Vegas/Yosemite/SF/LA

[Chilly]

Planning ahead we are hoping to go back to the West Coast in April 2011. Details are not final yet as we are going to a wedding in Vegas and we don't know the date of that yet or the details.

We visited the west coast in 2005, we had 6 nights in LA, 3 in Vegas and 5 in SF, we flew between each place as it was so cheap and DH had not driven abroad then and was only 24.

This time we plan to drive between everywhere and want to take in some National Parks esp Yosemite. Ideally we'd like to go in this order Vegas/Yosemite/SF/LA but it'll depend on flights and costs etc.

So my question is can anyone suggest some good guide books, websites, hotels, places to visit etc. Also do you know how long it'll take to drive between these places?

 

[Netty]

I have been looking into doing something like this as well. As dh isnt now keen on NY for our 25th anniversary this august.

 

[Tammy Stringer]

Claire

We did Yosemite and King's Canyon when we visited California in 2005 - see our report http://www.kevinstringer.co.uk/

They were truly spectacular.

The guide books we used were The Rough Guide to California and DK Eyewitness Travel Guide California.

We also bought the Rand McNally - California 22nd Edition Road Atlas which was invaluable. If you would like to borrow this you are more than welcome - I could give it to my brother as I know he works in the same place as you

Good luck with the planning.

Tammy

 

[gemmybear83]

Ooooh this is what we are looking at for late 2011 or early 2012, henry also wants to see the giant redwoods!

 

[suzycute]

We did this exact trip in 2007 and wrote a trip report

http://travel.yahoo.com/trip-journa..._in_19_days;_ylt=AlybBDj36oCiwcUd.X2YQbmbItAF

Hope you have a great time!

 

[tiggerlady]

We did a similar trip if2006 in Nov for our daughters wedding in SF.
We flew in to SF and back from LV In Sf we stayed at the Argonaut Hotel at Fishermans Wharf it was excellent with free wine in the evenings great for getting everywhere like Alcatraz views of Golden gate bridge, trolleys to the city. We did a great tour with San Francisco Movie tours and we did a day trip to Yosemite which took in the Giant redwoods, a long day but worth it. We then drove to the Lake Havasu (9hrs) I think we stayed here in the desert which was mid 70s also saw the original "London bridge" from there we drove to the Grand Canyon south Rim for 1 night then on to LV about 5hrs over the hoover dam,

The whole trip was amazing as we took my parents and son to see the Grand canyon, it really was a wonderful trip and we were very lucky with the late November weather.

 

[MyBubbles]

I love Vegas - took my first solo trip there last year and had a blast. For great deals on hotels, attractions etc check out www.smartervegas.com You book directly through the hotel site but with a discount code. I used it for my trip and ended up staying in a strip view room (newly renovated) on an upper floor for £30 per night at TI and that was including July 4th weekend. It was fab.

Happy planning.

 

[Chilly]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I will check out the trip reports.

 

[starrysky]

We looked into this website. www.americansky.co.uk they offer a tour that would probably fit into what you want to do. It also shows the distances that you cover. Look up the 'best of the west tour' under the self drive section.

We got a couple of quotes from them and over all we thought not too bad as your hotels, flights and car hire were included.

 

[igk]

Hi to get distances and driving times, have a look at Google Maps, then click on the 'get directions' link.
I'm assuming you'll want to break the journeys up, as the distances are quite large - Las Vegas to Yosemite is about 480 miles, so I'd suggest stopping in Barstow or Bakersfield for example. There is a route over the Toiga Pass from the east into Yosemite, but that is closed until at least sometime in May.
The drive down from SF to LA down the Pacific Coast Highway is great - it's slower then the interstate of course, but well worth it.

We're actually doing a trip to California this April, doing a sort of Southern California/Arizona desert trip - we're visiting Death Valley, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Scottsdale, Palm Desert (Joshua Tree Natl Park).
We had thought about visiting Disneyland again, but the cost of a few nights at the Grand Californian without food was a similar price to a week at OKW with the DDP, so are saving ourselves for WDW (again)

 

[Claire L]

Claire I did the West Coast in 2006 and went from SF to LV including Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. I did do a detailed trip report with photos that you can read here. If you have any questions then please do ask

Claire

 

[brer_rabbit]

I went to CA about 10 years ago (where does time go ) so I don't really know much about guide books etc.

The one thing I do remember is that although it doesn't look as far on a map the drive from San Fran to Yosemite took much much longer than we were planning. We stayed in Mammoth and had to drive all the way through Yosemite to get there. Although you'll be able to do a lot of route planning with googlemaps etc so that might give you a better idea!

Also if you're driving between San Fran and LA it's definitely worth trying to fit in Monteray and that coastline - absolutely stunning!

Happy planning