Mike,

It's still very difficult to put a price on things. I did a fly drive a few years ago and went from LA - Palm Springs - Lake Havasu - Las Vegas - Lake Tahoe - Yosemite - San Fran and in total I think it was around 2400 miles. I doubt you'll have a car that does much more than 30 to the gallon so your fuel bills can be roughly estimated if you research the rough mileage of your planned trip - just google the distances.

Hotels in San Fran and LA are expensive if you want anything fairly decent. Vegas is cheap if you look for deals.

Food can be very cheap in Vegas, again it depends where you want to eat but some of the buffets are very cheap (albeit not fantastic in quality) but it is fairly cheap in general to eat in Vegas.
If I remember correctly it was fairly expensive in San Fran.

On another point, do you have plans for LA? I just ask because 5 nights in LA is a lot to be honest, the beach areas are lovely but if you stay around Hollywood it's not a very nice area. It's just my personal opinion, but 5 nights in LA is way too long and I'd maybe look to spend a couple around Yosemite if you can tie that in to your trip, it's an awesome place.

Helicopter is best for the GC from Vegas, but you can drive, I've done it several times. It's about 4-5 hours one way so as you can see, a helicopter is a good option. If you drive, you can go to the west rim (not so good) or south rim (better) the south rim is the one that takes 4-5 hours. It's truly one of the wonders of the natural world.

My wife and I spent around £5k in total for our trip that we did but we did stay in some nice hotels during the trip and we eat at decent restaurants most of the time (not flash, just decent) and that also includes gambling money (which we do a lot of in Vegas)!!

Cheers

TC

Its been a few years now but we did LA, LV, Yosemite and SF fly drive. IIRC we started with a full tank of petrol in a big Daiwoo car. We did 5 days in LA (we had kids so did the theme parks etc), drove to LV (flew with King Airways to the GC). We planned to drive through Death Valley on the way to Yosemite and so although we still had at least a 1/4 tank of petrol filled up in LV. The drive across the desert and death valley used over half a tank and we re-filled at Lone Pine before crossing the Sierra nevada moutains into Yosemite. Lone Pine seemed to be populated by people whose fathers could well be their uncles too! We drove round Yosemite for a couple of days before heading off the SF. In SF we parked the car and didn't use it for the three days we were there. The public transport there is first class and we bought a 3 day unlimted pass which also included the cable cars. We filled the tank to return the car to the hire company as per the agreement. So in all the trip I reckon used up about 2 tanks and a half of gas.

Fuel at the moment at about $1.80 per a gallon Down from $2.85 a month ago. Should help you budget.

I think you shouldn't worry about it. Petrol is so incredibly cheap in the US that it really won't be a significant element of your holiday budget.

I suspect $1.80 must be the national average because there's no way you will find gas in California for that price (at least, not here in LA!). Right now the cheapest would be around $2.10 a gallon (I filled up last night and I THINK it was between $2.09 and $2.19 but I didn't really pay attention.. I was more concerned with the car telling me I had about 10 miles until empty!). It might be cheaper in northern California, though.

Five nights in LA is okay... it depends what you intend to do. If you intend to do Disney, Magic Mountain etc. then five nights is fine. If you just intend to do Hollywood, then Teecee is right and I'd take a couple of days off and spend them in Yosemite instead (actually, I'd find a way to work Yosemite in there somehow regardless).

Any chance you can post us some gas please

Oooh I just got gas for $1.99/gallon. Not too shabby (yes, I checked the price this time!).

Thanks for all your helpful replies, it doesn't sound as if we need to worry with regard fuel costs. From past experience in Orlando I knew it was cheap however we would be doing quite a few miles so its good to check.

TeeCee, you mention 5 nights in LA being a lot. The reason for this is we plan to do the two Disney parks, Universal studios, one of either six flags magic mountain or Knott's Berry Farm plus have a look round Hollywood etc.

Where would you say the best place to stay in LA is? Lots of people have said Hollywood area is not particularly nice so perhaps Anaheim would be best close to the Disney Parks? This would also give us the opportunity to go for a few drinks in the Disney area.

Also, what are people's opinions on the best park out of six flags magic mountain or Knott's Berry Farm? Bearing in mind we are very keen on roller coasters etc?

On the subject of accommodation in San Francisco, what are people's opinions in staying in a guest house style place as apposed to a big chain hotel. It was suggested to me by a friend and I thought it could save on expense and provide a more ‘American experience' if you understand my meaning?

Once again thanks in advance for any info.

We enjoyed the immediate Anaheim area around Disneyland and stayed at the Sheraton Anaheim which was a pleasant walk (they also offer a shuttle bus) to Downtown Disney and then onto the parks. We had a car and ventured to the other areas of LA quite easily, but prepare yourself for some horrendous traffic. We love theme parks also but we had a bad experience at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Hit it on a good day and I'm sure it is excellent but there were 5 or 6 major rides down all day and Superman broke down whilst we were in the queue. Don't expect Disney style customer service or cleanliness though.

We didn't go to Knotts Berry Farm but did hit Universal after breaking down on the Interstate (great fun that). This meant we arrived very late and the crowds were horrendous but my lasting memory is the excellent Backlot Tour, far far better than anything in Orlando and worth the entrance money alone.

For a cheaper San Francisco hotel try the Comfort Inn on Polk Street. We had 6 nights here back in 2006 and although it borders the unsavoury Tenderloin District which is right next to the main shopping area and Downtown, it was a fantastic motel experience with great refurbished rooms (some of the best we've had in the USA). It looks nothing from the outside, but the management were so friendly and helpful plus you also get free parking if driving in the city (which is not needed in truth). I think we paid a combination of $79 and $100 across those days, far cheaper than a lot of the major chain hotels and just down from California, which has the cable car that runs to the Ferry Building and is the less busier of the cable lines (awesome hills still).

I would concur with the Yosemite suggestion. I would find it very difficult to head to that area of the USA and not take in what I consider to be in my top 5 places in the entire world, and I have travelled to a lot of places.

Have fun.

We've had two holidays in California and have visited both Knotts Berry Farm and Six Flags. No contest. Six Flags was in a different class. For big coasters it's the best park we have been to and we have been to all the Florida ones too.
I don't think 5 days in LA is too long if you want to visit the theme parks. Can I suggest you look at staying in Santa Monica? We had a few nights there and it was the most pleasant area we found to stay in. It felt safe to walk about - unlike some of LA, and you are near the beach.

Fuel update: I've seen gas for $1.59/gallon in a few places now. That's the same price as when I first moved to the US in 2002. I never thought I'd see gas that cheap again!

Six Flags is awesome if you like Roller Coasters, only Cedar Point in Ohio comes close to it and they are always battling to see who gets the faster/higher/more extreme coasters.

I love roller coasters and we went there a few years back and went on a few and loved it, then went on 'The Riddler' and I came off actually green, I felt so ill. Ever since that day I now suffer from motion sickness and can't go on any coasters....I'm gutted, but if you have a hard stomach, they are fantastic. It's quite expensive - cost us about £35 for a day ticket and that was about 5 or 6 years ago.

I thought Knotts Berry Farm was worth visiting as well though.

TC

Ooh I like The Riddler ride. Is that the one where you stand up? Tatsu was pretty good too but it was unfortunate when it broke down with me on it (luckily I was at the end of the ride at the time!). The only ride I refused to go on was X. I felt that the sensation would be comparable to the Samurai ride at Chessington and I didn't enjoy that. It's the only ride I've ever been on where I had to prise my own knuckles from the safety bar at the end (and yes, they were indeed white).

I've never been to Knotts Berry Farm... it's not THAT far away either. I've also never been to Raging Waters despite, to my shame, it being located in the same city that I live in!

For Magic Mountain, you can sometimes get 2 for 1 deals and so on. That helps with the cost.