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carpediemon

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Care to share where to go in Seattle besides Kerry park, pike market, first Starbucks store and the space needle. Those are pretty conventional places so was thinking if anything else nice in Seattle or even Portland.

Will be in Vancouver for a month and aim to head over to Seattle via Amtrak train since it is so near. Might consider driving but certainly not taking the greyhound.
 

f0r3v3r

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Hihi,
I’ll be travelling to US West coast for 16 days and have the following planned. Like to seek opinion if its workable.

Day 1
Arriving SFO at 3pm
Check in to hotel - Union square
Dinner @ Rich table

Day 2
Breakfast @ Food market at the ferry building, San Francisco
Farmers market from 10-2pm
- Frog Hollow Farm desserts
- Argentinean empanadas
- Humphry Slocombe - ice cream
- Cowgirl Sidekick - cheese sandwich
- Prather Meat Co. - hotdog
- Hog island oyster company

Chinatown
- Golden Gate Bakery in San Francisco – famous for the egg custard tarts and long lines
- Mama’s on Washington Square

Lombard Street

Ghirardelli Square
- Desert and Chocolates!

Fisherman wharf
- Dinner @ Scoma's San Francisco

Day 3
Breakfast @ Sweet maple
Arsicault bakery
Crissy field for Golden gate bridge view

Union square
Dinner @ State bird provision (Dim sum fusion) or
Nob Hill Café (Best Italian)

Day 4
Breakfast @ Nopa: Nopa’s weekend brunch you’ll need a reservation a week or two ahead of plans.

Pick up rented car

Drive along Highway 1
A. Half moon bay (45mins)
stroll on one of the many beaches that dot this area of the coastline (Poplar, Mavericks, and Miramar), wander around Half Moon Bay Main Street, walk the coastal trail, and indulge in a lobster roll from Sam’s Chowder House (Lunch)
B. Santa Cruz (1 hr)
Santa cruz boardwalk and wharf
* Spend some time at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Ride rides and relax on the sandy beach
* Take scenic West Cliff Drive
Visit tide pools + see wildflowers at Pescadero State Beach
Donnelly Fine Chocolates in Santa Cruz – chocolate dipped ice cream bars with vanilla bean salted caramel and almonds is off the charts.

Day 5
A. Gilroy Premium Outlets (54 mins from Santa cruz)
B. Montrey/Carmel-By-The-Sea (1hr From Gilroy)
Wharf Marketplace in Monterey – grab some sandwiches, fresh fruit, and cookies and have a picnic near the water
Carmel Beach Village – charming shops and restaurants (my favorite town)
Cannery Row and Wharf Marketplace
C. Big Sur (50 MINUTES FROM MONTEREY)
McWay Falls,
Grab a coffee and snack at Big Sur Bakery
* Julia Pfieffer State Park and Beach
* McWay Falls – sparkling blue waters
* Big Sur Village
* Bixby Bridge – famous in car commercials

Day 6
A. SAN SIMEON (2 hours drive)
Tours from $25, hearstcastle.org
* Tour Hearst Castle
* Eat at Sebastian’s Store known for their beef so focus on the burgers and onion rings.
* Morro Bay Rock
* Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery
* Piedras Blancas Light Station

B. SAN LUIS OBISPO/PISMO BEACH (45 MINUTES FROM SAN SIMEON)
* Paso Robles: Wine lovers
* Pismo Beach: Beach lovers (and the best clam chowder ever at Splash Cafe!)
* Morro Bay: Outdoor adventure lovers
* San Luis Obispo: History, art, outdoors and lovers of everything-in-between

* Visit the Famous Madonna Inn (eat a slice of cake at restaurant and gawk at this outrageous hotel)
* Bubble Gum Wall
* Sit creekside in restaurants off Main Street
* Eat at Apple Farm Mill House

Nitt Witt Ridge, San Luis Obispo

Day 7
A. SOLVANG (1 HOUR FROM SAN LUIS OBISPO)
Visit*one of more than a dozen wine tasting rooms
* Eat at Olsen’s Bakery, Paula’s Pancake House, or Mortensen’s Bakery
* Shop in Danish shops on Main Street
* Play at Sunny Field Park
* Danish mill bakery

B. SANTA BARBARA (45 MINUTES FROM SOLVANG)
https://theblondeabroad.com/ultimate-guide-santa-barbara-weekend/
* Santa Barbara Courthouse for beautiful architecture
* Ride cruiser bikes to Butterfly Beach
* Gaviota Coast
* State Street Shopping
* McConnell’s Ice Cream
* Stearns Wharf
If you're in Santa Barbara, I'd suggest getting inexpensive Mexican food at:

La Super Rica Taqueria
622 North Milpas Avenue (at Alphonse Street)
Santa Barbara, California 93103
telephone: (805) 963-4940

It's an informal restaurant where you order at a window, find a table underneath a semi-permanent canopy tent, and they call your number when it's ready. Most people can eat two or three items from the menu.
EAT: Santa Barbara Shellfish Company
EAT: McConnell's Ice Cream, Santa Barbara

Day 8
Depart for LA - Santa Monica (1hr 33min)
Santa Monica Pier, 3rd Steet Promenade
Stay in Anaheim

Day 9
Disneyland

Day 10
Hollywood boulevard, Walk of fame, Griffith Observatory

Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles – a popular market with order at the counter restaurants + fresh produce selections

Day 11 - Vegas
Day 12 - Antelop canyon
Day 13 - Grand canyon
Day 14 - Back to LA
Day 15 - USH
Day 16 - Flying back to SG
 

patryn33

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Care to share where to go in Seattle besides Kerry park, pike market, first Starbucks store and the space needle. Those are pretty conventional places so was thinking if anything else nice in Seattle or even Portland.

Will be in Vancouver for a month and aim to head over to Seattle via Amtrak train since it is so near. Might consider driving but certainly not taking the greyhound.

some other places to see
https://www.aboutamazon.com/amazon-hq-tours#how-long-will-my-tour-last
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/visitorcenter/default
https://www.futureofflight.org/boeing-tour-seattle

Not a big fan of startbucks sure go there.
for good coffee to https://www.victrolacoffee.com/ or https://www.stumptowncoffee.com/

brown & haley factory store down in Tacoma if U like fine chocolates go get some https://frans.com/caramels/salted-caramels
 

patryn33

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Dun mind listing some of the must buys in the US ? Basically western area? like sum peepur go aim sneakers or what adidas etc then go japan sinkies like to buy Tokyo banana

Tks

USA western area so big... California to Oregon to Washington.
Toyko banana is Sinkie fav buy.. not sure why.

what cali to washington have in common are wine. How many bottles can U carry? Germain-Robin makes the best Brandy out there.
if U love coffee alot of great roaster around there.

other than that.. shop your regular american brands
- Nike
- RL
- DKNY
- CK
- Allen edmonds
- Johnston Murphy
- Brooks Brothers
- North Face
- Timberland
etc...

Are they all must buy? really depends on ppl
 

Shiny Things

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Not a big fan of startbucks sure go there.
for good coffee to https://www.victrolacoffee.com/ or https://www.stumptowncoffee.com/

Since we seem to have a lot of people in Seattle right now, this is a point worth reiterating: Starbucks coffee is really not very good! If you want genuinely good local coffee, Victrola is a great bet, or Elm Coffee Roasters is also near downtown. (I do like Stumptown, but they're from Portland, so drinking it may turn you into Fred Armisen or Carrie Brownstein.)
 

Shiny Things

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Hihi,
I’ll be travelling to US West coast for 16 days and have the following planned. Like to seek opinion if its workable.

It seems preeetttyyy packed but I think it's doable. A few things to point out:


Drive along Highway 1
A. Half moon bay (45mins)
B. Santa Cruz (1 hr)

Day 4-5-6: This seems like you're pushing it a little too hard. I'd probably shuffle it a little:
Day 4: Skip Half Moon Bay, especially if it's just a stopover. After you pick up your rental car (hint: get it from the airport, it'll be cheaper), drive south along highway 101 to the Gilroy Premium Outlets, then you can cut across to Santa Cruz.

Spend the night in Santa Cruz.

Day 5: Spend the day in Monterey - then, in the afternoon, drive down to Big Sur before the sun goes down so you can enjoy the sunset over the ocean while you drive. Stay at the Glen Oaks Motor Lodge; eat dinner at Nepenthe. Trust me on these two.

Day 6: Drive down to Cambria (a cute little beach-side town) and stop there for an early lunch. Now if you like wine, cut inland and check out the wineries around Paso Robles; spend the night in Paso Robles or Atascadero so you don't have to do too much driving. If wine's not your thing, head south to Pismo Beach and get a room in a cute little beach-side motel instead.

Solvang is just disgustingly cute, don't miss it.

You're doing LA kind of wrong. You're going all the way across the city on day 8, and then all the way back on day 10; switch those two days. Like this:

On day 8, stay on the west side: Santa Monica, Hollywood, maybe the Griffith Observatory if you really liked La La Land. Stay in West Hollywood and spend the night around the Sunset Strip: hit up the Comedy Store or the Laugh Factory, catch a show at Whisky A Go-Go or the Viper Room; and finish it up with some celebrity-spotting drinks at the front bar at the Chateau Marmont.

Day 9: sleep off your hangover, then go do Universal Studios Hollywood. (A better bet, though, is to do the backstage tour at Warner Bros! You've got a zillion theme parks on this tour; Warner gives you a much more real studio experience.) In the evening, drive to Anaheim.

Day 10: do Disneyland. (Get a 2-park pass, and make sure you stick around for the World of Color show at night!)

On day 11, drive to Vegas. This is only four hours, but leave a whole day for it so you can do a side-trip to Mojave or Joshua Tree.

Day 12: Vegas. My personal picks are:
  • Stay at the Cosmopolitan if you're a Starriott loyalist, or the Vdara if you're not;
  • Get brunch at Wicked Spoon, the buffet in the Cosmopolitan;
  • In the evening, go see Penn and Teller at the Rio. Again, trust me on this.

You can do a second day in Vegas if you want, but since you want to squeeze in Antelope Canyon and the GC, you're going to have some driving to do. Let's get on it.

Day 13: drive to Page, in Arizona. Take a side-trip to see Meteor Crater on the way.

Day 14: catch Antelope Canyon in the morning, then drive to Grand Canyon Village in the afternoon. You'll pass by the Cameron Trading Post, which is a great place to pick up some unique souvenirs (and eat some incredibly delicious local food. Get the fry bread).

Day 15: drive back to Vegas; catch a late flight to LA (I assume you're flying LAX-SIN). Stay at an airport hotel.

Day 16 - Flying back to SG
 

patryn33

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Since we seem to have a lot of people in Seattle right now, this is a point worth reiterating: Starbucks coffee is really not very good! If you want genuinely good local coffee, Victrola is a great bet, or Elm Coffee Roasters is also near downtown. (I do like Stumptown, but they're from Portland, so drinking it may turn you into Fred Armisen or Carrie Brownstein.)

Drink coffee can turn to someone different that’s a scientific breakthrough!!!
I thought American don’t really give a damn and mind your own biz in that part of the world. Texas ppl can come up to you and give u some education lol
 

f0r3v3r

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It seems preeetttyyy packed but I think it's doable. A few things to point out:




Day 4-5-6: This seems like you're pushing it a little too hard. I'd probably shuffle it a little:
Day 4: Skip Half Moon Bay, especially if it's just a stopover. After you pick up your rental car (hint: get it from the airport, it'll be cheaper), drive south along highway 101 to the Gilroy Premium Outlets, then you can cut across to Santa Cruz.

Spend the night in Santa Cruz.

Day 5: Spend the day in Monterey - then, in the afternoon, drive down to Big Sur before the sun goes down so you can enjoy the sunset over the ocean while you drive. Stay at the Glen Oaks Motor Lodge; eat dinner at Nepenthe. Trust me on these two.

Day 6: Drive down to Cambria (a cute little beach-side town) and stop there for an early lunch. Now if you like wine, cut inland and check out the wineries around Paso Robles; spend the night in Paso Robles or Atascadero so you don't have to do too much driving. If wine's not your thing, head south to Pismo Beach and get a room in a cute little beach-side motel instead.

Solvang is just disgustingly cute, don't miss it.

You're doing LA kind of wrong. You're going all the way across the city on day 8, and then all the way back on day 10; switch those two days. Like this:

On day 8, stay on the west side: Santa Monica, Hollywood, maybe the Griffith Observatory if you really liked La La Land. Stay in West Hollywood and spend the night around the Sunset Strip: hit up the Comedy Store or the Laugh Factory, catch a show at Whisky A Go-Go or the Viper Room; and finish it up with some celebrity-spotting drinks at the front bar at the Chateau Marmont.

Day 9: sleep off your hangover, then go do Universal Studios Hollywood. (A better bet, though, is to do the backstage tour at Warner Bros! You've got a zillion theme parks on this tour; Warner gives you a much more real studio experience.) In the evening, drive to Anaheim.

Day 10: do Disneyland. (Get a 2-park pass, and make sure you stick around for the World of Color show at night!)

On day 11, drive to Vegas. This is only four hours, but leave a whole day for it so you can do a side-trip to Mojave or Joshua Tree.

Day 12: Vegas. My personal picks are:
  • Stay at the Cosmopolitan if you're a Starriott loyalist, or the Vdara if you're not;
  • Get brunch at Wicked Spoon, the buffet in the Cosmopolitan;
  • In the evening, go see Penn and Teller at the Rio. Again, trust me on this.

You can do a second day in Vegas if you want, but since you want to squeeze in Antelope Canyon and the GC, you're going to have some driving to do. Let's get on it.

Day 13: drive to Page, in Arizona. Take a side-trip to see Meteor Crater on the way.

Day 14: catch Antelope Canyon in the morning, then drive to Grand Canyon Village in the afternoon. You'll pass by the Cameron Trading Post, which is a great place to pick up some unique souvenirs (and eat some incredibly delicious local food. Get the fry bread).

Day 15: drive back to Vegas; catch a late flight to LA (I assume you're flying LAX-SIN). Stay at an airport hotel.

Thanks alot for your detailed guidance! Appreciate it very much! :)
 

Shiny Things

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For anyone who doesn't know who Fred and Carrie are, here they are in a sketch from the hilarious and a-little-too-real Portlandia:
 

joshszz

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Hi all, I'm travelling alone to Seattle for a week in April for work, and extending 1 more week for leisure. This is my first time to US, and I want to make the most of it. Any recommendations where to go, other than exploring within Seattle?
Colleagues have been telling me to take a train to Vancouver or a short flight to Las Vegas.
I like scenery more than shopping, mountains more than buildings, and land more than sea. Driving ok but not preferred since I've never driven on the left before. I've been reading up on the past few pages of this thread and am leaning towards at least 2 nights in Seattle, Amtrak, then 3+ nights in Vancouver.

TIA!
 
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Shiny Things

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Hi all, I'm travelling alone to Seattle for a week in April for work, and extending 1 more week for leisure. This is my first time to US, and I want to make the most of it. Any recommendations where to go, other than exploring within Seattle?
Colleagues have been telling me to take a train to Vancouver or a short flight to Las Vegas.
I like scenery more than shopping, mountains more than buildings, and land more than sea. Driving ok but not preferred since I've never driven on the left before. I've been reading up on the past few pages of this thread and am leaning towards at least 2 nights in Seattle, Amtrak, then 3+ nights in Vancouver.

TIA!

Oooh, so firstly, this is excellent info - we can give you some good recommendations. Vegas might actually be a really good idea, not for the nightlife, but because it's a great jumping-off point for some amazing scenery.

April is a great time to hit up some of the scenery too; it's still a bit too early to head up the mountains, but you can still hit some truly superb places, and the desert is a lot more manageable in April than it would be in June or July.

I'd say if you're willing to drive (and I promise you it's easy, Vegas isn't that hard to drive around and once you get on the interstate highways it's easy cruising. My parents are the wrong side of 70, and they're from Australia, and they were fine with it after half an hour):

* Spend a day in Vegas. Grab a bus tour out to Red Rock Canyon, and spend a half-day hiking out there to get used to the desert.

At this point, pick up a rental car, and you can choose: do you prefer mountains or deserts?

If you prefer mountains, head northeast on Interstate 15.
* You can drop in on the gorgeous Valley of Fire, and then keep going up to the cute little mountain town of Springdale, right at the foot of Zion National Park. Spend a couple days here and explore Zion.
* When you're done, head to the town of Page (which is a great jumping-off point for Antelope Canyon), then to Grand Canyon Village, then back to Vegas.
* If you can't get from Springdale to Page, because the roads are snowed in, ditch Page and head to the Grand Canyon via Vegas.

If you prefer deserts, head northwest on US highway 95:
* You can drop down into Death Valley, which is worth spending a night or two in;
* From there, you can drive out the west side of Death Valley and down to Barstow, on Interstate 15;
* At this point, if you have time, you can take a detour south to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park, or head back to Vegas via Mojave National Preserve.
 

joshszz

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Thank you so much! All great recommendations.. I'm gonna follow the mountains route. Made my bookings today. :)
 

patryn33

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Hi all, I'm travelling alone to Seattle for a week in April for work, and extending 1 more week for leisure. This is my first time to US, and I want to make the most of it. Any recommendations where to go, other than exploring within Seattle?
Colleagues have been telling me to take a train to Vancouver or a short flight to Las Vegas.
I like scenery more than shopping, mountains more than buildings, and land more than sea. Driving ok but not preferred since I've never driven on the left before. I've been reading up on the past few pages of this thread and am leaning towards at least 2 nights in Seattle, Amtrak, then 3+ nights in Vancouver.

TIA!

Since u already booked enjoy USA!

Other options is head to Canadian Rockies but April tricky. For those going in May that’s a better option
http://banffandbeyond.com/pros-and-cons-of-banff-and-jasper-national-parks-in-the-shouder-season-of-april-and-may/
 

patryn33

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Experience cold? Yes but not extreme as I do not have such gd winter wear. And I do not drive. I guess that itself is a great limitation. Oh yes, safety is important too.

Cali, AZ, UT u will need to drive else u rely on Uber. Places of interest may need to do tour. Is that your thing?

If u want to take train and bus then stick to northeast and buy some winter clothing. Now is a good time to shop online and buy off season stuff cheap. Winter in dec is mild by Midwest standard, extreme comes in Jan/February

New York City, DC, Boston, philly and Montreal, old Quebec City can be done easily without a car. Done it myself when I was a student
 
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Shiny Things

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Hi. If I have ard 3 weeks to spend in USA in Dec, where would your recommend. First trip to USA and first long trip too.

In December, definitely the West or the South (the midwest and northeast will suuuucccckkk).

Hawaii's a great starting point, and you've got domestic flights from there to Los Angeles (sucks, don't bother) or San Francisco (totally great, do it). You can use SF as a base to see Yosemite, and from there you can drive down to Joshua Tree, Pinnacles, and a bunch of other national parks on your way to Vegas.

Las Vegas itself is a great jumping-off point for the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park, as well as Death Valley (which should be good that time of year).

If you don't want to drive, you can fly, but you'll be ruling yourself out of a lot of great scenery.

Florida's also an option, but it's going to be a long schlep from Singapore. If you do that, then do Orlando if you must, but spend a few days in Miami and the Keys as well.
 

ralphlauren

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I am planning for a NYC trip in end Nov to early Dec, i have about 14 days. How should I plan my road trip and is there any must go attractions in the area? Is 14 days too long to stay in NYC? I am considering to go to Washington, Miami beaches, Orlando, probably Canada for Niagara falls?
 

claudiusje

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I’m heading solo to nyc,dc,philly,boston first wk April for 2 weeks. Gonna Amtrak between them and take JetBlue from Boston to philly. Tshirt+fleece+windbreaker enough for the weather?
 

g_t2006

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I’m heading solo to nyc,dc,philly,boston first wk April for 2 weeks. Gonna Amtrak between them and take JetBlue from Boston to philly. Tshirt+fleece+windbreaker enough for the weather?

I had to use my down jacket when I was there in May. In April, the temperature is in the 10s °C. It depends on your cold tolerance. That's for NYC and DC. Boston was also cold in the morning (needed my down) when I was there in June. The year before, in April, there was snow in DC. It was still pretty cold in April in the year I went, and I postponed my trip to May and it was still cold!
 
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