Hi Everyone,
I'm glad to find this website which is a goldmine for the preparation of my trip. I'm planning a roadtrip of 12 days and i would like some insight about the feasibility and the estimation time between the different places (google + I add a margin). This is very challenging because there is like 2000 miles (3000 km), but i'm not afraid of driving almost everyday (I plan to rent a car):
1. July, 29th
a. Arrival at san francisco airport at 22H35
b. Night in San francisco
2. July, 30th
a. San Francisco visit (alcatraz visit most probably)
b. San francisco to Santa Cruz (Cabrillo highway, 125km, 2 hours)
c. Night in Santa Cruz
3. July, 31th
a. Santa Cruz to big sur (if Cabrillo highway re-opens after carmel), ~100km, 1H30
b. Big sur to Santa Barbara (Cabrillo highway + 101 at shell beach + Cabrillo highway at Gaviota , 340km, 4-5 hours)
c. Night in Santa Barbara
4. August, 1st
a. Santa Barbara to Los Angeles (Highway 1, 160km, 2H30/3H)
b. Los Angeles quick visit
c. Night in Los Angeles
5. August, 2nd
a. Los Angeles to Joshua Tree (230km, 3H).
b. Joshua National park visit at the afternoon.
6. August 3rd
a. Joshua Tree to (stop at havasu national wildlife refuge) Grand Canyon (588km, 7-8h).
7. August, 4th
a. Grand canyon visit
8. August, 5th
a. Grand canyon to (quick stop at Hoover Dam) to Las Vegas (450km, 5-6H)
b. Las Vegas quick visit, mostly enjoy nightlife
9. August, 6th
a. Las Vegas to Death Valley (215km, 4H)
b. Death Valley visit
10. August, 7th
a. Death Valley visit
b. Death Valley to Yosemite (515km, 7/8H)
11. August, 8th
a. Yosemite visit
12. August, 9th
a. Yosemite visit
13. August, 10th
a. Yosemite to San Francisco (307km, 4/5H)
b. Visit San francisco
c. Take off from san Francisco at 23H00
I don't know if I should cut one day along the highway 1 (santa cruz or santa barbara). I really want to enjoy the sea side and landscape there. At the same time, is half a day in joshua tree enough ? basically I didn't want to drive straight from LA to GC, It's too long.
thank in advance for your help & advises!
Ludovic