If you flying in and out of San Francisco, I'd go:

SF > LA (down Highway 1 on the coast, as you say) > San Diego > Yosemite > Lake Tahoe > SF

The drive from SF to LA takes a long time down Highway 1. The quickest route is by taking I-5 but that's a loooong and boring stretch of road. But the speed limit is 70mph compared to 65mph for most of Highway 101, which would be another alternative, but I only recommend it if you plan on taking in Santa Barbara.

Personally, I would probably fly to SF and stay there for a few days. Then, drive south on Highway 101 until you reach Salinas (you'll also pass through San Jose, so you could take in Paramount's Great America theme park, the Winchester Mystery House or the Great Mall of America). Once at Salinas, take Highway 68 to Monterey (approx. 20 minutes). Since you'll be in the area, you might as well stop, right? Then, drive south down Highway 1 until you get to San Luis Obispo, where Highway 1 merges with Highway 101. Continue south into LA. Again, this isn't the quickest way but it allows you to potentially (if you want to) see San Jose, Salinas (but only if you like John Steinbeck, there is a museum there), Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur and San Luis Obispo. Plus, the scenery along Highway 1, particularly between Carmel (Carmel is just south of Monterey) and Big Sur, is spectacular.

Have you also considered seeing Vegas? If you stay in LA for a few days, I would take one of those days to drive to Vegas (approx. 5 hr drive). LA is okay but not all it's cracked up to be. It's worth seeing but I wouldn't spend huge amounts of time here (I live near LA), which is why I'd go to Vegas if you have a day or two free).

San Diego is very nice...check out the zoo.

Yosemite is amazing. You will get there early enough in the year so Glacier Point should still be open (I feel a visit to Yosemite is only half complete without seeing the views Glacier Point has to offer).

Lake Tahoe also has some terrific views and scenery. Here is another option: if you do consider Vegas and like gambling, you might also consider Reno which isn't too far from Lake Tahoe and would be less out of the way. The downside is that you'd have to drive across the Sierra Nevadas which can be very hazardous because of the snow and ice, although in Sept/Oct it might not be so bad.

Budget hotels.... usually, Best Western are decent and most of their hotels are a good standard, even those with a low budget in mind. Marriott is always good but has less locations. Motel 6 is very, very average and I'd pick Best Western over them any day but Motel 6 would be okay in a pinch. Holiday Inn is a good chain. Most hotels/motels in the US have swimming pools and hot tubs.

Hope this helps. I've lived in California for a number of years and, while not acquainted with every route etc., I'm happy to try to answer any questions you have.

I concur with Gray and second his/her suggestions.

By the way, taking the coast highway south from Monterey and Big Sur will bring you to Hearst Castle. This magnificent mansion/castle was constructed by the famed newspaperman, William Hearst in the first half of the twentieth century. There is an incredible Greco-Roman pool built fronting the mansion on a mountaintop with a stunning view of the California hills and Pacific Ocean. Absolutely worth the cost of admission!

One thing I should add: if you take the route I suggested, that actually DOES allow you to see Santa Barbara, as you would pass through it on Highway 101 when heading south towards LA. It's only if you take I-5 that you wouldn't go past Santa Barbara.

do yourself a favour and fly into one city and out of another, it will save hassle and time having to go back somewhere you've already been. When we did LA - Vegas - Yosemite - Lake Tahoe - San Fran three years ago we flew into LA and out of San Fran, it made so much sense, we just arranged to drop the hire car off in San Fran too!!

TC

Given the cities she wants to visit, plus taking in Highway 1, there's no way to do that without doubling back at least once (although, admittedly, she'd have to back track at some point whether leaving/departing the same city or two different cities).

Only LA and SF are really viable cities to fly in and out of (unless she does take in Vegas, but that was my suggestion and not part of her itinery). It's possible to fly out of Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento, Moneterey and San Diego but those are usually more expensive (considerably more for Monterey). The route along Highway 1 is best taken going south because the views are on the right and it's easier to pull over at vista points. I can't think of any reasonable route that would involve flying into one city and out of another in this situation (Oakland, maybe, but that's more expensive than SF and has no direct flights to the UK, plus it's close to SF anyway).

Given her itinery, if she decides not to do Highway 1, then by all means fly into San Francisco and go SF > Lake Tahoe > Yosemite > LA > San Diego or, more realistically, SF > Lake Tahoe > Yosemite > San Diego > LA, which involves backtracking a couple of hours but, like I said, a bit of backtracking is unavoidable if you want to do San Diego.

Thanks for all this advice- I have pretty much planned my route based on this. We aren't going to do Vegas as we will save that for another time (when we have more money!)

Chosen to do SF > LA > San Diego > Yosemite > Lake Tahoe > SF

Going to try and hire a soft top depending on what deal I can get! Just got to work out how many nights I need in each place- I am thinking 3 in San Fran, 1 in Yosemite, 1 in Lake Tahoe, but other than that I am a bit clueless!

Doing this sort of trip seems to be the best way to do it so we can stop and do whatever we want!

Awesome, glad your plan is falling into place.

Are you going to drive down Highway 101?

Regarding the number of days in each location, usually I recommend spending more time in SF than LA. However, as you will have a car, that will alllow you to access places close to LA rather than being forced to stick to downtown LA (which, when you've done Hollywood and the Chinese Theater, really doesn't leave much else to do). So, you have Santa Monica, Long Beach (where the Queen Mary is anchored), Universal Studios, Disney, Six Flags...... I do know of a number of "niche' places that you won't find on most tourist maps, so PM me if you'd like some more info (I don't know what you're interested in, though).

Hey guys,

I'm planning a road trip from San Fran to Vegas this summer and wondered if anyone has done the same and has advise on where to visit and what to take.

I'm planning to spend a few days in San Fran, then trip out to Yosemite park camping. From there we'll get back to the west coast and head along the pacific roads visiting places like Carmel, Monteray etc. The plan is then to cut inland just before LA and head to Vegas.

Does anyone suggest anywhere along the way or scenic routes to take?

Any advise welcome

Nylo

PS - We are planning to hire a convertible to do the trip in

Hi Nylo
hope you have a great trip. I cant really help as I have only been to LA and Las Vegas.
A friend of ours did what you are planning last summer, however, and bitterly regretted getting a convertable. They had to change it for a saloon due to the heat. I must say I would prefer a saloon with really good Aircon to a convertible in the summer.

With a convertible, if it gets too hot why not just put the top down and switch on the A/C?

An alternative would be to hire a convertible for the first part of your trip and switch it for a regular sedan prior to going into the more desert areas on the way to Vegas. It certainly won't be too hot for a convertible in the SF area!

Do you have a rough route in mind already?

Thanks Bridd/Gray

My rough route is as follows...

Fly into San Fran, spend a few days seeing the sights there. Then journey south down the coast road taking in the likes of Monteray, Big Sur, basically all the coastal places prior to LA.
Then just before LA we plan to cut inland, visit Death Valley national park and then onto Vegas, where we will fly home from.

A few extra questions - is death valley national park worth a visit and can you drive through it to get to Vegas?

Also, i'm trying to work in a visit to Yosemite NP too, but can only think to go straight from San Fran then double back to get back to the coast. Is Yosemite worth the trouble or is Death Valley enough to satify my outdoor
pursuits?

Thanks for the help guys much appreciated.

Nylo

Ordinarily, the quickest route to Vegas is not to go through Death Valley National Park (you would usually head towards LA and link up with I-15 at the first opportunity). Also, I have near been through it so this is just going by the map (although I have been to Vegas, just not through DVNP), but it LOOKS like you can drive through it. If indeed you can, then there is a way you can take in both Yosemite and DVNP.

San Francisco > Monterey/Carmel > Yosemite > Vegas going through DVNP

To do that, after you are done with Monterey, head north to Highway 156 East, connect to Highway 101 North, then re-connect to 156 East (it doesn't run all the way through Highway 101, which is why you get on 101 for a few miles). Keep going on 156 and connect to 152 East. I recommend a stop at Casa de Fruita on the way (it's shortly before Los Banos on 152)... I think it's worth a visit and it's a good chance to stretch your legs. It's basically a shop and ranch kind of place...they sell fruit, nuts, wine, that sort of thing, but they also have interesting things outside to look at. Continue on 152 East until you get to Highway 99. Take Highway 99 South towards Fresno (this is not the quickest route but I think it might be easiest) and then take Highway 41 North towards Oakhurst and Yosemite. Oakhurst has plenty of lodging and restaurants and is very much a gateway to Yosemite. I have stayed there before and would do so again. People don't usually stay in Yosemite itself... usually you stay in Oakhurst or Mariposa etc. and drive into Yosemite when you want to.

When driving through Yosemite you'll want to take 41 North and join up with 120 East, which will eventually take you out of Yosemite on the East side the park. Then take 395 South until you get to 136. Take 136 East (though it might be South, it isn't clear from the map), connect to 190 East and this takes you into Death Valley National Park. Eventually you should come to a fork where going left or straight on takes you to Highway 374. However, you should go right, which continues on 190 (East or South, it's kind of headed south-east so I'm not 100% sure) and this will, after some miles, take you out of DVNP. It will link up to Highway 127 South, which you then take to I-15 North. I-15 North goes directly into Las Vegas (and will be a much quicker road than the ones you've been travelling on in Yosemite and Death Valley!).

I realize that's a lot of directions but it's the most obvious route I could find that allows you take in both DVNP and Yosemite, and still be headed in the rough direction of Vegas the whole time (except when you go from SF to Monterey, but that part of the trip you were going to do anyway).

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Oh, and given a choice, I would pick Yosemite over DVNP. I haven't been to DVNP but I have been in the desert areas. They are great to see but I've heard it said that very little on Earth (let alone in California) compares to Yosemite, and I think that's a fair comment.

hi there.you have just reminded me of a trip we did about 3yrs ago in sept
i didn't do a trip report at the time but it was such a good holiday
i ll do one now it may give you some ideas cos we did similar to what you want to do..we booked through virgin from london into san francisco and out of las vegas..then planed the holiday round the flights we where not sure what we wanted to do so we decided to book hotels for some dates and leave other dates open to be flexible..we hired a car through
airline-network.co.uk i think it cost us £350 for 12 days a grand jeep cherokee..we booked 2 days in sfo.best western tuscan inn at fishermans wharfe 2 days in the evergreen lodge for yosemite and 3days in the mgm las vegas.the idea was that at other times we would just cruise about
anyway in the end we stayed for 4 days in sfo..visiting alcatraz,doing the wine tour hiring bikes and riding over the golden gate bridge and other touristy things then on to yosemite which is awesome..the scenery takes your breath away..while at yosemite we decided to go to lake tahoe
so we booked 2days at best western timbercove lodge..this turned into 4 days.they have casinos there we also went on a boat trip round the lake and up on the ski lift for the views(i think you are up about 10000ft)
we left there with the intention of driving slowly to las vegas overnighting somewhere but in the event we did it a day about 7 hours so we booked an extra night in the alexis park in vegas and then transferred to mgm
for the last three days,staying in a bungalow suite..all in all one of the best holidays we have had...cheers...rod

Cheers guys, some top quality advise there!! I appreciate the time taken to put down some of that detail.

Looking at your comments i think Yosemite has definately made the agenda!

I'm currently building a schedule on Yahoos trip planner (very useful tool), I'll post the link when i've finished and maybe you could let me know your thoughts.

Thanks again!

Nylo

Hi all, we did a DIY holiday last night with flights from Virgin Atlantic into Vegas and out of LA. We stayed for a week in Vegas and then had a night at the Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim, a night in Lake Havasu, a night in Palm Springs, 3 nights in San Diego and the last night in Long Beach.
San Diego was definitely worth a 3 day stay and actually 4 days would probably have been better, there was loads to see and do
We really enjoyed Long Beach too and toured the Queen Mary.We have always said we'd like to do the Highway 1 tour by car up to San Fran one day so be interesting to read the trip reports!

I thought Yosemite was awesome - one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and views to die for. I would definitely say get it into your itinary

TC