Hello all,

I came across this site a few weeks ago whilst trying to plan my US trip, it's great! I've taken various tips from a variety of threads but it would be great to get some direct advice and help if anybody can help!

I am hoping to travel to America, from London, in May with my partner for two weeks. We are yet to book any flights or cars so our route is very flexible. A return flight to SF is looking the cheapest, but we're struggling to piece our journey together so are open for options.

Having only been to Florida and New York we're keen to explore a small bit of the West Coast. Our main focus is San Francisco, we hope to spend 5-6 days there.

We'd love to go to Vegas, for the obvious reason! Maybe only for 2-3 days, and would like to see the beautiful Yosemite too. I know the weather won't be amazing in May/early June for the coast but we'd really enjoy a few chill out days near a beach and the coastal highway sounds fab. Are people on beaches that time of year? From a few threads, it seems Santa Monica is a lovely destination - but it may be too far of a drive to fit with everything else. What towns would you recommend for nice restaurants and beach - Santa Cruz, Carmel, Monterey?

To summarise, San Francisco, Yosemite (or another natural wonder if it fits better with a route), Vegas and some coastline.

Happy to hire a car for a good part, and take flights if need be, although I'm struggling to work out the best route. What is the average cost of hiring a car per day, any recommended sites would be much appreciated.

Thank you very much in advance,
Claire