Planning a trip for 2006

We are planning a trip to the states next year and would like to vist. LA, San Fran and vegas over a three week period.

We have lots of questions but the most pressing is what is the best time of year to visit ?

Secondly would people advise organising the trip ourseleves or going through a tour company.

Planning a trip for 2006

There%26#39;s no bad time of year to visit LA, although Feb through April tends to have a lot of rain. We never know weather from year to year until it happens, though. In the summer, Vegas is very hot (120 degrees), but you%26#39;ll find more bargains. San Francisco is cool year round. Best time to travel, I think, is May-June or Sept-Oct.

Try to organize yourself.

Planning a trip for 2006

I advise my friends and family not to travel to Los Angeles during the months of May and June. There is a morning haze which often never burns off by the end of the day. Very dreary. It is known as June gloom. The condition is worse the closer you get to the coast.

I also think Sep-Oct is nicest...unless the Santa Ana winds blow from the desert.

I live in Santa Monica and we%26#39;ve had June gloom all summer, I wore a puffy this morning because it%26#39;s so cold. In fact, June was much nicer than it%26#39;s been all of August.

We did something similar last year, including several places in between LA, SF and LV. We were tied by school holidays and so had to go in July/August which was fine, hot everywhere except SF but not unbearably so. We used Trailfinders in Manchester (and intend to do so again) as we were able to organise our own itinerary (rather than be tied to one organised by a tour company) but all the individual components - flights, car hire, hotels, Disney tickets etc - were booked for us and we had the reassurance of an emergency contact number.

I would say any time outside of May through August would be good to visit. That%26#39;s the hottest and most expensive time. But, like someone mentioned earlier, L.A. get most rain Jan, Feb and March. If you don%26#39;t mind waiting I%26#39;d say mid September to Mid October is perfect for all 3 locations. If you can%26#39;t wait then March won%26#39;t be too bad.

3 weeks is awesome too. Plenty of time to see all 3 locations. Vegas probably only needs 4 or 5 days max and I would split the other days evenly between S.F. and L.A.

You can probably very easily plan it all out yourself without a tour.

Another way to look at it is.... When do you want to get away from where you are?! LA is nice more than most other places...and even in the foggy mornings in the summer....it is lots nicer weather-wise than most other places. The summer afternoons are divine. It does rain more in the winter... so Feb and March, might not be LA%26#39;s best months to visit, but, even at that...some Feb and March%26#39;s hold little to no rain at all. Year to year one never knows..... but, one thing for sure....the weather here is usually better than most anyplace.

I love September and October..... but, that is what we are headed into right now so the optomistic me is always excited about what is happening next .... I also loved May, June, July and August...... especially near the coast.

Again, ask yourself,,,, ';When do I really want to go someplace where it is probably going to be nicer weather-wise?';

LA is fantastic anytime!

Pegs