California and Vegas

Two weeks to experience California and Vegas is not enough but it can be done – and it will be amazing.  Here is what we did with our two week escape from the grind from Perth to San Francisco return.

Perth> San Francisco > Sonoma > Yosemite > Carmel > Cambria > Las Vegas > San Francisco > Perth

SAN FRANCISCO

We stayed at The Palace Hotel  after we got a deal through Travel Zoo, for your first time there it’s best to stay around Union Square to be close to everything.  If you’ve got the time switch it up and stay in different areas, Air BnB is the best for this, but around Union Square is the best place to start.  Just be sure to stay away from the Tenderloin area, no matter how tempting the prices are, it’s a sketchy part of town.

Start at the San Francisco Information Centre (900 Market Street) to get some info, maps and purchase a Muni pass.  The Muni passport covers you for street cars, buses and the cable cars (but not the BART underground train), I’m not sure if it is cost effective if you don’t use it twice a day but it did encourage me to just jump on buses and trains to save me walking or see where I ended up.  You can chose how many days you want to pay for when you purchase at the information centre or other outlets.

Head to the Ferry Building Marketplace first to look around at shops, restaurants and bars – but most importantly it has the Blue Bottle Coffee Company, the closest you’re likely to find a decent flat white in San Francisco, then take the street car running north up to Fishermans Wharf, it’s a really touristy area but just do it anyway and don’t spend too much time there.  Go and see the Sea Lions and go and have some overpriced chowder and wine in a restaurant where you’ll have great views of both the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.  From there you can walk to Lombard Street (Crookedest Street) and at the top of that take a cable car down to Union Square.  If you’re around Union Squrae hit up Louie’s bar, it was the perfect way to top off our first day in San Fran and we got it on the recommendation of our concierge.  We had some local beers, chatted with the locals and had the best baby artichokes I’ve ever tasted.  If you’re under 40 I recommend taking ID with you, we were asked for ID everywhere.

I did the open top Big Bus tour the first time I was in San Francisco and it was great, you get to see everything and orientate yourself.  Buy tickets from either the SF Information Centre or from where they depart near Macy’s at Union Square.  It includes free walking tours which I loved, please tip your guides generously if you do these! they do such a great job.  On both my trips I also did a Wild SF Walking Tour, my favourite was the Radical SF Route which did The Castro + Mission District and we also did the Downtown and China Town Tour, no matter what trip you do with them it will be awesome.

If you’re feeling brave head into The Mission at night and hit up El Farlito (2779 Mission Street, next to 24 Mission BART) it’s the best Mexican in San Francisco, go to a few of the local bars to work up a hunger then go to this hole the wall style joint that has people queuing up outside the door.  Get the steak quesadilla, we also ordered nachos which were good but we noticed most people were ordering the burritos.  They have tin foil there to wrap up your leftovers, if you manage to eat a whole one consider yourself a champion!

You have to do Alcatraz, and you have to book early – at least three weeks in advance.  It’s well run and you don’t spend too much time waiting in lines like you do with other attractions.  Make sure you book through the authorised Alcatraz company, I ended up doing the Alcatraz and Angel Island tour as it was the only one left when I booked which I don’t recommend – Angel Island was a let down, Alcatraz is the star.

We were recommended Sam’s Grill  for dinner but it’s only open Monday to Friday.  We instead went to John’s grill which we do not recommend, there are so many great eateries.  Hit up Trip Advisor and Yelp to check reviews and just go for it.

SAN FRANCISCO > SONOMA

We got a hire car through Alamo, which was arranged by our fantastic agent Shelly Brice from Brice and Turner Associates.  Shelly also arranged a lot of our accommodation and was patient with me through several changes of our itinerary.  We did book hoping for an open top Mustang but several Mustangs came back damaged so we were offered a Camero instead.  My muscle car loving husband was happy with this and we headed off to Sonoma over the Golden Gate Bridge. We went via Sausalito and stopped off for brunch and then on a whim went to Muir Woods.  This should have been on our must do list, it’s so beautiful and relaxing to walk around, especially if you get to go mid week outside of tourist season.

We decided to go to Sonoma over Napa due to recommendations from friends, I can’t compare it but to Napa but it was lovely.  We stayed at the Best Western  which was comfortable and a great price and a two minute walk to the centre of town.  If you’re there you must go to the Girl and The Fig which was the best meal of our trip.  We were able to walk in on a Monday night and get a table but book ahead if you’re there any other days of the week.  There are several locations to wine taste in the town but Australian’s will most likely find the wine tasting experience expensive, a cheap tasting will cost $20 – $30 per person, this is sometimes redeemable if you buy $100 – $150 of their wine, but not always.  The exception in this rule was Cline Wineries. It was the only place we found in Sonoma that didn’t charge for tasting but better still I loved all their wines and they were so much cheaper compared to all the others.

SONOMA > YOSEMITE

The drive from Sonoma to Yosemite is around 3 hours.  Book in advance to get accommodation inside the park which is a much better experience, if your budget allows the Majestic Yosemite Hotel lives up to it’s name, if not just stop in for a well earned drink after a day of hiking/viewing and stay at one of the more affordable options around.  We left it too late and ended up staying at Yosemite View Lodge, the service was terrible but it seemed like the best of the hotels outside the park.  We stayed in a mountain view room but if you’re looking to stay there the river view room is worth the upgrade.  Make sure you allow at least one full day inside the park, there is a $25/$35 (low season/high season) fee per car that is valid for 7 days.  You’ll get a map when you go in the gates so don’t buy any of the overpriced maps outside the park.  We took snacks in with us but there are places to buy food in there for all budgets, the Yosemite Valley Lodge has a good food court with typical American style fare, there are some healthy options.  The Majestic Yosemite Hotel has a fine dining option but book in advance and change out of your hiking clothes.   Pictures can never capture how beautiful Yosemite is, it’s something you have to experience it in person.  I struggle to find the words to describe it but I overheard someone at half dome say it perfectly in a heavy California accent ‘this place is zen as f**k’.

YOSEMITE > CARMEL

Carmel is about 3.5 hours from Yosemite.  If you drive through Los Banos stop at Famous Eddies Diner and get a burger, it’s a great American diner experience and one of the best burgers we’ve tasted.  We were originally going to stay in Monterrey but after a recommendation we changed our accommodation to stay in Carmel – so glad we did. Carmel is a sleepy bayside town with loads of character, there are no chain restaurants, Clint Eastwood was Mayor in the 80s, and Doris Day made it dog heaven – dogs are everywhere.  We stayed at the charming Best Western Plus Carmel Bay View Inn for two nights, it has a lovely ocean view and is close to everything you want to walk to downtown.  It also has complimentary continental breakfast each morning and is across the road from La Balena which has a menu that changes daily using fresh local organic ingredients.  Set aside some time to do the Carmel Wine Walk, with over 15 wine tasting rooms all within walking distance in downtown Carmel.

We cruised up to Monterrey for a day and went to the aquarium – which I wouldn’t recommend, it was expensive and didn’t wow either of us, kids were everywhere and there were lots of activities for them, and they seemed to be enjoying it.  Cannery Row is really touristy but nice to have a poke around, we found a great restaurant Hulas on Trip Advisor.  We still talk about the jerk chicken plate we got there, they have lots of gluten free and vegetarian options on the menu.  On the drive back to Carmel we did the scenic 17 Mile beach drive which cost $10 just to drive but was worth it, you can also get to Pebble Beach from there – make sure you stop there and have a drink on the balcony at the golf course.

CARMEL > CAMBRIA via Big Sur

You can expect almost bumper to bumper traffic in some parts of Big Sur but that’s okay, it forces you to slow down and enjoy the ride.  Stop off at Big Sur River Inn, in Summer you can roll up your jeans and put a plastic chair in the river and enjoy a beer but it was too cold on the day we were there, instead we got a coffee, sat near the river bank and soaked it all up.  The water is crystal clear, it’s quiet and it’s one of the most perfect spots on the whole drive, well worth the stop.  Next off we stopped at Nepenthe which was very touristy and pricey but the view was worth it.  You’ll probably have to wait for a table but you just grab a drink and enjoy the surrounds until you get called, we shared an Ambrosia burger.  As you continue further South on the Big Sur there will be heaps of pull out bays to stop and take pics.  We tended to try and get ones that weren’t too crowded, they are all pretty much the same and very frequent.  We went to Hurst Castle near the end of the drive but didn’t realise you needed to buy tickets in advance to do the tour as they sell out, so we instead just looked at the free museum and watched a video about the castle they have in the cinema.   There’s a viewing platform to see the elephant seals just near the turn off to Hurst Castle, we enjoyed stopping and taking some pics. We then drove into Cambria where we rented a room through AirBnB for the night, if you’re going to stay there Sandy’s place is amazing!

CAMBRIA > VEGAS

It was a 6 hour drive from Cambria to Vegas and I would not recommend it, there wasn’t a lot to see along the way and the desert gets repetitive after the first hour.  Instead I’d do the 3 – 4 hour drive to Los Angeles if you’ve got a few days to spend there before flying to Vegas.

We stayed at the Vdara after several seasoned Vegas visitors said it was their favourite, it also has a washer/dryer in the suites which was well needed by this stage.  We were offered an upgrade for $40 per night when we checked in and ended up getting an amazing corner suite on one of the top floors, well worth it.  Pretty much all of the food on the strip is crazy expensive but one that was really worth it was Yellowtail at Bellagio, try and book early and request a table outside so you can watch the fountains.  You have to try to tuna carpaccio pizza there – it’s a game changer.  We ended up only having a light meal there as it was so expensive and then walked further down the strip and settled in at Hooters for wings and beers.

If you want to do a Vegas buffet apparently Caesars is the best, however it was $60 per person and you will have to wait.  You put your details into a computer at the entry and it gives you a ticket, they then call you when your table is ready.  We went to a happy hour close by and got a text about an hour later, we then had to wait another 30 minutes in line but you’re able to order drinks from a nearby bar.  The food was amazing and really high quality but we were useless afterwards, we ended up going back to the room to lay flat out and digest.

We did the helicopter of Grand Canyon thing and went with Sundance Tours, we almost didn’t as the cost was obscene but afterwards, and still now, we loved it and so glad we did it.  It’s a once in a lifetime thing.  You’ll never have a lack of things to do in Vegas – shopping, betting, drinking, eating, adventure sports and shows everywhere – we just got tired of overpaying for everything on the strip so we were happy with spending 3 days there and heading back to San Fran.

Vegas tips –

• Bring a decent wad of cash, ATMs on the strip all charge $5 to get money out no matter what bank you are with, this gets old after a while.
• Bring bottles of water with you, shops/food courts on the strip charge around $5 – $7 for water or buy at Walgreens or one street back from the strip.
• Get out to old town Vegas – Fremont Street, make sure you go to Heart Attack Grill!.  It felt more like what we thought Vegas was going to be and it was a lot cheaper and less tacky than everything on the street.  You’ll have to catch a taxi/uber there.

LAS VEGAS > SAN FRANCISCO

It was great to jump on a plane to get to our last stop after leaving the car in Vegas.  We had a day and a half in San Fran before heading back to Oz. Stayed at The Kimpton in Japan town, it’s in a great location – right near Fillmore Street which is full of great restaurants, bars and shops.  It has a nice local feel and is really safe, a great way to finish off our trip.

 

If you have any questions about travelling around California or would like some recommendations I’d be happy to help – drop me a line!