Vegas-San Fransisco-LA-Vegas trip

ljcoops

I am going to the US in Oct my intention is to fly to Vegas and stay over for four nights i then plan to drive to san fransisco before going to LA before finally driving back to Vegas for the flight home,
I need any good advice as to where to stop over for a few nights between cities so as to break the journey up and also to see other sights/places of interest.
How long would you recommend staying in each city. Is LA really worth it ????
As always all reples appreciated

colmil

I have done this trip, perhaps you don't realise the distance involved, why do the round trip with all the time and expense involved, leave yourself time to enjoy the places you visit!

As a guide, we flew into San Francisco, stayed a few nights, drove doen the Big Sur to Santa Monica etc.,( missed out LA as I had been before, not a lot to do there) across to Paml Springs then headed for Las Vegas from where we flew home.

You can arrange this'open jaw' flights easily and there are several car hire firms who will arrange drop off at your final destination.

ruthy14

hiya we are doing a silmilar trip, sept 30th leave for vegas and stay 6 nights, then fly to sanfrancisco for 2 nights pick up a car then drive to monterey, stay 1 night and go on a whale watching trip, then drive back to vegas stopping of 1 more night and staying in vegas 2 more nights before heading back home.
just to say vegas is fantastic.
hope you have a great trip

LJW_2

Hi we did this last year but went from Las Vegas to LA then San Fran then back to Vegas!! (driving) big mistake it took us 9 hours from San Fran to Vegas!! we were nearly back to LA before we had to turn back towards Vegas. Felt like we spent most of the time driving.


Good to get advice before you go. Also we went back to Vegas early and booked a room through Hotels.com, got the room at the Sahara for £20 our money, really cheap site.

Didn't think there was much to do in LA but did do a tour which was good and took you around Hollywood (not what I expected) also Universal Studios was great and we were given tickets for a baseball game and that was a good experience.

Good luck

debs66_2

hi

we were planning the same route 2 years ago, but when we really started looking into it, we realised we would spend more time getting to places than actually doing anything while we were there, and it was supposed to be a holiday.

from a 3 city loop, we downgraded to 2 cities (Vegas + LA), and then we started discussing the Grand Canyon, and ended up with one city only :rotfl:

we eventualy did 3 nights in Vegas, then took a 6 night road trip north into Zion National Park (the most beautiful place i've ever seen), onto Paige, Arizona (slot canyons, Lake Powell, filming location for Planet Of The Apes), then the Grand Canyon from the east entrance. Next we travelled down to Sedona (John Wayne country, red rocks etc), before heading to Yucca and a night on a ranch, before a last night in Vegas.

i have to say, we did a hell of a lot of driving and that loop isn't anything like the one you're planning. if you want to fit in all 3 cities, i would consider a flight to at least one, as already suggested.

re LA, as we missed it on the road trip we went there last year, staying half way between there and San Diego. Now SD is a place to visit, but then that's another few hundred miles to add to your trip!

LA is ok for a few days. We did Universal Studios and the Getty Museum, plus Hollywood etc. You can fill 2-3 days easily.

When we planned our road trip, we found these sites invaluable - www.tripadvisor.com (for accommodation & reviews of things to do), www.roadtripamerica.com (as it says - great forum moderators who seem to know every road - good search facility too), www.maps.live.com (for planning directions and routes - add a little longer on though as the timings are a little under).

enjoy the planning. it makes the holiday longer :T

jetboy

Sacramento isn't bad for a night or 2

Rotherham_Lass

We did something similar last year as my brother got married in Vegas and we did a bit of a tour round to add to the holiday.

We flew to LA, hired a car and stayed in Santa Monica which is well worth a visit, plus Venice Beach, Malibu etc. We went into LA a couple of times for the tour round the stars' homes (well worth it for a laugh!), Hollywood etc

We then flew to Vegas and spent 3 nights there (enough for us tbh). The flight cost about $50. Then flew to SF (about $100) and hired a car there. Stayed in SF for 3 nights then made our way by car back down to LA stopping at various places that we fancied (didn't book anything) like Santa Barbara. Monterrey and Carmel are worth a visit too and there are loads of nice places along the coast like Half Moon Bay too.

I would definitely recommend flying for part of it or you are going to get sick of driving.

Have a great time. I really want to go back and see some of the places we couldn't fit in.

Lynneth

My hubby and I did a similar trip a few years back. We flew into LA, stayed one night at the LAX Hilton. Next day we picked up our Harley, had a ride down to Hollywood Boulevard and then spent the next 5 days to ride up the PCH to SF. LA-SF didn't take as long as we thought it would so we had a detour into Yosemite which was beautiful. After a couple of days in SF, we picked up a hire car and drove to Vegas via Death Valley which took 2 days. We stopped overnighted at Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley. After a few days in Vegas we caught a ridiculously cheap internal flight back to LA for the flight home. I don't think there's much to see between LA and LV... but I would definitely recommend the Pacific Coast Highway, Yosemite, and Death Valley.

Murphy_The_Cat

If you are considering spending some time along The Big Sure area of Highway 1 Pacific Coat Highway, (& I'd do this rather than spend time in SF !) then keep an eye on the fire situation that is affecting the area.
This is is current as I could find for you.

mrtg0525

Yep, it's still closed at the moment according to the official California DOT site. There are a lot of wildfires out in California at the moment and it doesn't look like it's getting any better anytime soon.

Murphy_The_Cat

mrtg0525 wrote: »

Yep, it's still closed at the moment according to the official California DOT site. There are a lot of wildfires out in California at the moment and it doesn't look like it's getting any better anytime soon.

I hope that they have alternative routes available for the small sections that are currently closed, as it will make a real mess of things for people !

just found this small video on the BBC. I really feel for the people that it is affecting.