Over 60's trip to SF/ Yosemite/ Death valley & Vegas

[lozza7]

Hi,

Am trying to plan a trip for my parents to the West Coast. They are traveling over from Ireland and are a little nervous about driving so will be using buses to get around.. They have very different interests my Father is big into history and politics, my mother is enjoys nature and glamour!!!

Suggested Itinery:

Arrive Sunday into San Fran (spend 3 days in san fran)

Wed - Leave San Fran and travel to Yosemite via Carmel

Stay in yosemite Wed and Thurs night - Spend all day wed in yosemite

Thurs: leave Yosemite and head for Death Valley, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas
Spend 3 days between these places (not sure where to use as a base)

Sunday: Leave from Las Vegas for family wedding in Boston!

Is this a good itinery, should they do more/ less? Have also heard of Wine Country which my mother would love, could they fit that in??

Any advice appreciated and also any tour operators or suggestions on how they could get from place to place! I want them to relax as much as possible on this break. Should also mention money is a little tight!

Thanks!

[Mark Sedenquist]

Am trying to plan a trip for my parents to the West Coast. They are traveling over from Ireland and are a little nervous about driving so will be using buses to get aroundThis is a really nice thing you are trying to do for your folks. Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum. The biggest problem with your plan, is that American-based commercial tour operators will probably not have routes that coincide with parts of your plan. You might have a better chance if you were to book through a company in the British Isles that addresses the needs & preferences of travelers from Ireland.

Arrive Sunday into San Fran (spend 3 days in san fran)A great way to start off the trip --

Wed - Leave San Fran and travel to Yosemite via Carmel I don't think you will find a bus that travels between Carmel and Yosemite...

Stay in yosemite Wed and Thurs night - Spend all day wed in yosemiteThis works, there are plenty of options here.

Thurs: leave Yosemite and head for Death Valley, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas Spend 3 days between these places (not sure where to use as a base)I am unaware of any touring companies that will connect Yosemite with Las Vegas. If you use Las Vegas as a base, you could easily find tour companies that will do day trips to Death Valley, the Hoover Dam and an overnight trip to the Grand Canyon
Sunday: Leave from Las Vegas for family wedding in Boston!Are they flying to Boston?

Mark

[AZBuck]

I was able, using a Google search on "vacation tour Yosemite Las Vegas San Francisco", to find a number of tour operators with bus tours similar to what you have in mind. Some were surprisingly cheap, some were quite dear. But I'm afraid you would have to be willing to take whatever all-in package(s) they were offering. As Mark pointed out, some of the connections you were hoping to make simply don't exist. The only thing I might suggest is to look for a couple of smaller tours out of San Francisco, say a week to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon coupled with another tour of a week through wine country and Lake Tahoe, with a few days in between to enjoy the urban attractions of San Francisco itself.

AZBuck

[UKCraig]

a little nervous about driving

How nervous are they, exactly? Everyone is nervous about driving in a different country, especially when it involves driving on the opposite side of the road, but I found driving in the US an absolute doddle. Far easier than driving I did when driving on the right in mainland Europe. Is there any way that you could convince them to drive as the trip would be far more rewarding for them if you could.