Taking a trip to America (have some questions)

[Orlong]

First off, I recommend against LA. Go to San Francisco and the surrounding areas instead if you want to hit up the left coast. It's 1000% nicer all around.

Now to your questions:

1) I have no idea, never been there

2) I'd recommend looking for a hostel, I bet you can find one fairly cheap on Manhattan.

3) The beer index is between $2 for a crappy domestic to $12 in a fancy club for a nice beer. Like most places, if you're looking for a cheap meal, you can find it, and if you're looking for a pricey meal, you can find that too.

LA has Hollywood though and that part is nice. If you go, make sure to eat a hotdog at the place where the building looks like a hotdog. They are amazing and have been there for like 75 years. Also San Francisco's population is about 75% gay, so if seeing 2 guys kissing everywhere you go isnt your thing, you may want to avoid that city

Nothing is cheap in New York City

[Deleted]

The New York subway is a thing of excellence. It's a while since I was there, but a day ticket was very reasonably priced (around $5). The C train going up and down Manhattan was the main one I used.

As for accommodation, I stayed in this hostel. Prices have gone up a bit, but they're still reasonable.

[Willoughby]

Subway is the easiest, fastest way to get around in NYC. Buses aren't bad either in places, but I wouldn't take taxis or rent a car. Parking is sparse and traffic is slow.

LA public transportation isn't that great. It's a very large city with lots of space between points of interest so travel times can get pretty long, especially if you have to wait for buses and such. The roadways lend themselves well to rental car travel though if you're comfortable driving, or taxis. But I guess that can get expensive.

Seconding the sentiment that SF is the superior city. Far cleaner and easier to get around with public transport.

[Palmz]

You don't need to visit LA. You already did in Grand Theft Auto.

[ProphetFlume]

Wear a "Keep Calm and" shirt in case you need to blend in with annoying people.

[diddle]

As far as NYC goes it absolutely has a fantastic public transportation system, metro included. Honestly it also has a great range of hotel prices depending on how far you are willing to travel. Times Square will obviously be MUCH more expensive than just getting a bronx hotel and taking a cab.

DON'T GO TO LA. Get your ass to San Diego or San Francisco

[Xargoth6634]

Come to Detroit for the beer and crumbling architecture.

Stay in Detroit because someone stole your passport.

This just won the thread.

[madmanx]

Screw LA, if you don't know anyone there it is impossible to get around or do anything other than the usual tourist traps.

NY is amazing, It isn't anything like the US (or any other country). It is a unique place.

[Theinquisition]

Obviously you need to visit Detroit

LOL

I remember hearing about a "extreme" tourism company that was going to offer tours of the most run down parts of Detroit in a up-armored Bus, I wonder if that ever materialized.

[Blueobelisk]

I wonder....if there's anything I can contribute to this thread...it feels like I should be able to help, but I can't quite place my finger on how.

1. You might have to take a cab. There are also a lot of bus lines, but yes you should consult subways first. Word of warning:it's going to be very very crowded depending on the time of the day.

2. Honestly you should go by hotel and not by location. Hotels vary. You probably shouldn't stay in Manhattan and just take a subway out to Queens or Brooklyn and stay there if you really want to be efficient.

3. Restaurants are crazy expensive. The fancy ones are. Everything else is manageable but overpriced.

[Lenonis]

2. Plan on renting a car.

I would counter this advice -- learning to drive on the other side of the road and dealing with our weird traffic laws and miles per hour instead of km is probably more stress than you'd like on your first trip here.

EDIT -- not to mention drivers in New York and LA are rather crazy. Just take public transit or cabs/uber

[Reeve]

I would counter this advice -- learning to drive on the other side of the road and dealing with our weird traffic laws and miles per hour instead of km is probably more stress than you'd like on your first trip here.

EDIT -- not to mention drivers in New York and LA are rather crazy. Just take public transit or cabs/uber

Eh, I've driven on the other side of the road in many countries. It doesn't take more than a few moments to get used to. I wouldn't do it in NYC, but I wouldn't even drive there as an American. LA's probably not too bad though, and certainly better than driving in many cities around the world, including many European cities.

I mean I'd rather have to figure this out:



Than try to figure this thing out:

[Deleted]

Thanks for the tips so far.

I'm mainly thinking about New york and L.A because i see 5-7 days in New york as the kind of sight seeing busy side of the holiday and 7 days in L.A as more of a relaxing laidback in the warmth kind of Holiday.

Is 1 week too long to spend in New york? (will i run out of things to see/do?)

[Tirivaria]

Getting into this thread a bit late, but I thought I'd add a few things as a So Cal resident.

As has been said before, if you're comfortable driving on the opposite side of the road, rent a car in LA. Public transit is pretty bad around here. A car is virtually required as the places you might want to visit can be very far apart from each other (for the same reason, taxis/uber and the like will also be expensive). LA is a sprawl and some of the tourist hotspots (like Disneyland) aren't even in the same county. In that respect, SF would be a better tourist destination (more compact and well served by mass transit) but it would be more similar to the NY part of your trip.

[Z3ROR]

In totally agree on skipping LA and do San Fransisco instead.

If you go to San Fransisco do the following:
- Visit Alcatraz (prison island) - Book a ticket at least a month before your trip begins or otherwise you haven't got entrance (it's busy there, but totally worth it)
- Visit Golden Gate Bridge
- Ride in a Cable Car
- Visit the piers.

[vrsick]

You might not enjoy LA that much if you are sensitive to pollution. The air quality can really mess with people if they aren't used to it or have something like asthma.

[Reeve]

In totally agree on skipping LA and do San Fransisco instead.

If you go to San Fransisco do the following:
- Visit Alcatraz (prison island) - Book a ticket at least a month before your trip begins or otherwise you haven't got entrance (it's busy there, but totally worth it)
- Visit Golden Gate Bridge
- Ride in a Cable Car
- Visit the piers.

Heh, those are fine, but they are the most tourist-trap portions of the city. I'd recommend getting a clam chowder at Fisherman's Wharf, climbing to the top of Telegraph hill, then taking the long stairway through people's backyards down to the financial district. Also, go check out Battery Alexander, the Redwood Forests, Wine Country, Yosemite, the list could go on in SF.

If you're set on LA, though, it's not as awful as I've made out. It's just kind of a big city like most in the world with the added benefit of Hollywood and Disneyland. You could take a quick trip to Vegas from there if you wanted as well, I suppose.

[Maltah]

Thanks for the tips so far.

I'm mainly thinking about New york and L.A because i see 5-7 days in New york as the kind of sight seeing busy side of the holiday and 7 days in L.A as more of a relaxing laidback in the warmth kind of Holiday.

Is 1 week too long to spend in New york? (will i run out of things to see/do?)

I absolutely love visiting New York, but I'm usually tired of it after 2 days (even after visiting both museums), and I don't like Times Square. Then again, I'm a native Californian and I just don't handle that kind of atmosphere for very long. NY is a little too uptight for me. Although, if you stay a week on the east coast, you may want to consider taking a trip to Boston. It's about 2-3 hours away on a train and I absolutely love it more than NY. Totally different atmosphere.
It's worth hitting a good Broadway show though if you can get tickets.

If you want relaxed, then Los Angeles may not be for you. It is MUCH cheaper than San Francisco (comparable to NY), but if you stay in Monterey Bay or San Jose, you can get off with cheaper hotels and just take public transportation into SF. Having lived in Southern California for almost 20 years, I love it. However, unless you plan on doing Disneyland or a lot of beaches, and don't mind a lot of driving, shopping, and running around, you're probably better off relaxing in San Diego (awesome zoos), or along the northern coast and hitting the Redwoods or Yosemite.

[Kalis]

New York is just like London, including prices and attitudes, but the locals have funny accents and they drive on the wrong side of the road.

If you like London, you'll like New York, and if you don't like London then you won't like New York, except maybe for the novelty value of being in a different country. I like New York, but I'm a Londoner.

I haven't been to LA, so can't comment on that.

[Tulune]

Screw the west coast, come to the east coast instead! New England more specifically. We have the best coffee and chowda in the whole damn country.