Holidays

[armaghniac]

What age group is the family? This may determine the kinds of things of interest.

[Boycey]

Thanks for the reply, we also may just travel as far as San Fran if the original idea is too long...

The young fella is 17 so I suppose it's 3 adults really.

[manfromdelmonte]

Anyone got experience of driving down the West Coast of the USA? It's in the frame for the family holiday this Summer probably,  take 12/13 days at it starting in Seattle and finishing in maybe SAN Diego..

yes. did the entire coast a few years back. you could camp all the way if you wanted
the road isn't actually along the coast in a lot of places

Washington - fantastic coast. Olympic national park area is brilliant. You can go inland to Mount Rainier NP too before hitting the coast

Oregon - great big beaches, though with not much along them. Portland is definitely worth a look. My favourite US city.

Northern California - redwoods are pretty cool. the road doesn't actually go along the coast for a lot of it
wine country - the mendocinno wine country is a lot less busy than sonoma or napa

ask away

[AZOffaly]

There's alot of driving in that.... and I mean alot!
And if you doing Highway1 (costal Road) the whole way (which is probably unlikely) you might even struggle to do it in that time.
Id break it up with flights, or concentrate on a stretch, plus if you restrict yourself to the coast you'll miss out on things like Yosemite, Crater Lake, Cascades.. etc

Id either do Van/Seat/Port area. Throw in Olympia national park, Rainer, Mount Hood, Columbia River Gorge  and the Oregon Coast
or
SF bay area and throw in Wine COuntry, Redwoods or Big Sur, a Mission (I think the one in Carmel is best up there) as well as Yosemite.
or
combine the two with Crater Lake, and/or Shasta 

Theres feck all in Socal apart from crowded freeways, crowded beaches and an extremely crowded Disneyland ***AVOID***

Any other pointers you want let me know

Feck all in SoCal? Are you nuts? San Diego is a great spot. LA is certainly not a lady, but San Diego is well worth a visit.

[Rois]

Your 17 year old would love Huntington Beach below LA. Don't discount the beach communities down there, yes maybe avoid LA downtown but Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach and further down to Huntington really give that Californian feel (or what I consider as the Californian feel from TV!)

If only going as far as SF, maybe consider Lake Tahoe as a side visit?

[Milltown Row2]

Jesus! this trip sounds about 15 grand already! and about 4 weeks to fit most of this stuff in!

[Boycey]

Jesus! this trip sounds about 15 grand already! and about 4 weeks to fit most of this stuff in!

Ha that's way out of my budget, but we will spend a good few quid on it which we do once every few years.. I've discovered recently that you should never take life for granted and enjoy it while you can..

[Puckoon]

Old Danny Diego is a pretty great place.

Personally I'd fly into SFO and spend some time going north into the Mendocino area. It's a decent mirror of the Oregon and Washington coastal areas and it would allow you to experience that feel without trekking so far in one trip.

Then I'd head south - as far as Santa Barbara (personally I'd stop before LA unless you were adamant that you wanted to take in SD).

I feel that that trip would give you the feel of most places on the west coast proper with the notable exceptions being the cities of Vancouver, Seattle, and San Diego. All 3 are 10s in my opinion in different ways, each one worth their own trip and attention. Just blasting down the entire coast solely to check them off will somewhat waste your time when you could really absorb a few days in the Northern California area and then take the cool section of 101 through Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara.

Caution the 17year old against whiplash trying to take in those girls that Brian Wilson was singing about. I don't think Oregon will present that problem!

[TyroneOnlooker]

San Fran is a great city, easily spend 4 or 5 days there. Then drive on down towards LA taking in Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara etc.
Could also detour inland to Lake Tahoe (northeast) or Yosemite (southeast) for some mountains, lakes etc.

Did that trip a few years ago, a lot of driving but possible if you're going for 2 weeks or more.

San fran area isn't exactly roasting though, can be cool enough summers. Better than here obviously but just not that heat you'd expect in California

[manfromdelmonte]

the beaches in Washington and the landscape are definitely highlights for me.
so rugged, wild and the rainforests in the Olympic NP are cool.

and that was after doing a lot of travelling in BC

is Lake Tahoe worth the drive up? don't think so.
Yosemite definitely is.

[StGallsGAA]

What's the best way to visit Yosemite when in Vegas?

[Rois]

My guess is Death Valley to Mammoth Lakes and over the Tioga Pass if open (only in summer and they had a long winter season in 2017 so very dependent on when you are going). 

Death Valley is cool itself and Mammoth is a lovely town - nice short hikes around the area.

I dream of a trip where I can ski in Mammoth and then spend some time in Palm Springs on same trip for sun/golf. 

[ONARAGGATIP]

can anyone recommend a bar in Prague that would show the Cheltenham festival, will be over there on Gold cup day?

[GetOverTheBar]

can anyone recommend a bar in Prague that would show the Cheltenham festival, will be over there on Gold cup day?

Rocky O'Reilly's should be able to sort you, very easy got to - they have a sister bar in the Old Town, the Dubliner also. They are able to get the GAA so I assume Cheltenham will be no issue.

[Puckoon]

This is a great time of year for a Palm Springs Golf trip Rois. Rent a nice little house with a pool, grill out in the evenings and play Mission Hills, Indian Wells and Silverrock. Good times