So in a week or so the road trip holiday has become a (expensive) reality. I have decided thanks to @paulsturgess recommendations, to take in the Californian coast and a 3 night stop off in NYC in 16 a total of nights.
I've hired a "Mustang Convertible (or similar) car hire booked from LA to San Fran using Alamo and I've bought the excess waiver option from AXA insurance to avoid being stung by the rental sales rep whilst there!
I've tried to book up most activities beforehand to save time and the hassle out there. If anyone has any advice or Any "must see/eat/drink etc let me know!
So far I've booked San Diego Zoo, Monterey Whale watching, Alcatraz, Giants vs Dodgers baseball game, Rockerfeller in NYC.
San Diego - 3 nights
LA - 2 nights
LA - San Francisco (4 nights) via Santa Barbara, Big Sur area, Monterey.
We liked this place - the original Star Trek once filmed here - and it's not that far out of LA, if you are heading inland a little. Death Valley is also not that far, and that is a must if you have a day to spare. Monterey/Carmel are lovely too.
So in a week or so the road trip holiday has become a (expensive) reality. I have decided thanks to @paulsturgess recommendations, to take in the Californian coast and a 3 night stop off in NYC in 16 a total of nights.
I've hired a "Mustang Convertible (or similar) car hire booked from LA to San Fran using Alamo and I've bought the excess waiver option from AXA insurance to avoid being stung by the rental sales rep whilst there!
I've tried to book up most activities beforehand to save time and the hassle out there. If anyone has any advice or Any "must see/eat/drink etc let me know!
San Diego - 3 nights
LA - 2 nights
LA - San Francisco (4 nights) via Santa Barbara, Big Sur area, Monterey.
San Fran 4 nights
Fly overnight to NYC
NYC 3 nights staying in the Chelsea area.
Apologies for posting on a grey dull Tuesday!
Enjoy! But please go fully expecting the "Mustang or similar" to turn out to be the "similar" then you won't be too disappointed. I've done a lot of USA trips and never got a Mustang. :-(
"The similar" is invariably a Chrylser Sebring (is that called the Chrysler 200 now?) Although you might get lucky and get a Camero which is better than the Mustang IMO). It will also be an underpowered V6 not the V8. The best I've ever ended up with was a Mitsubishi Eclipse. Which was a two-seater with an Evo-style big bore exhaust - god knows what that was doing in the rental fleet! Although I had an Olds Cutlass Supreme once (a now defunct brand) that was pretty good especially as it was red with a white roof! Don't take too much luggage (or any large-size bags) - it won't fit in the trunk with the top down.
So in a week or so the road trip holiday has become a (expensive) reality. I have decided thanks to @paulsturgess recommendations, to take in the Californian coast and a 3 night stop off in NYC in 16 a total of nights.
I've hired a "Mustang Convertible (or similar) car hire booked from LA to San Fran using Alamo and I've bought the excess waiver option from AXA insurance to avoid being stung by the rental sales rep whilst there!
I've tried to book up most activities beforehand to save time and the hassle out there. If anyone has any advice or Any "must see/eat/drink etc let me know!
So far I've booked San Diego Zoo, Monterey Whale watching, Alcatraz, Giants vs Dodgers baseball game, Rockerfeller in NYC.
San Diego - 3 nights
LA - 2 nights
LA - San Francisco (4 nights) via Santa Barbara, Big Sur area, Monterey.
San Fran 4 nights
Fly overnight to NYC
NYC 3 nights staying in the Chelsea area.
Apologies for posting on a grey dull Tuesday!
Sounds great and quite similar to what we've booked for our honeymoon next May.
We're flying into LA and having a couple of nights there staying with friends at the Marina in Santa Monica...before driving on to having a night in Santa Barbara...then on to 4 nights in San Francisco where we then pick up a RV and do Napa Valley, Yosemite National Park, Death Valley then on to Las Vegas for 4 days before flying back. We're away for 19 nights. Only 8 months away. Cant bloody wait already!
We asked for a Mustang but they cant guarantee a Mustang would be available, so we're down for a convertible of some kind but may upgrade to something else if we can. A Shelby would be nice.
We've booked the Alcatraz tour and a sunset helicopter trip to the Gran Canyon from Vegas but open to other suggestions anyone might have for must sees. No chance of getting her to attend any sporting events though. Think she wants to go and see Elton John in Vegas lol.
A word of caution. I purchased CDW in advance for a long trip, and the rental company didn't recognize it. They therefore stuck a huge deposit on my credit card, making it useless for the rest of the trip. Since then I've just bought CDW from the rental company, much easier.
Comments
I've hired a "Mustang Convertible (or similar) car hire booked from LA to San Fran using Alamo and I've bought the excess waiver option from AXA insurance to avoid being stung by the rental sales rep whilst there!
I've tried to book up most activities beforehand to save time and the hassle out there. If anyone has any advice or Any "must see/eat/drink etc let me know!
So far I've booked San Diego Zoo, Monterey Whale watching, Alcatraz, Giants vs Dodgers baseball game, Rockerfeller in NYC.
San Diego - 3 nights
LA - 2 nights
LA - San Francisco (4 nights) via Santa Barbara, Big Sur area, Monterey.
San Fran 4 nights
Fly overnight to NYC
NYC 3 nights staying in the Chelsea area.
Apologies for posting on a grey dull Tuesday!
We liked this place - the original Star Trek once filmed here - and it's not that far out of LA, if you are heading inland a little. Death Valley is also not that far, and that is a must if you have a day to spare. Monterey/Carmel are lovely too.
Have fun!
"The similar" is invariably a Chrylser Sebring (is that called the Chrysler 200 now?) Although you might get lucky and get a Camero which is better than the Mustang IMO). It will also be an underpowered V6 not the V8. The best I've ever ended up with was a Mitsubishi Eclipse. Which was a two-seater with an Evo-style big bore exhaust - god knows what that was doing in the rental fleet! Although I had an Olds Cutlass Supreme once (a now defunct brand) that was pretty good especially as it was red with a white roof! Don't take too much luggage (or any large-size bags) - it won't fit in the trunk with the top down.
Look - I'd even put my recycling out!
Great trip. My travelogues (a little out of date now) if you're interested:
http://chicagoaddick.blogspot.com/2006/09/californian-highway-1.html
http://chicagoaddick.blogspot.com/2006/09/los-angeles.html
http://chicagoaddick.blogspot.com/2006/10/san-francisco.html
http://chicagoaddick.blogspot.com/2008/05/san-diego.html
We're flying into LA and having a couple of nights there staying with friends at the Marina in Santa Monica...before driving on to having a night in Santa Barbara...then on to 4 nights in San Francisco where we then pick up a RV and do Napa Valley, Yosemite National Park, Death Valley then on to Las Vegas for 4 days before flying back. We're away for 19 nights. Only 8 months away. Cant bloody wait already!
We asked for a Mustang but they cant guarantee a Mustang would be available, so we're down for a convertible of some kind but may upgrade to something else if we can. A Shelby would be nice.
We've booked the Alcatraz tour and a sunset helicopter trip to the Gran Canyon from Vegas but open to other suggestions anyone might have for must sees. No chance of getting her to attend any sporting events though. Think she wants to go and see Elton John in Vegas lol.