Next Summer - California - Vegas - Grand Canyon

Discussion in 'Travel' started by ChinnuZ, Dec 7, 2009.

  1. ChinnuZ

    ChinnuZ New IL'ite

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    Hi Ladies

    We are planning our next summer vacation during July or August. Our group includes 3 families with kids age ranges 12 - 18 years old. This time we are thinking about going to California - Vegas - Grand Canyon(S). None of us have any idea about these places, but I am doing the research for our entire group. We will be flying from New York.

    I don't know how many days we need altogether to cover all 3 places. We are not gamblers but would like to taste it.

    Each additional day cost more money, so would like to stay with minimum number of days needed. Right now I am thinking of 5 days but don't mind going up to 7 days.

    I did read all the ideas about Vegas in this forum.

    I appreciate any feed back. Thanks
     
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  2. chaaral

    chaaral Silver IL'ite

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    Hi Chinnu,
    We went to vegas and grand canyon, we got flight tickets in deal for phoenix,so went to phoenix and from there drove to canyon, stayed there overnight, july was rainy in canyon, so couldn't see much and was disappointed.
    stopped over at hoover dam on the way to vegas, the drive was good, hoover dam was very good.
    you can visit hoover dam either from vegas or fromcanyon.
    in vegas apart from gambling, you can visit all the beautiful casinos, and there are very nice shows, when we went we couldn't get tickets for the shows. so book ahead.
    we didn't rent a car in vegas as it was too much traffic in that strip to drive, so we took bus from each casino to the next or mostly walked.
    it will be too hot in july, we visited inside the casinos at day time and evenings there were many free shows outside the casinos, which were also fun.
    dont miss the buffet in casinos, they are very good.little expensive but we liked it.
    everything is very expensive in vegas, so we prepared food in our room and took ready cook packets from indian stores.
    if u need more details do ask.
     
  3. ChinnuZ

    ChinnuZ New IL'ite

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    Thanks Chaaral for the tips about the trip.

    I will come back after I put together a detailed plan. Right now we are thinking about Los Angeles - San Francisco - Vegas - Grand Canyon(S). But the problem is how to put this in order. We are thinking of taking 7 days as others suggested.

    Hopefully there will be more feedback on it.
     
  4. AnithaSrinivas

    AnithaSrinivas New IL'ite

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    Los angeles to SFO is 6 hrs drive,
    LA to Las vegas is 4 hrs drive,
    las vegas to grand canyon is 5-6hrs drive


    If I were to plan I will fly to sfo, spend a day or 2, and drive/fly to los angeles.
    SFO to los angeles one way tickets are cheaper, we flew from LAX to SFO one way and it was 40$ and we drove back.

    Cover Los angeles and near by attractions. you have universal studios, hollywood blvd, disney theme park, california adventure park.

    Frm los angeles drive to las vegas spend a night and next day drive to hoover dam and then to Grand canyon southrim AZ, and a day there,
    and drive back to las vegas spend a day there and fly out of las vegas.

    SFO 2days
    LAX 1 day for universal, 1 or 2 days for disney
    Las Vegas 1 day
    Grand canyon 1 day.
    Las vegas 1 day...

    I havent included time/day spent on drive...Instead of being always on the run, you want to take it slowly allot 10days and ull be fine
     
  5. ChinnuZ

    ChinnuZ New IL'ite

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    Hi Anitha,

    That is a good itinerary. Thanks for your time and valuable suggestions.

    After reading your post and some idea from my friend, I put down an itinerary.

    SF -( 1 or 2 days) - LA (2days) - GC (1day) - Vegas (2days)

    or in the other order, depends on the flight availability and deals at that time.

    Although we are 3 families going together, each family is responsible for their expense. I enjoy vacationing with other family friends who have same interest.

    If you have any more cost cutting tips and ideas, please let me know. I will be looking to find out whether villas will be cheaper than hotels. We don't like to settle down with cheap motels.
     
  6. writeme

    writeme Silver IL'ite

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    Hi Chinnu,

    You will really enjoy the west coast - its so beautiful there..

    San Francisco - Its scenic there - Must watch Golden Gate Bridge, bay Bridge, the city, Twin Peaks & treasure island for the ultimate views of the city/downtown. Go to twin peaks (towards west) and treasure island (east) once it gets dark and the city lights are on. It chould be chilly in the evenings..

    Make a trip thru to Highway 1 to south thru the pacific coast - its awesome. You may drive upto monterey bay and take a drive thru the 17 mile scenic route..Don't miss this if you like scenic drive and beaches..

    If you want to visit Wineries, take a trip to Napa & Sonama counties

    Yosemite National Park is a beautiful place to visit in California - July is the peak season there..

    You may need 2 days in Bay Area..

    In LA, dont miss hollywood and disney - disney has 2 parks - the adventure park and disney land..Kids will surely love both these parks..If you want to explore a park fully, you'll need 1 whole day.. So if time doesn't permit, you'll have to cut short the rides..

    Las Vegas casinos are beautiful. They are set based on themes - you can find New York, Paris, Venice, Egypt - all in Vegas :) Its not just gambling, but the way the casinos are built - that attracts tourists there. Week ends are really really crowded there - so don't think of driving on week ends especially after say 3pm or so.. We took around 2 hours to drive about 2 miles - not kidding!! If you wish to visit the entire city, rent a car and drive thru the city before noon. Else take the buses or the monorail. The public transportation system is good there..

    Grand Canyon has three rims - the south, north and west. It might take a whole day to visit the canyon - you can visit any one of these.. The drive could be a lil hectic - roads aint really good. Also its better if you carry your own food if you have some eating preferances - the choices are limited there..Also sometimes the winds can be really really chilly there - just make sure you check out the weather and dress appropriately.

    Check out Virginamerica.com - they have very good deals to these locations from JFK.

    I just feel like i've revisited all these places. I'm sure your family will enjoy the vacation..These are some of the must visit places in US.

    Regards,
    Indu
     
  7. ChinnuZ

    ChinnuZ New IL'ite

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    Indu

    Thanks for your detailed trip suggestions. I will keep it in my mind (already noted down on my trip planner). Thank you.
     
  8. nehausa

    nehausa Senior IL'ite

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    hey! if you need any itinerary or booking help any where in the world just let me know.
     
  9. Happysoul1234

    Happysoul1234 Gold IL'ite

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    since there are quite a lot of you, I will suggest you rent a home / apt instead of hotels, since they come as fully furnished with kitchen facilities and give a more homey feel. I've used www.vrbo.com and www.homeaway.com to rent places in the past, and found it to be really good for large groups.

    What I suggest doing is checking the fares to/fro from each city you want to visit and depending on the prices you can decide the itinery. For san francisco, you can fly into sfo or oakland or even san jose, whichever is the cheapest. for LA, try LAX or Orange County. Las Vegas airport is a mess, I'd rather fly into it than out of it.

    We had done a trip 2 years back for my visiting SIL and this is what we had done.

    Day 1 : San Jose - Las Vegas - Southwest Flight, rented a car at the airport in vegas, spent the evening and night at the casinos.
    day 2 : Drove back and forth from death valley national park.
    Day 3 : 1/2 day at the casinos, second half drove to Grand Canyon, stopping at the Dam on the way. Stayed at the village in the south rim the first night so that we could catch the sunrise views the next day.
    Day 4 : Did the canyon, drove back towards the highway and stayed the night at a hotel on the highway.
    Day 5 : Drove to Los Angeles, did some sightseeing eg marina, hollywood hills etc
    Day 6 : Universal Studios (you can tack on a day for disney)
    Day 7 : Drove to San Diego, visited coronado island and other touristy stuff eg old town, downtown san diego etc. (You could tack on another day for sea world)
    Day 8 : Returned the rental car and took flight back to San Jose.

    If you also want to cover sfo in the same trip, you need atleast another day or 2. you can save time by flying instead of driving like we did, but the costs may be high depending on the time.
     
  10. ChinnuZ

    ChinnuZ New IL'ite

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    pmahensa

    That is an excellent Itinerary Idea. We may avoid the San Diego and add San Francisco because we have to meet one of our cousins who is living there. Thank you so much.
     

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