Holiday all booked up and ready to go advice on things to do

jonnyburgo

the order is flying to Seattle for 3 days then driving to Oregon with a one night stop off for 3 days staying about an hour outside of Portland in a forestry setting then driving to San Francisco 4 days with a 1 night sstop on the way then to LA for 4 days then in to Las Vegas for 2 days then home, we’ve booked universal and Warner studios for the kids. Any suggestions for what to do in Seattle and Oregon/Portland? In SAN fran we are staying in Berkeley as central is ridiculous prices for accommodation.

ronnyb

Don't drive into SF from Berkeley use the BART or Bay Area Rapid Transit. We thought LA was a bit 'tacky' though Santa Monica was very nice.   

octatonic

You have to do Monument Valley.

I'd skip Vegas myself- it is a shithole filled with miserable people.

jdgm

Hendrix museum?

RaymondLin

Got your ESTA and travel insurance sorted?

RandallFlagg

We went to LA last year.

Griffith Observatory was nice at dusk, can be very busy though, we were there last August.

Universal Studios in LA was great.

We took out one of the Swan pedalos on Echo Park Lake which was fun, my lad tried to ram everyone and I kept "arrrggg" ing like a pirate ordering him to ramming speed and requesting that we form a boarding party.

We walked the Venice boardwalk up to Santa Monica pier and then crossed into Santa Monica, which was good, Venice is an experience with plenty of homeless, throw up shops and weed.

Escape Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard was OK if you like escape rooms.

LA overall felt a bit seedy and there is quite a bit of litter and a lot of homeless people around, we saw plenty everywhere we went except the poshest streets of Beverley Hills, some clearly with mental health issues, the locals we spoke to called them the "crazies" and my wife and daughter found being out on the Hollywood streets at night a little uncomfortable.

Oh, and you smell marijuana everywhere as it's now legalised.

sev112

Rest! (With the amount of travelling you’ve got planned )

relic245

+1 for monument valley except from your route I'm not sure how close you're going to be? 

From Vegas it's about an hours drive to Valley of Fire, google the images. It's one of the most surreal places I've ever been to.

joneve

jonnyburgo said:

the order is flying to Seattle for 3 days then driving to Oregon with a one night stop off for 3 days staying about an hour outside of Portland in a forestry setting then driving to San Francisco 4 days with a 1 night sstop on the way then to LA for 4 days then in to Las Vegas for 2 days then home, we’ve booked universal and Warner studios for the kids. Any suggestions for what to do in Seattle and Oregon/Portland? In SAN fran we are staying in Berkeley as central is ridiculous prices for accommodation.

You're in luck. I used to live in Seattle, and have visited 7 or 8 times outside of that. It's basically my favourite city in the world....

When do you go, firstly? Not that this should impact things too much, but given that the weather can be a bit dismal on the odd occasion (although it's nowhere near as bad as everyone makes out), this may affect what I suggest slightly. 

Shame you've only got three days as there's a whole host of places within driving distance of the city which you could do, but hey ho. 

Are you looking at wanting to do textbook tourist-y stuff to learn about the city, or mores just enjoy the local culture etc? Have you go accommodation booked? 

Make sure, when you drive to Oregon you drive the Pacific Coast Highway. It's most beautiful in autumn, but Summer is pretty nice too. One of the best drives you'll do. 

Moominpapa

If you can get to Olympic National Park / National Forest it is stunningly beautiful there - temperate rain forest, great beaches with incredible driftwood, sea eagles, etc.

boogieman

octatonic said:

I'd skip Vegas myself- it is a shithole filled with miserable people.

It’s a fun shithole though. The only miserable people I saw were the gamblers pumping money into the slots, everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves. I wouldn’t stay for more than a couple of days but it’s a good laugh of a town with
some really crazy stuff going on. Needs to be seen once in your life. 

Blaendulais

Been to LA twice. Both times disappointed.  Rest of your trip sounds fantastic tho. Enjoy

ronnyb

Are you driving San Francisco to LA without an overnight stop?

joneve

@jonnyburgo ;

For starters;

3 days in Seattle isn't *quite* enough, as there is a lot to do and see, especially for a relatively small city. Good news is, as long as you don't mind a bit of walking and the weather is nice, you can cover most of the main sites in the city in a day. And their public transport is much better these days, there's a tram and plenty of buses etc that run through the city. 

If you don't mind some full-on tourist-y stuff, take a trip on the Ducks. It's about an hour or so tour round the city on their truck/boat things that work on the road and in the lakes, so you get to see a lot of the city, in a short space of time - will tick loads off the list. 

The Space Needle is fine if you're desperate to get some panorama photos. If it's a clear day, you can get some great shots of Mt. Rainier in the distance, but if you're not too worried about this, just snap a pic from below. 

Don't waste you're money riding the Monorail to get from Downtown to Seattle Centre (where the space needle is) - it's terrible. Might as well walk as it'll only take you 45 mins or so through a few of the neighbourhoods (none of which are terrible, so you're very unlikely to get stabbed). 

As well as the Space Needle, you've got the Pacific Science Center and Museum of Pop Culture (aka Experience Music Project). Don't bother with the science centre, nothing you can't get over here. 

However, the EMP/MPC is definitely worth a trip (or was when I last visited 8 or so years ago)...Loads of interactive stuff and local music history/artifacts (i.e. rare/old guitars, Jimmy Hendrix stuff, Grunge stuff, Heart etc etc)...I've been there 4 times over the years and never tired of it. I know you're short of time though, so depends if you want to get away from music for your holiday or not! 

DEFINITELY spend a bit of time at Pike Place Market, it's a bit chinsey, but it's been the heart of the city for fucking years and is still going strong. Some really cool food stalls (and some nice cafes on Pike Street) and the fish throwing is cool to see in person - they put on a pretty good show.

The very first Starbucks is just opposite it too, if you're fussed about visiting it. 

You can then take a walk south, down Pike Street (with the Market on your right) towards Pioneer Square and if you fancy it, the Underground tour is fun, to learn about the origins of the city and tour the original streets underneath the current streets. 

If you're a sports fan, keep walking down Pike Street, all the way to the SODO area, where Centurylink Field and T-Mobile Park are. You can get a tour of Centurylink for about $10. It takes an hour or so, but even my wife enjoyed it, and she hates American Football. 

T-Mobile Park offer a similar service I believe if you'd prefer to tour the Baseball Park/Stadium. 

Plenty of decent shopping downtown if that's your thing. 

If you have time (it'll take half a day probably), you can take a ferry across from one of the piers to West Seattle, which gives some breathtaking views back across the water to the city skyline - there's a few nice summer-y seafood eateries across there too. 

As far as food is concerned, let me know if you want any specific recommendations for nice local restaurants for evening meals, but in terms of "local cuisine", you absolutely HAVE to try both of the following: 

Go to one of the numerous Top Pot Donut shops and enjoy a coffee and Maple Bar. They're just about one of my favourite things to eat, ever. 

And you have to have a burger, fries and Shake from Dick's; it's a Seattle institute! There are a few outlets in the city, but the one most convenient for you will be the one by Key Arena in Seattle Center. It's like going to LA and having to have In-N-Out Burger (only they're better IMHO).

As you're right next to the sea, plenty of places that do great, fresh seafood. 

If you have a car (and time!) a trip out to the Boeing Factory Museum (45 mins-is probably), is good if you like Aircraft-y stuff - and Snoqualmie Falls (again about 45 mins from the city) is nice, although if you're there in summer, the falls aren't very "watery", if you know what I mean!

Happy to recommend anything else that's specific to your trips needs of stuff you want to do, just let me know!