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Floydy
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19-08-2019, 05:39 PM
1

USA 2020 - Itinerary

Hi,
Just thought I'd post up a rough plan of my ideas for next year's 'Pension pot' holiday of a lifetime to the USA.

I've decided not to go with a tour operator because we don't want fly/drive and we certainly do not want to be cooked up on a coach for many hours a day either, seeing sights we're really not interested in. Instead, we will be booking a "West to East" vacation. This way we can pick and choose our trips out, plus we will have more free time, more rest time (in fewer hotels) and enjoy time at our leisure to explore.

I can't wait to get this booked and paid for. We've never done anything as elaborate as this before as we've never had the time or money. It's not extravagant, it's something we will only ever be able to do the once so we're treating ourselves. It's about time with twenty years of paying off loans and cards almost out of the way now.

Here's the plan:

USA HOLIDAY 2020

Manchester 1 night
Los Angeles (Santa Monica)/Hollywood 6 nights
San Francisco 3 nights
Flagstaff 2 nights
Boston 3 nights
New York 5 nights

HOLIDAY ITINERARY:

DAY 1
Home to Manchester Airport (drive or taxi)
Hotel: Holiday Inn or Premier Inn

DAY 2
Manchester – Los Angeles (inc. Hollywood) (6 nights stay at Santa Monica)
Hotel:
Flight time: 11 hours approx. (Luxury travel on flight)

LOS ANGELES & HOLLYWOOD SIGHTSEEING:
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Hills
Sunset Strip
Hollywood Boulevard
Universal Studios or Warner Bros. tours
Day trip to Malibu
Great white shark boat trip?

DAY 3-7
Los Angeles/Hollywood (Santa Monica)

DAY 8
Fly from Los Angeles to San Francisco (3 nights)
Hotel:
Flight time: 1hr.25mins.

SAN FRANCISCO SIGHTSEEING:
Golden Gate bridge
Alcatraz Island & Prison
Fisherman’s Wharf
Haight Ashbury
Pier 39
Union Square

DAY 9-10
San Francisco

DAY 11
Fly from San Francisco to Flagstaff, Arizona (2 nights)
Hotel:
Flight time: 2hr.05mins.

FLAGSTAFF SIGHTSEEING:
Grand Canyon (book helicopter ride)
Monument Valley
Flagstaff town

DAY 12
Flagstaff

DAY 13
Fly from Flagstaff to Boston, Massachusetts (3 nights)
Flight time: 5hr.05mins. (Luxury travel on flight)
Hotel:

BOSTON SIGHTSEEING:
Day trip to Chicago
Martha’s Vineyard (setting of ‘Jaws’)
New England Aquarium
Boston Harbor
Bunker Hill Monument
Newbury Street (upmarket shopping)
Harvard University

DAY 14-15
Boston

DAY 16
Fly from Boston to New York City (5 nights)
Hotel:
Flight time: 1hr.25mins.

NEW YORK SIGHTSEEING:
Broadway (see a show?)
Madison Square Garden (see a concert?)
Manhattan
Brooklyn Bridge
Coney Island
Chinatown
Little Italy
Statue of Liberty (Liberty Island)
Ground Zero (9/11)
Macy’s
Times Square
Grand Central Station
Central Park
Day trip to New Jersey (Asbury Park)

DAY 17-20
New York

DAY 21
Fly from New York – Manchester
Flight time: 6hr.50mins. (Luxury travel on flight)
Manchester – Home (drive)

COSTS
• FLIGHTS (6):
• HOTELS (6):
(Breakfast only at all hotels)
Taxis, subway, coaches, boats:
• Spending money:
US Dollars required:
Credit Card

Both need U.S. Visa card for entry to USA.

Luggage: Travel light!
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19-08-2019, 07:27 PM
2

Re: USA 2020 - Itinerary

I can see you're looking forward to every minute.

I could never do a holiday like this, there's enough in there for a dozen holidays.
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19-08-2019, 07:38 PM
3

Re: USA 2020 - Itinerary

Looks great.

Im off to Las Vegas in November AGAIN.

You don't a visa you need an ESTA which you can get on line for $14.

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/?fbcli...jTube0rfIfJjdI
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19-08-2019, 09:45 PM
4

Re: USA 2020 - Itinerary

Originally Posted by d00d ->
I can see you're looking forward to every minute.

I could never do a holiday like this, there's enough in there for a dozen holidays.
It will be fine tuned, d00d. That's a basic 'want to do' list.
I'll wait to see what my wife reports back with, she's been out all day and she hasn't seen it yet.

Originally Posted by galty ->
Looks great.

Im off to Las Vegas in November AGAIN.

You don't a visa you need an ESTA which you can get on line for $14.

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/?fbcli...jTube0rfIfJjdI
I looked at Vegas, Galty, but I know my wife isn't keen. It would have been a good break between SF and Flagstaff, but not to worry.
On the agenda originally was just California and Vegas but San Diego doesn't really interest me, nor does Carmel and some of the wasteful days like wine tasting at Vineyards. So I decided to look at going coast to coast and it looks workable.
Thanks for the heads-up about the Visa, Galty. I had no idea we didn't need one...perhaps it's just for people who go to the US to work? I'll certainly make sure we look at getting ESTAs.
We are going to go over all of this with a friend's daughter who is a travel agent. She will sit with us and book our hotels and flights as I want to make sure we have enough time and do it properly.
Thanks bud
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19-08-2019, 10:05 PM
5

Re: USA 2020 - Itinerary

Originally Posted by Floydy ->
Hi,
Just thought I'd post up a rough plan of my ideas for next year's 'Pension pot' holiday of a lifetime to the USA.

I've decided not to go with a tour operator because we don't want fly/drive and we certainly do not want to be cooked up on a coach for many hours a day either, seeing sights we're really not interested in. Instead, we will be booking a "West to East" vacation. This way we can pick and choose our trips out, plus we will have more free time, more rest time (in fewer hotels) and enjoy time at our leisure to explore.
I hope your plan works out and that you enjoy your holiday.
Pick the best season - some places get extreme temperatures.
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19-08-2019, 10:27 PM
6

Re: USA 2020 - Itinerary

Originally Posted by Besoeker ->
I hope your plan works out and that you enjoy your holiday.
Pick the best season - some places get extreme temperatures.
It will be June, Besoeker. We've already booked time off work so that's fixed at least
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19-08-2019, 10:50 PM
7

Re: USA 2020 - Itinerary

Originally Posted by Floydy ->
It will be June, Besoeker. We've already booked time off work so that's fixed at least
Word of warning temps in June are over a 100 but humidity is low so you sweat but not be wet and you don’t feel hot you need to drink loads of water because you will become very ill,
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19-08-2019, 10:56 PM
8

Re: USA 2020 - Itinerary

Originally Posted by galty ->
Word of warning temps in June are over a 100 but humidity is low so you sweat but not be wet and you don’t feel hot you need to drink loads of water because you will become very ill,
Yes I reckon it will hottest mostly around the Grand Canyon area in Arizona, Galty. We've got two nights there so I'll ensure that we're stocked up with water when we get there
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19-08-2019, 11:00 PM
9

Re: USA 2020 - Itinerary

Originally Posted by Floydy ->
Yes I reckon it will hottest mostly around the Grand Canyon area in Arizona, Galty. We've got two nights there so I'll ensure that we're stocked up with water when we get there
And sunscreen. The temperature range between day and night can be extreme.

https://www.google.com/search?q=temp...hrome&ie=UTF-8
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19-08-2019, 11:52 PM
10

Re: USA 2020 - Itinerary

Originally Posted by Besoeker ->
And sunscreen. The temperature range between day and night can be extreme.

https://www.google.com/search?q=temp...hrome&ie=UTF-8
Oh golly yes mate.
The main thing we're doing there is going on a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon but there will be time to walk around Flagstaff and so on. We'll keep ourselves out of the sun if we can
 
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