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Western Discovery Tour USA


Hampden Demolition

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Hampden Demolition

Looking for some advice and reviews of people who have done one of these self tours in America. I'm looking to do the Western Discovery tour (LA, Las Vegas etc) with my other half next year, probably around March.

 

Where is the best place to book this that includes flights, car hire, hotels etc?

 

What was it like? Worth it?

 

Thanks in advance

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I did it a few years ago and went into Thomas Cook and they worked it out with Kuoni based on our route and how long we wanted in each place.

 

LA-San Diego-Vegas-San Francisco-Monterey-Santa Monica

 

Don't think about it if you don't enjoy driving as there are some long drives in there

 

We loved it but t wasn't our first time in California.

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DarthVodka

Looking for some advice and reviews of people who have done one of these self tours in America. I'm looking to do the Western Discovery tour (LA, Las Vegas etc) with my other half next year, probably around March.

 

Where is the best place to book this that includes flights, car hire, hotels etc?

 

What was it like? Worth it?

 

Thanks in advance

Never used a set tour but I've done a bit of travelling there

 

Booked own flights/car and hotels before I went.  Its easy to do and I did a bit of research and got to see what I wanted to (I'm not sure if what you mentioned has set timings and places etc).  Driving is simple outside of big cities and is well worth it

 

(edit - as Tazio mentioned, driving for 6hrs is nothing to Americans so you gotta real be ok with it - fuel is a lot cheaper than here and there is loads of cops looking for speeding)

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Hampden Demolition

I did it a few years ago and went into Thomas Cook and they worked it out with Kuoni based on our route and how long we wanted in each place.

 

LA-San Diego-Vegas-San Francisco-Monterey-Santa Monica

 

Don't think about it if you don't enjoy driving as there are some long drives in there

 

We loved it but t wasn't our first time in California.

The driving wouldn't bother me. Some of the places on the route look amazing. What kind of price did you pay if you don't mind me asking? How much spending money would you recommend . I've never been to America before so I don't know what the prices are compared to here.

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DarthVodka

The driving wouldn't bother me. Some of the places on the route look amazing. What kind of price did you pay if you don't mind me asking? How much spending money would you recommend . I've never been to America before so I don't know what the prices are compared to here.

 

It depends on where you are going - California will be more expensive that most places.  If you plan going shopping then obviously you'll need more - especially if your other half likes the shops.  I found Bevy quite expensive - looking at $5 plus tax for a pint as a minimum even in states less popular with tourists

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hmfc_liam06

A bunch of us are planning a tour from Chicago to Jacksonville in a few years time. Taking in a whole bunch of cities on the way - Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, Jackson, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans and finishing up in Jacksonville.

 

Most of the stop offs are 3 to 4 hour drives with a couple bigger ones further south, Jackson to Dallas, Houston to New Orleans and New Orleans to Jacksonville being the bigger ones at 5 to 7 hours.

 

Doesn't help the OP but thought you all should know :lol:

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Seymour M Hersh

If you're going to California try to get to San Diego for a few days. 

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The driving wouldn't bother me. Some of the places on the route look amazing. What kind of price did you pay if you don't mind me asking? How much spending money would you recommend . I've never been to America before so I don't know what the prices are compared to here.

It was a few years ago now so I'm not sure the prices will compare. From memory it was around ?3k for us both. But that was in Kuoni standard hotels so good places all the way. In terms of spending I don't find California anywhere as expensive as New York or the rest of the east coast. Though I found San Francisco noticeably expensive compared to the rest of the state.

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A bunch of us are planning a tour from Chicago to Jacksonville in a few years time. Taking in a whole bunch of cities on the way - Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, Jackson, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans and finishing up in Jacksonville.

 

Most of the stop offs are 3 to 4 hour drives with a couple bigger ones further south, Jackson to Dallas, Houston to New Orleans and New Orleans to Jacksonville being the bigger ones at 5 to 7 hours.

 

Doesn't help the OP but thought you all should know :lol:

Catch it on a bad day, and Houston to New Orleans can take ten hours.

 

A couple of years ago I did a round trip from Houston up through Arkansas, Memphis to Nashville, then via Mobile and New Orleans on the way home to Houston. Brutal and boring, in terms of driving.

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Watt-Zeefuik

Looking for some advice and reviews of people who have done one of these self tours in America. I'm looking to do the Western Discovery tour (LA, Las Vegas etc) with my other half next year, probably around March.

 

Where is the best place to book this that includes flights, car hire, hotels etc?

 

What was it like? Worth it?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Do you want mostly cities, mostly national parks, beaches?  More cultural tourism and sightseeing or the full Vegas experience?

 

How much can you stand heat?  (And I don't mean 30 degrees hot, I mean 45 degrees hot.)

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Hampden Demolition

Do you want mostly cities, mostly national parks, beaches? More cultural tourism and sightseeing or the full Vegas experience?

 

How much can you stand heat? (And I don't mean 30 degrees hot, I mean 45 degrees hot.)

Would be a bit of everything to be honest. Maybe not so much beaches - more sightseeing etc. The heat wouldn't bother me.

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The heat won't be that big an issue in March. I know what Ugly is talking about though having done the desert drive to Vegas in July. All fine in the car but stopping for petrol and some fresh air in Baker mid afternoon was an experience.

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hmfc_liam06

Catch it on a bad day, and Houston to New Orleans can take ten hours.

 

A couple of years ago I did a round trip from Houston up through Arkansas, Memphis to Nashville, then via Mobile and New Orleans on the way home to Houston. Brutal and boring, in terms of driving.

Our plan is to randomly stop in places for the night so if it's taking ages to reach a particular city it won't bother us, we'll just pitch up somewhere.

 

We're not doing it as a nice scenic driving experience, more a road trip taking in cities and towns.

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bertracoon

Years ago I went on a trekamerica tour. LA - Grand Canyon - Vegas - Yosemite - San Francisco. Can't remember exactly all the stops but that was the main touristy ones we stopped at. 

 

Would thoroughly recommend it but can't remember what sort of prices it was at the time. Good mixture of young 21-22 age folk and a few couples in their 30s probably. Fair amount of bevvying if you wanted.

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Years ago I went on a trekamerica tour. LA - Grand Canyon - Vegas - Yosemite - San Francisco. Can't remember exactly all the stops but that was the main touristy ones we stopped at. 

 

Would thoroughly recommend it but can't remember what sort of prices it was at the time. Good mixture of young 21-22 age folk and a few couples in their 30s probably. Fair amount of bevvying if you wanted.

This is pretty much the trip we did two years ago. We just booked a car and went off - didn't book anything except Vegas (ridiculously low prices if you avoid weekends) and SF (ridiculously expensive - we stayed at the Holiday Inn on Fishermans Wharf - was worth the cost though). If you are "on the road" you don't really need to book anything if you want a bit of freedom and avoid the feeling of being tied to a schedule. The US is choc full of all kinds of hotels and motels on every highway and they are good value.

 

As Taz said, don't underestimate the amount of driving involved- it is a huge  distance.

 

Tip stay off route66 - it is very over rated.

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Aer Lingus (snigger) tend to be pretty decent for flights...price wise anyway.

 

They fly to San Fran although you have to go via Dublin. The bonus of going this way is that you actually go through customs in Ireland - just make sure there are a couple of hours between your flights out as there are sometimes queues.

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Are Alamo and Dollar decent car rental companies? They seem way cheaper than every one else? Don't want to take any risks. We want to hire a car for about 16 days and drive from San Francisco to LA.

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Are Alamo and Dollar decent car rental companies? They seem way cheaper than every one else? Don't want to take any risks. We want to hire a car for about 16 days and drive from San Francisco to LA.

Both are perfectly fine and reputable.

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I  cannot offer any advice, can only say I have driven all the areas mentioned numerous times, many, many miles and the enormity of the area the spectacular vistas and distances still thrill me, I am somewhat attuned to it all now, but in some ways I envy someone coming from Britain never having done it to have the experience of seeing it all for a first time.

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Hampden Demolition

Thanks for all the replys guys, it's appreciated. Will dig a little deeper to see what is best and gives the most value for money.

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Watt-Zeefuik

Grand Canyon is worth the drive -- do it.

 

Hit Sequoia if you're in southern California, and be sure to set aside some time for some place like John Muir Woods or Redwoods State Park if you're up in redwoods country -- the size of the trees is truly mind-blowing.

 

Give plenty of time for Yosemite.  I haven't been but everyone who's been says it's all that.

 

I'm in the minority, but I was kind of meh on San Francisco.  The bay itself is stunning, but the city struck me as like 1/4 touristy crap and 3/4 standard American commercial mess.

 

If you go to LA, see live theater.  It's a city chock full of aspiring TV and movie actors, so the theater scene is enormous.

 

Don't expect to swim in the Pacific -- it's cold as f---.  But do get some time to drive along the coast, particularly Monterey or north of the bay area.  Astounding coastline (although you ARE coming from Scotland, which has one of the few coastlines in the world to beat it).

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Watt-Zeefuik

Are Alamo and Dollar decent car rental companies? They seem way cheaper than every one else? Don't want to take any risks. We want to hire a car for about 16 days and drive from San Francisco to LA.

 

Alamo and Dollar are fine.  I slightly prefer Budget, but all roughly the same level.

 

One more thought -- one truism someone told me years ago that explains so much:  the difference between the US and the UK is that in the US, 100 years is a long time ago, and in the UK 100 miles is a long way away.

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DarthVodka

Are Alamo and Dollar decent car rental companies? They seem way cheaper than every one else? Don't want to take any risks. We want to hire a car for about 16 days and drive from San Francisco to LA.

 

Small tip for car hire in the UK - check that the company you want to use allow taking the car out of state or if there are any restrictions.  Some mention you can travel to certain states near that where you hire from and others like Enterprise don't allow you to take it out of state at all.

 

Not that they can stop you, but it will be a world of pain if you have a bump......

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Small tip for car hire in the UK - check that the company you want to use allow taking the car out of state or if there are any restrictions. Some mention you can travel to certain states near that where you hire from and others like Enterprise don't allow you to take it out of state at all.

 

Not that they can stop you, but it will be a world of pain if you have a bump......

Also, make sure you have adequate insurance. The companies will let you drive away without any coverage arranged through them (in the US, the renters personal insurance will often cover).

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Small tip for car hire in the UK - check that the company you want to use allow taking the car out of state or if there are any restrictions. Some mention you can travel to certain states near that where you hire from and others like Enterprise don't allow you to take it out of state at all.

 

Not that they can stop you, but it will be a world of pain if you have a bump......

Yeh the ones i've looked at let you drive through the neighbouring states, and we'll be going through Utah, Arizona and Nevada as well depending on how much driving we want to do, we're aiming to take in Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon and Yosemite, Vegas as well as LA/San Fran.

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drove R66 last year and then up to SF. 

 

I quite like driving so loved it. Would recommend splashing a wee bit extra on the car if doing long journeys - can't beat a convertible mustang or camarro! From memory the difference was less than ?10 a day to a bog standard car. Petrol is dirt cheap so shouldn't really be an issue either. Insurance wise I took out a policy in the UK before I left, think it was about ?70 for 4 weeks driving. 

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Small tip for car hire in the UK - check that the company you want to use allow taking the car out of state or if there are any restrictions.  Some mention you can travel to certain states near that where you hire from and others like Enterprise don't allow you to take it out of state at all.

 

Not that they can stop you, but it will be a world of pain if you have a bump......

I have only used Avis : never been a problem. Didn't even ask, In Canada I was covered doe the whole of N America.

 

Tip - the rental price isn't always the best price . Avis give second  cover driver free of charge - a lot of others will charge a daily rate that jacks up the price. Something to think about.

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Hugh Phamism

I have a Ford Fusion Hybrid in Arizona this week and just filled the tank to take it back to the airport tomorrow. 380 miles driven, $24 (?16) to fill from empty. [emoji2]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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