Hi CharlieB, welcome back.
Glad to here from you, it sounds as though you had a wonderful time and it's nice of you to pop by and help others on the forum, and to share your experience. Thanks.
Dave.
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Hi CharlieB, welcome back.
Glad to here from you, it sounds as though you had a wonderful time and it's nice of you to pop by and help others on the forum, and to share your experience. Thanks.
Dave.
Thanks Dave and Charlie.
When I started planning this trip I wondered how to go about it, then I discovered this wonderful site and feel there are so many helpful people out there. We've been to the States before and have driven in Florida going down to the Keys (couldnt really get lost on that route!!), but as we are both in our sixties I thought planning this trip might be a nightmare but so far there's been so much help. Thanks to you both. I'm sure I shall pick your brains again soon , but have now got a better idea of the route we will take so will do a bit more planning.
Jantomo
Hi Jantomo,
Glad we could help some and that you are making progress with your plans. I always look at the planning as part of the whole adventure and find it to be a whole lot of fun.
I will look forward to hearing how it's coming on and I am sure that between us on R.T.A we can help you "fine tune" your trip.
Enjoy, Dave.
Hi again
Six weeks has gone by since I first thought about planning this trip. It’s a good thing there is a lot of time left. Don’t seem to have done too much planning lately but have read and printed all the relevant information from various threads. Problem is now – there is so much to see we would need a 6 month road trip to do everything justice, but it all has to be compressed to just over 3 weeks and our aim is to get a feel of places we visit, by walking and being out of the car, not driving every day. Looking throughout for reasonably priced accommodation, doesn’t have to be in the National Parks as long as it is close by.
Day 1
Fly to San Francisco for 3 nights from UK. Thinking of looking for a hotel in the Union Square area as this looks fairly central for making visits to many SF sights.( Golden Gate,Fishermans Wharf, tram ride etc. Is Union Square accessible from SF airport by public transport, or would a cab be the only way to get there? Failing this is Fishermans Wharf a better bet?
Day 2 and 3 in San Francisco, seeing some of the city
We’re planning to book a hire car from UK – would SF airport be the best place to pick it up?
Day 4
Pick up hire car and head out towards Yosemite NP, using I 580east and I 120 east. Thinking of staying somewhere on the I 120 either at Groveland or at Buck Meadows (favour this) for 2 nights, in order to be able to drive to the Valley floor on Day 5 and to be ready to carry on along the Tioga Road on Day 6. Are there any publications I could get hold of for these two places?
Day 5
Explore the Valley floor on foot and by using the shuttle bus, or a tour bus, and walking.
Day 6
Head off over the Tioga Pass . Hoping to book for the night at Bishop or Lone Pine. If so would there be enough time to do the June Lakes loop. ( bearing in mind my husband is an avid photographer and I think there could be plenty of WOW’s and stops on the Tioga Road.
Day 7
Continue on to cross Death Valley. Woud Pahrump be a good place to head for so that wee can drop the car off in Las Vegas the next day, as we are expecting to hire it for 4 days, or would we be better staying the night in Death Valley?
Day 8
Drop car off in Las Vegas and get to hotel.
Days 9 & 10 in Las Vegas ( just got to experience the glitz and glamour and do some shopping)
Day 11.
Pick up another hire car ( once again booked in UK) and set off for Zion National Park, staying for 2 nights at Sprindale.
Day 12 – Zion NP using shuttle bus and feet.
Day 13
Drive to Bryce Canyon for 2 nights ( either in the park or as near as possible- to be looked at)
Day 14 – explore Bryce Canyon
Day 15
Drive to Page for 2 nights ( for Lake Powell.) We were going to have 1 night here and move on to Monument Valley for a night , but have decided this would be so much more driving that we will have to be content with pictures of Monument Valley. While at Page I want to plan a visit to Antelope Canyon and possibly a trip on the lake
Day 16 – Page and Lake Powell.
Day 17
Drive to Grand Canyon. Stay for 2 nights at Grand Canyon Village
Day 18
Explore the South Rim using the shuttle bus and walking a trail.
Day 19
Leave Grand Canyon and head for Route 66 towards Las Vegas. Stop overnight somewhere along this road- not researched the area yet – ideas welcomed
Day 20
Continue to Las Vegas via Hoover Dam and arrive in Las Vegas and return car.
Day 21 Las Vegas
Day 22 – Flight to UK
This is the current plan . It can be adapted as nothing is booked yet ,but if anyone can give me ideas, suggestions or even let me know if they think it will work, I would be grateful to hear from you. Once again I appreciate having discovered this helpful site
Thanks
Jantomo
I think you are in very good shape, and in some case you really might be overstating how long it will take to get to places.
For example, on day 4, I think I would just head straight to the Yosemite valley. Its a pretty easy half day drive from SF, so I would take the extra time and spend it in the park.
Your Death Valley day, I would also spend that in the park. You can make it from Furance Creek to Vegas in 2-3 hours, so I wouldn't worry about trying to make extra miles by going all the way out to Pahrump.
I also would look at renting a car in the city of San Francisco, so you don't have to find transporation all the way back out to the airport. Shop around though, airport locations may (or may not) have better one-way deals than in town locations.
Speaking of rental cars, you might also find that it is easier to just rent one car. Since most places have weekly rates, it might not cost much more to have the car during your stay in Vegas, and then you won't have to deal with the hassles and time of dropping off and then picking up your rental car.
Yes it's taking shape nicely.
On arrival you have the option of using the bart system to get downtown, although with your luggage you may want to take a cab. It's a long flight and another option would be to book in an airport hotel for your first night, they generally have a free shuttle bus service from the airport.
While in S/F I would recommend the Alcatraz tour, which you can book in advance to save queuing for tickets.
As Michael said, you have time to get into Yosemite the same day and take advantage of seeing some of it the same day. This may give you time to take the drive up to Glacier point [beautiful views] before heading over the Tioga pass.
Once again as Michael pointed out, there is no need to rush through to Pahrump so you maybe able to ease off a little and it will give you a bit more time, possibly to enjoy June lakes.
Springdale is a great little town, ideal for Zion and the free shuttle bus runs into the canyon from here.
Ruby's Inn is a popular place to stay right on the doorstep of Bryce.
From Page you can approach the G/C via the east entrance on Desert view drive. You have a number of great view points along here all the way to the village, the first being the Old watchtower that will give you your first glimpse of the canyon and open views of the Colorado.
From the G/C to Vegas, even with taking part of the original '66 it can be done in a day. If you didn't want to overnight here It could free up time for that visit to M/V if you so wished. The Cameron trading post just before the East entrance to G/C would be a good place to stop if so. The shop is interesting so even if you was not going to stop it would be worth a look between Page and the G/C.
Thanks Dave and Michael.
Just have a couple of queries.
1) We would like to be near enough to Yosemite Valley to travel to the valley floor for a day and back out for a second night ready to start off on the Tioga Pass road the following day. I thought of looking for accommodation between Groveland and Big Oak Flat on Rte 120. I've been told there are several motels, but cant seem to locate any on the internet. Is there anywhere I can write to , to get a list of hotels/motels in the area?
2) Having looked at the Furnace Creek Inn website I see there are no rooms available for the night we want to stay ( seems to be closed) and limited availability for Furnace Creek Ranch hence the option of going on to Pahrump as I cant book anything until I have flights confirmed. Can you help me with the distances between :
Bishop and Pahrump or
Lone Pine and Pahrump - in case Furnace Creek is not available
Hi Jantomo,
1) Here is a link to some of the Accommodations in and around the park. The Yosemite bug
has been mentioned a few times as well.
2]You are looking at approx 230 miles between Bishop and Pahrump, but the problem maybe that you will be out of D/V and a short drive from Vegas, which might make you fell rushed across D/V [although you have plenty of time to drive across it] with so many picture opportunity's. I think your better option [if you are unsure about Furnace creek] would be to stop at Stovepipe wells and watch the sunset over the sand dunes, and then continue on. It will make a better balance of these two days.
Jantomo.
I see in one of your posts you say you might get your car at San Fran airport, and stay in SF for 3 nights. There is definitely more choice of vehicle types at the airport than in town, but if you only need a fairly standard car you'll be able to pick one up no problem in town. There were 6 of us so we wanted something fairly big in order to take our luggage but the best we could get in town was a 7 seater minivan. It was ok for us, but the luggage was a bit of a squeeze.
The thing is, hiring your car will save you the taxi fare, (ours was $50 with tip), but you'll spend that parking your car in town as parking space is at a premium and the Hotels make a charge for it, sometimes between $20 to $40 a day. Reviews on TripAdvisor.com from the locals (Americans) nearly all moan about the parking costs! The other thing is that once you get into town you're unlikely to use your car much, if at all. We got a 1-day passport for $11 each which gets you unlimited rides on the Cable Cars, Trolley Buses, & Buses, and it was ideal. I believe a 3-Day passport was $18 and it's great value. If you want to visit the Golden Gate Bridge you might want a car but there are so many tours that go there it's really not a problem.
I said before about the Alcatraz Tour and I'd REALLY recommend it. The thing is it's very popular and you may not be able to just turn up & book immediately. We were there on a Monday afternoon and they were booking then for the next afternoon. It's quite a sobering tour around the cells area and I really wish we'd prebooked for the Night Tour. The darkness apparently adds to the overall atmosphere. We tried to book on this but were told that it's so popular it gets booked up a couple of months previous.
As to Death Valley, I had a problem with the internet booking system for our stay at Stovepipe Wells Village as it kept telling me there were no rooms available and I was booking 10 months in advance! In the end I just went to the 'contact us' link and e-mailed them directly, no problem. It’s the same company (Xanterra) that control Furnace Creek so I'd give that a go as once again I would REALLY recommend an overnight stay in Death Valley. If you do choose Stovepipe Wells, make sure you're outside as the sun goes down on the Mountains & Sand Dunes, it's gorgeous, and the night sky once it's fully dark was just incredible. The glow from Las Vegas showing over the mountain tops goes to show what 'Light Pollution' really is. Hope you're not suffering from information overload with all of this. The problem is for any tourists anywhere by the time you've learnt what's best to do and see, you're on the plane coming back! I got loads of useful info from people on this site, and still need to go back to do bits I never had complete time for.
It is always worth checking direct as CharlieB said
Sometimes systems will not take bookings this far in advance, and as such come back with "no rooms available" yet most likely they are.Quote:
As to Death Valley, I had a problem with the Internet booking system for our stay at Stovepipe Wells Village as it kept telling me there were no rooms available and I was booking 10 months in advance! In the end I just went to the 'contact us' link and e-mailed them directly, no problem.
I wondered about the Alcatraz visit before hand, whether it would be to touristy and take away from our time at S/F, but we went, and loved every moment of it and would also recommend taking the time. Not only is the prison a fantastic experience but you also get great views of the city skyline and Golden gate bridge. If you did want to book a tour [you can only do so within a time limit] then this National parks link will guide you to there only official tour operator. All the others will only sell you this tour alongside other ones as this is the only way they can make a profit from it.