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Road Trip - San Francisco to Vegas

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Hi All

This has probably been asked so many times but me and my husband are in the planning stages of a road trip along the west coast of America, so far we are thinking of the following......

Fly to San Francisco for a few days
drive down the coastal road to Cambria
drive up to Death Valley NP
drive to vegas for a couple of nights down town
drive to Grand Canyon NP
drive to Sedona
drive back to Vegas for a few nights on the stip
fly home from vegas

It will be in September 2010 (just after the labour day weekend) for 2 weeks, is this do-able and if so does this route sound ok?

Also if there is anywhere that you can suggest we see that would be fab.

Thanks
Claire xx
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Comments

  • We did a similar trip three years ago. Flew into SF for a three day stay and loved every minute of it. Did the coach tour around the city which was fab, catch it from the Wharf. Did the boat trip to Alcatraz which was really interesting and a bit spooky. Did the coach trip to Sausalito which is a pretty town (and the weather is a whole lot warmer than SF!) and got the ferry back. Hired a car as we left SF.
    Drove to Yosemite for 2 days then the Napa Valley for 2 days and visited Mondavi's vineyard for a tour. Left there and drove through Death Valley to Vegas for five days and visited the Grand Canyon by helicopter then flew home from there.
    My only tip would be to avoid Vegas at weekends. Monday to Thursday it's fine but far too crowded on Friday's and Saturday's. If you have to be there over the weekend, head for downtown Vegas which is much quieter.
  • elsie52
    elsie52 Posts: 1,902 Forumite
    Hi Claire

    We did a coach trip 11 years ago :-

    Flew into San Fransisco for 2 nights
    Day 3. 17 mile Drive calling in at Carmel and Monterey and staying over night at San Luis Obisbo.
    Day 4. Drive to Los Angeles via Santa Barbara and Santa Monica. Stayed for 3 nights in Los Angeles.
    Day 7 Palm Springs
    Day 8 Palm Springs.
    Day 9,10 and 11 in Las Vegas.

    We loved every minute of it. We also are now in the process of arranging our trip back next September, its hubby's 60th birthday. We intend to stay for an extra night in San Fransisco and omit the Los Angeles part, and instead after Las Vegas go onto Flagstaff and see the Grand Canyon. we hope to stay in Williams and go on the Grand Canyon railway, and then onto Kanab before heading bck to Las Vegas. We hope to do this within a 2 week timescale and believe its possible. We are also working on a budget so are looking for deals on almost everything.

    What date is the Labour day weekend?....Hubby's birthday is the 15th so we hope to be there around that time


    June 2010 - 11/56 lbs Weight to lose before May 2011.

  • Zazie
    Zazie Posts: 335 Forumite
    clairel69 wrote: »
    Hi All


    Fly to San Francisco for a few days
    drive down the coastal road to Cambria
    drive up to Death Valley NP
    drive to vegas for a couple of nights down town
    drive to Grand Canyon NP
    drive to Sedona
    drive back to Vegas for a few nights on the stip
    fly home from vegas

    Hi Claire
    We are doing the almost identical trip next April except planning to cut across from Cambria via Bakersfield to Las Vegas, and not taking in Sedona. How long are you taking for the whole trip? We have 3 weeks. Don't want to spend the whole time in the car.
    We are not getting a hire car until the day we leave San Francisco as we are staying centrally and think we'll be able to walk or use public transport the week we are there. Saves a bit of money. Apparently parking is not easy in SF anyway.
    Haven't booked a car yet and it seems most places charge a hefty one-way fee if you don't return the car to the place you pick it up. I didn't know this and when I booked our flights out to SF and back from LV. At the moment Alamo are looking like the best bet.Be interested to hear if anyone's found anywhere better.
    If planning to stop on the coast, apparently it is best to book accommodation, especially if at weekends, as it gets booked up (my brother said he drove for 5 hours looking for a place to stay!). You can book on websites like hotels.com which let you cancel up until 2 or 3 days before if you find a better deal or change your travel plans. Check the cancellation policy though (I have boobed and made one booking direct with a hotel in Cambria which will charge if I cancel - fortunately I think I won;t want to cancel.)
    Early booking is the way to go if you want to stay in the Grand Canyon National Park too. I just booked a night in a cabin at Bright Angel Lodge. Again, you can cancel if plans change.
    For Las Vegas, have a look at the Las Vegas thread which is now a sticky. Some of the guys on there spend a LOT of time in LV and know just about everything worth knowing about the place. And they are really helpful.
    Anyway, I think we'll be seeing some amazing places and am really looking forward to it!!
  • Zazie
    Zazie Posts: 335 Forumite
    Oops - just looked again and saw you are going for 2 weeks. I thought we'd need 3, but then we are staying a full week in SF and not doing Sedona.
  • Indout96
    Indout96 Posts: 2,392 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    We are not getting a hire car until the day we leave San Francisco as we are staying centrally and think we'll be able to walk or use public transport the week we are there. Saves a bit of money. Apparently parking is not easy in SF anyway.

    Parking is impossible in S/F, all we ever did was drive round to see the sights and back to the hotel car park (which was around $25 per day to park) we used the cable car a couple of times but it is quite a long queue - really fun hanging off the side of it though
    Totally Debt Free & Mortgage Free Semi retired and happy
  • Zazie
    Zazie Posts: 335 Forumite
    Indout96 wrote: »
    we used the cable car a couple of times but it is quite a long queue - really fun hanging off the side of it though

    Do their health and saftety people allow that??!! :j
  • Thanks for your replies, we have got so much to think about and it seems like a long way away but i know it will come round fast.
    We havent looked into places to stay yet or car hire or anything like that, we wanted to decide where we was going to visit first.
    Zazie - im so pleased there is someone else doing the same sort of trip, what made you decide visit the places you are going to and where you are staying? Our itinery isnt set in stone yet were just not sure what or where there is to do/go, lol. Are there any websites etc that you have used? Id love to hear how you get on too.....

    Ta
    Claire xx
  • Its a long drive to Las Vegas and we flew from SF and stayed a few nights then picked a car up to go to the Grand Canyon stayed in the Nnational Park then flew back to SF I would recommend staying in the Grand Canyon National Park if you can as it is beautiful and peaceful after all the day trippers have gone. Try and stay in Yosemite too but you will need to book early . http://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm
  • ferf1223
    ferf1223 Posts: 8,936 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    check with carhire3000.com - we didn't have to pay a one-way fee from LA to Vegas, so it may be that you can get a rental without a one-way fee from San Fran if you decide to rent a car. Normally it will say that there may be a 1-way charge and they will advise you after booking...if you email them they will let you know for sure (you can cancel if there is) and if not they will update your voucher to clearly state that there is no one way fee.

    There may be others that do this, but this is the one I've seen recommended on the Vegas thread and it worked for me.
    Does remembering a time that a certain degree of personal responsibility was more or less standard means that I am officially old?
  • Zazie
    Zazie Posts: 335 Forumite
    clairel69 wrote: »
    Zazie - im so pleased there is someone else doing the same sort of trip, what made you decide visit the places you are going to and where you are staying? Our itinery isnt set in stone yet were just not sure what or where there is to do/go, lol. Are there any websites etc that you have used? Id love to hear how you get on too.....

    My first ever trip to the States was to California 12 years ago. We took the boys (then 13 and 11) to Los Angeles and San Diego. We all agree even now it was the best family holiday ever. So we wanted to go back to California (just 2 of us this time).
    My husband is desperate to see San Francisco as he was really into all the West Coast music (Grateful Dead etc) in the 60s and 70s. I wanted to see the Grand Canyon and desert, and Las Vegas as it's a bit of a legend.
    We have done time-share exchanges for our 2 main weeks: first in central SF, 2nd just outside LV. We have 4 days to drive between the 2. At the moment, the plan is to drive down the Pacific Coast Highway and stay a night in Monterey (have booked a back-up hotel but might find a better deal nearer the time), a night in Cambria and then a night in Bakersfield. We are taking a night out from our week in LV to drive to the Grand Canyon and stay in a cabin one night there. I'm hoping the GC will be less crowded evening and morning as most of the tour buses are there middle of the day. Also, we'll be able to see the sun set and rise over the canyon - assuming there is a sun that day!
    Claire - glad to see I am not the only one that likes to plan ahead!
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