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adgjl321

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It's... a bit thin. The electric bike and scooter companies all got booted out of San Francisco late last year; you can now rent scooters, but the bikes are limited to the Ford GoBike network (which is very short on electric bikes). Brace yourself for a quads workout.



Visitacion... yeah no, don't do this. It's pretty meh, the public transport is lacking... why bother?

Daly City's fine but it's deeply boring and suburban, and about 30-40 minutes from the city on BART.

If you're going to go that far down the peninsula, you might as well go a little further down to Burlingame or San Mateo. Check out the airport hotels—you might be able to snag a bargain there—or look for an AirBnB close to a Caltrain station.



This is totally doable... couple of things to note, though.

1) Even though June is summer, the top of Yosemite may still be snowed in. It's been a HUGE snow season this year, so the Tioga Pass Road that gets you from one side of Yosemite to the other might be still closed.

2) Death Valley in June is going to be an absolute b'stard. It's literally the hottest place in the world, and June is the height of summer. You may not want to do this.

So you have two questions to ask
1) Is the Tioga Pass open?
2) Do I really want to do Death Valley?

If the Tioga Pass is open, and you do want to do Death Valley, here's the map.

If the Tioga Pass is open, and you decide not to do Death Valley, you can head across the White Mountains instead, and see the bristlecone pines! This is a pretty awesome drive. Here's the map.

If the Tioga Pass is closed, you're going to have to head south to Bakersfield, then turn east. From here, it's a straight shot to Barstow and then to Vegas across some of the bleakest terrain you'll ever drive; alternatively, you can drive from Bakersfield to Death Valley, then pop out at the little hamlet of Amargosa Valley and take US-95 straight down into Vegas.

Either way, you should leave a couple of days for this drive. If you're stopping in Death Valley, stay at the Furnace Creek Ranch; if you're taking the White Mountains route, stay in the little town of Bishop at the Bishop Creekside Inn; if you're heading south through Bakersfield and skipping Death Valley, you can just blast all the way through to Vegas in a day.



1) Yes.
2) Yes. Driving in San Francisco blows, and I say that as someone who does it every day.
3) Mmm... nah, the drive out the back of Yosemite is amazing. Do it.
Thanks so much! Unfortunately we've decided to fly from SF to LV as we do not have that much time. Will definitely save what you wrote for my next trip.

Looking at something like this. Appreciate any inputs!


Day 1:
Arrive in SF late night

Will be staying at an Airbnb in Bayview District



Day 2 to 4: San Francisco

Food market at Ferry building
Farmers Market
- Frog Hollow Farm desserts
- Argentinean empanadas
- Humphry Slocombe - ice cream
- Cowgirl Sidekick - cheese sandwich
- Prather Meat Co. - hotdog
- Hog island oyster company
Lombard Street
Ghiradelli Square
Fisherman Wharf
Crissy field (Golden gate bridge view)
Union Square
Alcatraz



Day 5: San Francisco
Great Mall of San Francisco
Gilroy Outlets



Day 6: San Francisco – Las Vegas
SFO - LAS on United

Linq Hotel and Casino

Catch a show...will probably look for last minute tickets?




Day 7:

Explore LV strip

Eat:
In n Out
Hash House A Go Go
Moin Ami Gabi



Day 8: Chill day
Buffet/pool/strip/outlet



Day 9: Drive to Antelope/Grand Canyon




Day 10: Drive to LA

- The Mormon Rocks
- Get off exit 153a near D Street, take old Route 66 up from Victorville to Barstow
- Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch, Oro Grande
- Eddieworld for gas
- Peggy Sue 50’s Diner, Yermo
- Seven Magic Mountains, South Las Vegas (check if open on 15th)
- Red Rock Canyon


Bestia for dinner in LA... Booked a month ahead and 9.15pm is the earliest table they have across 5 days :o




Day 11: Hollywood


Hollywood sign and go to Griffith Observatory
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Farmer’s Market + The Grove
Melrose Avenue
Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills

Eat:
Spago
Pink’s Hot Dog
In n Out
The Griddle Café
Yamashiro




Day 12: Downtown LA


Bradbury building
The Last Bookstore
Grand Central Market
- Oyster bar
- Eggslut
Angel’s flight
Walt Disney Centre complimentary tour


Eat:
Langer’s Deli
Ave 26 Tacos
BCD Tofu House
Howlin Ray’s
Triniti



Day 13: West LA
Santa Monica
- Arrive before 10am for parking. $12 whole day
- The Pier
- Third Street Promenade
Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice Canals District
Venice Beach Boardwalk

Eat:
C&O Trattoria
Sugarfish by Sushi Nozawa
Sidecar Doughnuts
Afters Ice Cream
Salt & Straw Ice Cream
Chi Spacca
Petit Troisde




Day 14:

Desert Hill Outlet




Day 15:

Back to SG


Questions
For Day 5...is it worth just renting the car then dropping it off at Day 6 at the airport? Or is it more worthwhile exploring public transport/uber?

For Day 11/12/13, should I be driving the car all the way or just park at a single location and explore by foot?

Any recommendations on where has the best buffet in Vegas? I'm hearing Sterling or Wicked Spoon.

Where should I base myself in aka? West Hollywood? Am I right to say it wouldn’t make too big a difference if it’s West Hollywood or Downtown if I’m driving?

Please also recommend any other food places you might think are worth checking out!
 
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Shiny Things

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Thanks so much! Unfortunately we've decided to fly from SF to LV as we do not have that much time. Will definitely save what you wrote for my next trip.

Arrive in SF late night

Will be staying at an Airbnb in Bayview District

WHOA WHOA WHOA I'm gonna stop you right there. The Bayview is NOT a nice part of town, and it's a long way out from downtown. You should not stay there.


Catch a show...will probably look for last minute tickets?

Don't go last-minute; pick a show and book in advance. I highly recommend Penn and Teller, if they're performing the days you're there.

Eat:
In n Out
Hash House A Go Go
Moin Ami Gabi

You can do better than this. The restaurants at Caesars, Aria, and the Bellagio are all superb, and the Cosmopolitan has suddenly become really cool. And don't miss the buffets: my personal fave is Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan, though Bacchanal at Caesars is pretty good too (the queues can be bonkers though)

Day 9: Drive to Antelope/Grand Canyon

Ah yeah you're not gonna get this done in a day. You can do the Grand Canyon in one very long day, but you're not fitting in Antelope Canyon as well unless you have a helicopter. I'd recommend taking two days for this. Ditch your day trip to Gilroy (the outlet shops in Vegas are the same as the ones in Gilroy and the Great Mall) and take a day to visit Antelope Canyon instead.


Day 10: Drive to LA

- The Mormon Rocks
- Get off exit 153a near D Street, take old Route 66 up from Victorville to Barstow
- Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch, Oro Grande
- Eddieworld for gas
- Peggy Sue 50’s Diner, Yermo

I love this.


Bradbury building
The Last Bookstore
Grand Central Market
- Oyster bar
- Eggslut
Angel’s flight
Walt Disney Centre complimentary tour

Instead of doing this, can I suggest a few of:
* LACMA and the La Brea tar pits;
* The Grove outdoor shopping mall
* Head over to Burbank and do the Warner Bros studio tour.


Day 14:

Desert Hill Outlet

Save yourself some time - this is on the way from Vegas to LA (if you take a bit of a detour). You can hit it without spending a full day getting to and from.



Day 15:

Back to SG

Where should I base myself in aka? West Hollywood? Am I right to say it wouldn’t make too big a difference if it’s West Hollywood or Downtown if I’m driving?

It does, it makes a huge difference. LA is gigantic and the traffic sucks. You should absolutely base yourself in West Hollywood.
 

fzhfzh

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I like to stay at the airport hotels in LA. It’s much cheaper than Hollywood ones, and on the west side of LA where most of the non-themepark attractions are at. Traffic isn’t too bad as well as you don’t have to get through down town.
 

Avizoa

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for day 13, you can park at the car park opposite google office. It is only 4 dollars for whole day till 6pm, after that its free parking.
It is between venice and santa monica where you can explore the broadwalk and the pier.

Day 9 is not possible in one day as the drive from LV to Page is like 5hours plus non stop.
Tours for antelope has specific timing and the best time to visit is like 11am due to the lightning in the canyon. From page to LA is nearly 5 hours, and I was driving at 100miles/hour.

You said grand canyon, do you know which part of grand canyon you visiting? Horse shoe bend is near antelope but grand canyon west is like all the way at the other side near LV.

Just a heads up eggslut can be found in cosmopolitan hotel too. Realized that you keep going back to try in and out. Why not give 5 guys a try or even shake shack.
 

dondondonkey

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Thanks for the detailed post bro. can ask where u stayed in NYC? trying to decide between hotel or airbnb, cos not sure if airbnb is safe there. didn't realize it was illegal in NYC :eek:

did you visit the factory outlets?

Just back from a trip through Boston, Cape Cod and NYC! :s12: First visit to those places for me.

Sharing some experience for users who may be visiting the area.

Boston
Boston is a more open and spaced-out city (not super urban like NYC, SG, HK, etc.) which can be a nice break for us city folks as it is still fairly convenient to get around and have enough creature comforts. reminds me of cities in Australia but nicer and more interesting IMO. =:p

We got around on a combination of The T (train network that operates both above and under ground) and a lot of walking! Bought the 7-day pass and felt we used it sufficiently within 3-days to cover the cost.

Boston is a very walkable city. We did the Freedom Trail covering locations and history leading up to the American War of Independence. It was 20+km of walking and easy to follow with the red bricks/markers embedded onto the pavements and pedestrain crossing. Suggest visitors to obtain the Boston Pass for entry to all the small museums along the way - otherwise it is individual ticket for each museum.

Start early and you can break for lunch/coffee/snacks anywhere along the way.

Popular, particularly with Asian tourists, are visits to the various universities like Harvard and MIT. Harvard has a couple of museums of their own which are worth visiting if time permits.

Generally people we encountered were well-mannered, friendly and just genuinely nice. :)

Great seafood, of course!

Cape Cod
This leg of the trip was to visit relatives based there. The Cape is a summer destination especially for the wealthy with their summer houses. It was very quiet as we visited in the "wrong" season. :s13:

It's the home town of John F Kennedy so there is a small museum dedicated to him. The Kennedies have a large family compound in one of the coastal area. Impossible to get around at all without a vehicle as the nearest anything is 15-20 minutes walk.

Couple of popular outlying islands to visit are Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket - "millionaire's islands". We did a day trip to Nantucket and cycled 20-miles along bike trails on eastern part of the island and rode pass many of the beautiful millionaire summer houses and also a golf course along the coast featuring a functioning lighthouse!

As with Boston, fantastic seafood!

New York City
The Big Apple, the city that never sleeps... Anything and everything goes in this cosmopolitan, dynamic, energetic place.

We walked an average 10km at least each of the 5 full days we were there and only barely covered a quarter of Manhattan island. So much to see, do, eat and buy there. I will suggest exploring the city with the ubiquitous Citi-bikes to cover more area.

Some of the best things to see in NYC are actually FREE!
1. Central Park
2. Grand Central Station
3. New York Public Library
4. World Trade Center Memorial
5. Brooklyn/Manhattan bridges
6. Hudson Park
7. High-Line
8. Times Square
9. Bryant Park
10. The countless churches and places of worship like St. Patrick's Cathedral
11. ...more that I haven't explored myself

One funny suggestion is to try the chinese food, especially in and around chinatown - it's REALLY good, comparable to anything we can find in Asia except a little pricey (by SG standards). :s13:

The Metropolitan Museum has an amazing collection of historical artifacts and art from nearly all over the world. It takes at least 3hrs just to quickly browse through each gallery - better to cater more time especially if you are a fan of history. MoMA was interesting too but certain galleries/exhibits got too abstract for me. We got tickets for both on Klook, instant e-ticket and cheaper than buying OTC.

The subway network is complex and can be confusing, stations can be cleaner and train frequencies higher. Each entry is ~USD3 or more. Not the most pleasant and nothing much to see which is why we limited using it to once or twice at most per day. Hotels are small and very expensive, you can consider Airbnb though it's illegal (as how it is in SG) :s22:

As with Boston, people were far nicer and friendlier than I had expected. Better mannered than the average folks in Singapore! :s13:

It sounds cliché but NYC somehow does make one feel the sky's the limit. Anything is possible! It was far more pleasant than I had imagined - yes the sirens are always going off, the streets are not the cleanest, you do see some homelessness and it is good to regularly keep on your guard.

But still, it's a helluva town.
 

kashanai

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Airbnb is illegal in NYC? But Airbnb is from USA no?

Thanks for the detailed post bro. can ask where u stayed in NYC? trying to decide between hotel or airbnb, cos not sure if airbnb is safe there. didn't realize it was illegal in NYC :eek:

did you visit the factory outlets?
 

Shiny Things

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Airbnb is illegal in NYC? But Airbnb is from USA no?

Yes. Cities and states can set their own laws about hotels—and AirBnB is not very popular in big cities, where long-term rental units are being taken off the market and offered on AirBnB instead. This drives up rental costs and drives up housing prices and generally annoys a big segment of the population.

Just a heads up eggslut can be found in cosmopolitan hotel too. Realized that you keep going back to try in and out. Why not give 5 guys a try or even shake shack.

Oh yeah, I forgot this.

Pro tip: I've been to that Eggslut in the Cosmo, and the queues are absolutely goddamn bonkers. If you're doing breakfast, and you should, you'll want to get there extremely early in the morning - around 7am or so, because around 8-9am you'll be lucky if you get served within half an hour.
 
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Shiny Things

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I like to stay at the airport hotels in LA. It’s much cheaper than Hollywood ones, and on the west side of LA where most of the non-themepark attractions are at. Traffic isn’t too bad as well as you don’t have to get through down town.

I have to respectfully disagree with this. You're right that the airport hotels are convenient to the west side (and cheaper), but I still think West Hollywood is a better bet:

1) WeHo is a lot more vibrant than the area around the airport, which is pretty dead. This especially matters in the evenings; if you go out in WeHo it's a 5-10 minute Lyft ride back to your hotel afterward, instead of a half-hour cross-town schlep back to the airport.
2) If you stay near the airport and want to go anywhere east of Santa Monica, you have to take the 405 or the 105 which are both traffic disasters;
3) WeHo is closer to all of the fun stuff over in Burbank (Warner and Universal).
 
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adgjl321

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Thanks everyone!

WHOA WHOA WHOA I'm gonna stop you right there. The Bayview is NOT a nice part of town, and it's a long way out from downtown. You should not stay there.
Oh no... The airbnb is along Underwood Avenue. My fault for not doing enough research and relying on the listing/reviews as I saw it was only 8km or so into the city. Will start looking for somewhere else...

Don't go last-minute; pick a show and book in advance. I highly recommend Penn and Teller, if they're performing the days you're there.
Ahh I'm there from 15th June onwards and they do not have any shows then. Shame...



You can do better than this. The restaurants at Caesars, Aria, and the Bellagio are all superb, and the Cosmopolitan has suddenly become really cool. And don't miss the buffets: my personal fave is Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan, though Bacchanal at Caesars is pretty good too (the queues can be bonkers though)
Are the buffets just good in general across lunch or dinner? Or more for dinner when the more expensive seafood are offered?

Ah yeah you're not gonna get this done in a day. You can do the Grand Canyon in one very long day, but you're not fitting in Antelope Canyon as well unless you have a helicopter. I'd recommend taking two days for this. Ditch your day trip to Gilroy (the outlet shops in Vegas are the same as the ones in Gilroy and the Great Mall) and take a day to visit Antelope Canyon instead.
If we do end up staying a night, should we stay in Page?



Avizoa:

Hm if we were to do a day trip only to GC, which rim would you recommend? Heard the West Rim is very touristy and not the most ideal.
 

fzhfzh

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I have to respectfully disagree with this. You're right that the airport hotels are convenient to the west side (and cheaper), but I still think West Hollywood is a better bet:

1) WeHo is a lot more vibrant than the area around the airport, which is pretty dead. This especially matters in the evenings; if you go out in WeHo it's a 5-10 minute Lyft ride back to your hotel afterward, instead of a half-hour cross-town schlep back to the airport.
2) If you stay near the airport and want to go anywhere east of Santa Monica, you have to take the 405 or the 105 which are both traffic disasters;
3) WeHo is closer to all of the fun stuff over in Burbank (Warner and Universal).

I think it depends on what you want. Yes nightlife is a good point, but my wife and I never drink and party at night so it was never a concern for us. If you don’t drink, driving back is pretty convenient.

It’s not that much difference in driving time to universal studios as well. It’s 10-20 min driving time difference vs 100+ per night hotel price difference.
 

fzhfzh

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Thanks everyone!


Oh no... The airbnb is along Underwood Avenue. My fault for not doing enough research and relying on the listing/reviews as I saw it was only 8km or so into the city. Will start looking for somewhere else...


Ahh I'm there from 15th June onwards and they do not have any shows then. Shame...




Are the buffets just good in general across lunch or dinner? Or more for dinner when the more expensive seafood are offered?


If we do end up staying a night, should we stay in Page?



Avizoa:

Hm if we were to do a day trip only to GC, which rim would you recommend? Heard the West Rim is very touristy and not the most ideal.

Personally. I would skip the buffet. It’s not much different from high end buffets in Singapore. They are popular because they are cheap. I would reserve a nicer place like Gordon Ramsay steak or bazaar of meat or something.
 

Avizoa

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If we do end up staying a night, should we stay in Page?

Avizoa:

Hm if we were to do a day trip only to GC, which rim would you recommend? Heard the West Rim is very touristy and not the most ideal.
Yes stay in page if you want to access antelope canyon quickly. You could also stay in flagstaff which is 1 hour away from page.

It's either west rim as it is near LV or you can try zion national park.
If you want to go south rim or even north rim, please cater a day to drive over or you will be in darkness.
Trust me you do not want to drive from LV and on to antelope as I did the same thing before :s13::s13: The driving although is scenic but terribly long
 
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Avizoa

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Pro tip: I've been to that Eggslut in the Cosmo, and the queues are absolutely goddamn bonkers. If you're doing breakfast, and you should, you'll want to get there extremely early in the morning - around 7am or so, because around 8-9am you'll be lucky if you get served within half an hour.
Guess i was lucky then, i arrived during lunch time and the queue was at most 3 people??

another pro tip, head up one level egg **** in cosmo and try the no signage pizza place. it located deep in one alley.
 
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Avizoa

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adgjl321 do you have any hotel status like hilton diamond or mariott platinum?
If you do, go match with wynham and use the wynham status match with caesar reward diamond which will give you 100 credits on caesar dining property . They also give you two tickets to any show on caesar property too.

Do book gordon ramsay properties early before you go cause if you don't book you might not even have a seating.

After that you can match caesar rewards to M Life for MGM properties benefits.


All these casino reward very important cause if you have their top tier cards you can park in the car park for free or use their valet for free.
 

CCPie

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Anyone got tips for changing USD anot?

I thinking about 3 choices:

1. Change USD first with dbs MCA and withdraw with debit
2. Change cash in sg
3. Just use my miles card when there
 

Panerex

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I am touching down at LA at 10pm local time. May I know if there is any nearby cheap hotel stay just for one night, before changing to another more expensive hotel near Disney the next day?

TIA
 

Avizoa

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I am touching down at LA at 10pm local time. May I know if there is any nearby cheap hotel stay just for one night, before changing to another more expensive hotel near Disney the next day?

TIA

there are hotels near the aiport that you can stay for the night. How much is your hotel at anaheim? I stayed at best western there and it was around 200sgd for a deluxe room, which is roughly a little bit more top up from the airport hotel.

You can reach anaheim from LAX within 1 hour of driving though.
 

adgjl321

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adgjl321 do you have any hotel status like hilton diamond or mariott platinum?
If you do, go match with wynham and use the wynham status match with caesar reward diamond which will give you 100 credits on caesar dining property . They also give you two tickets to any show on caesar property too.

Do book gordon ramsay properties early before you go cause if you don't book you might not even have a seating.

After that you can match caesar rewards to M Life for MGM properties benefits.


All these casino reward very important cause if you have their top tier cards you can park in the car park for free or use their valet for free.
Ah that's really helpful actually. Unfortunately I don't travel much for work these days.

Did you find Gordon Ramsay good? I tried Wolfgang Puck while I was in Vegas a long long time ago and was very meh. Heard his restaurant Spago in LA is pretty damn good though.

edit: i can most likely get Hilton Gold before my trip, just need 2 nights more...and that's Wyndham platinum...not bad. I'm staying at Linq which is under Caesar's so seems pretty promising with the perks.

Does the Wyndham - Caesar status match take place instantly?

And I did not book Linq directly with the hotel, do they tend to extend these perks still?
 
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