I did this trip in September 2011. The weather was warm and sunny and it was especially hot in Palm Springs and Las Vegas. I packed mainly tops and cropped trousers with some dressier clothes for evenings.

I spent about £1000. This included meal costs, additional excursions-including flight over the Grand Canyon-souvenirs Tec.

I really enjoyed this trip, the highlights being seeing the Golden Gate bridge, riding on a trolley bus in San Francisco and flying over the Grand Canyon.

Hope this helps and have a great holiday.

Lesley

I did AGW in September 2010 and had a ball. I think the hotels and itinerary have changed slightly but you still start out in San Francisco and end up in Las Vegas, so it'll basically be the same as my experience.

In terms of clothes, the advice is layers all the way. In San Francisco, it can be surprisingly breezy and chilly, so you'll need a fleece etc - especially if you plan to do the boat trip around the bay or use one of your free slots to go over to Alcatraz.

Once you go inland and into the desert, it heats up very quickly so you'll be in shorts/t-shirts during the day, but the temperature plummets in the evenings. Also, if you are doing the Palm Springs aerial tramway excursion, bear in mind that it'll be baking at ground level but freezing cold on top of the mountain. I'd also recommend taking a hat, sun block and mozzy repellent.

As for money, well that's very much a personal thing depending on whether you are a shopper/souvenir buyer. Personally I budget for food, tips etc before I go and set that aside. I'm also tee-total so can't give you an idea about budgeting for wine /beer etc with your meals. You may need to allow for any of the optional excursions that are not pre-bookable because in most cases you have to pay in cash (the exception being the Grand Canyon flights for which you can use cards).

I also took a pre-paid USD card, which can be safer, because if you happen to lose it or have it stolen, the thief has no access to your bank accounts, can't take you overdrawn and can only spend the money you have loaded onto the card before it becomes useless.

Happy to help if you have any other questions

Have a super time

Mandy

Hi Julie how are you? I did this trip about 2009 ( I think ) it is great and as said earlier the optional trips do bump up the spending money, we also went to a shopping mall where the Levi's were a bargain so I had to buy some. I went the first week in October and the only time I needed my fleece was the Grand Canyon and that was more for the early start. Most nights a group of us went out to dinner and I was glad to have a couple of posh frocks with me. I see you are going to Costa de la Luz the week before me in June, warm the sun loungers for me . Have a great time and hope we meet again soon. Val x

Hi valley, I assume your the val I met at Hinckley at new year? How's it going? You'll have to keep in touch, I'd give you my email but I don't want everyone to see it? X

Trust you are well.

It could definately get cool in SF especially on an evening, everywhere else will be warm/hot.

You've chose a cracking holiday, was the first JY trip i did back in 2010.

Mick.

Hello Val.

I agree with everyone else. I went in September, and San Francisco was quite chilly, but everywhere else was quite warm. Palm Springs was scorchio, as was Las vegas.

Reading this post has made me very envious. I absolutely loved the tour, Palm Springs and SF were my faves, but all parts of the tour were brilliant. It is still up there as one of my favourites. I also spent approx £1000' as I did most of the excursions.Three in one to Grand Canyon was awesome, as was Alacatraz. I could go on and on!

I am sure you will have an amazing time. X