Road to vegas

This is another request for advice from San Francisco to Vegas I'm afraid.I have checked what feels like the whole Web and I wish I had found this site first!!
I'm from the UK and will be spending most of my time in Vegas and SF but have a day and 1/2 each way driving and want to get the best out of it.

Sorry to sound ignorant but I want to go to vegas inland and back to SF via the coast stoppinf 1 night each way with 3 nights each end.

Firstly is this possible or am I deluding myself? and where are the best places to stop enroute that are reall reflective of the US and not too touristy???

Big order I'm afraid, any help would be great

Pete.

You have two choices for driving from SF to Las Vegas inland. The fastest but most boring IMHO is to take Interstate 5 south to Buttonwillow, then Hwy 58 to Bakersfield and on to Barstow, then I-15 to Las Vegas. This is 570 miles and can be done in ONE LONG day if you want to save some time for the return along the coast.

Your second option will depend on what time of the year you are doing this trip. Tioga Pass is closed in the winter and early spring, but it's a beautiful drive though Yosemite National Park when it is open. I would spend one night in Yosemite Valley (you will need reservations) and then drive the 420 miles to Las Vegas the next day via Tioga Pass (Hwy 120), hwy 6 to Tonopah, Hwy 95 south to Vegas.

I've never driven all the way from SF down south along the coast, but what I have driven is very slow driving. Beautiful but slow.

Utahtea

Thanks for the help it was really useful, we are looking at the time we have now and hope we can leave SF early morning and arrive Vegas the following evening and the same time on the way back. We wanted to see some nice coastal towns on the way back and stay for the night, I have been looking at Carmel but it looks really expensive. Any suggestions for a place/town for the night about half way between Vegas and SF on the coast.

Again any help woould be great its fantastic that there are people out there who can give me the real facts.

Thanks

Pete

Pete,

Just so you keep the distances in mind -- the fastest possible route from Las Vegas to San Francisco is about a nine hour trip (up the central valley all Interstate highway travel).

If you add going up the coast, it will add at least six hours, which is doable given you are going to stop over-night --- but you need to figure two full days of driving that way.

That said, I would stop in Cayucos -- charming town with reasonable rates. For a great deal of information about the coast route --use the gray search button on the top of this page, select all topics and search on pacific coast highway.

Enjoy the trip!

Mark