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We are interested in doing a round trip LA to LA via San Fran, Lake Tahoe, Dallas, New Orleans, Houston, Austin in roughly that order. I can I use the map to plan the route?
Also if we were to spend a couple of days in all places, how long would this trip take?
Welcome to RTA!
A quick estimate would be a little over 3 weeks. Here's why: It will take you a day to drive up to SF, another day to drive to Lake Tahoe, 3 days to drive to Dallas, another day to drive from there to New Orleans, another day to Houston, another few hours to drive to Austin, and then 3 days back to LA. Add the two days you want to spend in each place, and you come up with 22 days.
My suggestion would be to go in the opposite direction -- start with Austin and end with SF before returning to LA. You could then take the Pacific Coast Hwy (PCH) from SF to LA and the scenic views and pullouts will be on your side of the road.
Donna
Be aware, if you follow Donna's suggestion to reverse the tour - with which I fully agree - you will need to add yet another day. It will take two days to drive the PCH from SF to LA.
Lifey
At what time of year are you planning to travel ? If we know this we can move your thread to the appropriate trip planning forum. [Spring, Summer or Fall and Winter road trips.]
You can use the Map centre to plan routes by following the instructions and using 'Way points' to create the route you want to take. I find it to be easier to plan and with more detail by creating a map for each days travel.
How long it takes will depend on how much you want to see and how much time you can make available, you are clocking up quite a few miles and there are thousands of attractions you could be tempted by along the way, depending on your actual interests. [?]
Here are some more detailed instructions for creating custom maps -- it is a thread posted by other first-time users of this mapping application. I use the RTA Maps Center often to create intricate map routes.
Mark