 places of intrest in the west of the USA |
places of intrest in the west of the USA |
places of intrest in the west of the USANorth America » United StatesTopic Type: Information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Advice on what to see and what to do in the west. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
cottom jack Post Count: 2 Msg: #1 71 days ago, May 16th 2008 | We're two backpackers going around the west coast of the USA, and We're wanting to know what is the best itinerary. | We are starting in LA and have two months to get up to Vancouver. Our planned itinerary is as follows: LA - San Diego - Las Vegas - Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon - (through Death Valley) Sequoia National Park - Yosemite Nation Park - San Fransisco - Salt Lake City - Yellowstone National Park - Seattle - Vancouver We don't have a car, and will be traveling on the Greyhound Bus service. can you please advise us if this itinerary is possible and if there is any other places of interest to see on the way. We have camping equipment but think our biggest problem would be reaching the national parks on the Greyhound Bus. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks Josh and Jack.  travellersoul Swar Shah Post Count: 49 Msg: #2 71 days ago, May 16th 2008 | Hi Josh & Jack, | You won't need a car in the cities of LA, SD, SF, and LV.. Las Vegas will have a lot of tours available (and also bus services) for Grand Canyon and Zion National Park (very near from Las Vegas) also Death Valley... There are two more National Parks: Arches National Park & Canyonlands National Park... if you are into outdoors & adventures.. it is a must! Nearest city is Moab, UT.. which itself has so many outfitters providing you tons of options! Salt Lake City to Moab is a 4-5 hours drive... and I believe there are various shuttle/bus services available from salt lake city for approx $70.. For Yosemite and Sequoia, if you rent a car, it will be much easier to reach there... otherwise, you might have to take guided tours from San Francisco.. I am not quite sure if there are independent bus services though... Hope this helps.. - Swar  Stephanie and Andras Stephanie and Andras Post Count: 50 Msg: #3 70 days ago, May 17th 2008 | If I were to make a recommendation, I would not recommend traveling from Vegas east to Grand Canyon, back west San Fran and then back east to Salt Lake. You'll spend a TON of time back-tracking your steps and more time on the road than you will in the parks! A more direct route might be to rearrange your trip in the following sequence: | LA --> San Francisco --> Yosemite --> Sequoia National Park --> Death Valley --> Las Vegas --> Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon --> Salt Lake City --> Yellowstone --> Seattle --> Vancouver We did practically that same trip in reverse last summer and it flowed very nicely. As far as getting to the parks without a car, each of the National Parks have a place on their web-site listing ways to get there using public-transport. Here's the link for the Grand Canyon as an example as well as the National Park directory (to find the transportation site, click on "plan your visit" and then "directions") I would also highly recommend getting a National Park pass which allows you entrance into all National Parks/National Forests/National Recreation Areas/National Monuments for a year. It quickly pays for itself, especially since you want to visit a lot of the more expensive parks. [Edited: 16:37 - Stephanie and Andras ] cottom jack Post Count: 2 Msg: #4 70 days ago, May 17th 2008 | Thankyou so much for the advice, I will definately look into getting the National Parks Pass, and doing the suggested route. Cant wait to get going. | One final last question. Would it be possible to rent a car from San fran to Vegas and do the national parks on the way (i.e would insurance companies let me drive through death valley). I am 19 years old and have an international driving license. Thanks a lot Josh travellersoul Swar Shah Post Count: 49 Msg: #5 69 days ago, May 18th 2008 | California accepts your domestic license.. no need for even international driving permit! I believe you will not have any problems with renting a car... although, they might charge you underage rental fees.. which carries from $15-30/day.. some of the rental companies don't have underage charges... you'll have to check with them... may be use orbitz.com to see which rental companies are available in SF... and check their websites... Also, one-way rental will be really costly! | Number of Users: 3 | Number of Posts: 5 | |||||||||||||
