A couple of weeks ago you may have seen a post on my channel all about the places I've travelled to on the east coast of the USA (check it out here). Now I've decided to tell you all about my travels on the west coast of the country. It's been almost 3 years since I went to the west coast but it was such a significant trip for me and made me realise my love for travel, particularly within the US. This may be quite a long post as I've visited many amazing places, but I hope you enjoy and feel free to skip to any sections you may enjoy more!
Los Angeles, CA
The first place I visited on the west coast...and one of the most exciting! Now the picture above isn't your typical LA picture, but any Pretty Little Liars fans will know exactly where I'm standing. This was one of my favourite days ever; getting to visit the set of my all time favourite TV show, as well as the set of Friends and many more - I couldn't recommend the Warner Brother's studio tour more if I tried!
Other than that, there is so so much more to do in LA; after all LA is absolutely massive. As we stayed right behind Hollywood Boulevard we had easy access to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Dolby Theatre, the Chinese Theatre and more, but make sure to visit Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier too! I also visited Six Flags for the first time, which if you're a thrill seeker like me, you'll love. As we didn't spend too long in LA we didn't get to visit Disney or Universal, however since I've been fortunate enough to visit the ones in Florida, I didn't feel as though I was missing out too much. I would've also loved to explore the Hollywood Hills and see the Hollywood sign up close if we'd had the time - but we could see the sign from Hollywood. On another note - there is plenty of shopping to satisfy anyone's needs!
San Francisco, CA
I wasn't sure exactly what I would think of San Francisco before I visited, but I can safely say that I enjoyed it so much! Yes, it doesn't have all the fun that Los Angeles has, but I really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. As we only spent one full day in SF we made sure to buy tickets for the hop-on-hop-off bus tours which took us all around the city and allowed us to learn about the history and the city in general. We also went over the Golden Gate Bridge many times, which on a double decker, open top bus is so much fun...but if you have lots of hair like me, expect it to fly in every direction possible!
These open top buses are a great start if you're not really sure as to what to do in San Francisco - they'll take you to all the main points in the city and you have the ability to hop off and board the bus at any of the many stops. Also one of my favourite things was to stop off at Pier 39 and see the sea lions, so cute! Alcatraz would've been my next point to visit if we had another as I've heard so many people rave about it...but we could just about see it through the fog, haha!
On another note remember to bring thicker clothing if you're thinking of visiting SF...we went in August and were absolutely freezing, something which I really underestimated!
Yosemite, CA
The national parks were really the places I was quite unsure as to what I would expect; before this trip I'd never really explored much of nature before. But these are really what made me fall in love with the country and make me want to explore it even further. The Yosemite has many beautiful features to it, including the gorgeous tall Sequoia trees, the huge cliffs such as El Capitan and Half Dome, as well as a few waterfalls here and there. In fact, Yosemite falls is actually one of the tallest waterfalls in the world. Unfortunately when we went there was only a trickle of water and so my photos don't show any falling water...we were able to stand in the bottom of the waterfall though. I'd love to visit back in Springtime, as this is when the water flow tends to be heavier due to the melting snow. Yosemite really was a beautiful place to visit, and from my memory, wasn't overly hot!
Sequoia, CA
The Sequoia National Park really blew me away...I've never been so fascinated at the presence of trees! I can remember travelling in one of the parks shuttle buses and me and my family were all so in awe just at the size and beauty of the trees...the driver thought we'd seen a bear or something since we were all so fascinated! The highlight though has to be the General Sherman; it's so big that you can't even see half of it in this photo! In fact, this is the largest tree in the world!
I would also recommend taking the steps up to the top of Moro Rock. Unless you're afraid of heights, this is absolutely incredible! The views you get from the top are just amazing (you should really Google it), and although your little legs have to climb up many steps, it's totally worth it!
Las Vegas, NV
I kind of have a love, hate relationship with Vegas. Whilst it looks incredible and there are so many different things to see, I don't think I'll be rushing back any time soon! First of all the heat. When you're walking down the strip everything is very much go go go, and in 45°C heat, all I wanted to do was collapse into the fountains in front of the Bellagio!
Also the advertisements around the city make the place feel so tacky. Expect to see adult advertisements on the side of many vans/trucks, and particularly if you're a man, expect someone to try and hand you a photo card with a naked/scantily clad women on roughly every 5 seconds or so. I realise that many people will actually go to Vegas for those particular reasons, but it all just makes the place seem so cheap...and it's not really a suitable place to take children.
I am glad that I went to Vegas though and got to see everything there, and there were some things that I did enjoy (best Urban Outfitters I've ever visited fyi), but it's not enough to ever make me want to go back, even when I turn of legal age and can make use of the casinos (which is this year)!
Grand Canyon , AZ
I have some amazing memories from the Grand Canyon. First of all the place looks incredible...it's really difficult to actually comprehend the size of the park, and because it's so big, me and my sister would always say how the parts further away didn't look real and instead looked like cardboard cutouts (they really did)! We also went to see the sunrise one morning, and whilst I wasn't very happy at getting up at 5am, it was absolutely amazing to view and I'm glad I forced myself out of bed that morning - you need to either see a sunset or sunrise!
We also got very wet at the Grand Canyon! Halfway through a two minute walk it decided to rain very heavily. However the rain came in at such an angle that the right side of me was soaking and the left side of me was practically bone dry...something to keep in mind if you plan on going! It's so funny to look back on though! I also saw some big deer at our campground which was so cool to see!
If you have the time, you can also go into the actual canyon, which I bet would be incredible!
Bryce Canyon, UT
The final national park I'm going to talk about, and probably my favourite! This was the one that I knew the least about before the trip, but maybe that's why it blew me away so much! I've honestly never been so fascinated simply by the colour and the shape of rock - I really thought I'd never be amazed by something like this! I could also imagine Cowboys and Indians riding/running through the canyon more so that at the Grand Canyon! I'd really love to go back to Bryce Canyon and actually go into it; I think similarly to the Grand Canyon it would look absolutely amazing from inside, so that's something I'd really love to do in the future!
One thing I will say though is that in some parts of the park (as with many national parks) there are no railings. This isn't usually a problem, but I can remember walking down a relatively thin stretch (whilst having to pass a few people) and one wrong step and you could be a goner...this really isn't a suitable place for children for that reason in my opinion, particular if you plan on walking along the top of the canyon - most areas do have railing though just to clear that up aha!
I hope you enjoyed this little travel series! I'm hoping to do much more travelling throughout the US in the future and will update you if that ever happens! I am actually planning a trip back to Disney World, so I will be sure to keep you up to date with that either here or on my YouTube channel!
Have you ever been to any of these places?
Lots of Love
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