Las Vegas & California trip

[OnlyGirlinmyHouse]

I have 2 week trip planned at the end of May, and I'm hoping for some tips & advice from people who have done similar!

DH, DS's who are 11 & 8 and I will have a few days in Vegas, then on to Desth Valley, Yosemite, San Francisco for 3 nights, Monterey, Pismo Beach, then 4 nights in Anaheim in LA.

Is the Grand Canyon a 'must do'? We would only be able to afford to do a bus day trip there, which would take a whole day most of which would be spent on the bus.

Footwear! Will we all need walking shoes for places like Yosemite, or will decent trainers be ok. We'll be doing a couple of days in Disney so will be doing a far amount of walking there I imagine, but would assume trainers would be ok there.

Any other tips or things to do or not do would be appreciated.

Oh and expect to spend spend spend in Vegas, everything that was kid friendly was so expensive and you need to be inside because it's so hot (it was September when I went). I may return but only now my kids don't come with us (no way they would come as the Americans don't let them drink!)

I second the musee mechanique in San Francisco - it's so much fun. Also riding a cable car, visiting the Ghiradelli chocolate shop, seeing the seals at Fisherman's wharf. You can ride bikes across the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito and get the ferry back. Baseball tickets are very cheap and it's a great experience. Alcatraz is amazing but I'm not sure for kids

In Vegas there are thrill rides at the top of the Stratosphere and a funfair and roller-coaster running through New York New York (it goes outside and back in). Not sure about age restrictions though

End of May is perfect for Yosemite as the waterfalls should be in full flow. DC were fine in trainers.

Re GC it depends if you're likely to go to that part of the world again. It was the highlight of the trip for us. Vegas was distinctly underwhelming. Just hotels in the heat (like Dubai). The hotels are casino focused but DC have to be hurried through. There are touts everywhere trying to 'sell' prostitutes to men by pushing leaflets into their hands. Even when DH was walking with 10 year old DD. Never again!!

Agree re aquarium in Monterrey. Loved the sea otters.

I hike a lot and always wear trainers (including in Yosemite). I don't think you need hiking boots unless you have wobbly ankles, or if you're doing a hike with some serious climbing involved.

I live in SF - it can get very cold in the summer because the fog comes in, although it's still usually pretty warm half an hour north or south of the bay itself. But end of May should still be pretty nice I think, especially as spring is a bit late coming this year. It cools down as soon as the sun sets, we don't really get warm evenings, so you'll need jackets for that.

Cycling across the bridge to Sausalito is a fantastic thing to do but it is quite a vigorous ride and very steep on the Sausalito side - depends how comfortably your children are on bikes.

Alcatraz is amazing and people normally also enjoy a cable car ride as well. I also recommend the California Academy of Sciences for families visiting SF - it has a rainforest dome inside and they have some great exhibitions, plus the aquarium in the basement (although it's not as impressive as the Monterey aquarium).

@OnlyGirlinmyHouse

The Luxor is beautiful! And as long as the children walk quickly through the casino/lobby, you’ll be fine.

Another thing you can do is try to take in a Major League baseball game. In Los Angeles you’ll have the Dodgers and in Anaheim the Angels. San Francisco is home to the Giants and Oakland (not far from San Fran) is home to the Oakland A’s. If you’re interested, you can see if any of these teams will have home games when you’ll be there. It’s a nice thing to do, especially in the evening after a long day of walking. Games last around three hours on average.

Adore These threads it's a trip I hope to do soon
OP will you come back after and give us trip report.
Has anyone done Hearst castle?

Also what's special about palm springs???

LateEaster - I will definitely come back and update. There have been some fabulous tips and recommendations, I cant wait to get there now! I'll definitely look into a baseball game.

We did a similar trip 2 years ago and I can’t wait to go back.

Hoover Dam was DH’s pick but I really enjoyed it. We drove back to Las Vegas via Lake Mead which was lovely too. We decided against the Grand Canyon as just too far.

Death Valley was amazing. Do the Artists Drive on the way to Badwater Basin. I have never seen anything like it. We stayed at Furnace Creek which was ok. Best think was the pool at night under all those stars. We stopped overnight in Mammoth to break the journey from Death Valley to Yosemite. Also stopped off in Bishop to visit Erik Schats Bakery.

Are you planning on using the Tioga Pass? The June Lake Loop is worth doing. We also stopped to see Mono Lake. Yosemite busy as expected. Sentinel Dome was an easy hike with breathtaking view over the valley.

San Francisco loved it! Dinner outside at the Cheesecake Factory went down well with DS age12. He loved Alcatraz and Fisherman’s wharf. We went over the Bridge and up to Bodega Bay via Muir Woods but we had 5 days in SF. Golden Gate park is massive. We took the train out to Ocean Beach. Went for a wander round the Castro and Mission areas. Great food in the Ferry Building. So much to do. Loved the architecture especially around Pacific Heights. Smitten ice cream on Chestnut Street was a big hit too. They use liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream to order.

Stopped at Santa Cruz for lunch on the way down to Monterey to visit O’Niell’s Surf Shack and the roller coaster . We stayed in Pacific Grove. Had a lovely day at the beach in Carmel. 17 mile drive is another must do in that area.

We didn’t get as far as Pismo as the Highway was still closed. We did drive over the Bixby Bridge and went as far as the Big Sur River Inn where we ate lunch sitting on chairs in the river.

Best holiday ever.

Las Vegas is amazing, like California as well. I used to be there and visited all the different parks around. Vegas is cool as well, especially if you like casino. I also played casinobonusesfinder.com/online-casinos/10bet-casino a little bit but wanted to go to real one.
Hope to travel there once more and don't forget about comfortable cloth.

Thank you Belindabelle, some great tips there. I think we are planning on using the Tioga pass - is that the one that closes over winter? We're hoping it is open when we are there!

Cant wait to go now. San Fran sounds like it will be a hit with the boys - will definitely check out the ice cream place.

@OnlyGirlinmyHouse - the Smitten ice cream place on Chestnut Street has recently closed but they still have other locations open in the city - www.smittenicecream.com/locations/

Hope you enjoy your visit next month!

Thank you Noodle, will definitely go to one of those, it looks fab. Can't wait, 30 days to go!!

My daughter was 11 when we did Las Vegas/LA. She loved Grand Canon, we did went on an organised trip which was a long day but included stopping to see Joshua Trees, Hoover Damn and a helicopter and boat trip at Grand Canon. The heli trip was fun, little nerve racking when he swooped up and down and close to the rocks but loved it. The boat trip was interesting as your are taken down the river by GC residents.

We also stayed in Luxor, they had a titanic exhibition at the time which was interesting, we received a boarding card and followed the journey of the real life passenger and you found out at the end if you survived or died. The hotel itself was a little grubby, food not great. I wouldn’t stay there again but it was fine for a stopover, I just wanted to go in the lift. I think it’s the only one or certainly I one of a few going up and down on a slant.

Shopping was good, lots of beggars around.

In LA we spent one night in Hollywood to see the famous strip, Chinese theatre, sign etc all very tacky but also interesting. We went a movie star homes tour and saw lots of high hedges the commentary was fun though.

Warner’s studio tour was good, you can upgrade to visit studios others don’t see. We saw Big Bang set and Pretty Little Liars being filmed.

Whale trip is a def if you have time we loved it. Disney and Universal were very busy! We upgraded at Universal to VIP, front of queue, gifts, food all day was included. I found that worth it. If you go to Disney go on the big wheel with the swinging carriage. That’s all I’m saying

Santa Monica Pier was a good day out.

I want to LA/San Francisco next.

Hi, OnlyGirl, it's been a while, but how was your trip to the States?

Just a note on Alcatraz, if you do one of the red and white boat tours from pier 39 they take you under the Golden Gate Bridge and then around Alcatraz with a pretty vague audio tour which my DS found fascinating. My sister lives in SFO and she said that boat tour was better than actually visiting as you see far more of the rock

"Is the Grand Canyon a 'must do'?"

Yes. BUT go to the NORTH RIM, if you feel like you can drive there - ideally stay overnight in the log cabins... it's so much nicer and less touristy.

We did similar but started in San Francisco, Yosemite, death valley, Vegas palm springs then a week in Santa Monica. Was amazing. We did a limo ride from Vegas to helicopter which took us for a champagne picnic half way down the grand canyon. You don't really get the scale of it until you see helicopters both above and below you.

Hi Tilez! I meant to come back to update. We had an amazing time. I'm so gutted it's over, and wish we could go back. I absolutely loved Death Valley, Yosemite and Monterey/Pismo beach on the way down Highway 1. I would definitely recommend the type of trip that we did to anyone. The boys loved it all, coped really well with the travelling, and enjoyed the mix of activities that we did.

Hi, OnlyGirl, I'm glad you and the family had a wonderful time! We did a similar trip five years ago and it was, in my opinion, the best vacation we've ever had. I love going west of the Mississippi River, living here on the East Coast like we do.

Thank you for the update!