LA to Seattle, then back to San Fran

Hi there,

as everyone was so helpful on my roadtrip across the deep south and vegas and the grand canyon last year I've come back for more.

This time I have 15 full days. My hubby and I are flying in from Sydney to LAX on Fri 29th June at 5pm and we depart LAX for home on Saturday 13th June at 11:30pm.

Our intial thinking is that we want to spend some time in San Francisco (why are we flying into LAX? cheap flights that I couldn't resist). Anyway, I don't think we'll need 2 weeks in San Fran, so we've started thinking of what else we could see and do.

Initial thoughts:
Fly in to LAX, hire a car and drive north, don't have any interest in staying in LA at all. So far I've heard amazing things about the coastal road, highway 1?, so we thought we could take out time and drive north making our way to Seattle. If this sounds like a good idea, then suggestions of places we shouldn't miss would be great. We'd like a couple of days max in Seattle, then as we don't want to drive the 1,400km back to LAX, we would fly to San Fran and have about 6 days to see the sights. Before getting an afternoon/early evening flight on the 13th back to LAX to catch our 11:30pm flight to Sydney.

I don't know a lot about San Fran other than its brilliant and I simply have to go. I found a company Blazing Saddles that rents bikes so for one day we want to cycle around the bay over the golden gate bridge around to Tiburon. Obviously Alcatrez is a must see, and as we're both huge foodies who love tasting the best the city can offer I'm looking for any great restaurant recommendations. I think theres a Giants game on the 12th, so that would be great to go to.

So I guess the drive to Seattle would take maybe 7 days, then a couple of days in Seattle, then the rest in San Fran. Does that sound reasonable? Also as we drive north, would a stop in the Napa valley be easy to do or is it out of the way..

Things we both like doing are eating at great restaurants, lots of live music, getting out and seeing amazing sites, bike riding, art galleries.

Hope that's enough information.

thanks for any advice you can pass on

Welcome to the RTA forum!

I think you've got an excellent basic outline of a plan. 7 Days will give you a nice chance to drive up through Big Sur, Monterey, through the Redwoods, and then up the Oregon and Washington Coasts. If anything, I might spend an extra day or two on this part of your trip, simply because there are so many things you could see, but that's a personal preference more than a necessity.

Here are some more ideas for your time in Seattle

In San Francisco, you should look to make reservations for Alcatraz early, but tickets for a Giants game shouldn't be too hard to get, unless they are playing someone like the Dodgers or the Cubs.

Hi,

As Michael suggested, make sure you book your tickets early to get to the Island, it's a great experience.
The N.P.S is the only place to get official tickets, with anyone else they sell you other tours with it to make their profit. Here is where to book in advance.
San Fran is a great city and be sure to visit Pier '39 and the colourful China Town amongst many others.
If you can squeeze it in your itinerary I would highly recommend going inland for at least one night to visit Yosemite

Hi Becca,

Think you mean the 29th May. :) It is QF93 on 25th April which will fly me across the pacific.

Here's a little known Californian gem, just north of SF. Definitely worth checking out.

I hope to go back there this year.

Lifey in Melbourne