyer than London and I thought Christ what am I doing here. Burned off in the afternoon though and was beautiful.

This for sure... When I went to Vegas I flew on to San Francisco, had a morning flight out there but was delayed in Vegas for about 4-hours because it was so cloudy

palarsehater

off to Vegas for the 2nd time in may, brilliant place, few of my mates we are meeting out there will have just done a 8 week road trip America, staying in the mgm grand this time, but stayed in the wynn last time, lovely hotel. la is very popular after Vegas as I think its only about a 3/4 hour drive.

_MrDick

Vegas then on to Santa Monica and drive up the Pacific Coast highway to San Francisco stopping off at Santa Barbara, Carmel, Monterray, Big Sur etc etc etc. will be a great trip.

masicat

My kids are there 16th - 20th September for what was once the Mr Universe contest. That weekend Vegas is full of big bas####s. Dates to avoid ?

HantsAddick

San Francisco is a lovely city, do spend time there.

PopIcon

if one of the guys can drive i'd get a car and have a mini road trip. There is some amazing driving through south Utah and north Arizona. Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Flagstaff, Zion National Park. Could even head north of Vegas and find a the tiny town of Rachel. Two weeks would be plenty of time.

JohnfromNorfolk

Loads of options.
1- The area North of Vegas (Utah) is home to many stunning national parks Bryce Etc. - cowboy country. Hire a car from Vegas find hotels along the way. Circular trip back to Vegas two weeks min.
2 - Fly to Denver in Colorado (or drive) explore the area North of Denver - Rocky Mountain National park, Grand Teton national park and Yellowstone.
one or all of the above, if one take the train from Denver to Chicago (Californian Zypher overnight). Explore Chicago. All described in my book 'The Grey Nomads'.
3 - Fly from Vegas to New York- 1 week in the big apple, train to Boston, enjoy Boston and daytime flight back to U.K.
Much more if you want.

DamoNorthStand

ForeverAddickted said:

paulsturgess said:

DamoNorthStand said:

California is my favourite place in the world and has been my families second home for the last few years. Forget NY at that time of year - there is a reason why people say southern California has the greatest climate in the world. You may get unlucky and see one cloud in the sky but maybe not.......

The person who said San Diego has it spot on. I wouldn't bother with LA. It is San Diego up to Orange County that is the best bit IMO.

If you go to San Francisco though you will almost certainly see clouds. Climate is a lot cooler up there and it is often very cloudy. First day I got there turned up and it was greyer than London and I thought Christ what am I doing here. Burned off in the afternoon though and was beautiful.

This for sure... When I went to Vegas I flew on to San Francisco, had a morning flight out there but was delayed in Vegas for about 4-hours because it was so cloudy

Yeah they get lots of fog. Like the southern Coast in May (grey) and June (gloom).

Apparently Mark Twain said the coldest winter he ever spent was summer in San Francisco (useless fact of the day)

Down south will be fine in Sep.

Dugdaleclass

Good tips from johnfromnorfolk..... Would make special mention of Yosemite Park too. If you like John Ford movies Monument Valley isn't that far. Lake Powell is good to chill with lots of Arizona young things. Hope it isn't raining too hard when you are there. Not joking... Was in that area two years ago in September and it pissed down for days. When that happens the roads get washed away and detours can be hundreds of miles.

Daarrzzetbum

Bellagio is class, Grand Canyon is amazing, Old Town Vegas is a lot cheaper and a great night out, all along that West coast is brilliant.

Charlton and on

It's the adult industry conference next week, isn't it? I'm there for a conference the week after :-(

kentaddick

paulsturgess said:

DamoNorthStand said:

California is my favourite place in the world and has been my families second home for the last few years. Forget NY at that time of year - there is a reason why people say southern California has the greatest climate in the world. You may get unlucky and see one cloud in the sky but maybe not.......

The person who said San Diego has it spot on. I wouldn't bother with LA. It is San Diego up to Orange County that is the best bit IMO.

If you go to San Francisco though you will almost certainly see clouds. Climate is a lot cooler up there and it is often very cloudy. First day I got there turned up and it was greyer than London and I thought Christ what am I doing here. Burned off in the afternoon though and was beautiful.

i swear it has it's own microclimate. About 30 mins drive away we stopped at an in n out burger to have lunch, had to sit in the shade because the sun was so blisteringly hot - this was in mid-august - and when we got into san fran we got out and it was like a cold cloudy day in brighton. It's still a great city, beautiful, locals are friendly (even the tramps) and there's a lot to do and see.