United States

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In the U.S. we only visited California, Nevada and Arizona. We chose this region because it was on the way to Asia and we had more interest in knowing them as well. It is difficult to summarize the country as each state has different characteristics.

In the end it was a good start because the culture is not so different from ours and we speak the language, so we can get used to the pace of the trip as when we get it in Asia will be 7 months of pure exoticism!

What was worth it: Carmel, Grand Canyon, San Francisco and driving down the coast.
What was not so paid off: Los Angeles (very touristy and not so interesting to visit).
What we wanted to do but we didn’t: Death Valley, Sequoia Park, watch an NBA basketball game or american football.

A few tips:

• TRANSPORTATION: In the United States almost everyone has a car, so there aren’t many budget choices for land transport and some displacements can be extremely long due to the country size. It will be often cheaper to travel by plane or to rent a car if you are not by yourself. To search for bus options take a look at Greyhound (on the internet you can find promotions of half price) and for planes search at Expedia (which will show all options for the cheapest flights).
• CAR RENTAL: To rent a car in the USA can be very cheap, about 30 USD per day for a car at the simpler category. If you are not traveling alone this might be the best option and in the end you enjoy much more the way, as in the case of the path we did between San Francisco and Los Angeles by the beautiful Highway 1. A cheap company to have a look at is Dollar, but you can also look for promotions at the sites of last minute deals indicated in the next tip.
• LAST MINUTE DEALS: “Last Minute” deals is like a fever in the USA. You can find offes for sometimes less than half the price and you can get great deals, as long as you search for them about 5-1 day before. Remember, the more last minute the cheapest. This is a great solution for hotel, car rental, flights and even cruises, you actually find everything there. In a country where a room on a roadside motel costs 50 USD, you can find cheaper or even get a 4 star hotel for the same price. To find deals there are 2 great sites: Priceline and Travelzoo.

Our itinerary (16 days)

We started by car driving through coast and we passed in Monterey Bay, Caramel, San Simeon, Cayucos, Morro Bay, Solvang and Santa Barbara during 3 days. After we spent four days in Los Angeles and drove off by car to Las Vegas where we took the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon, of course. Then we took a flight to San Francisco and stayed there for five days.

The best of the country