Southwest USA & The West Coast (California, Arizona etc) - General Thread

blindman

Rahven wrote: »

Me again Sorry I feel like I am spamming your thread!

We've had lots of good advice both here and on another forum and are now thinking of dropping Yosemite as it's proving difficult to fit in (getting somewhere to stay too). We are now in favor of the following itinerary (bear with me, lol):

Sun 1 - Santa Barbara
Mon 2 - San Luis Opisbo/Pismo Beach
Tue 3 - Carmel/Monterey
Wed 4 - San Francisco
Thur 5 - Lake Tahoe
Fri 6 - Lake Tahoe or back to San Francisco via the other route
Sat 7 - San Fran
Sun 8 - San Fran
Mon 9 - fly to NY

I think you guys were totally right about rushing the coastal drive - I think we will much prefer a relaxed drive up to San Fran and we really like the look of Lake Tahoe and it's much easier to find somewhere to stay. Plus we can check out Carson City and Reno whilst we're there. I know going back to San Fran seems a bit of a waste but we were thinking we could drive one way to Lake Tahoe and back via the other route.

Good choice on Lake Tahoe

I was going to suggest you miss Yosemite this trip as the crowds would spoilt the visit and possibly look at Lake Tahoe as it is beautiful. The link I gave shows the fireworks they have so can you not stay there ofr the 4th July?
You seem to be intent on bouncing around San Fran with several one night stops.
I find one nighters can be a pain as you have to find the place, unpack the overnight things, then repack the car and repeat.


My more 2 cents

Wed 4th Lake Tahoe Fireworks
Thurs 5th Lake Tahoe Expore the lake\area
Frid 6th-Mond San F Explore North of San F\Nappa Valley?


Stopped over in Reno for a one nighter so can't give a true comment but I got the impression it was not a place to visit-just pass through.

Have a good time!

Rahven

Vikki_74 wrote: »

Oh, and just in case you're slotting in that one-nighter in SF purely for 4th July reasons, this article about last year's fireworks in South Lake Tahoe might be of interest...looks pretty cool!

It was partly that but also partly to break up the drive a little bit. Will check those links out when I get home, thank you!

Thanks for the input BM - only looking at one one-nighter in San Fran, then 2 nights on way back, take on board your point tho. And will check out the link (won't load at work).

Thanks again for helping us US newbies out with this - very much appreciated!

Rahven

Ok so we're looking at the driving times again
We want to drive the last bit of route one up to SF from Carmel, but if we do that then go onto Lake Tahoe it's a 6+ hour drive
If we do Carmel to SF via route 1 it's 2.5 hours, then SF to Lake Tahoe it's a 3.5 odd hour drive - I think we'd prefer to do it in two chunks so we're not totally knackered. We'll do one route to Lake Tahoe and a different one back to see a few more sights on the way and I'm sure it'll work out
The fireworks look totally awesome in both places so not too worried really.
We'll let you know where we end up booking :T

Vikki_74

Obviously it's up to you how far you think you can realistically drive in one day, but after doing the "we need to break the driving up" one nighter a couple of times we are now firmly of the opinion that we'd rather spend an extra hour or two on the road some days in return for fewer stops / longer stays in each hotel. It's just nicer to be able to settle somewhere for a few nights rather than moving on all the time which can be quite exhausting.

Also, as I think someone has already mentioned, SF is a bit of a nightmare with a car. If you did as blindman suggested you would be able to drop it off on arrival in SF saving you an extra days hire charge, plus you could stay somewhere central for your whole 3 nights in SF without the hassle of driving/parking.

End of the day it's up to you though - it's your honeymoon and only you can really decide what will suit you best .

nige_saver

I'm thinking of a taking a two week road trip taking in the the following in late August early Sept this year, any advice would be gratefully appreciated.



Fly intoLos Angles and stay for two nights.

Travel onto Death Valley

Two nights in Las Vegas

Zion national park

Bryce Canyon

Monument Valley

Two nights at Grand Canyon

Sedona

Scottsdale

Two nights in Sad Diego
Return to LA

Should we book hotels before travelling or leave it till we're there?

Murphy_The_Cat

nige_saver wrote: »

Should we book hotels before travelling or leave it till we're there?

My preferenece is to book everything before we go, as the knowledge that I know where we are staying each night, with a guaranteed reservation is worth more than saving a few $$'s.

jackieblack

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

My preferenece is to book everything before we go, as the knowledge that I know where we are staying each night, with a guaranteed reservation is worth more than saving a few $$'s.

I couldn't agree more.
If you book direct with hotels you can often cancel up to the day of/day before arrival without penalty, so you're not locked in if your plans change.

blindman

nige_saver wrote: »

I'm thinking of a taking a two week road trip taking in the the following in late August early Sept this year, any advice would be gratefully appreciated.



Fly intoLos Angles and stay for two nights.
Possibly use Priceline to get a cheap LAX hotel as your first night is fixed. Pick up hire car second day.

Travel onto Death Valley
Need to book accomodation B4 as IFAIk it's expensive and in short supply. (Never stopped here becasue of that!)

Two nights in Las Vegas
Look around for hotel deals on the Vegas thread-try not to book at Weekends

Zion national park
Get an America the beautiful Pass (from Ebay ) to save entrance fees

Bryce Canyon

Monument Valley
If you're staying here book before you go as accomodation is scarce\expensive

Two nights at Grand Canyon
Book before you get there accomodation is expensive

Sedona

Scottsdale

Two nights in Sad Diego :eek:
Return to LA

Should we book hotels before travelling or leave it till we're there?

How many people are travelling? I usually wing it if there's just me + Mrs, except for first and last nights as they are usually fixed near an airport.

Plenty of info on the first page.

daisiegg

I'd book accommodation beforehand, definitely.

We stayed in Furnace Creek in Death Valley, and it was awesome.

travellerboy

nige_saver wrote: »

I'm thinking of a taking a two week road trip taking in the the following in late August early Sept this year, any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

I travelled part of your route the same time last year. I definately would book ahead, most of the hotel were fully booked months ahead.
Just a few tips.................

CG - We stayed at El Tovar - definately not worth the money - if I went again I would stay at the Best Western in Tusayan - cheaper, better and fabulous food, only a few miles away.

Monument Valley - The View Hotel is silly prices, stay in Kayenta only 30 mins away. We stayed at the View and there were no advantage as the best views are from the restaurant veranda which is open to all - residents do not get preferential treatment.

Zion - A must is to travel into Zion on Highway 9 - awesome.