First, LA
This is rather boring and overcrowded city, you can use it as an arrival/departure point, because flight tickets from Europe to LAX are cheap (about 1000 USD for return ticket if you're lucky). Generally I do not recommend visiting LA, but if you insist, my personal recommendation is to see at least following places:
- Hollywood Boulevard - and its Walk of Fame
- Crystal Cathedral
- Beverly Hills - just wander a little around and see how boring it is- Universal Studios
- Santa Monica beach - I don't know why, but I like this stinking place
Of course there's a lot more, but you'll spend most of your time in the traffic jams, so not much time will be left for real sightseeing tours - I recommend going somewhere else and see better things. But choice is yours!And if you want to spend very romantic night near LA, I definitely recommend wonderful hotel in St. Paula - Glen Tavern Inn. It's really perfect. And don't forget to ask for a room with jacuzzi!
Second, San Francisco & Bay Area
It's much more interesting than LA and I suggest you to spend most of your time here. I had known one better city once, but it hasn't atmosphere anymore (I mean New Orleans), so SF became my favorite. Below is the list of my beloved places in the city and around:
- Golden Gate - do not confuse it with Bay Bridge!
- Bay Bridge - this bridge is also nice and leads to Trasure Island with a great view of the city (especially in the evening or early night)- Alcatraz Island - I've never been there, but heard that people like this prison! Strange...
- Russian Hill/Lombard Street - famous crooked street of San Francisco. Must see place!
- Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf - this place has the atmosphere - just walk around, but watch for pickpockets!
- Chinatown - pure Honk Kong in the middle of San Francisco! Really interesting place and good restaurants if you like chineese food
- La Honda Rd (84) - beautiful road going from seaside to Mountain View (it connects 1 with 101), wonderful views of redwoods! You must drive this road and I guarantee you'll remember it forever!
- University of California, Berkeley - nice place with a lot of beautiful chicas and great atmosphere of student's village - definitely worth seeing!
- Standford University - the cradle of Sun Microsystems Inc.
- Lake Tahoe - selfexplanatory... Once I dreamed of buying house near the water, but it was too expensive back then. Now everything changed, so maybe I'll get back to this idea.
- Napa Valley - very picturesque place and nice for wine tasting. Recommended and very romantic!
- For shopping activities I recommend Gilroy (outlet center) and Milpitas Great Mall of America
Of course there's a lot more to see in Bay Area/Silicon Valley and I also suggest to take a 1 from San Francisco to Half Bay Moon (good access to the ocean and beach) and 101 then 880 around the Bay itself. Doing this loop will allow you to see most of the Silicon Valley Companies. If you're looking for good/cheap/well located hotel, you can try Holiday Inn San Jose (once it was Hyatt and it was even cheaper...).
Third, Las Vegas Area
My friend told me, that he dreams of a small detour to Las Vegas during their trip over California. Of course it's possible to go there for one or two days, but it's definitely too little to fully appreciate this city. Usually people who visits LV for one day are later saying that it's plastic and boring city and this is not true. You must spend at least a week there and then express your opinion. In 99% of cases it'll be opposite :)
My list of places that you must see being in LV:
- Fountain in front of Bellagio Hotel - I can spend hours staying and watching - for me it's like the eight wonder of the world!
- The Venetian - when you see it from the outside, you can think you're in Venice, but it's just a hotel in LV. But if you get inside, you'll be shocked! There's real Venice under the roof - amazing! - Treasure Island - when I was a child, I dreamed of becoming a pirate - here you can realize your dreams of childhood and see pirates with your own eyes - check the schedule of the shows and reserve best seats ahead!
- Hotel Paris - recently I was staying in this hotel occupying a room with a view to the Bellagio Fountain - unforgettable experience! And do not forget to go to the Eiffel Tower and see fountain from above!
- Calico Ghost Town - you can visit it on your way from LA to LV or on the way back. It's place where time stood still... very atmospheric place.
- Route 66 and other ghost towns - in California you can still find old parts of famous Route 66 and usually you can also find old buildings or even abandoned towns - you can find list of them here.
Again, I can tell you much more about the area, but don't want to bore you, so listed only "must see" places (again in my personal opinion). One more thing I can tell about Las Vegas is the hotel recommendation - you can sleep in one of the famous hotels across The Strip (Bellagio or Trasure Island are my dreams!) or if you want something more remote with very comfortable bed and at affordable price, try Emerald Suites.
Fourth, National Parks and nature of California
Yosemite NP was the first park of USA I've visited in my life and it left permanent trace in my life. I've fallen head over heels in love to California and National Parks of America! But California offers much more than Yosemite - just see the list below - this is very short and covers only basic recommendations for people that are short of time.
- Yosemite National Park (and inside the park don't forget to see attractions like sequoias in Mariposa Groove, view from Glacier Point, Yosemite Valley itself, all of the Falls, etc. The only good lodge is located in Wawona, but it can be a bit expensive, so it's better to look outside of the park)
- Death Valley National Park (in this wonderful NP you should definitely visit Zabriskie Point, Badwater, Furnance Creek, Artists Drive and more if you have time). If you plan to spend night near this park, I recommend looking for a cheap motel in Beatty, NV or Baker, CA.
- Sequoya & Kings Canyon NP (if I have only a day I'd focus on the plan presented here)- Monterey Bay - beautiful place with wonderful aquarium
- Pacific Groove- my favourite village at the ocean side. Wonderful views!
- Morro Bay - nice place on the way from LA to SF if you take 1. You can see famous Morro Bay Rock and have a good lunch here. It's just an option for stopping by, not a must see attraction.
Please treat this short summary above as a starting point for planning your trip in details. From the other side if you've only two weeks, you'll not be able to see all mentioned attractions, so you must take difficult decisions.
Proposed map of the trip below:
View Larger Map
All pictures in this blog entry comes from my archive (usually scans of analog photos or pics taken with poor digital point-and-shot cameras - so I'm very sorry for the quality).
Good Luck Marek!
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