So, dumb question first: what time of year are you travelling? That'll make a difference; there's some stuff you can't do in winter (Yellowstone, big chunks of Utah) and some stuff you can't do in summer (Death Valley, other chunks of Utah).
OK. Basically I have drafted out my itinerary with the help of tripadvisor, google maps, HWZ, blogs etc. Here it goes.. total 16 days.
Day 2 - Go to San Francisco via highway 1. Will be passing by Santa Monica, cambria then finally stay overnight at Monterey while going to 17 Mile. Overnight at Monterey
I'd stop at Big Sur instead of Monterey - the
Glen Oaks motel is really nice. Highway 1's an exhausting and fairly slow drive, so you don't want to push yourself too hard.
Day 3 - From Monterey to San Francisco where will go to outlet for shopping. Most prob Gilroy. Anyone can recommend a hotel which is around $100 to $150 as I will be staying for 2 nights (day 3 and 4)?
See below - you probably want the Mosser.
Day 7 - From Salt lake to Yellowstone passing by Salt Lake Temple, Idaho Falls and Grand Teton (just take pictures). Overnight at Yellowstone.
If you're looking for a place to stay, check out Jackson as well - it's a really nice little town an hour down the road from the south entrance of Yellowstone. It's a great place to stay and shop, and it gives you a bit of a head start on day 9.
Day 9 - Yellowstone to Las Vegas. Overnight at Las Vegas. Have not decide on hotel.
Whoa whoa whoa whoa. That's a solid 14 hours' driving when you include stops. You sure about this? I'd stop for a night in SLC or Provo just to break the trip.
Day 10 - Vegas to Antelope Canyon passing by Glen Canyon and Horseshoe bend. Antelope canyon taking their tour there. Overnight at Antelope Canyon
Day 11 - Go to Grand Canyon
Day 12 - Grand Canyon
Day 13 - Grand Canyon back to Vegas passing by LakeMead and Hoover Dam. Overnight at Vegas.
Also this is a bit weird - you're kind of bouncing off Las Vegas and doubling back on yourself with the trip to Antelope Canyon. Here's an alternate suggestion:
Day 9: Jackson, WY to Page, AZ; overnight in Page (this is still 10 hours nonstop driving, but it's a bit more interesting than the dull blat down I-15 from SLC to Vegas);
Day 10: Antelope Canyon; Horseshoe Bend; Glen Canyon Dam. Overnight in Page (or head down the road to Cameron and stay there);
Day 11: Page to Grand Canyon Village (or Flagstaff or Williams, if you can't get accommodation in GCV). Stop off in Cameron on the way to GCV and pick up some Navajo and Hopi craftwork;
Day 12: Grand Canyon. Stay in same place;
Day 13: Quick jaunt back to Vegas.
Basically, I got a few questions though to ask the experts here.
1) Are the highway Toll charges expensive?
They're basically nonexistent. I think you'll be able to do that whole drive LA-SF and SLC-Jackson-Vegas without ever paying a toll.
2) How about the petrol charges? Are the Gas Stations easy to find?
America is the home of ridiculously cheap gas. I'm in California, the most expensive state in the nation for gas, and I only pay $4 a gallon for 87-octane - the equivalent of about $1.32 SGD per litre. Expect to pay $3.60/gal (SGD 1.19/ltr) in Vegas, and $3.50/gal (SGD 1.15/ltr) in SLC.
I know, right?!?!?
And gas stations are everywhere. You'll want to gas up when you're going off the interstates onto the country roads, but really you shouldn't have any trouble finding them.
3) Domestic flight do they charge for check in baggage? I found Alaska Airlines, not sure if good or not and they charge USD$25 for each checked bag.
Some do, some don't. Virgin, United, and American usually don't; the smaller carriers usually do.
4) Anyone can recommend me the hotel esp for San Francisco as mentioned above and also hotels in those parks that I will be going.
The parks tend to sell out up to a year in advance, so if you haven't booked yet you're probably gonna have a bad time. You can try here for
Yellowstone hotels, and here for
GCNP hotels, but don't be surprised if they're booked solid. And if those are booked out for your dates then you need to look at the following towns:
* Near Yellowstone: Look at Jackson, in Wyoming; West Yellowstone, in Idaho; or, as a last resort, Gardiner, in Montana. If you decide to stay in Jackson, I can enthusiastically recommend the
Spring Creek Ranch, up in the hills above the town - it's plush and secluded and even runs its own wildlife safaris. If you are fancy, the
Amangani next door is crazy nice but it's also a thousand bucks a night.
* Near Antelope Canyon: look in the town of Page, in Arizona. Amangani's sister resort, the confusingly named Amangiri, is just down the road from Page; it's also crazy nice but it's also a thousand bucks a night. Page is mostly little chain hotels, but they're all good.
* Near GCNP: check Cameron, Williams, or Flagstaff, in that order. Cameron is an hour's drive east of GCNP (you'll pass through it on the way to the park); Williams is an hour's drive south; Flagstaff is an hour-and-a-half.
* In Vegas: depends on your budget. I like the Mirage around the $100-$150/nt range; the Vdara in the $150-$200 range; and the Aria in the $200+ range. Avoid the cheapo places like the Flamingo, Luxor, Circus Circus, or Excalibur; and avoid the MGM Grand because it's huge and crowded as hell.
As for which sites to check: RoomKey.com is quite good for the chain hotels (Holiday Inn, Hampton, Four Points, etc etc), or Tripadvisor if you're in small towns. In Vegas, book directly through the hotel's website, they've usually got the best deals.
For San Francisco, first, thanks for giving a price range. Around that price I'd check out the Mosser, it's cheap and very nice and right near Union Square.
5) I have not decide if I am going to buy a GPS here in SG or go to USA then buy. Any advice?
Neither. Get the Navigon GPS North America app for your smartphone instead - it's a hell of a lot cheaper than either buying or renting a dedicated GPS, and you can reuse it if you come back in a couple of years.
6) Have I missed out any other interesting places? I have left out Death Valley, Zion, Bryce due to lack of time.
Nah, you've covered most of the good stuff except for the three you mentioned above. (though also, the Yellowstone-to-Page trip goes pretty much right past the front door of Bryce Canyon - it's worth a two-hour side trip to see it.) That said...
7) Is my itinerary too rush?
I think it might be. The SLC-Yellowstone-Page trip is a HUGE detour. I love Yellowstone to bits, and driving out the northeast entrance over the Beartooth Pass is the single most beautiful drive in America, BUT.
If you're not 100% sure you can handle that 14-hour drive day in the middle, I'd delete SLC and Yellowstone. Instead, I'd fly into Vegas, rent a nice car (like, a Corvette or AMG Mercedes or something), and do the loop up through Valley of Fire -> Zion -> Bryce -> Glen Canyon Dam -> Grand Canyon -> Vegas.
The other plus is that this lets you dodge the one-way fee SLC-LAS. $300 is about right.
9) Lastly, I heard about the cheesecake factory.. is it in LA or SFO?
It's a chain - they're everywhere (and honestly they're not that great). If you want to try it, the one at the top of the Macys building in San Francisco is perfectly good.
