Advice please: Madison to Irvine

Hi everyone,
I'm moving from Madison, WI to Irvine, CA in a couple of weeks and will be driving out there. We would like to make 5 stops along the way to sleep. Any advice on where those 5 stops should be? We don't want to drive more than about 550 miles per day.

Thanks in advanced for any suggestions!

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

5 nights actually gives you some room to play - and do some exploring and/or sightseeing for a day or two. Sticking with the 550 mile guideline, you could actually make the trip in 4 days.

If you're just looking for even driving days, then Lincoln NE, the west side of Denver and Richfield or Cedar City UT would make sense.

However, you might consider stopping at some places like Rocky Mtn. National Park, Arches/Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Zion - all of which are easily accessed from I-70/I-15. Perhaps after Denver, you'd stop for the night in Moab and Las Vegas - or something along those lines.

Of course, you don't have to go the most direct route either - you could certainly follow I-40 or I-80, or you'd even have time to do something like going out to the Black Hills and Yellowstone before heading down to California.

Thanks for your reply!