October 2002 – Best of California.
Hi there, I would like to share with you my story on my 18 day trip to California and Las Vegas. I do hope you like it as it is one place I hope a lot of my clients would visit after reading my whole journey from beginning to end.
Myself and my husband travelled from Dublin direct to Los Angeles with Aer Lingus and stayed in Downtown Los Angeles for 2 nights. When I look back now and when I get clients looking for this type of itinerary, Downtown LA is one place I wouldn't go back to or send clients to unless you were there for business. We had plenty to do here all the same, for example Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, taking a tour to view some of Hollywood star’s homes, Universal Studios, which is great for a fun day out and a lot more. Of course I’m such a fan of the movie Pretty Woman, I had to see Rodeo Drive and it’s designer shops…Wow Cinderella ( I won’t say the real phrase) We leave exciting Hollywood and take a flight to Las Vegas.
Glitzy, over the top, neon lights, this is the place where big is beautiful. Las Vegas strip is full of individual themed hotels from the Pyramids in Egypt to the Gondolas in Venice and this is where we settled for 3 nights. The Venetian Resort Hotel is amazing and probably one of the most comfortable and upmarket hotels I’ve stayed in. We are not gamblers so the Casino scene didn’t interest us but there were so many other things for us to do there. It was amazing to see all the weddings taking place in the hotels too. We didn’t meet anyone famous in L A but when we were walking through our hotel in Las Vegas we passed the famous dancer Michael Flatley. The one regret we have is that we didn’t go and see the Grand Canyon but it will be a great excuse to go back again.
From there we took another flight from Las Vegas to San Francisco and stayed in the Fisherman’s Wharf area of San Francisco which is just a tram ride away from the centre. This city is amazing with long hilly streets and plenty of sights to see including Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, Napa Valley Wineries and Yosemite National Park.
And now for the best bit – we hired a convertible and drove the coastal road from San Francisco stopping in Monteray, Carmel, and Pacific Grove which are all part of the Monteray Peninsula. The hotspots here are the Monteray Bay aquarium, Cannery Row, Pebble Beach (golf enthusiasts will love as my husband did) and the famous 17 mile drive. Next stop was San Simeon where you can find Hearst Castle.
From there we drove to Santa Barbara staying a few nights there and then to Santa Monica for 1 night which is very close to Los Angeles before getting our flight home. There is plenty of nice accommodation on this route and we stayed mostly in B&B’s which were like small boutique hotels and very unique.
We love America and this is one trip we will never forget. I’ve send a lot of clients on the same journey as you’ll always remember each detail and place you visit here and talk to others about it, years later. It’s now 2008 and 6 years on, I’m still excited when I talk to people about it and I would be more than happy to help you book this trip. Thanks for taking time to read my experience and I hope to speak to you soon.