West Coast USA

I would also suggest dropping Santa Cruz - we were planning on staying but drove straight through - much nicer places along the coast!

Didn't go to Vegas when we went - instead we did SF, Yosemite (stunning - stay as long as you can!), Cambria (1/2 way between LA and SF) Monterey, Half Moon Bay and then back into SF.

Would definitely spend longer in Monterey - so much to do there, would say whale watching and the aquarium are a must - 17-mile drive as well. If your budget can stretch would recommend the Seven Gables Inn in Monterey (more Pacific Grove really), fantastic B&B - they do a wine tasting and buffet every afternoon as well as hot chocolate and homemade cookies of an evening!

Instead of driving, how about driving to LAX from Santa Barbara and flying to Vegas? Had a look on Expedia and flights seem very reasonable

Shows how different people like different things doesn't it - we really enjoyed the drive from LA to Vegas, although did it in the daytime rather than at night and we weren't straight off a flight like you!

We already had the hire car at our hotel in LA so just loaded it up and off we went...had a couple of stops along the way (world's largest thermometer anyone...?) and before we knew it we'd arrived in Las Vegas! Much less stressful in my opinion than getting to and from airports, messing about checking luggage etc etc and we stopped at In-N-Out Burger for something to eat - much yummier than any food you'd get on a flight!

Took an internal flight from LV to SF and that was fine to, I just think the drive to/from LA is a pretty cool one going through the desert etc and not something I'd just rule out.

northwest1965 wrote: »

Wow, thanks everyone. It has really made us think! It would flow better going into LAX or the other option of flying LAX to Vegas.
We plan to go early October. Prices a lot more expensive than spursman is paying!

Yeah, it was just one of those occasional happy coincidences. I never got to travel at all last year due to pressure of work and a colleague not in the best of health, had saved a reasonable stash and have some 28 days leave to use by the end of March.

Just to pep myself up I picked some notional dates and run them through various sites and the airfare made me think I need to do something about this. Wasn't sure if any comps were still valid as the last time I was out there was Nov 09. But hey bingo it come together quite nicely it was going to cost me about £1,250 to go on my own but a mate couldn't resist and here we are.

I am also able to carry some leave over as long as it is prebooked, so I will probably book 10 days Vegas only in July.

northwest1965 wrote: »

Another question comes to mind.....how good are the sat navs that you get with th rental cars?

I bought one here covering Europe and the USA, bought it off Amazon for about £135. Because I use it over here it is familiar to me, I reckon that just over 2 trips Stateside it will have paid for itself when compared to the car hire ones.

I have (sad!) run simulated routes on areas that I know and found it to be as good as here, I still drive past my turning where ever I am, it will even direct you to Uturn which is still a spooky experience for a Brit.

Here I usually leave it on just to warn of the speed cameras, I don't know about California but Nevada doesn't have speed cameras, so you have a chance to meet Smokey.

northwest1965 wrote: »

Another question comes to mind.....how good are the sat navs that you get with th rental cars?

Not worth the money, in my opinion. Like the previous poster, I bought a sat nav in the UK with the US maps on it. Oddly enough, it was cheaper in the UK.

It worked flawlessly, even the traffic warnings and re-routing. Plus, you get to bring it home with you.