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Vacation to the USA (San Fran, Las Vegas, NYC)
Sneakert
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So next month I'll be going to the USA with a friend of mine, for both of us it will be the first time there, unless you count 30 minutes at Miami airport two years ago (went to Costa rica).
This will be a month long trip and we'll be flying from city to city.
We'll start with San Francisco, where we'll visit alcatraz, the golden gate bridge and my friend wants to see some big fucking tree or whatever. We'll be there for three full days. Then we'll fly to Las Vegas where we will stay 9 days.
I feel like that might be a bit long but the tickets and hotels have allready been paid for so it's gonna happen. I don't think we'll end up gambling a lot so I'm looking for other stuff to do around there.
So: Whats cool in Vegas?
Examples:
Any good comedians/shows there between the 4th and 13th of june?
It's pretty close to the grand canyon so we'd like to go there too. I've seen some websites offering multiple day hiking there but I feel 700 dollars for three days is a pretty steep price to pay since they won't carry me around on a golden throne?
Between the 14th and 29th of june we'll be in NYC(and we'll possibly visit washington DC and Philly in that time as well).
Besides some of the obvious stuff we need to see, anything special going on in NYC around that time? Or maybe some less obvious stuff that we need to see/do?
We're 23 and 24 years old, both straight and male. If that's something that matters. We're both active people and addicted to “adventure”. We're not on a tight budget but that doesn't mean we're made of money either. We enjoy going to pubs but NOT clubs. We're Dutch and very liberal. Also, religious people scare me a little (my biggest concern of the trip). I'm not sure if any of this info helps you help me, but still... where did the lighter fluid come from?*
Thanks for the help!
*Arrested development reference
One more question: In Holland it's not normal to give people a tip (waitresses etc). So this will be fairly new to us. What kind of services does one normally give tips for in the USA? cabdrivers? hairdressers? cleaninglady? Not sure who to give a tip and who not to.
Wish I would get 10% of every project I work on, on top of my salary.
This will be a month long trip and we'll be flying from city to city.
We'll start with San Francisco, where we'll visit alcatraz, the golden gate bridge and my friend wants to see some big fucking tree or whatever. We'll be there for three full days. Then we'll fly to Las Vegas where we will stay 9 days.
I feel like that might be a bit long but the tickets and hotels have allready been paid for so it's gonna happen. I don't think we'll end up gambling a lot so I'm looking for other stuff to do around there.
So: Whats cool in Vegas?
Examples:
Any good comedians/shows there between the 4th and 13th of june?
It's pretty close to the grand canyon so we'd like to go there too. I've seen some websites offering multiple day hiking there but I feel 700 dollars for three days is a pretty steep price to pay since they won't carry me around on a golden throne?
Between the 14th and 29th of june we'll be in NYC(and we'll possibly visit washington DC and Philly in that time as well).
Besides some of the obvious stuff we need to see, anything special going on in NYC around that time? Or maybe some less obvious stuff that we need to see/do?
We're 23 and 24 years old, both straight and male. If that's something that matters. We're both active people and addicted to “adventure”. We're not on a tight budget but that doesn't mean we're made of money either. We enjoy going to pubs but NOT clubs. We're Dutch and very liberal. Also, religious people scare me a little (my biggest concern of the trip). I'm not sure if any of this info helps you help me, but still... where did the lighter fluid come from?*
Thanks for the help!
*Arrested development reference
One more question: In Holland it's not normal to give people a tip (waitresses etc). So this will be fairly new to us. What kind of services does one normally give tips for in the USA? cabdrivers? hairdressers? cleaninglady? Not sure who to give a tip and who not to.
Wish I would get 10% of every project I work on, on top of my salary.
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Part of the fun in Vegas is being able to gamble and drink most of the day away and then at night go to shows walk the strip. To be honest, I didn't really find that any of the offered shows were interesting/worth the price of admission, but of course your own mileage might vary. And if you're not too picky you can probably see some cheap acts.
Tips- Definately tip in restaurants. I would say at the minimum you should be tipping 15%-20% to waiters/waitresses if they provide good service. Cabbies you can just throw a couple of bucks, more if they get you somewhere fast, or you just end up liking them. I have never tipped a hotel cleaning lady, but I guess if you made an insane mess maybe a couple of bucks.
Also, you might/might not know this, but if you happen to order room service from hotels, most include a tip on the total, but few will go out of their way to tell you this.
You should also try to see the Spiderman musical because its out of control (possibly not in a good way).
Incidentally, in some states restaurant servers have a minimum wage of, like, $2.50 an hour, so it's not like they're getting a great deal with the tips.
Are you sure you can't readjust your hotel reservations? San Francisco's got the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, the Presidio, Mission San Francisco de Asis, Fisherman's Wharf, and Chinatown. Aside from Yosemite (about four hours away by car), it's in driving range of Napa Valley (about one hour), Santa Cruz (1.5 hours) and Monterey (about 2 hours).
Las Vegas meanwhile is in the middle of a friggin' desert.
If you don't plan on gambling, Vegas could get really boring, really quick. But, I happen to dislike the place, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Anyway, there's all the tourist stuff to do in SF (Alcatraz, bay tours, walking the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, etc.), and all of it is pretty fun. But if you ditch the tourist traps, there's so much other great stuff. There's the Mission District for really good Mexican food, North Beach (the side streets, that don't look like the Italy section at Epcot Center) has some great Italian restaurants, oh, and check out the Sutro Baths.
Also, the surrounding area has tons of destinations that are great for day trips. Point Reyes, Muir Woods, Napa Valley, Half Moon Bay, Pescadero (though, the last two might only appeal to you if you're really into quaint). But with both of you being under 25, renting a car might be a problem.
About 2 hours south is Monterey, which has one of the best aquariums in the world.
Your politics certainly won't be a problem in SF or NY, and not really in Vegas, either. Just exercise some common sense, and don't throw your political views in people's faces. But that should go without saying.
As for religious people, again, don't worry about it. Especially in SF, Vegas (It's called "Sin City," remember), and NY. Maybe your view of religious people in America is the stereotypical crazy, hardcore evangelical Christian. They exist, but they're concentrated in the Bible Belt, and some rural areas across the country. But in any case, unless you bring up the topic, most people keep their religious views to themselves.
Hope this helps, and enjoy your visit.
Truer words have never been spoken. I did four days last year. By day 4 the sheen has worn off.
I also 100% agree with the above sentiments on Las Vegas. Definitely go to Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon if you're going to be there 9 days.
Yeah that's true. I typically do ~20% (give or take a few cents - easiest to calculate), but I drop it down if the service was poor. The perception in America is that Europeans don't tip at all, so they'll probably just be glad they left anything ;-)
Totally agree with this. If your friend wants to see giant trees, Sequoia National Park is right next to Yosemite and has General Sherman, the largest tree on the planet. The whole sequoia grove is incredible, but Yosemite itself is even more amazing.
Other places I'd rather send people to in California besides San Francisco (having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area)
Monterey Bay, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Highway 1 coastal drive, beaches
Big Sur
Sonoma
Also, I personally find the Cirque Du Soleil shows [in Vegas] to be absolutely breathtaking.
In SF, go to the True Blue Cafe, sit on the counter, and order some french toast. Best I've ever had.
And as everyone else has said, 9 days is ridiculous in Vegas. 2-3 at the most.
@Riz, Sleep no more in NYC sounds interesting, defo going to check it out. thanks!
I might be able to re-adjust hotel reservations but im pretty sure I wont get my money back for switching flights.
@Skoal cat & glad hatter, I'm not sure we'll be very big on musicals but ill definitely try one. I'll look into your suggestions. thanks!
@CrossBuster, I'll be sure to check out the mission district and the sutro baths, sounds good. Muir woods should be doable as well. Good to know there won't be a lot of that superreligious stuff in those cities.
Thanks for the suggestions!
I've looked into it and it's not impossible to rent a car while under 25, just expensive. But if it's just for a few days it would be doable.
@Daemonion, I've been wanting to do that(shooting range). But I'm not sure if that's allowed for an international tourist? True blue café sounds good for breakfast.
@Skeith, yeah we're very outdoors-ey. We'll go to muir woods, I think my friend was talking about the big redwood trees there.
I'm a bit torn about the length of our stay in las vegas. I just wish the three days hike wouldnt be so expensive.
Keep the suggestions coming guys, you're helping me out a lot! I think our stay in SF is pretty much covered now though since we don't have a lot of time there. I need stuff to do and see in and around vegas/grand canyon and NYC.
I'm heading to NYC next week for the first time, and are kinda curious about this. Can I check out ahead of time what tickets they have, or is it basically "this day, we have this" sort of thing? The GF want to at least check out both Book of Mormon and Wicked. (If Spiderman/American Idiot were still playing, I would see those as well)
Also, given that these are major destinations and likely what you'll want to see are also major destinations, you can probably catch a bus to most of these places. I know if you want to get to Yosemite there's a ton of ways from San Fran, and within the park there are shuttles.
it's kinda like a daily thing.
You cannot see their current offer online, but you can see what was on offer last week here
They generally have "most" musicals, and if you wait in line you should have little or no problems to get the ticket you want. needless to say, popular musicals sell out faster.
be sure to search the archives if you need more info (i started some NYC threads a year or 2 ago that really helped me).
There's an iphone app for tkts. It is very day-to-day, but you probably aren't going to get any of those shows from TKTs as they are the wildly popular tickets right now (not sure about American Idiot).
If cost is an issue, check out Avenue Q. You can pretty reliably pick up good tickets for cheap (60-80) at TKTs and the show is hilarious.
Wiked - Listed at TKTS - Never
American Idiot - Listed at TKTS - Frequently
Book of Mormon - Listed at TKTS - Never
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark - Listed at TKTS - Frequently
I apologize, i recall hearing spiderman was selling out, because everyone loves a trainwreck.
Echoing everyone else's sentiments, 3 days in Vegas is really the maximum amount of time you should spend. I'm at the tail end of day 2 (and day 3 will be spent with a relative off-strip before I drive back home) and I feel like I've seen quite enough of Vegas. It's really interesting visiting all the strip casinos to see the kind of crazy decorations and architecture and storefronts, but everything is disastrously expensive and outside of shows all the content is pretty same-y. Gambling machines/tables, pricey restaurants and pale shadows of real entertainment. Also there are hispanic dudes every 5 feet on the sidewalks trying to hand to pamphlets and cards to order escorts or visit some strip/night club. So many that it's shocking that the strip isn't just paved with the damn things already. Your time at places of real interest (e.g. SF) will be far more enjoyable.
I went to a Penn & Teller show which was very good, and I would recommend considering. If you search around online ("Cheap x tickets") you can find some reasonable deals for show tickets.
Avenue Q sounds good. Might also check out penn&teller. Generally enjoyed their "bullshit" tvshow.
There are hostels in SF that run roughly 20 Euros a night. If you were planning on staying in a nicer hotel, you might consider staying in a hostel to recoup at least some of the cost of getting a new plane ticket.
Oh, and that reminds me - I don't know if anyone has brought this up, but the San Francisco Airport is actually well outside the city, so look at a BART map before you arrive, to figure out how to get to wherever you're staying. A taxi into the city won't be cheap.