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I have been to the US once, 20 years ago and I saw Chicago and Washington, which was a lot of fun but at the time I was relying on public transport and I hadn't really planned my trip and I missed out on a lot of things. This time I would like it to go better, so I thought I'd post here and get some advice. I have just booked flights into Vancouver for the end of August and out of San Francisco for the 12th September - 2 weeks. My (me and the wife) plan is to drive down the west coast and stop along the way. This is my first question. I don't want to spend my entire holiday driving, so is the distance too far for a slow paced casual drive in 2 weeks? We have friends in Portland we will stay with but apart from that we don't have a set itinerary. I would like to spend some time in Vancouver, recovering from the flight mainly and then I thought I would get the train to Seattle and rent a car there - It seems a lot cheaper to rent a car in the US than Canada. Any advice on who to rent a car with, I guess I will have to pay more because I will drop it off at a different office to the one I picked it up in. Should I be hiring a Mustang or similar style US car? Is Seattle a place to stay for a few days. I don't particularly enjoy going to a city just to see a city, I prefer it if there is something there worth doing/looking at. We would like to drive along the coast, see Mt Saint Helen's and look at the Redwood tree's. Apart from that I am open to any advice.
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Jun 15, 2015 15:51
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| # ¿ May 19, 2024 10:05 |
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Thanks for the tips. History and scenery are really our thing but food (particularly sea food) is also a big interest, I live in the middle of Europe a long way from the sea. I would prefer not to be driving every day, so staying in places for 2 days or more is the ideal, although part of the fun will be the drive as well of course. I was looking at Crater Lake and wondering if we should make the detour inland or if it would be better to stick to the coast and just potter along stopping at some of the coastal towns. Any advice on places to overnight along the coast? Would it be better to carry on past San Francisco to Los Angeles, we didn't consider that at first because it looked like it would be too far to travel in 2 weeks but I get the feeling from the advice so far that 2 weeks is more than enough. The Olympic Peninsula, Victoria and Puget sound look great and have been added as places to see. Also food markets/any markets would also be good so thanks for those recommendations. I like seeing things that are more normal life in the US but perhaps aren't so common in other countries. I also dug out an article about road side attractions some of which seem just plain weird http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/may/25/top-10-portland-san-francisco-roadside-attractions The Oregan Vortex has piqued my interest and I had no idea the Spruce Goose was in Portland. I have also been told that a wine tour either around San Francisco or around Portland is a good idea, any recommendations there? PlantHead fucked around with this message at 14:40 on Jun 18, 2015 |
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Jun 18, 2015 14:35
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Thanks very much for the help - great stuff. Good, Los Angeles is off the list. I will save that for another time and combine it with Las Vegas. I would like to watch some live sport. I went to a baseball match in Toronto years ago and was underwhelmed. Was that just a bad game or should I look at watching some other sport - baseball or American football?, I know next to nothing about either but generally I pretty much like watching any sport live. We also drink beer. Although and this is clearly my ignorance speaking but American beer has a fairly awful reputation. I remember going to a craft beer festival in Washington (admitedly 20 years ago) and being handed a beer and told that if I didn't like that beer I would never like any American beers. Needless to say it made Budweiser look like a full flavoured nector of the gods. Our friend in Portland does brew beer though and has promised/threatened to take me on a tour - I look forward to having my opinions changed. Thanks for the weather advice and parking. I was planning on dropping the car off before going into SF, I have heard the traffic can be terrible. Also me and horses don't get on, I have been thrown off 3 and broken my arm once. Unfortunately my wife loves horse back riding, so it looks like I am destined to risk my life again as she has taken your advice and is researching horseback trips.
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Jun 24, 2015 12:31
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Just had a quick question about hotels. We have booked our first night and last night accommodation and then everything else we will just turn up and find a room - hotels in the US are a lot more expensive than I am used to or imagined. Are there certain types of hotels we should avoid. I guess I am asking if motels are generally ok places to spend the night - my view of them is pretty heavily influenced by Hollywood where they all seem to be seedy.
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Jul 16, 2015 13:47
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