DH and I vowed that we would have some excitement this year - last year was just so incredibly stressful for us.
We have decided that we will be flying over to the USA with my parents in September!!! I grew up in the States so it will be great to stay with some old friends and visit some of my favourite places.
Cities we will be visiting are...
Los Angeles
San Francisco
New York
San Diego (with a trip to Tijuana)
I would love to hear from those of you who have been to these cities for a holiday and what YOU think are the "must see" attractions.
My fave is New York. You have to queue up and get cheap tickets to a broadway show in Times Square, ride the horse and carts in Central Park, there is a cool MoTown Cafe that is great to eat at....just can't think of the name. We didn' go to the statue of liberty but cought the Satten Island Ferry over and back, Empire state at night is fabulous...I'll think of more.
SanDiego - I hated Tijuana. DH wouldn't go back either, but it's cool to go to say you've been there. The people are pushy and I found it quite frightening (and I'm a cop). Silver was good for bargains but I didn't find anything else. It was very third world. The zoo is great, as is sea world, there are lots of millitary museaums which are cool if you're into that (I come from a navy family).
LA - book yourself a city tour, there is just heaps to see and do - and don't forget DisneyLand!!! There are a kazzillion theme parks if that's what you're into but we loved Disney and California Adventure world which is right across from it. There is also a top outlet place just outside of town with great top name bargains.
San Fran - Alcatraz (I was really wierded out by that), Ghirardelli Chocolates, the cable car, the GG bridge, Lombard St, there's also some great Markets, on the piers, Pier 39, but you have to be careful of the mist. There is a weird weather phenomenon there that the travel shows never really show. I haven't got any successful photos of the GG bridge. Food is great, be careful where you stay though.
I've been to heaps of other places as well if you need some more ideas.
Oh how exciting. I was born in the US and moved here when I was 4. I try to go back every 2 years to visit with family and see new places.
In February '08 (my most recent trip) we were in San Francisco for 3 days - not nearly long enough! What a fun city. The must do's that I would suggest are:
* Book an Alcatraz tour. You have to book in advance on the internet to secure an entry because it's so popular if you just turn up on the day you won't get a ticket. We did an audio tour and it was brilliant. If you google 'official Alcatraz cruises' you will get the site and more information
* Fishermans Wharf. It's a great tourist place. But they also sell all kinds of seafood down there. You can buy fresh clam chowder served in big sourdough breadbowls off vendors on the street. Yummo!!
* Take a trolley ride. You can buy 3 days passes and get on and off whenever you want to. It's fun and a great way to see the city.
* Shopping, shopping and shopping. In Union Square (where we stayed) you are in walking distance to great shops so make extra room in your suitcase.
* Ferry cruise to other San Fran areas. We picked Sausilito as our place for a day. It was a nice ferry ride over and we had lunch and came back again.
We didn't get to go in Summer but if so I'd definately stay longer and do some wine country tours next time.
By the way. Las Vegas is my absolute favourite city. Are you by any chance going there???
Have a great trip. I've followed your journey since I've been on this site and you deserve to have a holiday. Have a great 2009!!!!
Just wanted to add that I agree with Kim. I have also been to Tijuana and I hated it. DP didn't like it either. Very scary place. Very dirty and it's quite sad that some parts of Mexico are so beautiful but there are these pockets of depressed areas within it. I couldn't get back on the bus soon enough. Just be careful walking around down there. One good thing is if you get to taste tequila. It's the real stuff in mexico. Nothing like what you would have had here. Smooth and all different kinds of flavours.
I went to Tijuana as a kid and thought it was awful too LOL - DH is keen to experience it for what it is . I grew up in San Diego so the zoo and sea world are high on my list!!!
Would love some tips on the best areas to stay in LA and San Fran - is Hollywood a good place as far as being "central"?
We would love to go to Vegas but not sure if the budget will allow - we'll see!!
Keep them coming girls - I'm getting some fantastic ideas here!!
I haven't been hun but in LA my Uncle lives in Newport Beach which is close to Orange County, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Fashion Island etc. Mum went over last year and said it was absolutely amazing. She said they have gorgeous markets and fantastic shopping. So now sure if you want an action packed holiday but this could be nice for a few days downtime. They do have a lot of water sports and activities in those areas if you guys are into that too
In San Francisco we spent 3 nights at Hotel Fushion. (You can look it up on Tripadvisor). It is a small boutique hotel. The room was very small even with just 2 of us staying there but it was super clean and close to everything that we needed. Our hotel was in Union Square and that means it was close to shopping and places to eat. It was a couple of steps to the cable-car station which means it was really easy to get down to Fishermans Wharf and other places we wanted to see. I highly reccommend it if you are on a budget and want somewhere cosy to stay. They also include a free continental brekky every day too.
"Must See" USA - help!
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. I grew up in San Diego so the zoo and sea world are high on my list!!!
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