Fly Drive - San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles

Mr_Wang

cubegame wrote: »

If you've not done it before, you'll fall in love with doing it and want to do it again so don't be tempted to haul too far east into Utah with the suggestions of heading to Bryce/Zion etc. Leave that for another day.

For three weeks you have plenty of time to do the full shebang of the West Coast, Seattle to San Diego.

You do know Las Vegas to Zion is only about a 2hr drive don't you?

I'm guessing not.

ferf1223

Mr_Wang wrote: »

You do know Las Vegas to Zion is only about a 2hr drive don't you?

I think it's closer to 3 and further to Bryce as you say...but I loved Zion (I would also take Zion over LA but I've done a couple of nights in LA for the highlights and I'm glad I did, just doubt I will plan another trip that involves much of a stop there).

I suppose it depends on how much someone likes to drive and whether they want some down time at the end of the trip.

photome

Mr_Wang wrote: »

You do know Las Vegas to Zion is only about a 2hr drive don't you?

I'm guessing not.

took us 4 hours i think its close to 180 miles, and add extra to get to Bryce

jackieblack

ag19lfc wrote: »

The longest drive on paper seems to be Grand Canyon/Hoover Dam to LA. Should we be stopping for a night somewhere in between?

We wanted to end in LA so that we can relax at the beaches before flying back to the UK.

It's very much a matter of personal preference and what constitutes a good holiday for you.

Personally, I would do a minimum of 3 nights at Yosemite. I would lose a night each in both SF & LV.

The drive from the Hoover Dam to to the Grand Canyon south rim takes about 4 hours. We left LV mid morning, stopped for a couple of hours at Hoover Dam and drove to South Rim arriving as it got dark.
We stayed 2 nights which gave us a whole day at the South Rim and a second opportunity to see the sunrise over the GC (it had been cloudy the previous day) before leaving the following morning.

The drive from GC to LA definitely benefits from an overnight stop, that way you can enjoy the drive back via Rt66 rather than the interstate and have time to stop at several of the many interesting places along the way. We stayed overnight at Lake Havasu. It also means that when you do arrive in the lunacy/chaos of LA traffic it is at the end of a much shorter day of driving.

If you want beaches/relaxing days at the end of your trip I would suggest San Diego, much nicer than LA

ferf1223

I do think 7 nights in LA is an awful lot...and having an overnight en-route would use up one of those 7. Driving part of Route 66 would be worth doing as jackieblack says, though, since you're right there so at least consider trying to fit it in. It may also be worth considering Oatman on your way between the GC and LA. I don't think I would make it a destination itself, but if you are in the area anyway, we enjoyed the stop.

If we were doing this I suspect we would go GC - > Seligman (to drive part of Rt66, try to stop at the Snow Cap diner but don't ready too much about it beforehand), Oatman and overnight in Lake Havasu as suggested or maybe Laughlin (because we do like a casino and it's nice along the river there, though LH looks a lot prettier, never been)...then pick up the rest of the drive the next day.

We were quite happy with one night at the GC, it's just personal preference and depends on how much you want to explore the area.

Crispy_Ambulance

Personally, I would cut time at Vegas and spend more time in Yosemite. The Gold Country in between SF and Yosemite is also worth a stop. We had 2 nights in Vegas and that was plenty!

San Diego is much nicer than LA.

It will be a great trip though - the West Coast is lovely.

ag19lfc

OK, so we are close to booking our trip. We have revised our route from my opening post.

We now intend to fly non-stop from Manchester into Vegas. Starting in Vegas and doing the trip counter clockwise will allow us to drive the Big Sur Highway.

Las Vegas - 3 nights

Pick up a hire car and drive to Grand Canyon via Hoover Dam - 1 night stay in the South Rim

Back to Las Vegas - 1 night

Drive to Yosemite via Death Valley - 2 nights stay in the Yosemite Valley

Drive to San Francisco and drop off hire car

San Francisco - 3 nights

Pick up another hire car and drive to Monterey - 2 nights

Continue down to Santa Barbara - 2 nights

Head to Santa Monica - 4 nights

Drive to our final destination San Diego - 3 nights

Drive to LAX, dropping off hire car and flying non-stop back to Manchester

Total of 21 nights. Number of days on outskirts of LA may seem excessive but we will need a few days to do the different studio tours and theme parks etc.

jackieblack

ag19lfc wrote: »

OK, so we are close to booking our trip. We have revised our route from my opening post.

We now intend to fly non-stop from Manchester into Vegas. Starting in Vegas and doing the trip counter clockwise will allow us to drive the Big Sur Highway.

Las Vegas - 3 nights

Pick up a hire car and drive to Grand Canyon via Hoover Dam - 1 night stay in the South Rim

Back to Las Vegas - 1 night

Drive to Yosemite via Death Valley - 2 nights stay in the Yosemite Valley

Drive to San Francisco and drop off hire car

San Francisco - 3 nights

Pick up another hire car and drive to Monterey - 2 nights

Continue down to Santa Barbara - 2 nights

Head to Santa Monica - 4 nights

Drive to our final destination San Diego - 3 nights

Drive to LAX, dropping off hire car and flying non-stop back to Manchester

Total of 21 nights. Number of days on outskirts of LA may seem excessive but we will need a few days to do the different studio tours and theme parks etc.

Looks good. I think the PCH is definitely better done north to south

If you want to stay in Yosemite Valley you might want to book asap, as it's frequently fully booked up a year in advance.

Who are you planning to fly with? Flying out of San Diego would avoid the need to return to LA.

Alternatively you could make Santa Monica your last stop (after SD, returning to SM a few days before flying home) as LAX is only about 10 miles from SM beach

PeacefulWaters

Vegas to Death Valley to Yosemite is one hell of a drive for a day.

Death Valley itself is worth a full day of exploration, perhaps with a motel stop in Lone Pine.

I'd knock a night off elsewhere to do DV justice and to avoid doing too much driving in a day.

You've got a fabulous trip planned there.

duchy

The LA nights sound about right if you want to do parks and have some beachtime as well as a day in Hollywood (one day is enough IMO).

There's good prices to be had in Anaheim for Disneyland - might be worth considering for a night or two as Santa Monica can be eyewateringly expensive.

I agree with two nights for Yosemite. One would be too rushed.