West Coast USA Fly Drive holidays - advice.

[The_Lizards_Jumpers]

I know he's a creepy Tory with multi coloured trousers, but you could do worse than watch Michael Portillo's Great American Railroad Journey's, especially series 3 to scope out some of the cities you'd fancy visiting.

BBC Two - Great American Railroad Journeys - Episode guide

All episodes of Great American Railroad Journeys

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[The_Lizards_Jumpers]

I’ve visited most of the large US cities. But the Tenderloin in SF was by far the worst inner city “skid row” I’ve ever seen. Rows and rows of tents and sleeping bags with people sat on the pavement shooting up, smoking stuff and s***ting in the street.

Yep, I used to walk through it daily as I lived in Pac Heights (top of the hill) and worked in the Fi-Di (bottom of the hill). I'd literally be stepping over bodies on the sidewalk to get to work, and you were always looking down to make sure you weren't standing in ****, needles etc. Having said that I never felt threatened or in danger when I walked through there, even at night.

My American mate who also lived in SF at the same time as I did, but now lives in London, went back a few months ago and said since the pandemic it's got worse. I'm off to Seattle for work in March and may spend a couple of days in SF catching up with people but I fear the worst going back.

 

[gramercy]

Yep, I used to walk through it daily as I lived in Pac Heights (top of the hill) and worked in the Fi-Di (bottom of the hill). I'd literally be stepping over bodies on the sidewalk to get to work, and you were always looking down to make sure you weren't standing in ****, needles etc. Having said that I never felt threatened or in danger when I walked through there, even at night.

My American mate who also lived in SF at the same time as I did, but now lives in London, went back a few months ago and said since the pandemic it's got worse. I'm off to Seattle for work in March and may spend a couple of days in SF catching up with people but I fear the worst going back.

I was there April last year, and people were saying a lot of it was driven by the pandemic.
What got me was the proximity of it to places frequented by tourists like Union Sq and City Hall.
There’s basically an open air heroin, crack and fentanyl market a couple of minutes walk from Macy’s and the Apple Store.

 

[The_Lizards_Jumpers]

I was there April last year, and people were saying a lot of it was driven by the pandemic.
What got me was the proximity of it to places frequented by tourists like Union Sq and City Hall.
There’s basically an open air heroin, crack and fentanyl market a couple of minutes walk from Macy’s and the Apple Store.

It was made worse by the pandemic, but it was pretty bad when I left 2 months before the pandemic started.

SF is a strange city in that it has absolutely no middle class now, it has rich people and very poor people with very little in the middle - the inequality is breathtaking, and as you say you have these real contrasts of people spending thousands in Saks 5th Avenue or Lous Vuitton on a handbag, whilst one block away an impoverished, probably mentally ill, person is dying of an overdose.

 

[Littlejimmy]

It was made worse by the pandemic, but it was pretty bad when I left 2 months before the pandemic started.

SF is a strange city in that it has absolutely no middle class now, it has rich people and very poor people with very little in the middle - the inequality is breathtaking, and as you say you have these real contrasts of people spending thousands in Saks 5th Avenue or Lous Vuitton on a handbag, whilst one block away an impoverished, probably mentally ill, person is dying of an overdose.

Jesus, sounds grim. There but for the grace of God and all that. I see there's been another mass shooting in California. More than a little off-putting, although I'm sure the stats would say it's highly improbable that you'd get caught up in one as a tourist.

 

[Colgates_shaving_foam]

Yep, I used to walk through it daily as I lived in Pac Heights (top of the hill) and worked in the Fi-Di (bottom of the hill). I'd literally be stepping over bodies on the sidewalk to get to work, and you were always looking down to make sure you weren't standing in ****, needles etc. Having said that I never felt threatened or in danger when I walked through there, even at night.

My American mate who also lived in SF at the same time as I did, but now lives in London, went back a few months ago and said since the pandemic it's got worse. I'm off to Seattle for work in March and may spend a couple of days in SF catching up with people but I fear the worst going back.

Sorry to interrupt a very interesting thread but can I check whether Fi-Di, stands for financial district?

Reading it sent a shudder through me like platty jubes or cossy lives (cost of living) does. Finding out what it means may help me recover .

Anyway, as you were.

 

[The_Lizards_Jumpers]

Jesus, sounds grim. There but for the grace of God and all that. I see there's been another mass shooting in California. More than a little off-putting, although I'm sure the stats would say it's highly improbable that you'd get caught up in one as a tourist.

Yeah it does sound grim, but it's honestly a great city and you can avoid the TL really.

Head over the hills to the Marina, cross the bay to Sausilito or walk along the Embarcadero stopping at the Ferry Building and you're a world away from the TL.

Yeah the shooting yesterday was at Half Moon Bay which is less than 30 miles from a SF, and a tiny little place (smaller than say Great Ayton) that I would regularly cycle through. I'd actually suggest a visit there as the beach is amazing, as is the Four Seasons Hotel on the cliff top (albeit expensive).

 

[Ziggy]

I was there April last year, and people were saying a lot of it was driven by the pandemic.
What got me was the proximity of it to places frequented by tourists like Union Sq and City Hall.
There’s basically an open air heroin, crack and fentanyl market a couple of minutes walk from Macy’s and the Apple Store.

@gramercy
I’ve stayed at the Gramercy Park Hotel a few times. Don’t know what it’s like now, but it used to be quite rock n roll

 

[The_Lizards_Jumpers]

Sorry to interrupt a very interesting thread but can I check whether Fi-Di, stands for financial district?

Reading it sent a shudder through me like platty jubes or cossy lives (cost of living) does. Finding out what it means may help me recover .

Anyway, as you were.

it does indeed stand for Financial District, and saying it makes my teeth itch a little too, although it's just what it's known as by everyone in the city.

 

[The Ruthsayer]

Done the LA to San Fran drive a couple of times. Definitely stick to the coast road. Car hire (we had a Mustang convertible) and petrol were very cheap. Santa Monica and Monterey are must sees, worth a couple of nights each. Cambria is an excellent stopover point, we stayed at The Fogcatcher which was fine.
We booked everything ourselves, all nice and easy, though I will check out the url for the road trip guys as we are planning a major East to West trip via New Mexico.

 

[Colgates_shaving_foam]

Thsnks

it does indeed stand for Financial District, and saying it makes my teeth itch a little too, although it's just what it's known as by everyone in the city.

Thanks, I can move on

When in Rome and all that.

 

[Subbuteo_171]

Been to the West Coast a few times, but not for a good 20 years, fancy a trip back, what sort of cost excluding spending money for those trips above?

Hard to say. For 3 of us, 19 nights including flights, accommodation, food, drink, everything we did - back in 2019 just shy of £12k between us.

We had a mixture of hotels and rentals, most expensive was a fantastic house in Yosemite West about 30 mins drive from the valley. Flights were premium economy as couldn’t face 10 hours plus in economy but couldn’t stretch (excuse the pun) to business/first.

Loads of different priced accommodation available in most places except national parks like Death Valley and Yosemite.

So, a long way of saying - it depends!

 

[The Ruthsayer]

Been to the West Coast a few times, but not for a good 20 years, fancy a trip back, what sort of cost excluding spending money for those trips above?

One way to keep the cost down is to rent an apartment if you are staying anywhere for a few nights. Eating out (especially with wine and the tip) is expensive.

 

[Littlejimmy]

Done the LA to San Fran drive a couple of times. Definitely stick to the coast road. Car hire (we had a Mustang convertible) and petrol were very cheap. Santa Monica and Monterey are must sees, worth a couple of nights each. Cambria is an excellent stopover point, we stayed at The Fogcatcher which was fine.
We booked everything ourselves, all nice and easy, though I will check out the url for the road trip guys as we are planning a major East to West trip via New Mexico.

Ooh, a Ford Mustang convertible. As Will Smith said in Independence Day, "I've GOT to get me one of these!"

 

[gramercy]

Tenderloin aside for a moment. I enjoyed San Francisco. There were plenty of good things about the place.
We weren’t there long enough to have a big drive but we managed to squeeze in a mini road trip down to Big Sur down past McWay Falls, then back up to SF in the one day.
It was a bit of a long day (400+ miles), but well worth it. Fantastic scenery.

We’ll be back at some point armed with a bit more time to explore further, although I wouldn’t be overly concerned whether we did or didn’t go to SF again.

I did manage to pay about £1.70 a litre top up the car outside some roadside lodge, which stung a bit. Top tip, don’t fill up in Big Sur!

 

[The Ruthsayer]

Ooh, a Ford Mustang convertible. As Will Smith said in Independence Day, "I've GOT to get me one of these!

Ooh, a Ford Mustang convertible. As Will Smith said in Independence Day, "I've GOT to get me one of these!"

Looked fantastic. Drove like a bag of poo.

 

[Soutra]

Car hire in California is much more expensive now than it was pre-pandemic. Even small cars are $35+ per day now, and they aren't the sort of cars you could drive long distances with people and luggage. For a decent size car you are going to pay $50 - $60 per day. Gas is $4.20 per gallon.

Decent hotels are seriously expensive too. In LA or SF you need to budget at $300 per night. Of course it'll be cheaper outside of big cities. Food and drink is entirely what you want to spend - from $5 for a burger and coke in Rotten Ronnies to $500 for high end dining with wine in SF or LA.

I know the temptation to cram in as much as you can in two weeks but California is almost twice the size of Britain. If you try to do too much you just spend two weeks in the car driving. Two weeks is just enough to explore LA, drive up Route 1 and explore SF. Don't try to cram in Las Vegas or Death Valley as well. Route 1 - it's just a two lane road for most of the way. Don't try it any weekend from March to November, or public holidays, or any time at all in June or July. It just grinds to a halt at every town on the route, you can't even average 30 mph except in the middle of the night, and there's no point in going on it in the middle of the night.

I'm not trying to put anyone off a driving holiday in CA because it's one of THE great places but you have to be realistic about it. Spend more time exploring places and less time driving and you'll have a much better holiday.

 

[Norfolkred1]

We tended to stay away from the big cities and opt for the real America. Last trip was Houston onto San Antonio, via hick Towns, to see a small building and a wall then South and then back to Houston. Just a short one in American eyes but not enough of road churning. Never bothered with a flash car really didn't see the point, there is always someone flashier than you on the road.

 

[Littlejimmy]

Car hire in California is much more expensive now than it was pre-pandemic. Even small cars are $35+ per day now, and they aren't the sort of cars you could drive long distances with people and luggage. For a decent size car you are going to pay $50 - $60 per day. Gas is $4.20 per gallon.

Decent hotels are seriously expensive too. In LA or SF you need to budget at $300 per night. Of course it'll be cheaper outside of big cities. Food and drink is entirely what you want to spend - from $5 for a burger and coke in Rotten Ronnies to $500 for high end dining with wine in SF or LA.

I know the temptation to cram in as much as you can in two weeks but California is almost twice the size of Britain. If you try to do too much you just spend two weeks in the car driving. Two weeks is just enough to explore LA, drive up Route 1 and explore SF. Don't try to cram in Las Vegas or Death Valley as well. Route 1 - it's just a two lane road for most of the way. Don't try it any weekend from March to November, or public holidays, or any time at all in June or July. It just grinds to a halt at every town on the route, you can't even average 30 mph except in the middle of the night, and there's no point in going on it in the middle of the night.

I'm not trying to put anyone off a driving holiday in CA because it's one of THE great places but you have to be realistic about it. Spend more time exploring places and less time driving and you'll have a much better holiday.

Think I'll go to Canada then...

Thanks for the info. In all seriousness I do want to do something like this some time, maybe I'll take a longer holiday and save up some more money for it.

 

[Brian Marwood]

I very nearly did this a few years ago but chose to do Hanoi to HCMC in Vietnam instead.

This thread does make me want to do a very long road trip some day from San Diego to Seattle, maybe when I retire.