hi everyone,
zenn, the grand canyon is abt the size of sg. if u drive, it takes 30min to drive fr one end of the south rim to the other. fr the village outside the canyon, it takes abt 20-30 min drive to reach the overlooks of the grand canyon. if u want to catch sunrise, it just means u hv to drive out earlier. national parks r pretty diligent abt posting sunrise n sunset times, so u can when to wake up the next day.
poohcsl, to save money, do look for motels instead of hotels. if u book motels fr the chains, they r unlikely to be sleazy n all the chains hv a lower-priced branch to cater for the budget travellers. eg, marriott has fairfield inn, sheraton has 4points, accor grp has motel 6, choice hotels has econolodge n rodeway inn. accomodations in the us almost always comes with attached bathroom, the shared bathrooms idea just doesn't fly here. since u r renting a car, u can afford booking motels away fr the touristy places, which may be cheaper. book early too to get any promotions. u can make multiple bookings while u make up ur mind. most motels hv liberal cancellation policies, eg 4pm on day of arrival, so u hv plenty of time to cancel ur bookings.
another option u can try is to get free nights. many of the chains hv their own reward programs. for the duration of ur holiday, i think u can easily chalk up enuf points to get free nights stay if u book fr the same chains. i'm not sure if this option will be cheaper.
one thing though, between christmas n new year, many americans travel, so rooms get booked up n hotels/motels charge sky high prices. lv will be expensive n do keep ur eye out for packages.
if budget is a concern, u might want to drop tahoe. u r travelling during the peak winter season n visiting tahoe then is v. expensive. accomodations r packed, u need to buy ski lift tickets which costs $60 or more, then u need to rent equipment n sign up for classes. u can sign up for those all-inclusive learning packages, which will bring costs down a bit, but not much.
jj, it's difficult to say what is appriopriate number of days per place. it all depends on what u want to see in those cities. grand canyon n yosemite r u.s. national parks n also unesco world heritage sites. grand canyon is carved out by millions of years of weathering n erosion by the river. it's abt the size of sg, but it's depth cuts across 4 climate zones n the erosion reveals rocks that r millions of yrs old. yosemite is a beautiful area within the sierra nevade region with waterfalls, mountains n meadows.
ap, la,sf r both in california state n lv is in state of nevada. i assume u mean 3 days in each city n not 3 days in both la n sf right? u might want to spend more days in la, cos each theme park take a full day to explore. n there r 3-4 holiday inns within sf i think, so remember to bring the address of the holiday inn u r going to, so that the shuttle buses u take will know which holiday inn.
clear, i'm in MA, where r u? r u here with ur husband? i'm here alone, v. boring ah!! i think hippie is also in the us right?
