A couple other things:

1. You can rent a car at 21, but it might cost more than if you're 25 or older.
2. Use AirBnB to book rooms. Usually cheaper than a hotel and better accommodations.
3. Use Yelp (website/smartphone app) to find good places to eat.
4. The weather in California doesn't vary a lot. San Fran is cool/foggy most of the time, but can clear up nicely on some days. Feb/Mar is the rainy season, so expect to get a bit wet.
5. I don't think there are too many cultural oddities you need to worry about. SF in particular is a pretty international/cosmopolitan city. Just don't be a dumbass and you should be fine.

Have fun. America is huge and gorgeous and generally a pretty rad place to be.

Quote from Fordman :

I spent 2.5 wks in Florida ( West Palm Beach ) and really enjoyed it. The beaches there are fantastic, just make sure you take reflective sunnies as the sight seeing on Miami beaches is WOW

Also went over the everglades, and up to Orlando, Bonton Beach ( Lots of Sharks) and Delray Beach

Fordie

Yeah, WPB is actually where I grew up (1983-2006). I suppose it's nice to visit, but I'm a bit blinded by the annoyances of living there.

Key West is pretty cool, though.

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

San Fran is great, especially if you love food. If I were you, what I'd do is:

1. Fly in to SF, spend a day or two wandering around/eating/taking in the sights.
2. Rent a car, drive up the coast to Seattle.
3. Check out Seattle for a day or two. Also awesome food, nice scenery around the city, etc.
4. Cross the border and visit Vancouver—awesome city.
5. Drive back, hit Portland, Oregon, on the way.
6. Drive from Portland to Yosemite National Park in northern California.
7. Drive from Yosemite back to San Fran.
8. Fly out.

Car rentals aren't cheap, but they're pretty affordable ($200ish a week for a little econobox if you shop online).

An Australian guy on another board I post on just planned a similar trip, except he's going from LA to the east coast on a two-month-long road trip. You can check out his planning thread here.

I believe Scott Andrews (DuCK) just did a long trip to the US, including San Fran, a couple months ago. He might be able to give you some advice, too.

Good luck! Should be fun.

That was a very usefull summary, thanks a lot
About the prize for renting a car, 200 each week seems fair, we will at least be two people sharing the bill, maybe more, so it's ok. Hows the petrol prices down there these days? And please use dollar pr. liter, and not gallons, I have no clue what a gallon is

The gallon (abbreviation "gal") is a measure of liquid capacity in both the US customary units and the British imperial systems of measurement. Three significantly different sizes are in current use: the imperial gallon (≈ 4.546 L) which is used in the United Kingdom, Canada, and some Caribbean countries; the US gallon (≈ 3.79 L), which is used in the US and some Latin American and Caribbean countries; and the least-used US dry gallon (≈ 4.40 L).

-Wikipedia


I'm sorry. I had to..

It varies quite a bit by region. Looks like it's currently around $3.50/gal for regular in San Fran, which means about $0.92/L.

I imagine ~$1/L will be pretty common wherever you go. Should be about ~$40 for a fill-up.

Keep in mind most cheap rental cars you'll get over here will get about 30-35mpg (American, obviously) on the highway, and 25-30 in the city.

You may find this site useful:

http://www.gasbuddy.com/

Thanks for the effort

Quote from The Very End :

That was a very usefull summary, thanks a lot
About the prize for renting a car, 200 each week seems fair, we will at least be two people sharing the bill, maybe more, so it's ok. Hows the petrol prices down there these days? And please use dollar pr. liter, and not gallons, I have no clue what a gallon is

Ptice per gallon... Simple. look at a gas station,s price sign. It'll be per gallon.
in San Francisco this will be pretty high compared to the rest of the U.S.
It was over $5.00 a gallon when we were there.
Anyways... look at the price sign, divide by four and pretend you got ripped off a little. That's your price per litre.

Simply put, the gas prices are a lot lower compared to Norway, I presume. 1 gallon is roughly 3.7 litres so you'll be paying about a dollar per litre.

Come visit sunny Pittsburgh instead.

Quote from Forbin :

Come visit sunny Pittsburgh instead.

And look at billions of hay bales and tumbleweeds on the long drive to any where else

Quote from Forbin :

Come visit sunny Pittsburgh instead.

Haha, if we are going down to America (it's still in planning phaze), it would be fun seeing some of the faces from this forum! Maybe just over a cofee cup or a beer, or maybe a propper pub round or something! :]

Quote from Forbin :

Come visit sunny Pittsburgh instead.

I'm here today for the game. Go Steelers.

Quote from The Very End :

Haha, if we are going down to America (it's still in planning phaze), it would be fun seeing some of the faces from this forum! Maybe just over a cofee cup or a beer, or maybe a propper pub round or something! :]

You did that in the UK, and look what happened ROFL

Fordie

Every time I see this in the thread list, I read it as 'Question about time-travelling'

Quote from Fordman :

You did that in the UK, and look what happened ROFL

Fordie

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame & Museum admission is only $5.

Quote from dekojester :

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame & Museum admission is only $5.

Nice! How far are those from, lets say SA?
And how much would you have to pay to actually take a car out on a track in America? We don't have that here, and I would gladly pay quite a bit to take out any car on a track!

Quote from The Very End :

Nice! How far are those from, lets say SA?
And how much would you have to pay to actually take a car out on a track in America? We don't have that here, and I would gladly pay quite a bit to take out any car on a track!

Yeah that's out of your budget by a lot. I can't think of any tracks other than the Petty one at Disney World where you can drive a car on a track that isn't yours. There are rare circuit days but they are $200 and up per person per car per session.

It was $100 for me to take my mini to Nelson Ledges which is our local track. Plus Feb/Mar is way before the season.

Quote from Blade3562 :

Yeah that's out of your budget by a lot. I can't think of any tracks other than the Petty one at Disney World where you can drive a car on a track that isn't yours. There are rare circuit days but they are $200 and up per person per car per session.

It was $100 for me to take my mini to Nelson Ledges which is our local track. Plus Feb/Mar is way before the season.

And how long is a session, 30 mins, 1 hour, more?
Ideal would be a track with offered some cars, guess the rent car company won't be happy if I told them I was going for a roadtrip and aswell use the car on a track

Quote from DeadWolfBones :

Yeah, WPB is actually where I grew up (1983-2006). I suppose it's nice to visit, but I'm a bit blinded by the annoyances of living there.

I was supposed to go there for a week just before christmas for work (Office Depot are one of our customers and their HQ is down there) but some rat bastard decided I had to stay in the UK to meet some other lousy customer and they sent the guy who sits next to me to WPB for a week instead. *ANGRY FACE*

1) Bring/rent a wetsuit if you're going surfin' (water is freezing cold)
2) Take a roadtrip on Highway 1 down to Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara.
3) Come back to SF and visit China Town, Fishermans Wharf, Muir Woods, Bolinas (north of SF).

It's safe, fun and yes you might get to use your shorts. Happy trip!

I would love to go to China Town.

Quote from HenkkaWRC :

The gallon (abbreviation "gal") is a measure of liquid capacity in both the US customary units and the British imperial systems of measurement. Three significantly different sizes are in current use: the imperial gallon (≈ 4.546 L) which is used in the United Kingdom, Canada, and some Caribbean countries; the US gallon (≈ 3.79 L), which is used in the US and some Latin American and Caribbean countries; and the least-used US dry gallon (≈ 4.40 L).

-Wikipedia


I'm sorry. I had to..

The gallon isn't used at all in Canada. We use Metric.

Damn you wikipedia!