US help.

[ceecookie]

Worth spending 8 days @ both cities? Looked like nothing interesting to do there unlike some major cities I.e. sfo, lax, or nyc

The Pacific Northwest is not like touristy California, but instead with an emphasis on nature. From Seattle, there's daytrips to Victoria island, Vancouver BC and Mt rainier. From portland, there are daytrips to the nearby mountains and nature park. I think 8 days is not too long for the 2 cities if your focus is on scenery and some light shopping

 

[pronxs]

can the gurus help regarding my upcoming road trip: Boston - Finger Lakes (Seneca) - Buffalo - New York.

Not sure if feasible/hours too long, etc.

day 1: 9am leave boston, 12pm -2pm green mountain, 7pm reach seneca (night at seneca)
day 2: 9am leave seneca, 11am -5pm buffalo, 6pm reach Genesee Falls cabin (night at Genesse)
day 3: 9am leave genesee, 11am - 1pm Watkins Glen, 1.30 - 3.30pm Corning, 4-5 pm buttermilk state park --> NY

start time can be earlier.

 

[patryn33]

Worth spending 8 days @ both cities? Looked like nothing interesting to do there unlike some major cities I.e. sfo, lax, or nyc

what do U wanna do?
what interest U?

San Fran, LA, NYC hmm...
LA what is there to see? Disney? Hollywood? Theme parks? Chinatown? Shopping? Are those your key interest?

Portland and Seattle isn't a major city like LA, SF or NYC fyi. most ppl would find Chicago or Boston nothing much to do if U are into those cities.

depending on what U seek, it maybe worthwhile.
some ppl can spend 2-3 days in Willamette Valley or the washington state wineries for serious wine lovers. Not into wine, try coffee Seattle is big in that. or maybe whiskey? woodnivlle Whiskey offer free tour Fri-Sun and free tasting on Wed-Sat. They do barrel age maple syrup if U are into something different.

Not into nature and these thrills, Oregon is a big waste of time
Mt. Hood and Columbia River Gorge | DiscoverAmerica.com

U want to find if U capture the 10 wonders of the west.
Top 10 Wonders of the West : Great American Vacations : Travel Channel

 

[patryn33]

can the gurus help regarding my upcoming road trip: Boston - Finger Lakes (Seneca) - Buffalo - New York.

Not sure if feasible/hours too long, etc.

day 1: 9am leave boston, 12pm -2pm green mountain, 7pm reach seneca (night at seneca)
day 2: 9am leave seneca, 11am -5pm buffalo, 6pm reach Genesee Falls cabin (night at Genesse)
day 3: 9am leave genesee, 11am - 1pm Watkins Glen, 1.30 - 3.30pm Corning, 4-5 pm buttermilk state park --> NY

start time can be earlier.

qns: how long U plan to stay at Green Mt VT? 2 hrs?
Finger Lakes, Seneca, NY maybe U get there like 8pm.. what U plan to do there? sun set and U leaving the next day? just there to sleep?

Buffalo - no plans to go over to Niagara? U just plan to sleep in Genesse Falls and see the water fall and leave?


why don't u do the below shorter drive.
Genesee Falls, NY -> Corning, NY -> Watkins Glen, NY -> Buttermilk Falls State Park

 

[RoLanTo]

U shld also sign up for alamo free membership. Think it allow u to add your spouse as the second driver for free. Dont really need in california as it is compulsory by law.

Btw, the only problem with SQ-linked webpage is the lack to range in the cars. So far the price i saw was the same if it is the same rental company. SQ-linked website typically display in S$.

i dont see the problem of the range of cars for my renting compared with carhire vs SQ-linked rental cars.. maybe i not observant or not applicable for my renting location.

BTW to answer another bro.. no coupon can be entered if booked via the SQ-linked site..

For info, after i booked via the sq linked.. i sent mail to rental cars to confirm my 3 booking if they need 1way fee or not, because on carhire, it states free but not on SQ site.. anyway, they replied say free.

 

[pronxs]

qns: how long U plan to stay at Green Mt VT? 2 hrs?
Finger Lakes, Seneca, NY maybe U get there like 8pm.. what U plan to do there? sun set and U leaving the next day? just there to sleep?

Buffalo - no plans to go over to Niagara? U just plan to sleep in Genesse Falls and see the water fall and leave?


why don't u do the below shorter drive.
Genesee Falls, NY -> Corning, NY -> Watkins Glen, NY -> Buttermilk Falls State Park

Thanks for the reply!

Yea i think 1st day is too rushed. Will consider again if Seneca stay can be extended. Any suggestion where to stop between Green mt and seneca?

Buffalo = Niagara falls, not gonna spend much time there.

For the last day will probably skip watkins glen or buttermilk as they look the same!

 

[Shiny Things]

Hey peeps. I'll be flying in yo SF early April. What would you all recommend for a prepaid sim card? I mainly need it for data and local calls to make bookings, enquiries etc. Thanks!

T-Mobile if you're sticking to the big cities; if you're heading out into the sticks, AT&T is a better bet. In both cases, just rock up to the store and tell them what you need; they'll sort you out.

Anyone been to Seattle? How's the place for tourist, other than the Boeing factory and the Pike market?
How's the drive from Seattle to Portland, Oregon?

Seattle is fab. Wander around Queen Anne. Head up to the U District (around the University of Washington), it's trendy as hell. Hang out in the public library. Do the tours around the old town. Hop on a boat over to Victoria. Go hiking. So much to do.

And the drive to Portland... not wildly exciting (it's a two-hour straight shot down I-5) but it's quick and easy, and Portland is great fun.

hihi, lets talk abt malls in california .... which are the grandest/newest/hippest malls to visit?

my most memorable is south coast plaza where it's damn big and classy ... since then are there any of same/bigger scale pls?

Oh dude, you're really flying eighteen hours to go to the mall? You live in Singapore. Go to Orchard Road and save yourself two and a half thousand bucks on airfare.

Anyway, fine, whatever, Valley Fair in Santa Clara if you just have to go to a mall.

But the Union Square district in San Francisco is where you really want to go. It's big, it's classy, it's sunny, and you can get your Louis Vuitton whatchamacallits and your Prada gewgaws and your Gucci doohickeys and then when you're done you can hop on BART down to the Mission district and hit some way more interesting shops. I'm a fan of Paxton Gate.

Worth spending 8 days @ both cities? Looked like nothing interesting to do there unlike some major cities I.e. sfo, lax, or nyc

Seattle and Portland? Nah, you could totally do four days each.

 

[patryn33]

Yea i think 1st day is too rushed. Will consider again if Seneca stay can be extended. Any suggestion where to stop between Green mt and seneca?

Buffalo = Niagara falls, not gonna spend much time there.

For the last day will probably skip watkins glen or buttermilk as they look the same!

Niagara Falls on US or canada side? canada side consider time going thru customs. the view is better on canada side. on some nite u get fire works over the Falls. u might wanna consider staying over nite.
skipping the wineries on niagara (they are some of the best in that part of the world)? and the yummy food each restaurants have to offer?

oh. driving into NYC where? I drove in from Pittsburgh to NYC just outside the airport and traffic is still busy at 10-11pm at nite, on our navi system u still get traffic jams and accidents alerts and thats in Aug 2013. its not crazy rush hour from 3.30pm to 7pm but its not cool. Is nyc your last stop b4 flying out to sg?

hmm.. I would say watkins glen and buttermilk same. if u not going for a dip go watkins.

3 days for me on such road trip is very rush, maybe 4 or 5 days best. u spend more time on the road than really enjoying what a city/place have to offer. sure if u treat it as amazing race no issue.

 

[nomoreliaola]

question again: if i do a GC south rim overnight bus tour from LV by one of the tour company staying over at the likes of bright angel lodge, is it recommended? not driving as have bad experience around GC. ... otherwise, should just take a day tour by them? too rush? comments appreciated.

 

[Shiny Things]

question again: if i do a GC south rim overnight bus tour from LV by one of the tour company staying over at the likes of bright angel lodge, is it recommended? not driving as have bad experience around GC. ... otherwise, should just take a day tour by them? too rush? comments appreciated.

If you're taking a tour you can probably get away with a day tour, but it's always better to go overnight - that way you're not spending eight hours driving in a single day.

 

[TiOnGSquare]

i'm travelling to new york city in may, anyone got any budget and nice hotel to recommend? i tried to book hotel 91 but realised its fully booked (i need 2 rooms double bed each)

 

[wrathofgod]

i dont see the problem of the range of cars for my renting compared with carhire vs SQ-linked rental cars.. maybe i not observant or not applicable for my renting location.

BTW to answer another bro.. no coupon can be entered if booked via the SQ-linked site..

For info, after i booked via the sq linked.. i sent mail to rental cars to confirm my 3 booking if they need 1way fee or not, because on carhire, it states free but not on SQ site.. anyway, they replied say free.

Eh bro, so you go to carhire3000 search and save the quote liao, then go sq linked to retrieve the quote and book? Paiseh kinda confuse here

 

[Els_Ang]

Hey peeps,

Appreciate your inputs for the following itinery:

23/04-26/04: SFO
Drive from SFO to Monterey. Pick up car from Union Square
26/04-28/04: Monterey
May stop by Big Sur for 2D1N or may just travel straight up to LV/LA
Question here:
Still have balance of 28/04-08/05. Any suggestions on the travel plan?

Was initially thinking of driving up to LA 1st and stay 4D3N, then drive to LV and stay out the balance. On 08/05, take a late morning flight back to LA to catch our flight back to SG. But, am thinking that might as well drive to LV from Monterey (Or Big SUR if we decide to drive over), stay 4D/5D, then drive over to LA and finish up our last leg of vacation there.

As will be bring our toddler along, hence cannot be too taxing.
Any inputs are welcome.

 

[Shiny Things]

Hey peeps,

Appreciate your inputs for the following itinery:

23/04-26/04: SFO
Drive from SFO to Monterey. Pick up car from Union Square
26/04-28/04: Monterey
May stop by Big Sur for 2D1N or may just travel straight up to LV/LA
Question here:
Still have balance of 28/04-08/05. Any suggestions on the travel plan?

Was initially thinking of driving up to LA 1st and stay 4D3N, then drive to LV and stay out the balance. On 08/05, take a late morning flight back to LA to catch our flight back to SG. But, am thinking that might as well drive to LV from Monterey (Or Big SUR if we decide to drive over), stay 4D/5D, then drive over to LA and finish up our last leg of vacation there.

Here's your route:

SF -> Monterey -> Big Sur -> Highway 1 -> Pismo Beach/SLO -> Santa Monica -> Las Vegas.

If you're going to do Monterey, you might as well do Big Sur. If you're going to do Big Sur, you might as well do the whole of Highway 1. If you're going to do Highway 1, you end up at San Luis Obispo which is only a couple of hours up the road from LA anyway, so you might as well do LA->Las Vegas from there instead of Las Vegas->LA.

Even if you decide to skip Highway 1 and go straight from Monterey to Las Vegas (which you shouldn't, because the 1 is an incredible drive), you might as well do LA first. The road from Monterey to LA goes through Bakersfield and Barstow, which are both only about 100 miles from downtown Los Angeles - skipping LA and going to Vegas is not only a huge backtrack, it's an incredibly boring drive.

Look at this. This is the Google Street View of CA-58 between Bakersfield and Barstow - if you go Monterey-Vegas direct you'll be driving hundreds of miles of that.

Now look at this - this is the street-view of CA-1 at the Bixby Creek Bridge. If you go Monterey-Big Sur-Pismo Beach-LA, you'll get hundreds of miles of this.

Which one is going to be more fun?

 

[patryn33]

As will be bring our toddler along, hence cannot be too taxing.
Any inputs are welcome.

How old is little one? Just 1? U have to prepare to keep kid entertain. they may not want to return to seat after 4hrs of drive. depending on how old is kids u may want to break things up quite a bit or just have kid watch/play tablet most of the time down. or read a book etc then U may last more than 4hrs. if U have 2 not sure how U do that.. no room back seat.

Note I need car seat or boaster seat here
No Grand Canyon? LA that many days.. doing any theme parks?

U have 11 free days..
No Winery? my young ones love cheese if so U could do sonoma, have kids run around in the country. do a farm stay there in like Red Barn Farm/full house farm. enjoy bread maybe can do Olive oil tour, spend time relaxing with family in Sonoma valley.
http://www.sonomacounty.com/articles/sonoma-cheese-trail-and-map

U may want to think of San Diego - Zoo and Seaworld. your toddler may enjoy that more than hollywood/Universal.

 

[Els_Ang]

Yer, I get your point. That was our main concern too. Guess what you have mentioned just reinforce it.

Here's your route:

Now look at this - this is the street-view of CA-1 at the Bixby Creek Bridge. If you go Monterey-Big Sur-Pismo Beach-LA, you'll get hundreds of miles of this.

Which one is going to be more fun?

 

[Els_Ang]

Hi patryn33,

Kiddo is 2.5yrs, and only 1 at the moment. Oh ya, car seat. Was wondering whether to bring ours or just rent from the car rental firm. Just abit erhhhhmmm bout the cleanness of the rental pc tho.

We will do Grand Canyon from LV. Probably just a day trip. Gonna do 2 days of Disney in LA. So, likely to stay there for 3-4Days.

I have never considered Sonama before. Now that you mentioned it, I will definitely read up on it 1st.

We are doing San Francisco Zoo. Have you been there before? If yes, how would you compare it to San Diego Zoo?

Talking bout SFO, any nice places to intro? So far, I have plans to visit the Bay Area Discovery Museum/ Golden Gate Bridge area/ Yerba Buena Gdns/ San Francisco Zoo/ and the Peekaboo Playclub at Ghirardelli Square.

Please let me know if you have suggestions for SFO.
Thank you so much.

How old is little one? Just 1? U have to prepare to keep kid entertain. they may not want to return to seat after 4hrs of drive. depending on how old is kids u may want to break things up quite a bit or just have kid watch/play tablet most of the time down. or read a book etc then U may last more than 4hrs. if U have 2 not sure how U do that.. no room back seat.

Note I need car seat or boaster seat here
No Grand Canyon? LA that many days.. doing any theme parks?

U have 11 free days..
No Winery? my young ones love cheese if so U could do sonoma, have kids run around in the country. do a farm stay there in like Red Barn Farm/full house farm. enjoy bread maybe can do Olive oil tour, spend time relaxing with family in Sonoma valley.
Sonoma Cheese Trail and Map | Sonoma County (Official Site)

U may want to think of San Diego - Zoo and Seaworld. your toddler may enjoy that more than hollywood/Universal.

 

[frozentrace]

Hi patryn33,

Kiddo is 2.5yrs, and only 1 at the moment. Oh ya, car seat. Was wondering whether to bring ours or just rent from the car rental firm. Just abit erhhhhmmm bout the cleanness of the rental pc tho.

We will do Grand Canyon from LV. Probably just a day trip. Gonna do 2 days of Disney in LA. So, likely to stay there for 3-4Days.

I have never considered Sonama before. Now that you mentioned it, I will definitely read up on it 1st.

We are doing San Francisco Zoo. Have you been there before? If yes, how would you compare it to San Diego Zoo?

Talking bout SFO, any nice places to intro? So far, I have plans to visit the Bay Area Discovery Museum/ Golden Gate Bridge area/ Yerba Buena Gdns/ San Francisco Zoo/ and the Peekaboo Playclub at Ghirardelli Square.

Please let me know if you have suggestions for SFO.
Thank you so much.

I've only been to the san diego zoo before and it was huge!!! couldn't cover the whole place in one day @_@ there were sooo many pandas LOL.

the golden gate bridge is actually quite small la.. see for like 1 hr drive across the bridge pay the stupid $7 toll.. then take pics from the other side then come back and go china town lol. (china town exit is the last exit before you cross the bridge)

ghirardelli square is really pretty at night, they light up all the lights at the cafe and they always give you free sampler, which is one whole square.. your kid might love it hehehehe. non stop free CHOCOLATE!

I traveled to SF from LA two times and visited the monterey bay aquarium on the way up there, it was awesome lotsa things to see and a great view of the whole sea.

I took up a whale sighting cruise in san diego and san francisco both. We SAW TONS OF DOLPHINS swimming along side the boat. some of the most memorable moments of my years in the US.

 

[patryn33]

@ Els_Ang

If U own one just bring your own car seat. U can use it on the plane too. I find out my 2 kids sleep better using their own car seat. If thats your kid 1st long trip, U will find out real soon how kiddo enjoy seating down on your way here.

Las Vegas to Grand Canyon is 4.5hr drive 1 way, I would stay in Grand Canyon a nite. Child may not be too fond of the ride. 9hr a day can be too much for spouse and child. Esp if its spouse keeping kid entertained all the time.

Makes sense to do Disney in 2 days as child will be worn out and 2.5 still too young for many rides.

SF Zoo pales in comparison to San Diego Zoo. if U just want child to see some animals sure take kid there. I bet U know they don't really care of big or great is the place. They don't even car about the scenery. Bay Area Discovery Museum is a great place for kid that age, run around freedom to touch things without the fear of kid breaking things.

where is this Peekaboo Playclub at Ghirardelli Square? there is one in SG is there one in USA?

Are U planning on driving between these places? Vegas to San Fran or LA to San Fran is a fairly long drive.

My current 26-27mth boy didn't like 2hr drive already if he has nothing to do. Snacks, drinks, books, things to watch on tablets is must to keep him entertained. if you kid isn't potty trained and hates a loaded diaper U will have to learn to stop frequent else U maybe so frustrated of the constant crying and screaming. U can certainly rent a full size car if U only intend on bringing 2 large check in bags and a stroller. if U are bringing alot of stuff and may but alot rent a minivan. the 3rd row seat is useful for changing diapers if U are in a area U not comfortable to get out to use the restroom to do that. if U renting a car or SUV, safest place is to have car seat sat in the middle.

Farm stay and sonomo, some more things for u to read if u missed them. Boyes Hot Spring is not too far away.
http://www.sunset.com/travel/outdoor-adventure/farm-winery-vacation-trips-00400000057488/

 

[Shiny Things]

Talking bout SFO, any nice places to intro? So far, I have plans to visit the Bay Area Discovery Museum/ Golden Gate Bridge area/ Yerba Buena Gdns/ San Francisco Zoo/ and the Peekaboo Playclub at Ghirardelli Square.

If you've got a kid, you HAVE to take him to the Exploratorium, and to the Cal Academy of Sciences. You'll be the best dad (or mom, delete as appropriate) ever.