Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Travel
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-06-2019, 06:48 PM
 
Location: Lexington, KY
9 posts, read 8,328 times
Reputation: 15

Advertisements

Hey everyone,


I'm currently planning a vacation for sometime between January and early March. I'm looking at taking an Amtrak (with roomette) from Chicago to San Francisco, spending three nights there, and then flying back home. I've take a couple of train rides with sleeper cars before and I enjoyed the experience but I've always wanted to try the California Zephyr.

In looking for affordable hotels in San Francisco (lol), I came across The Grant Plaza which seems to have reasonable rates. I don't need anything fancy, just safe and close to public transportation. The reviews seem okay but I was wondering if any of you had any experience with that hotel. Also wondering if my budget seems reasonable.

Also, I'm wondering if you have any other ideas of destinations I might want to go to instead. I'm having a hard time deciding. I'm not much of a beach person (I considered a cruise, but all the cruises within that budget were for the Bahamas and Caribbean, though I would love to try a transatlantic cruise someday).

Appreciate your thoughts.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-06-2019, 06:56 PM
 
Location: Tulsa
2,230 posts, read 1,706,199 times
Reputation: 2434
So, what kind of destination/activities are you looking for?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-06-2019, 07:14 PM
 
Location: Military City, USA.
5,538 posts, read 6,459,968 times
Reputation: 17005
I have always wanted to see Hearst Castle, but not sure where it is in relation to San Fran. The book about his mistress was a great read.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-06-2019, 07:24 PM
 
Location: Lexington, KY
9 posts, read 8,328 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodHombre View Post
So, what kind of destination/activities are you looking for?
I'm one of those who tends to prefer the journey more than the destination. I've done multiple cross-country road trips and I loved those.

I've always been interested in San Francisco, but I've only been there once and it was just for a few hours, so I didn't get to really experience it.

I prefer more urban settings where I can people-watch. I haven't traveled overseas yet and I don't think that's within my budget but, staying continental, I would like to go to Vancouver, BC sometime.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2019, 05:37 AM
 
2,568 posts, read 2,503,006 times
Reputation: 8479
Go over to Expedia, TripAdvisor or similar for inspiration, reviews and in depth details for various locations.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2019, 07:26 AM
Status: "Wishing all the best of health and peace!" (set 10 days ago)
 
43,458 posts, read 44,172,248 times
Reputation: 20472
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lodestar 77 View Post
I have always wanted to see Hearst Castle, but not sure where it is in relation to San Fran. The book about his mistress was a great read.
Hearst Castle is approx. a 4 and half hour (about 240 mile) car ride south of San Franscisco.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2019, 07:35 AM
 
Location: Taipei
7,776 posts, read 10,115,738 times
Reputation: 4979
I would make a few free <24 hr stops on that route from Chi-SF just to take in a few spots that I might never otherwise visit. Take a look at the route and see what options there are (would have to be somewhere that Amtrak runs multiple trains daily)

SF is definitely a city worth visiting for a few days. I don't know that hotel in particular but yeah it's not an easy city to find nice affordable accommodations. You might check out airbnb as well, or if you aren't so particular then Priceline's express deals or Hotwire's hot rate will give you something decent.

I wouldn't want to visit Vancouver in the middle of winter, but you could definitely be on the lookout for one-way cruises along the Pac coast. There's usually one-nighters between Vancouver and Seattle or a bit longer to get down to LA/SD. I'm somewhat like you in that I enjoy the journey as well, so I've always wanted to take that option sometime when I need to get from point a to point b on the west coast.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2019, 11:32 AM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,660 posts, read 57,778,624 times
Reputation: 46126
I prefer FT Mason hostel in SF, very interesting travelers and tough to beat excellent location. Take a bunch of free public library sponsored tours (available daily) . SF is quite compact and ez to see in 2 days.

Consider renting a car for 24 hrs before your departure (San Jose is often preferred for rental car and departure airport, depends on Carrier, but SWA likely has direct flights to MDW.)

With a car, you could do the following 24 hr loops.
  • Santa Cruz, Monterey, Hearst Castle
  • Napa valley and some of northern CA coast
  • Lake Tahoe / Reno (snow)
  • Yosemite / Sequoia NP
  • Sacramento / gold Rush trail,
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2019, 12:09 PM
 
Location: equator
11,035 posts, read 6,586,897 times
Reputation: 25523
Quote:
Originally Posted by tustultuses View Post
I'm one of those who tends to prefer the journey more than the destination. I've done multiple cross-country road trips and I loved those.

.
Then you'd like the repositioning trans-Atlantic crossing. 14 days inside cabin was $850 (double occupancy). Oh I just realized you're single. Maybe you can get a buddy to go with. We LOVED it. All those days at sea to people-watch and wave-watch and shows every night. All you can eat. 5 or 6 ports of call...Celebrity Cruises.

Of course, then you do have to get back...

We loved our road trips too---even slept in our SUV in the back country a few times. So much to see in the remoter areas of the of the U.S. Like I-70 through Utah: "No gas for 110 miles" LOL.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-07-2019, 12:53 PM
 
Location: Austintown, OH
4,264 posts, read 8,147,027 times
Reputation: 5498
Flights to Europe are insanely cheap right now. What about a quick trip to Spain?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Travel

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:38 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top