San Francisco - LA Roadtrip

jayu619

Hi MSE members,

I am planning to do a "west coast" road trip from San Francisco to LA. So we will fly into San Fran and fly out from San Diego or even LAX, not sure yet.

This will be our first trip to the states, and definitely our first roadtrip. We plan to go around September, between 10-14 days. £ of us will be going. We are between 22-24 and are fully aware of the surcharge, which should be no problem especially because most dont charge for 1-way drops off on the west coast.

But the main reason for me posting here is:

- What to do between the 2 locations?
- Any places to stay along the way?
- What to avoid/what to look out for?
etc...

We plan to make a visit to Las Vegas and visit the canyon and all the other major tourist attractions in Nevada.

Thank you for all your help in advance!

blindman

jayu619 wrote: »

Hi MSE members,

I am planning to do a "west coast" road trip from San Francisco to LA. So we will fly into San Fran and fly out from San Diego or even LAX, not sure yet.

This will be our first trip to the states, and definitely our first roadtrip. We plan to go around September, between 10-14 days. £ of us will be going. We are between 22-24 and are fully aware of the surcharge, which should be no problem especially because most dont charge for 1-way drops off on the west coast.

But the main reason for me posting here is:

- What to do between the 2 locations?
- Any places to stay along the way?
- What to avoid/what to look out for?
etc...

We plan to make a visit to Las Vegas and visit the canyon and all the other major tourist attractions in Nevada.

Thank you for all your help in advance!

Look at this thread for ideas and previous RT's

You do not have enough time to go to Las Vegas AND GC and it's a LOT of driving.

If you do intend doing that consider flying back from LAS. You should still be OK for the No drop off fee between CA and Nevada IIRC

Mr_Wang

People moan about one way drop off charges etc. I took a car from Los Angeles to New York and paid $250.

It's not that bad.

But if you wanna do GC etc then you'll be best heading straight to Reno via Lake Tahoe and then dropping through Death Valley to Las Vegas.
From there go to GC and then back to LA.

If you don't linger too long it's easy done and remember, LA is garbage except for Santa Monica and perhaps West Hollywood. Don't plan to stay there for too long.

torbrex

jayu619 wrote: »

But the main reason for me posting here is:

- What to do between the 2 locations?
- Any places to stay along the way?
- What to avoid/what to look out for?
etc...

We plan to make a visit to Las Vegas and visit the canyon and all the other major tourist attractions in Nevada.

Thank you for all your help in advance!

First thing to decide is whether to do the coast run or the National Park run, you simply will not have time to do both.

Of the 2, I would do the NP trip again.
Start in SF for a couple of days without a car then hit the road to Yosemite NP allowing a day for the drive and at least a full day in the park.
On to Kings Canyon and Sequoia NP again a day for the drive and at least a full day in the park.
Death valley NP next and depending on how hot it is I would suggest allowing 2 days to see (and get to all) the major sights in the park, it is a big place and you need to double back on yourself to see everything.
That takes care of the first week.
Vegas and the Grand Canyon could account for the rest of your trip if you want to go that way.
If you want to go to either LA or San diego, I would suggest that you pick one and again that would take up the rest of your time.

Gloomendoom

We drove did LA, Palm Springs, Lake Havasu, GC (two days), Las Vegas (not my cup of tea), Death Valley, Yosemite, SF and back down the coast road via San Luis Obispo to LA.

I think it took 15 days in all. 2800 miles of driving.

It's worth pointing out that the GC is a days drive away from LV.

blindman

Gloomendoom wrote: »

We drove did LA, Palm Springs, Lake Havasu, GC (two days), Las Vegas (not my cup of tea), Death Valley, Yosemite, SF and back down the coast road via San Luis Obispo to LA.

I think it took 15 days in all. 2800 miles of driving.

It's worth pointing out that the GC is a days drive away from LV.

Did you actually stop anywhere

sophief333

Hello! I did this trip for my honeymoon last October.

There were 4 of us (between the ages of 22 and 29) and a 2 year old.

Here was our itinerary:

We flew to San Francisco and stayed there for one night in a hotel.

The next day we picked up our RV, a huge 36 ft Fleetwood Bounder. We drove to a RV park just north of San Fran and stayed there for 2 night, driving into San Fran and seeing the sites (alcatraz) during those days.

From there we drove to Mariposa (on route to Yosemite) and spent one night there. This was simply to break up the drive.

We then drove into Yosemite and saw the falls. This was by far the best part of the trip for me! It was AMAZING! I'm desperate to go back to Yosemite and do some climbing. We only spent half a day there and then set of though the Tioga Pass (a bloody terrifying drive, much of which you on cliff edges!) and the stopped overnight in the small town of Bishop.

We set of the next day and drove through Death Valley, which was an amazing drive! Past area 51! Seems like you drive for miles without even moving the steering wheel! A real desert experience.

We arrived that evening in Vegas. Where we stayed for 2 nights. I wasn't that impressed with Vegas, but I'm more of the outdoorsy type, don't drink of gamble. But my Bro and Sister in-laws loved it.

From there we went to The Grand Canyon, which was AWESOME! we stayed there over night then set off for the big drive to LA!

We stayed in Anaheim (near Disney). We hired a car and went into LA for one day but to be honest I thought it was kinda a dive. We spent the next few days in the Disney Parks (which are rubbish compared to the Florida ones).

And then we flew home! (A horrid bumpy flight, and I hate flying!)

Great trip! Any questions please ask!

Our RV- and the men emptying the poop!

rorylando45

I did 4,800 miles in 27 days in Summer 2010 and had the time of my life, will never forget some of the things I saw and did then.

Gloomendoom

blindman wrote: »

Did you actually stop anywhere

Ha ha! We did! Far too long in Las vegas. I'd rather have spent more time in Yosemite.

It was a road trip, not a multi-centre holiday.

a_gwtw

I highly recommend the A1 route from SF to LA. It's one of the most breathtakingly beautiful driving routes I've done! There're plenty of nice small towns along the way for you to stop by. We stopped at Monterray and Santa Barbara and some other places that I forgot the name now. And as anywhere in America, it's dead easy to find a reasonable motel along the way whenever you need it.

sunflowersuffolk

Sorry to resurrect this, but wanted opinions please on proposed road trip please. We will be in St Louis for 3 day music festival 30 Aug, then arrive SF 2 Sept. Stay 3 nights, then 1 night Carmel, 1 night Cambria, then inland to Yosemite for 2 nights. Then to Lone Pine 1 night, then early start thro Death Valley to Vegas 1 night.Then to GC for 2 nights (see Hoover Dam on way to GC - longest day driving). Then GC to Phoenix via Sedona for flight home (will stay Sedona or Phoenix 1 night depending on flight.) So 13 nights ex St Louis part. Wondering if best to reverse trip so we get harder driving done at begining, and relax by coast at end.Thanks anyone