US Trip - NYC, San Francisco, LA, Yosemite etc

jujuhippo

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Hi all

I'm planning a trip to US namely this few cities/places:

1. New York City
2. San Francisco
3. Los Angeles
4. Yosemite
5. Grand Canyon

Time of visit: Nov this year

Appreciate everyone to share your experience whether it's good food, good accommodations, travel tips or so on which may be useful for my trip.
 

-EnZo-

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I actually want to go the same places as u. but in may. 2 weeks plus maybe 3 extra days. self drive abit .then take domestic flight to save time. need input on which area to start 1st and end at airport. will be going with 2 other couples. total 6 people. will book air bnb and 7 seater. any suggestions ?
 

touchme

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2 weeks just nice for Westcoast,, 3 with theme parks.
no point squeezing in NYC for quality time. That shd be done with Niagara/Toronto or the East coast cities itself for a good 1-2 weeks.
 

jujuhippo

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I actually want to go the same places as u. but in may. 2 weeks plus maybe 3 extra days. self drive abit .then take domestic flight to save time. need input on which area to start 1st and end at airport. will be going with 2 other couples. total 6 people. will book air bnb and 7 seater. any suggestions ?

I was initially planning to go near your timing which is next yr june, but I have work trip end of the year so might as well combine it.
 

jujuhippo

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2 weeks just nice for Westcoast,, 3 with theme parks.
no point squeezing in NYC for quality time. That shd be done with Niagara/Toronto or the East coast cities itself for a good 1-2 weeks.

we are skipping the theme parks though, so the time is quite manageable and we are looking at 3 weeks
 

Shiny Things

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Hi all

I'm planning a trip to US namely this few cities/places:

1. New York City
2. San Francisco
3. Los Angeles
4. Yosemite
5. Grand Canyon

Time of visit: Nov this year

Appreciate everyone to share your experience whether it's good food, good accommodations, travel tips or so on which may be useful for my trip.

Oh hell yeah. You'll love it.

Couple of thoughts:

1) Ditch NYC. The travel time between the east coast and west coast is going to eat up most of a day; that time could be better spent on the west coast.

2) Add Las Vegas to your itinerary; it's a nice jumping-off point for places like Death Valley and the Grand Canyon.

3) November can be a little dicey at the Grand Canyon and Yosemite if we get early snowstorms over here. You might find that the roads are snowed out; things are usually pretty well maintained, so you'll be able to get to and from the parks, but you won't be able to take shortcuts like the Tioga Pass road over the back of Yosemite.

Are you planning to drive, or take guided tours?
 

touchme

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west is for adventure and wild, east is for fine holidaying, best left apart.

3 weeks without the theme parks, can explore the varying wild landscapes of Midwest. Continuing eastwards from GCY, to Monument Valley/Escalante/Canyon Lands Colorado plateau/Arches/Capitolreef/Dixie/Cedar Creek and their National Parks.
Frankly GCY not that nice, cf the Midwest landscapes.
Well, that's of you're into vast wild nature and geography
 

sCuzzZy

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Hijack abit.

Can recommend any car rental with no or reasonable drop off fees?

Covering LA SF LV
 

dilphinus

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I won't do the Grand Canyon and Yosemite in winter. Personal preference.
 

patryn33

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Did Grand Canyon in Xmas break, Nov may not be too bad.
Hiking down hard need good foot wear
Walk around the rim, no issue. Still very pretty

Don't do NYC, don't do west and east; too much running around.
Northeast area much to do just not well known to Singaporean
 
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punggol12

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Include Yellowstone

Some people prefer Yellowstone to Yosemite.
Yellowstone has much more wildlife to see including bisons and wild goats and deer.
Also the geysers are quite an experience.
I think people go to Yosemite to climb the mountains
If you are not into climbing mountains, spend less time in Yosemite and include Yellowstone.
You may have to stay outside of Yellowstone and drive into Yellowstone if you can't find accommodation in the park.
I have experienced Yosemite and Yellowstone and I enjoyed Yellowstone much more.
 

yxerin

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Some people prefer Yellowstone to Yosemite.
Yellowstone has much more wildlife to see including bisons and wild goats and deer.
Also the geysers are quite an experience.
I think people go to Yosemite to climb the mountains
If you are not into climbing mountains, spend less time in Yosemite and include Yellowstone.
You may have to stay outside of Yellowstone and drive into Yellowstone if you can't find accommodation in the park.
I have experienced Yosemite and Yellowstone and I enjoyed Yellowstone much more.

I second this. There are days when I go to Yosemite and I don't see any major wildlife other than birds and insects. But in a single day at Yellowstone, you are likely to see bears, elks and bisons. Yellowstone also has amazing geothermal features (e.g. grand prismatic spring, old faithful, Yellowstone grand canyon). Yellowstone also has the benefit of being just to the north of the Grand Tetons. I actually think the Grand Tetons is the most beautiful and serene national park in America. If anyone is going Yellowstone in between June and August, I highly recommend catching the nightly Cody rodeo. Cody is just half an hour (if I remember correctly) from Yellowstone's east entrance. Yellowstone's main problem is that it's not along the West or East coast tourist routes, so it's not as well known to most Singaporeans. But it is by far (in my opinion at least), the better national park compared to Yosemite. If you have 3 weeks, then it's worth spending 2 weeks along the West Coast, and 1 week in the Yellowstone/Grant Teton/Jackson Hole/Salt Lake City area.

Yosemite has beautiful waterfalls, but if you are going in November, then forget it. Most of the ice would already have melted and this means water volume will be low.
 

jujuhippo

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Oh hell yeah. You'll love it.

Couple of thoughts:

1) Ditch NYC. The travel time between the east coast and west coast is going to eat up most of a day; that time could be better spent on the west coast.

2) Add Las Vegas to your itinerary; it's a nice jumping-off point for places like Death Valley and the Grand Canyon.

3) November can be a little dicey at the Grand Canyon and Yosemite if we get early snowstorms over here. You might find that the roads are snowed out; things are usually pretty well maintained, so you'll be able to get to and from the parks, but you won't be able to take shortcuts like the Tioga Pass road over the back of Yosemite.

Are you planning to drive, or take guided tours?

we intend to take domestic flight from NYC to SF/LA so we are good with that.

Las Vegas... probably another time

Yeah i'm abit concerned about the weather at Yosemite, but most online sites say that Nov is still pretty okay, just that the water will be much lesser.

We are going to drive at the west coast areas : SF, LA, Yosemite, Grand Canyon etc. NYC we won't be driving since it's a city.
 

jujuhippo

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west is for adventure and wild, east is for fine holidaying, best left apart.

3 weeks without the theme parks, can explore the varying wild landscapes of Midwest. Continuing eastwards from GCY, to Monument Valley/Escalante/Canyon Lands Colorado plateau/Arches/Capitolreef/Dixie/Cedar Creek and their National Parks.
Frankly GCY not that nice, cf the Midwest landscapes.
Well, that's of you're into vast wild nature and geography

i know, but Grand Canyon is more like a tick off the checklist :s13:
 

jujuhippo

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Did Grand Canyon in Xmas break, Nov may not be too bad.
Hiking down hard need good foot wear
Walk around the rim, no issue. Still very pretty

Don't do NYC, don't do west and east; too much running around.
Northeast area much to do just not well known to Singaporean

bought a pair of timberland boots at the recent sale! so it should be good enough.

my locations are fixed actually, the intention of creating a thread is for people who have been to those cities - what tips/recommendations they have in terms of food, accommodation etc.

I guess you had already pretty firm on where you want to go...

yup it's fixed. but i just hope someone can share more details about the locations that i will be visiting. sometimes those online travel blogs etc don't really provide good recommendations esp food! need some genuine recommendations.
 

jujuhippo

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Some people prefer Yellowstone to Yosemite.
Yellowstone has much more wildlife to see including bisons and wild goats and deer.
Also the geysers are quite an experience.
I think people go to Yosemite to climb the mountains
If you are not into climbing mountains, spend less time in Yosemite and include Yellowstone.
You may have to stay outside of Yellowstone and drive into Yellowstone if you can't find accommodation in the park.
I have experienced Yosemite and Yellowstone and I enjoyed Yellowstone much more.

okay i'll check out yellowstone on youtube etc and see if it's worth a visit :)

I second this. There are days when I go to Yosemite and I don't see any major wildlife other than birds and insects. But in a single day at Yellowstone, you are likely to see bears, elks and bisons. Yellowstone also has amazing geothermal features (e.g. grand prismatic spring, old faithful, Yellowstone grand canyon). Yellowstone also has the benefit of being just to the north of the Grand Tetons. I actually think the Grand Tetons is the most beautiful and serene national park in America. If anyone is going Yellowstone in between June and August, I highly recommend catching the nightly Cody rodeo. Cody is just half an hour (if I remember correctly) from Yellowstone's east entrance. Yellowstone's main problem is that it's not along the West or East coast tourist routes, so it's not as well known to most Singaporeans. But it is by far (in my opinion at least), the better national park compared to Yosemite. If you have 3 weeks, then it's worth spending 2 weeks along the West Coast, and 1 week in the Yellowstone/Grant Teton/Jackson Hole/Salt Lake City area.

Yosemite has beautiful waterfalls, but if you are going in November, then forget it. Most of the ice would already have melted and this means water volume will be low.

i still feel Yosemite is a must visit place though. it's OK if the waterfalls are low, as i can always visit Yosemite again for a second time in better weather conditions
 

yxerin

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okay i'll check out yellowstone on youtube etc and see if it's worth a visit :)

i still feel Yosemite is a must visit place though. it's OK if the waterfalls are low, as i can always visit Yosemite again for a second time in better weather conditions

If the number of followers on facebook is anything to judge by, then Yellowstone is even more of a must visit than Yosemite. Yellowstone is the oldest national park in the world and it has way more things to do and see.

Actually, I really wouldn't recommend Yosemite in November. The locals head to Yosemite in Spring/Summer, and to Lake Tahoe in Fall/Winter. You don't want to drive 4-5 hours from SF to to Yosemite (don't trust google maps which says 3 hours) just to find out that you can only see Yosemite valley. The waterfalls in November are also nowhere near the pictures you see online.

If you don't mind skipping Yosemite, this gives you more time for the East coast?
 
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