California Roadtrip September 09 - HELP!!

Hi,
I am currently planning a roadtrip for September this year starting (and finishing) in San Francisco. We have 3 weeks and want to spend the final week in San Francisco. The first two weeks will be taken up with the roadtrip. So far we have the following planned:

1. Land in SF and stay there on the first night.
2. Yosemite National Park for 2 nights.
3. Las Vegas
4. Palm Springs
5. L.A.

Can anybody please help with ideas as we currently have a gap between leaving Yosemite and arriving in Las Vegas. I am not sure where to go and what to do for these 2 or 3 nights (Grand Canyon, Death Valley?).

Also, where is good to stay in L.A. to take in the usual tourist spots but in a safe area?

Thanks for looking - any help / ideas would be extremely welcome (especially as we are going in 7 weeks).

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Have you any dates booked in your locations yet ? Because the Grand canyon is beyond Vegas with Death valley being on the way from Yosemite so your trip would be Yosemite > Death valley > Vegas > Grand canyon > Palm springs for that part. With 3 nights spare I would use one in Death valley and two at the Grand canyon. You should also take a couple of nights between LA and SF to discover the coastal route 1. [PCH]
Use the search button to explore the forums as there are literally thousands of threads covering this area full of great info.

Hi there,

If we can be of any help with the detail of your trip, then we are happy todo so, mainly because this is the trip we did last year. Starting in SF on the 16th November and finishing in Phoenix on the 9th December; so you can cover quite a distance in that amount of time. That trip included 4 days in SF, 4 days in Las Vegas and 3 days in Arizona.

Our trip was SF to Mendocino to Sacramento to Lake Tahoe to Yosemite to Fresno to Sequoia to Death Valley to Las Vegas to Williams to Grand Canyon to Flagstaff to Sedona to Phoenix.

Did a lot, saw a lot, met fantastic people and had the holiday of a lifetime so much so that we are doing it again this year starting in Dallas.

Stephen

Hi Stephen and welcome to the RTA forums !

Thanks, it's always nice when a new members first post is to offer help to another. It sounds as though you had a real nice trip.
Enjoy the forums and other RTA pages !

Hi,

Thanks for the quick resonse - I have been away for the weekend and have come back to two great replies!

So far we have booked:

September 8th and 9th - Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite. Check-out on the 10th.
September 14th, 15th, 16th - Palm Springs (Hotel & Spa). Check-out on the 17th.

As you can see it is still a little bit sketchy. We plan on booking hotels in Vegas and L.A. within the next couple of days. Any recommendations would be great!

Also, any specific places that you would recommend between L.A. and San Francisco? I like the idea of spending a night in one or two places along the way.

Thanks again!!!

Hi,

Next week I will be travelling to California with my fiancee. We are hiring a car and after staying at Tenaya Lodge in Yosemite National Park we have a reservation at the Westin Monache in Mammoth Lakes. I was planning on driving the hire car through Tioga Pass but I am now unsure after hearing that the drive can be a bit of a nightmare - with steep climbs and the like. Can anyone confirm if this is the case and whether they would advise the drive? Any advice at all would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

Driving through Tioga Pass is both easy and incredibly scenic. It is a relatively slow drive, but there is absolutely nothing difficult about it. Thousands do it every month. As for the road being steep... well, it is a mountain road, but having driven it three times I do not recall it being particularly steep or challenging.

Lifey suggests you enjoy the drive

Thanks Lifey, that's put my mind at ease

Just to add to Lifey's reassurance, Tioga is a wonderful drive that's not to be missed.
I hope you have a great trip and that you will pop by on your return and share some of your experience with us.

Have a safe journey !

I most certainly will! Thanks for all your help.