Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic USA trip

Although this is my first post on this board, I'm actually around a long time and enjoy all the stories a lot. I'm very thankful that there are so many gifted talents out there. Just keep it going!

Now to my little problem:
I'm currently planing a trip through the USA, from east to west. I'll stay in the cities New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and, finally, Las Vegas.

Obviously here are Folcs from across the country and I wondered if you guys could give me some advcice in which area of each city it is best to stay if you are a first time visitor and there for just a few days.

I'd be very thankful for every suggestion. Thanks a lot.

Sandra, I'm not from Las Vegas, but I travel there a lot.

The hotels downtown are cheaper than the famed Vegas strip, and from what I've seen, just as nice.

Where are you from in Switzerland? I lived in Neuchatel for a year.

Irene

Hi Irene

Thanks for your suggestion, but in Las Vegas I will stay in one of the hotels at the strip. You know, it's my first time there and I want to stay in one of this great hotels.

I'm from the German speaking part of Switzerland and I'm living now in a town near Zurich. A year is a long time. I hope you enjoyed it here.

Hey Sandra -

OK, I live in Chicago. I would recommend staying at the Holiday Inn Ohio Street . I honestly don't know how much a room might cost as when I stayed there, it was paid for by my mother as a gift. But I can vouch for the quality of the hotel - it is really nice with great service and you can't beat the location.

This hotel puts you about three blocks from Michigan Avenue - fabulous shopping and lots of historic buildings. Also, you are about four blocks from Navy Pier, which is one of Chicago's most popular attractions. On Navy Pier you will find shops, restaurants (a few) and a really neat stained-glass museum. Also from Navy Pier, you can catch an architectual tour down the Chicago River, which I highly, highly recommend if you are going to be in the city during warmer months.

Also, from this area, you are within walking distance of the John Hancock building (third tallest in Chicago) and a quick cab ride to the Sears Tower - which we Chicagoans maintain IS the tallest building in the world (Petras Towers cheat with their antennas <g>).

And it is a quick cab ride from this hotel down Lake Shore Drive to the Art Institute, Field Museum (very neat place), Adler Planetarium, and Shed Aquarium.

About two miles north of this area are the young, urban places to live - Lincoln Park, Lake View, Bucktown, Wrigleyville, where you will find lots of bars and great local restaurants - wonderful nightlife if you are so interested.

I would be happy to send you suggestions of places to eat, unique shops, my personal opinion on museums, etc. if you are interested. Just drop me an e-mail and I'll load you up.

Hope you enjoy your trip to the US. I've been to Switzerland twice - once to the Jungfrau region/Bernese Oberlander/Murren/Gimmelwald, and the second time to Lucerne. Flew in and out of Zurich. Absolutely magnificent scenery! I hope you find the US as enchanting - I believe Chicago to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but I'm biased <g>.

Hope this helps,
Lynn

Hi Sandra! Zürich is a lovely place -- I spent several summers there, although not in many years.

I live in Los Angeles, but I'm not sure what to recommend without more information. Los Angeles is BIG, and there are many different types of touristy things to do here.

Did you want to visit Disneyland/Knotts'/Magic Mountain/Universal/other theme parks? None of them are actually IN Los Angeles, but they're all within about an hour-or-so's drive.

We have some wonderful museums -- LACMA, the Page Museum/La Brea Tarpits, and several others are in one cluster; the Science Center and National History Museum and several others in another cluster; and lots more.

Then there's the Hollywood-type stuff -- Walk of Fame, Hollywood&Highland, and tours of the stars' homes. Or you could try to get on a game show.

There's lots more to the City of Angels, too. What sorts of things did you want to see? That might give me some ideas of where to suggest staying.

well, i'm not sure how much i can offer you in the way of specific advice, but i thought i'd point out http://www.citysearch.com

although it was taken over my microsoft a few years back, it's still pretty handy.

basically, it has a website for each city in the country. there's http://newyork.citysearch.com and http://chicago.citysearch.com etc etc. they're all linked off the main page.

for each city, you can browse for whatever you want. they have listings for attractions, bars & nightclubs, restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, and a lot more. the more popular restaurants have user reviews and editorial reviews. there are also reviews for the hotels, and you can search for what's nearby each location (find movie theaters near a restaurant, all the restaurants near a hotel, etc).

the attractions listings also offer things like this page entitled new york 101, and i wouldn't be surprised if they offered similar pages for other major cities.

anyway, for new york, i'd suggest staying in midtown manhattan, in general. probably the west side. i'm not sure what you want to see, exactly, or what kind of hotel you're interested or anything like that, so i'm not sure what to suggest more specifically.

hope that helps.

Paul

Sandra, I'd also recommend checking out the Bidding For Travel website. They can help you find a hotel room via Priceline at much less than the advertised rates (and their advice is free).

I wouldn't recommend using Priceline to get an airline ticket, as they won't let you choose your own flights/times. But I've used them several times now for hotels and have never been displeased. You can specify what quality level hotel you want, and what area of the city you want to stay in. Last year for the Boston mini-fest, many of us stayed in the Radisson downtown for around $60/night, which was about a third of their regular price!

Hope that helps a little
Kaylle

Hi Sandra,

I can definitely understand why you would want to stay right on the strip in Las Vegas for a first visit -- I've stayed there before, too, and it really is a fun experience.

My advice on Las Vegas (as a tourist, not as someone who lives there) is to plan to stay there during the middle of the week -- Sunday through Thursday -- and not on the weekend. If you stay there during these off-peak days, you can get fantastic bargains at the hotels/casinos. Try to find a package ahead of time and I'm sure you can reduce the price even more.

And I agree with Lynn's advice on Chicago -- you'll pay more to stay downtown, but it's fun to be able to walk up and down Michigan Avenue and not have to drive in from a hotel farther out.

As for Los Angeles, I've only been there once, for LAFF 2000 (FoLC Fest). We stayed in Burbank, at the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn (Beverly Garland being the actor who played Ellen Lane in S3/4). It's a nice hotel, walking distance to Universal Studios, but beyond that, it was just neat to stay at her place. You will definitely need a car in LA, though, so plan to rent one if you'll be flying in.

Sounds like a wonderful trip!

Kathy

Actually, if you stay somewhere central (i.e., not Burbank ) and have patience with our charming public transportation, you can manage fairly well in L.A. without a car.

Another Chicagoan weighing in here.

Another option to staying downtown, if money reasons make it hard to do so, is staying near one of the airports. There hotels near O'Hare (the international airport) are usually less expensive. Furthermore, O'Hare is close to many kinds of public transportation, specifically the Blue Line (located in the airport), which will take you downtown

One caveat - Chicago, like NY and Boston, has very harsh winters and smothering summers, be ready to dress for it.

I hope you enjoy your stay here! I visited Chicago's sister city in Switzerland, Lucerne, and had a wonderful time.

Hi Sandra
I live in Toronto but travel in the US on business a lot. Here is what I think.
for Boston, stay in nearby Cambridge, close to MIT and HArvard. It's really nice to walk around there, lots of street musicians etc. and there is easy access to Boston proper via the subway. Here is a place I stayed which is nice. If too pricey for you, aim for something in this same general area.
http://www.univparkhotel.com/home/home.html

For Los Angeles same idea -- try staying in nearby Santa Monica -- much much cheaper and nice too, near the beach. There are lots of hotels to choose from there, only 15 miles or so from LA proper.

If you go to San Francisco, avoid the area known as the "tenderloin" -- I stayed there and it was very scary -- but just about anywhere else is nice there. And You absolutely MUST go on the tour of Alcatraz. It is amazing.

New York City is horrifyingly expensive. Unless you are VERY rich, you won't be able to stay in Manhattan itself. I think You should come to Toronto instead !

Have a great trip.

Allie

the university park hotel is very nice, but, as you said, it's also rather expensive (in general, but even more so if you hit it at the wrong time, like parents' weekend or finals week or graduation week or something like that).

as for the area, that would be MIT campus. campus is cool (well, it's mostly one sprawling grey concrete building, but there are some cool places in and around that building), but there are some not so nice neighborhoods nearby. i haven't been through northern cambridge very much, but i've walked around near campus and the hotel and i've talked to people who've lived up that way (for example, in the sort of off-campus dorm that's more or less around the corner from the hotel). in general, let's just say that the area between MIT and harvard has seen better days.

personally, if you're going to be staying in boston (and i'd definitely reccomend doing so.. boston is probably my favorite city in the country), i suggest copley square. it's more or less central, there are plenty of hotels in the area to fit plenty of different budgets, and there are several T stations close by.

(the T is the boston subway system... the transportation of choice for getting around the city and its immediate suburbs. clean, safe, prompt, and lets you avoid the boston streets. the boston streets were quite literally designed by meandering cows being led to and from boston commons, which used to be a public pasture. the cow paths became trails which gradualy became roads. they rarely go in the same direction for more than 2 blocks, and most of them have been randomly designated as one ways. worse, they're filled with boston drivers who have only 2 discernable rules. 1: stop for pedestrians. 2: if you're in a car, it's your responsibility not to get hit.)

anyway, we've had good experiences with the westin copley place hotel.

actually, some years back my sister called to make a reservation. she asked for their rate. don't remember exactly how the conversation went, but it was something like this:

"... and how much will that be?"
"$200 a night."
"uh-huh. do you have anything cheaper?"
"hmm... let's see... yes, i have the same room on special for $175."
"do you have anything cheaper?"
"let me check... yes, i have the same room at a super saver rate for $160."
"do you have anything cheaper?"
"<surprised> actually, yes..."

... and 10 mintues later we had the same room on a special rate only available that weekend that came to about $80 a night. not sure if that sort of thing will really happen anymore now that there's priceline and expedia and everything to do that for you, but it never hurts to ask.

anyway, if it's not to your liking or if you can't get a good rate or something, i'd check around in that general area (copley).

Paul

Sorry for responding so late but some very busy days are behind me.

I appreciate all your posts a lot. You're helping me very much with all your comments.

Lynn - your hotel suggestion was great. This hotel is also in my Travel Agents brochure. I wasn't sure if the north or south side of the city centre is better but with your comments I think the north is the better starting point. I'm gladly coming back to your offer about sending me suggestions some time in the future. My trip is starting at October 31, 2004 so I have still a lot of time.

Rivka - thank you so much for your comments about "not really, really, really needing a car in LA". My Travel Agent told me also that the public transportation has a lot improved in the last years and that you "get around" fairly good with them. But to hear it from a local person is quiet ressuring. He told me to stay in Santa Monica, because it's prettier at the beach and I can reach all the "must-sees" quiet good from there (again - public transportation). I'm interested in almost everything that has to do with the movie industrie and I'm staying 5 nights there so I have some time.

I still have some problems about San Francisco. Would it be better to stay at Fisherman's Warf or in the area of Union Square? And yes - Alcatraz is on my list for sure.

In New York I'm also voting for Midtown Manhatten. Can you tell me something about the walking distances. For example how long do you have approx. from Central Park to Times Square?

I'm afraid to say it, but in general I'll do and see all the typical tourist stuff. It's my first time in the USA and therefore I'm sticking to the basics.

To get from one city to the other I'll use the train (Amtrak). I'm not the biggest fan of flying so this is my alternative and in this way I can see a lot more of the country itself.

So thanks again for your help and sorry about this long post.

Sandra

depends where in the park you're starting from. times square is on the west side, in the area of 42nd street and broadway. the park is, of course, central, and streaches from (i think) 50th street to 120th.

now, quick orientation. avenues go north to south, streets go east to west. the blocks are rectangular, not square. you have longer to walk, avenue to avenue than you do street to street. if you're going up or down an avenue, there are exactly 20 blocks to a mile. i believe it's 10 blocks to a mile if you're going crosstown (except for broadway, which runs diagonally in places).

so, 60th street, near the bottom of the park, is about one mile from times square (most of a mile by streets, plus a bit to walk from from central park west across to broadway or 7th avenue).

if you have something that can read pdf files (adobe acrobat, for example), you can check out this new york city survival guide that i found when i went to double-check that it is in fact 20 streets to a mile and not avenues. it's got some handy tips and stuff.

btw, i also suggest you look up the subway and bus maps for each city. do a net search for "boston subway system map" and you'll quickly come up with the mbta homepage. do the same thing but substitue "new york" for "boston" and you'll find the mta homepage. you can do that for each city. the websites have system maps, schedules, fares, etc. good to familiarize yourself with the options. try to pick up a hardcopy system map when you arrive. they're usually available free in the major subway stations.

Paul

Sandra, I don't live in San Francisco, but I have visited there. And I would definitely recommend staying somewhere more central than Fisherman's Wharf. Sure, you can get to the rest of the city easily enough from the Wharf, but somewhere like Union Square or the business district is much more central and therefore more convenient. We went to Fisherman's Wharf twice: once for a general look around (pretty tacky apart from Ghirardelli Square) and to ride the cable car (easier to get on it from the Wharf end than from the centre of the city), and the second time when we went to Alcatraz.

We stayed in the business district, in the Hyatt Regency, I think - we paid something ludicrously low on Priceline via Bidding for Travel, so I really recommend that you follow Kaylle's recommendation for that website. I think we paid something like $50 a night for a room which, if you walked in off the street, would cost over $200 a night. And then you're paying tax on the smaller amount rather than the larger one, too. The hotel was a little over five minutes' walk from Union Square, and two minutes from Chinatown.

Two other things I'd recommend about San Francisco. First, public transport is excellent, but you need to get a travel card from the tourist information office. You can get them for a variety of durations, and they allow you either unlimited travel or a certain number of journeys on buses, the F-line tram (which goes to Fisherman's Wharf around the Embarcadero and well worth the ride) and the cable car. You can also get to the Golden Gate Bridge via the city transport.

Second, if you want to visit Alcatraz, book your trip in advance. You can do it online - I don't have the website to hand, but a Google search should find it for you. The trips do get full very quickly! We booked ours about two months before going.

Hope this helps!


Wendy

As far as New York goes, everything is as close/far as the subway stops. The subways aren't a bad place, and are actually fairly clean. Even if they are sweltering in late-July. *whew* There's maps in every subway station, along with booths to buy cards. The booths will take both cash and credit/debit cards, depending on the booth. I think it's about 7-10 blocks from Times Square to Penn Station, Macy's, and Madison Square Garden, if you walk.

And I highly recommend checking out Times Square. Just do it when everything's open. *still muttering about missing Toys R Us and the indoor ferris wheel* If you make it to Greenwich Village, try Jekyll & Hyde's, which is a "theme" restaurant. There's stuff on the walls that will talk to the patrons, and the servers actually get into it. The food was pretty good, too.

I managed without a car for years, and I was taking the bus to and from UCLA every day for four years (for some of that time, with a baby in tow). Mind you, I'm very glad not to have to depend on public transportation these days (especially there's a strike, as there was recently -- but those are quite rare).

Santa Monica is certainly prettier than many parts of L.A., but I don't know how the hotel rates compare. But likely they're better than anywhere else that's as centrally located, public-transportation-wise. And the beaches are lovely.