My big West USA holiday trip

West USA holiday trip. Finally I am writing about my BIG West USA holiday trip I had last September and believe me, my heart is beating fast. I have to find the right words for describing the wonderful experience we had during our honeymoon in West Usa: I discovered breathtaking places and saw such unique landscapes, met funny and friendly people, visited buildings I had studied at University. I would just say it was the greatest experience I have ever had in my life aaaand with the LOVE of my life! ♥ Of course as a traveler for passion, I am always excited to discover new places but, I have to be honest, this trip was really incredible. WOW! I saw the immensity of nature and often photography can’t catch the feelings YOU had in that moment.

Before to give you some tips, let me write you some numbers and info: 16 full days, 6552 km, 11 hotels booked, 1456 photos, 26h of flight. First stop: Los Angeles (2 full days) by having breakfast in Los Feliz , visiting the Griffith Observatory, the Meier’s Getty Center and the Ghery’s Concert Hall in downtown, walking and shopping in Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. Then, on our way to Arizona, we stopped in Palm Springs, Salton Lake and Kingman. Here we followed for a while the historical Route 66 to reach the Gran Canyon South Rim, Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon (we slept 2 nights in Page). After two days in Las Vegas, we moved to Yosemite Valley by crossing the Death Valley. After visiting the Yosemite Valley and the Sequoia park we hit San Francisco, where we hang around for 3 days. Then we drove along the wild West Coast and we stopped to Monterey, Santa Cruz, Obispo, Santa Barbara and Malibu. Our last day was spent again in Los Angeles by chilling on Santa Monica and Venice Beach.

What I personally most loved of my West Usa trip are Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon, Los Angeles and the crazy Las Vegas. I also really appreciated the Sequoia National Park. You can walk under the biggest and highest trees in the world!! Unbelievable! Last but not least, the desolate Death Valley, I felt so small in “Bad Water” the lowest point of the USA (86 meters under the sea level with 48 degrees in that day!) and Palm Springs, where I stopped by the Neutra’s Desert House ♥ A small dream come true. I am so lucky for that!

We flew with Austrian Airlines to/from Los Angeles and in advance we organized the whole itinerary and we booked all accomodations. However, in Las Vegas or along the Route 66, there are so many accommodations that it is really not necessary to plan everything before. I personally suggest to book in advance only the main cities and then to fix the other stops according with your plans and the weather. Instead it is high recommended to book in advance for San Francisco, Yosemite Valley (both very expensive) and Page (a very small village and perfect stop to visit Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon).
About San Francisco, we saved a lot of money staying in a cozy Motel in Oakland, small town in the opposite side of the San Francisco Bay. From Oakland, San Francisco is reachable in just 10 minutes with the Bart public transports.
What I really recommend is to rent a powerful SUV, expecially if you are planning to visit the Gran Canyon area, Yosemite Valley and the Death Valley. Probably a cabriolet is more trendy however you have to consider hot weather, sand, dirt roads and big elevation!!
Furthermore we visited different states (California, Arizona and Nevada) and for driving in Arizona it was neccesary to have the international driving license! In case, check out and do it in advance!
About the parking, don’t be afraid. Especially in Los Angeles, you can move easily with car and park everywhere. There are sooo many pubblic parkings with fair prices (around 2/3 dollars for about 2/2,5h) and often the first hour is free. So don’t worry.
I would also suggest you to stipulate a private healty insurence (we chose Allianz online) just in case of any incidents; you know american healty system…
Another very important tip, oldie but goldie 😉 Instead of google map, buy a big West Usa map and then start to organise your itinerary and its stop! For me it was very helpful for understanding the true BIG distances and kilometers.

Soon a photography post about Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon! ♥
Thanks for reading!

Valentina