Suggest an Itinerary (LA, LV & San Francisco)

[fWord]

Good day folks!

This is a very broad question but hope you'll hear me out. We're looking to have a family vacation for from the middle to the end of September this year. After our plans to Japan (and less so Greece and Turkey) were horribly wrecked, we believe a trip to the US might be just the ticket.

We only have two weeks for this vacation so we'll be slightly limited in terms of the number of places we can visit. I haven't been to the US for a long time and during the last visit I was just a kid, so I'm as ignorant as can be. As such I was hoping that some members here, who are effectively 'locals' and know the area may be able to help suggest some good places to visit for photography, while the two ladies in our group have their shopping fix in the big cities. This would be better IMO than hitting the travel books or doing endless searches on Google.

Broadly, we have narrowed down three main cities to visit, namely Los Angeles (which is where we get off the plane), Las Vegas and San Francisco. We would consider any 'day trips' that can be had from these cities. Just looking at the map I can see some familiar names: Sequoia National Park, Death Valley, Grand Canyon and Mono Lake...I've seen stunning imagery from all these areas in the photography books I've read.

Are these reasonable options in terms of time and distance? What other areas should we consider? Naturally there will be good photography opportunities in the cities themselves.

With any luck, this vacation just might help me dust off the camera and get me out of my photography rut!

[tonylong]

You know, for LA and SF, it's probably going to be most efficient to stick to exploring the California coast -- very picturesque and plenty of locations for a day trip. The places you mention are all quite a distance from either LA or SF. If you were to stay in an eastern town you could get up into the mountains -- from Fresno, for instance, you could make a day trip to Yosemite...

San Fransisco does, though, have a lot of city sightseeing, and LA has places like Hollywood and Venice Beach, as well as Orange County where Anaheim has the Disney parks and such. It's all in what interests you!

[fWord]

You know, for LA and SF, it's probably going to be most efficient to stick to exploring the California coast -- very picturesque and plenty of locations for a day trip. The places you mention are all quite a distance from either LA or SF. If you were to stay in an eastern town you could get up into the mountains -- from Fresno, for instance, you could make a day trip to Yosemite...

San Fransisco does, though, have a lot of city sightseeing, and LA has places like Hollywood and Venice Beach, as well as Orange County where Anaheim has the Disney parks and such. It's all in what interests you!

Hi Tony, thanks for your response and suggestions. Yosemite has got to be one of our big 'must sees' however it all boils down to the logistics of things. Personally I'm hoping to see and photograph as much 'unspoilt nature' as I can and generally do less photography in the big cities themselves but I suspect a couple of people in my group would like the shopping. We'll probably be giving the Disney parks a miss. It's been a long time since going there, but I probably wouldn't go again, especially given the kind of photography I'd like to do.

It'd all be a compromise however. This is going to be 'our' trip rather than 'my' trip. But if I could have it my way, I'd be looking more at nature photography. I could probably attempt some street photography in the big cities by approaching store vendors and even buskers and there's much good imagery to be had there. For an introvert in a strange place, it'd be a little tough though.

The other thought we were entertaining was to go for a tour of some sort in Alaska, but some say that the tours there will come to an end towards September anyway. I could be wrong.

[crn3371]

The central coast is beautiful. Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Point Lobos. Depending on time, you could do central coast, cut over to Yosemite, and if its open take Tioga pass out of the park and come down pretty close to Mono lake.

[fWord]

The central coast is beautiful. Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Point Lobos. Depending on time, you could do central coast, cut over to Yosemite, and if its open take Tioga pass out of the park and come down pretty close to Mono lake.

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll have to get my hands on a good map of the area and then plot the points of interest. I've got a couple of travel guides from the library and there's really a lot to see. We are spoilt for choice.