California&Vegas for the first time!HELP!

[cinderjenna]

Hi all,

Been reading and reading this board for the last few days since i returned from a wonderful trip to nyc and orlando and made the big decision that next year i'm going West Coast!

Very very excited about planning this trip! Rough itinerary so far is;

4 nights San Francisco
(then hire and car and drive...)
1 night yosemite area
4 nights vegas
2 nights san diego
2 nights L.A./beach area (santa monica?)
4 nights Anaheim / Disneyland area

Need a bit of help though...

1. First off, best time to go, i know this is always asked sorry.. i am looking to go anytime between mid september to end of october. Which 2 weeks from this period would you chose? Im guessing try to avoid columbus day week whilst at disney/universal but would this holiday have much affect to crowds in vegas/san fran? Does it affect hotel prices?

2. Any recommendations for hotels in san fran, san diego, santa monica, anaheim? Around $100-$150 per night max. Would like free parking and free wi fi ideally! (excluding san fran for the parking)

3. Driving distances - trying to get a rough idea.. how do these sound?
*san fran to yosemite - about 4/5 hours?
*yosemite to vegas - about 8 hours? (eek. maybe a stopover somewhere here?any recommendations of where?)
* vegas to san diego - 3/4 hours?
* san diego to santa monica - 1.5/2 hours?
* santa monica - anaheim - an hour?

These are all just googled, are they pretty accurate? We want to drive down the pacific coast highway at some point - the big sur?? i keep reading about this but not too sure where it fits..

Any help/ tips would be greatly appreciated, cant wait to start booking things!! Unsure whether my itinerary makes sense or whether it would make more sense to vegas last and fly home from there? Would we then get charged more though with the hire car due to it being a different state?

Is there any must do's i have missed out?

I can see myself doing a lot of this in the next few months!

Thanks in advance
Jenna x

 

[cinderjenna]

Sorry ive just noticed ive posted this in the wrong place can someone please move it out of the theme park section! Thanks!

 

[skiingfast]

Sorry ive just noticed ive posted this in the wrong place can someone please move it out of the theme park section! Thanks!

Copy and paste it into a new post.

 

[cinderjenna]

Copy and paste it into a new post.

why didn't i think of that! LOL. Thanks

 

[sonnyjane]

The only one I can comment on is the Vegas/San Diego drive, as we do it often. It is closer to a 4.5/5 hour drive, and that can get longer if there is traffic.

 

[ScooterL]

I'd vote for mid-September time frame - since you're going through Yosemite (and I assume going over Tioga Pass to head over to Las Vegas), there's a chance that an early snowstorm could close the pass. That's less likely in September than it is the further you get into October.

You also need to realize that you won't be seeing much in the way of waterfalls in Yosemite - the falls dry up as the snow melts in the spring and summer. I was there the first week of September this year and Yosemite Fall was completely dry, and there wasn't much water coming over Bridalveil. The mountains and rocks are still beautiful, though.

Driving times -
Yosemite->Vegas - I'm assuming you will start from the Valley floor - if you're starting from outside the Valley (wherever you spent the night), you'll have to take that into consideration. I'd allow at least 8 hours for this. And be aware that an awful lot of it is lonely two-lane roads, with not much of anything in the way of amenities and places to stop. Though Mono Lake is definitely worth a stop - the Visitor Center is a little out of your way, but not too much (go north on 395 instead of south). (And it's pronounced moe-know, not mah-know.) If you wanted to spend most of the day in Yosemite and then stop some where on your way to Vegas for the night, you could stop in Lee Vining (the town next to Mono Lake). There's not a lot there, but it will take you about 2.5 hours to get there from the Valley - and it's all mountain driving between there and the Valley, so that'll be a more challenging part of your drive anyway - you might be ready to stop!

Vegas->San Diego - I would've said this is more like 5-5.5 hours, but it depends on traffic. You do NOT want to do this on a Sunday, unless you leave Vegas EARLY in the morning. On a weekday I'd recommend timing it so that you don't hit (as much) afternoon traffic on I15, so you'll want to leave Vegas by 10:00.

San Diego->Santa Monica - Allow at least 2.5 hours for this. And it can be a lot longer in traffic.

Hotel rates in Vegas should be cheapest on the week days. I don't think the Columbus Day holiday will make much difference anywhere you go, though Disneyland will be more crowded on that day.

For San Diego I would recommend looking at hotels in the Hotel Circle area - it's convenient to most of the local attractions and has a variety of hotels with rates to fit just about every budget. There's also a couple of places on Point Loma that I know have been highly recommended here on DIS - the Homewood Suites at Liberty Station and the Best Western Island Palms on Shelter Island. Those locations are convenient to downtown and the airport.

 

[cmadara]

Your trip sounds amazing!
Have been to all the places you have mentioned and will add my 2cents!!

Yosemite: beautiful- take bus up to Glacier Point- look around and take bus back. You can hike back down to the Valley floor but it does take several hours- but all downhill!
Driving from Yosemite to Las Vegas: we did the opposite- as the PP mentioned you do have to worry about snow in the Tioga Pass. We went through the 1st week of July and the Pass had just opened- snow on either side of the rode. We left Vegas and it was 105- through the pass it was in the low 30's!!

San Diego- stayed at the Best Western Island Palms as mentioned by PP- very nice and easy to get to all the fun places.

Pacific Highway- we did this from Monterey- very pretty but the weather did not cooperate with us. We had to actually buy winter coats it was so cold!- we were there in the begining of August!

Las Vegas- we like to stay in the Monte Carlo. Smaller sized hotel (still over 1,000 rooms I think!) but real nice. Have stayed at the Luxor and the Mirage and still come back to the Monte Carlo. I like their pool area- not much of a gambler. I don't know if I could do 4 days in Vegas. When we head west, we usually fly into Vegas and then go from there. So a day at the start of the trip and 2 days at the end. Unless you want to go to the Grand Canyon. We have always driven (not sure how long but a good part of the day and nothing to see once past Hoover Dam) but they have all sorts of packages from Vegas- bus trips, Pink Jeep Tours and helicpoter trips.

I hope some of this info has helped you. I am planning another trip out West this summer- focusing on Southern California.
Good luck and have a great time!

 

[taaren]

Hi all,

Been reading and reading this board for the last few days since i returned from a wonderful trip to nyc and orlando and made the big decision that next year i'm going West Coast!

Very very excited about planning this trip! Rough itinerary so far is;

4 nights San Francisco
(then hire and car and drive...)
1 night yosemite area
4 nights vegas
2 nights san diego
2 nights L.A./beach area (santa monica?)
4 nights Anaheim / Disneyland area

Jenna x

Wow that's a lot of driving you're planning. I think if I were you I'd do SF, then drive down the Pacific coast highway, stop in Monterrey or Santa Barbara just to break up the drive because it is beautiful but long, then Santa Monica/beach/Disneyland, then SD, drop off the car in SD then fly to Vegas (you can often get very cheap fares on Southwest airlines - in the neighborhood of $59 with a two week advance booking, $30 if they're running a special) because you don't really need a car in Vegas anyhow, most people seem to stay on the Strip.
That way you have a straight North to South drive, although many rental car companies have a drop fee even within the state (my brother found a one-way rental from San Diego to John Wayne/Orange County with no drop fee from Fox Rental cars this last trip though). Not sure how to fit in Yosemite because that's just a crazy amount of time in the car for a one-night stay ...
No matter what order you go in though it sounds like a fabulous trip! Enjoy!

 

[GeminiAngel]

I would do Vegas last. fly into Vegas. Once your on the strip you can get around just fine with buses, & shuttles, maybe a taxi too. I don't recommend you walk much in Sept. unless you hydrate VERY WELL. We break 100 degree temptures sometime into the begining of Oct.

Oh and Monte Carlo as mentioned by an earlier poster is a very good choice. Not far from the airport, and right in the action.