Drive from Las Vegas to DL

[javeyloveschelsi]

Hello!

Please move this to another board if it belongs there ...but, we will be driving from Las Vegas to Paradise Pier Hotel for brunch on Monday, March 11th. What time should we leave from LV? I know that it says the drive is only 4 hours, but we would like to be to the hotel by 10 for our 10:50 reservation. I’m worried about getting caught up in traffic and have never driven that route (or in California, actually!)

Thanks!

 

[MillauFr]

Check Google Maps. They will give you a range of travel times. It really depends on the weather. A bit of rain can really mess up traffic. Also this trip during rush hour has a pretty wide variation.

 

[midnight star]

To be safe, I would give it about 6 hours. You may hit morning rush hour when you reach the cities. Many people live on the outskirts, but travel into LA or OC for work.

And I also recommend checking the weather. The big issue is coming through the mountains. If it’s not raining or snowing, you should be fine, but if it is, it will be very slow.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I agree with six hours. That drive has taken me more than six hours in the past but that’s always been due to an accident/construction/weather. I’ve very rarely made the drive in four hours, although it can be done!

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

Thanks! We will plan on leaving by 4. If we get there early, even better. Our hotel agreed to hold our luggage and we could drop all that off and worse case, that gives us nearly 7 hours before our reservation. I hope that would be enough time!

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

I agree with six hours. That drive has taken me more than six hours in the past but that’s always been due to an accident/construction/weather. I’ve very rarely made the drive in four hours, although it can be done!

Oh my! Maybe we will aim for 3:30ish...Hopefully the kids will just go back to sleep. I’m used to working by 3 am and we are from CST zone so that won’t be a big deal being up “that early”.

 

[Tink1987]

We’ve done this drive a few times now and have never done it in 4 hours either. I would allow 6/7 hours as it depends on what others have said - traffic, stops for drinks etc.

 

[midnight star]

I agree with six hours. That drive has taken me more than six hours in the past but that’s always been due to an accident/construction/weather. I’ve very rarely made the drive in four hours, although it can be done!

We’ve done this drive a few times now and have never done it in 4 hours either. I would allow 6/7 hours as it depends on what others have said - traffic, stops for drinks etc.

I feel like the only way that drive is done in 4 hours is if you do it often. I’m from Las Vegas originally so driving to LA/OC was an easy drive for us. We’ve done it without stopping, and if a detour was ever needed we knew the back ways. But if you’ve never done it, or don’t do it often, I’d give it minimally 5 hours..6 to be safe with stopping and road conditions.

 

[LizzyS]

We've done this drive multiple times as we live in the Las Vegas area, but have generally tried to avoid rush hour times in CA when we can. I would give 6-7 hours just in case of traffic, an accident, etc. I will say, since you've never done it before, it's a fairly desolate drive until you get into SoCal proper, so if you think you want to stop at that rest stop on the way or need something in the tiny town of Baker, etc., go ahead and do it, because there aren't a plethora of places to stop for about 3/4-ish of the trip. It's I-15 in the wide-open desert.

We've always made pretty good time, but once you get into the conglomerate that's SoCal, all bets are off.

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

Thanks everyone! This info helps us a lot! We decided (while my husband mumbled some words under his breath ), that we will leave by 3:30. We would rather be early than be pushing it to get there on time. Crossing my fingers that we get nice weather on our way—I have had enough crummy weather where we live this year, it’s time to make my case for moving somewhere with better weather! Haha!

 

[DLgal]

Honestly? Cancel that reservation. Making that drive at that time would be a nightmare (it is a straight, boring route and doing it tired after time in Vegas...forget it.). On a Monday morning, the traffic once you get to the Inland Empire heading towards Anaheim will be gridlock. We just drove home from Vegas in December on a SUNDAY MORNING and it took us 7 hours to get home to Irvine. 7 HOURS. There were multiple areas of slow traffic the whole way back.

You would have to leave at like 3am to even have a chance of making it. Don't you want to enjoy your last night in Vegas? Honestly, brunch at PPH is NOT worth that hassle.

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

Honestly? Cancel that reservation. Making that drive at that time would be a nightmare (it is a straight, boring route and doing it tired after time in Vegas...forget it.). On a Monday morning, the traffic once you get to the Inland Empire heading towards Anaheim will be gridlock. We just drove home from Vegas in December on a SUNDAY MORNING and it took us 7 hours to get home to Irvine. 7 HOURS. There were multiple areas of slow traffic the whole way back.

You would have to leave at like 3am to even have a chance of making it. Don't you want to enjoy your last night in Vegas? Honestly, brunch at PPH is NOT worth that hassle.

Totally get that, but I failed to mention that we have 4 young kids, so we will be back to our hotel before dark in Vegas anyway. I get up for work at 2:30 every morning as it is (CST), so leaving at that time won’t be an issue at all. I have heard that Sundays are awful to drive in—are Mondays the same?

We are also discussing canceling any way, sleeping in, and trying for a reservation at a better sit down such as Blue Bayou (somewhere similar—haven’t checked availability) since the price would be about the same yet have better food...hmmm

 

[midnight star]

Totally get that, but I failed to mention that we have 4 young kids, so we will be back to our hotel before dark in Vegas anyway. I get up for work at 2:30 every morning as it is (CST), so leaving at that time won’t be an issue at all. I have heard that Sunday’s are awful to drive in—are Monday’s the same?

We are also discussing canceling any way, sleeping in, and trying for a reservation at a better sit down such as Blue Bayou since the price would be about the same yet have better food...hmmm

Sometimes the drive can be bad on both Sunday and Monday because all the weekend visitors are heading back to California. In my experience though, Sundays are the worst.

 

[DLgal]

Totally get that, but I failed to mention that we have 4 young kids, so we will be back to our hotel before dark in Vegas anyway. I get up for work at 2:30 every morning as it is (CST), so leaving at that time won’t be an issue at all. I have heard that Sunday’s are awful to drive in—are Monday’s the same?

I think Mondays would be worse, honestly. We left at 9am on Sunday, well before most people were leaving. The worst of the traffic was at the state line, but there were several pockets of slowdowns. It wasn't anything noteworthy either...no accidents or construction..just several areas where for no reason, we were going 20-30mph rather than 75-80. We easily got TO Vegas on Friday morning in 4 hours. The drive west NEVER can be done in 4 hours though, for some reason.

 

[flyingjay]

Can anyone comment on the ride from Phoenix to OC? We are leaving on a Friday. What is the best time to depart?

 

[midnight star]

Can anyone comment on the ride from Phoenix to OC? We are leaving on a Friday. What is the best time to depart?

I’ve only done that drive once and it was about 7 hours. But we hit traffic in Riverside so if that sounds like that could be long that’s why. It’s similar to the drive from Vegas to OC. It’s fine until you potentially hit traffic or weather conditions.

 

[Niltiac]

I have heard that Sundays are awful to drive in—are Mondays the same?

I think they're both bad at different parts of the drive. Sundays are bad because so many Californians are driving home from a weekend in Vegas. I live in Vegas so I'm always going the opposite direction, but I see the traffic and am always grateful I'm on the other side of the median. Mondays should be better for the actual drive to California, but once you're in the city you'll have rush hour traffic. Personally I would choose a late lunch or dinner reservation for arrival day, even if I did plan on leaving early enough for brunch, just because I wouldn't be able to relax on the drive if I were worried about making a reservation. But that's me, I worry way too much.

I'll also mention that the staff at DLH were very helpful about squeezing us in once when we were extremely late for our dining reservation. I've never dined at PPH but I imagine they would try to help you if they can. That might not be possible if you're reservation is at the very end of the brunch window, though.

 

[LizzyS]

Honestly? Cancel that reservation. Making that drive at that time would be a nightmare (it is a straight, boring route and doing it tired after time in Vegas...forget it.). On a Monday morning, the traffic once you get to the Inland Empire heading towards Anaheim will be gridlock. We just drove home from Vegas in December on a SUNDAY MORNING and it took us 7 hours to get home to Irvine. 7 HOURS. There were multiple areas of slow traffic the whole way back.

You would have to leave at like 3am to even have a chance of making it. Don't you want to enjoy your last night in Vegas? Honestly, brunch at PPH is NOT worth that hassle.

Your return was horrible because you returned home on a Sunday. It's a known fact to Vegas locals to never, EVER go to SoCal on a Sunday or return from SoCal on a Friday, period. EVER. Don't do it.

If you avoid those two days, you will be fine unless there's a crash somewhere, etc.

 

[DLgal]

Your return was horrible because you returned home on a Sunday. It's a known fact to Vegas locals to never, EVER go to SoCal on a Sunday or return from SoCal on a Friday, period. EVER. Don't do it.

If you avoid those two days, you will be fine unless there's a crash somewhere, etc.

Well, it is also common knowledge to So Cal locals to NEVER drive to Vegas on a Friday. We did. It took no time at all...just exactly 4 hours.

 

[LizzyS]

Well, it is also common knowledge to So Cal locals to NEVER drive to Vegas on a Friday. We did. It took no time at all...just exactly 4 hours.

I'm guessing you started early enough in the day that it wasn't a factor. The after half-day and after work crowd can make it quite miserable.