San Franco to Vegas to san diego back to San fransico

Hi,
Me and my boyfriend are in the very early stages of planning a 3 week end of July- aug trip, going from San fransico to Vegas to San Diego back to San fransico. So far we know we want to spend a few days in San fransico then drive to Vegas. I'm liking the sound of stopping in Yosemite for a night then Death Valley before hitting Vegas for a few nights. From there, I know I want to go to Grand Canyon then San Diego. What's the best way to do that? I want to stay in San Diego for a few night then head back to San fransico along the coast maybe stop in L.a. We know the main places we want to go, but struggling with a route and what to see in between. Any advice is much appreciated.

Welcome!

What about reversing the direction of the trip? Go from SF down the coast to LA and SD, then to the GC, some of the southern Utah parks, LV, DV, Yosemite, and back to SF. This will put the scenic pullouts on your side of the road on the coast.

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

It seems like you've already done a nice job of coming up with a nice outline for a 3 week trip.

As GLC mentinoed, there are some advantages of doing your trip in reverse, so you travel south down the coast, but for now, we'll go through your plan as you've laid it out.

SF to Yosemite is about a half day drive, so you'd have about a half day to explore the park if you spent one night there. Yosemite to Vegas via Death Valley is doable, but would be a pretty full day on the road with limited time to really stop and explore Tioga Pass across Yosemite, Death Valley, or the other scenic spots and towns on US-395. It might work better for you to spend a night somewhere in the middle (Bishop, Lone Pine, Mammoth Lakes) so you can have more time to explore Yosemite, and everything else between there and Vegas.

With the Grand Canyon, you should plan to spend at least one night at or near the park. It's a half day drive from Vegas to there, and a half day is the minimum time you need in my book for a quick tour of the Canyon - with a full day being better.

You can do GC to SD in one long day on the road, or you could break it up. There are a couple choices for routes. You could head back to CA on I-40 towards I-15, with the possibility of detouring off the interstates and checking out Joshua Tree NP, or you can go their via the Phoenix area, using I-17 and I-8, possibly checking out Sedona along the way.

The coastal drive has lots of things to see, and takes some time. I'd plan for at least 2 overnight stops so you can enjoy it.

Thanks guys. Some great things to consider! I think I'll stick to doing it this way as we want to relax by the beach towards the end of our trip.

Hi,
I am planning a 18 day road trip next summer, since my last post I have more of an itinerary:
Day1-3 arrive in San Fran- explore, rent bikes, alcatrez
Day 4 leave early and travel to Yosemite stay for 2 nights
Day 6 head towards bishop for a stop over
Day 7 visit Death Valley and head to Vegas stay for 3 nights, grab a show, explore and prob gamble some quarters!
Day10 head to Grand Canyon via Hoover Dan stay the night.
Day 11.... That's where I'm stuck. I want to head to San Diego. However I know this is a long drive and after a 5 hr journey the day before I don't want to do it all in one day, but where to stop? I feel Phoenix still leaves a hefty distance to drive the next to San Diego as am only staying 2 nights there so want get there midday ish on day 12 and only want to be driving 2/3 hours I the morning
I'm happy to drive 5/6 hours on day 11- leaving Grand Canyon mid-afternoon and arriving at the stop dinner time ish? I've looked at a small town called Blythe, does this sound reasonable? Any ideas are more than welcome.
Day 12-13 San Diego, visit sea world and explore.
Day14-17- make way back up to San Fran.... Where to go?? I think I want to relax a little bit, maybe a theme park, sunbathe? I want to be back in San Fran evening of day 17 to return hire car and spend a last night in San Fran, ready for my flight on day18.

Any ideas to fill in the blanks are welcome as are any ideas of what to see in places. Thanks in advance:)

Moderator Note: Please don't create multiple threads about the same trip.

Depending on which route you decide to take, you could stop at Twentynine Palms and perhaps drive through Joshua Tree NP as part of the onward journey to SD, or a more direct route and you could stop in Barstow. Both are closer to 6 hour drives. If you can find suitable lodgings in Blythe and it's just for an overnight that should be fine too.

A few options back up to SF from theme parks to beaches in the LA area to more sedate seaside towns like Cambria and San Simeon, where you could book a Hearst Castle tour, if that's your thing. Maybe Santa Barbara, Cambria and Monterey would make suitable stops. [?]

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

Depending on which route you decide to take, you could stop at Twentynine Palms and perhaps drive through Joshua Tree NP as part of the onward journey to SD, or a more direct route and you could stop in Barstow. Both are closer to 6 hour drives. If you can find suitable lodgings in Blythe and it's just for an overnight that should be fine too.

A few options back up to SF from theme parks to beaches in the LA area to more sedate seaside towns like Cambria and San Simeon, where you could book a Hearst Castle tour, if that's your thing. Maybe Santa Barbara, Cambria and Monterey would make suitable stops. [?]

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Thanks. Will look into these suggestions.

And don't overlook Carmel by the Sea. A very popular seaside resort town.

Lifey