Mar.17-24. Any sights/tips/etc for first time west coast travel? I'm catching a flight to Sacramento and i'll be there 14-17, then free to spend 17-21 in San Fran/LA. Trying to keep it relatively under a K in budget, not including return flight to Chi. Love music and sports, so will try to hit a clippers or lakers game. Warriors look good too so maybe hit that as well. Any other thoughts?
I live in the Bay Area. You don't need 3 days in Sacramento, you really only need about 1 day, 2 max. Spend most of your time in San Francisco just because there is so much to explore and find. Also, I used to live in Orange County, close to L.A. it's a great city, the traffic sucks but there's still a lot to do... Check out O.C. and the beaches, esp. Newport and Huntington Beach if the weathers nice. Let me know if you have any questions about anything. There's a few good bars and places in Sacramento, I can recommend too. I'm familiar with all 3 of these cities.
In Sacramento 3 days for work, so kinda mandatory lol...but free to spend the remaining 18-22 split in San Fran/LA however I want to schedule it. I want to rent a car in Sac and drive down to San Fran and then to LA...maybe take the scenic route along the cliffs. Any advice?
If you really want to get to know San Francisco, take a bike tour. Fishermans Wharf and Alcatraz are nothing special. http://www.sosfbiketours.com/ I did the 7X7 tour and it was awesome.
Don't fall off? I'm heading out to Orange County tomorrow morning. I really do like it there...except for the cost. I will never understand how people survive there if they make anything less than $100k.
Last time I was SF - this restaurant really stuck out. The steak was awesome. http://boboquivaris.com/
HWY 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) is pretty wonderful, but you need some time. Even consider staying a night somewhere in between SF and LA (like in Monterey or even better: Carmel.)
If youre planning on driving from San Francisco to LA on Highway 1, this is a great site to use as a reference for places to visit...It also gives frequent updates on driving conditions on the road. http://jrabold.net/bigsur/index.htm
Sacramento has a nice old town and the train museum is worth a look. otherwise head out towards Tahoe or other parts of the gold country like Auburn, grass valley, Nevada city. San Francisco is great o visit, hit Fisherman's Wharf, eat crab or shrimp cocktails, bread from Boudin Bakery, walk to Ghiradehli Square and have a hot fudge sundae and hot chocolate, go to Chinatown for dim sum. basically eat the whole time
2nd the Alcatraz rec. It's just about the only touristy thing I've done that I really enjoyed. The audio tour is good and the views from the island, and on the trips to and from, are great.
Alcatraz was badass. I did the audio night tour over the summer, and it was amazing. So much history in one place.
Drive from SF to LA on Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1). It's a LONGGGG drive, but it's worth it if you're into that kind of stuff. Yup. It's worth going to Alcatraz. The audio tour was pretty great. Ignore this guy.
I guess I'm in the minority on Alcatraz. Although there seems to be a lot less opposition to me saying Fishermans Wharf is a tourist trap.
go to haight park and buy weed on the street corner in broad daylight from a guy who definitely looks like he's carrying a few ounces on him