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Original poster

Would you go on this holiday on your own?

94 replies

PrincessIntrovert · 18/07/2023 06:20

An escorted tour so with a group of people, but presumably not stuck with them 247, which is what I need to clarify with TUI:

Day 1 - land at LAX and spend the evening in a hotel there, I'll presumably just want to sleep after a long flight
Day 2 - day trip in Las Vegas
Day 3 - Death Valley national park with an overnight stay in Mammoth Lakes
Day 4 - Yosemite sightseeing
Day 5 - San Francisco including view of Alcatraz and GG bridge
Day 6 - Free day in San Francisco
Day 7 - Monteray and Carmel
Day 8 - Santa Barbara
Day 9 - home

I've always dreamed of going to America and I turn 40 next year so feel it would be a good time... But I'm not sure what to expect on an escorted tour and I've no idea how far away these spots are from each other, so if anyone could shed light that would be great?

Basically I don't want to spend £3k to sit on a bus for 8 days...

OP posts:
HundredMilesAnHour · 18/07/2023 20:45

Why not go to L.A. - stay in Santa Monica (so you have beach AND shopping) - or Miami - stay in South Beach (beach AND shopping again). Both can be relaxing if that's what you want, and both are manageable without cars (just get cabs/Uber/Lyft).

Or if you want to do a tour, look at something that covers less area so you're not on the bus all the time, or go for longer so you get more time in places.

Dibbydoos · 18/07/2023 20:47

I personally think a cruise is the best trip to do solo cos so many people are solo too. They even have special events for solo people.

This trip though sounds fab to me. I'd do it!

Sandals94 · 18/07/2023 20:49

A friend of mine recently bit the bullet and did this. She had THE BEST TIME and made some fantastic friends in the process. If you don't take chances, life stands still. Go for it!

Original poster
PrincessIntrovert · 18/07/2023 21:06

Sandals94 · 18/07/2023 20:49

A friend of mine recently bit the bullet and did this. She had THE BEST TIME and made some fantastic friends in the process. If you don't take chances, life stands still. Go for it!

Think I'll speak to TUI. I'm still hoping they can convince me! All those places would be amazing even if it is a squeeze x

OP posts:
Batalax · 18/07/2023 21:08

I’ve done all that but over a much longer time. There would be a lot of travel in that. Can you find a longer one?

bookwormcrazy · 18/07/2023 21:33

That is not enough time for Las Vegas! Even walking from one casino to the other can take half an hour sometimes.

Diplidocus4 · 18/07/2023 21:34

Absolutely.
Also happy to travel with you ? Looks an amazing trip.

Acey11 · 19/07/2023 06:55

Some of these places are really far away from each other. I find it really odd that LA and Vegas are one day apart on the itinerary. We went to quite a few of these places and there is a lot to do in vegas and San Francisco, so I’d suggest you’d want at least a few days at each.

We went Vegas, SF, then down the coast to LA over a 5 day period and we are still driving several hours each day.

We used Trailfinders and they were excellent - they do group holidays as well.

Jujubes5 · 19/07/2023 07:06

Go on Google and find out the distances between these places - it sounds like a scenic coach tour to me without much of anything else.
I've been to all those places when I lived in Calif but each one would be a weekend trip for me because of the distance. You really need a day to travel to each place then at least a day to look round, then a day to travel to the next place.

Mrsdht · 19/07/2023 07:11

We came back from a new York/SF trip just Sunday gone. Me, DP and DD age 15. Done all the usual tourist sights you mention. We hired a car to go from SF to Monterrey to Yosemite, stayed in a cabin 2 nights then drove back to SF. You will be lucky to get a view of the bridge even standing on it...or alcatraz. The fog is relentless. Also book alcatraz now if its something you want to do on your free day...theyre booked well in advance. Yours is a trip I would definitely do on my own without a second thought. Take some music and some books for the drives. I was the passanger and some of the drive views along the coast were breathtaking. We didn't fancy LV or LA which is why we started on the East Coast.

Mumof3children · 19/07/2023 07:33

It sounds like a great itinerary, however you will be sitting on a coach for large parts of the day (4-6 hours?). Of course you will still be able to enjoy the scenery while on the coach. I think the question is what type of holiday would you like? Are you ok with doing a lot of travelling or do you want to spend a lot of time exploring on foot? If the latter, this itinerary is too packed for you.

itsmyp4rty · 19/07/2023 07:52

I agree that there is a lot of coach travel in there and not much time anywhere. On the other hand if you try to do something like this on your own then getting to National Parks without your own transport is tricky, public transport is pretty crap in America unless you're just going city to city and even then it's not great because everyone has a car. I'd say definitely just do it yourself otherwise and take it much slower.

I did something similar over three weeks, didn't visit Death valley but did visit the grand canyon (from Vegas on a day tour). Also did a day tour to Yosemite from SF. Used public transport to get between places, so is doable yourself you just can't explore as much or as freely/easily if you don't have a car.

mjf981 · 19/07/2023 08:04

Agreed with others - too much travelling. That should be at least a 2 week trip in my books, if not 3. You'll get sick of the coach.

Melbee5467 · 19/07/2023 09:58

No, I wouldn’t do this trip. I’ve done this route a number of times and there is too much travel for 9 days for you to enjoy yourself properly. Now, I’m not saying don’t do this route there are some great things to see, you need 14 -18 days minimum to do it justice though. Would you consider doing it yourself? I know a number of women your age/my age who have done that.

magratvonlipwig · 19/07/2023 11:18

Hell yes, sounds fab. Theyll take you everywhere and theyll know the way and the dos and donts.

If you want to check the distance plot the trip on google maps

GeraltsBathtub · 19/07/2023 11:21

I’ve done similar trips with other tour companies and there are always people on their own. In fact DP and I went on a small group tour to Vegas and surrounding NPs with G Adventures and we were the only people not on our own that time! We just hate driving on holiday.

ReviewingTheSituation · 19/07/2023 11:30

That is a LOT of time on the road. 1 day in each of those places would be a big no-no for me. You'll spend hours each day getting to each one, and hardly any time actually seeing anything. Just as example - from the entry to Yosemite park to the 'centre' takes about an hour to drive! And unpacking in a new hotel (almost) every night - just exhausting!

The idea of seeing those places as a solo traveller is an excellent one. But I'd go with a company who specializes in solo travel, rather than TUI who will have just added onto their offer, but certainly aren't experts in it. And unless you are a great lover of coach travel (and maybe just want to tick those places off your list, rather than see anything more than a visitor centre in each of them), perhaps think about a different itinerary.

In your OP, you say "I don't want to spend 3K to sit on a bus for 8 days", but that's essentially what your itinerary is.

Bearpawk · 19/07/2023 11:37

My friend does these trips - loves them and makes some great new friends each time

Billybagpuss · 19/07/2023 11:45

https://www.trailfinders.com/tours/usa/western-usa/san-francisco/tour-whales-wine-and-wonders-of-california

what about this one? Your original trip is way too long on a coach for my liking, but this includes wine and shopping.

https://www.trailfinders.com/tours/usa/western-usa/san-francisco/tour-whales-wine-and-wonders-of-california

ReviewingTheSituation · 19/07/2023 11:47

Billybagpuss · 19/07/2023 11:45

https://www.trailfinders.com/tours/usa/western-usa/san-francisco/tour-whales-wine-and-wonders-of-california

what about this one? Your original trip is way too long on a coach for my liking, but this includes wine and shopping.

That's not a comparable trip though, as it's a fly-drive rather than an escorted tour.

I can totally see why OP wants an escorted tour. But there must be much better options than the TUI one.

Billybagpuss · 19/07/2023 11:56

ReviewingTheSituation · 19/07/2023 11:47

That's not a comparable trip though, as it's a fly-drive rather than an escorted tour.

I can totally see why OP wants an escorted tour. But there must be much better options than the TUI one.

Show quote history

Point taken, https://www.trailfinders.com/tours/usa/california/california/tour-northern-california

this one is escorted

https://www.trailfinders.com/tours/usa/california/california/tour-northern-california

katscamel · 19/07/2023 11:57

No, but only because I had group tours.
I'm currently doing a Canadian trip by myself. I spent a few days with a friend but then using trains to get to some of the places I want to go. It's not great as have only got a couple of days in each place but does allow me to do/see what I want when I want.
I've done mine through Flight Centre as communication wise they were better than Trail Finders.

Beezknees · 19/07/2023 11:58

Absolutely!

I'm single and DS will be off to uni in 3 years so this is how I plan on holidaying. Sounds perfect.

AngelsWithSilverWings · 19/07/2023 12:10

As a previous poster has suggested look at a specialist tour company. It may be more expensive but you will have a better experience.

My husband did an escorted tour of Peru with intrepid travel ( he was on gardening leave and Peru was on his bucket list but not on mine so I told him to go and get it out of his system while he had the time)

He said it was great - a small group all travelling together but not in each others pockets. Plenty of time to explore each destination.

I like and trust Tui as a holiday company and their flights are far superior to the usual budget airlines ( I've flown long haul with them too) but I wouldn't do a tour like that with them.

GeraltsBathtub · 19/07/2023 12:20

https://www.gadventures.com/trips/best-of-california/8769/ G adventures has a pretty similar sounding tour but if you go on the full itinerary it gives a breakdown of how long the driving time each day is expected to be

If this is a once in a lifetime trip and you can wangle a bit more time off I’d go for this one though! https://www.gadventures.com/trips/ultimate-western-usa/8771/

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