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One of the most fun places to go wine tasting is the central coast between Santa Barbara and Monterey. Leave the crowds and commercialism behind of Napa and Sonoma valley and go explore the central coast area! Here is a guidebook that will make your trip golden! I've used it and I can recommend it highly!
Mark
Thanks very much.
It sounds like we need to make the effort to cover SB.
This will mean cutting a day off either SFO or LV - we currently have 4 nts in each.
Will three days be enough to cover LV? (We will spend one day out at GCNP - likely one of the helicopter tours given the time constraints) and maybe another day out at DV.
Like most places you can spend a lot more time at either and not see it all, but if you had 3 days at each of the city's it would give you time to explore the central areas and get a feel of the place. It's all down to how best use the time you have available to suit your own interests.
The Heli tours from Vegas will only land around the Lake Powell or West rim areas of the G/C. To see GCNP "proper" [North or South rim] you will need to drive there or if it's possible get a flight to Grand canyon airport in Tusayan and transport to the park. Probably easier to drive !
Thanks Dave.
Is the west rim that much less impressive than the south/north rim? We could do the drive, which I'm guessing will be a 10 hr round trip but is the west rim inferior enough to warrant this?
Also, what is the drive like between LV and the South rim? Scenic or pure freeway?
Thanks for all your advice, helpful and appreciated.
The West Rim is not part of the National Park, its land that is part of an Indian Reservation. It is also home to the Skywalk. From what I've heard, the roads are in pretty rough shape, and drive time wise, its not really much of a difference from Vegas.
The trip to the South Rim is both scenic and freeway (the two things aren't mutually exclusive. US-93 will take you over Hoover Dam and then its a pretty quick trip down to I-40, for a nice 4-lane drive across Northern Arizona. At Williams, you turn back north onto 2 lane roads towards the Grand Canyon. The trip is at least 5 hours each way, and honestly, its really too far to try to do as a one day round trip from Las Vegas.
Thanks Michael.
This leaves us a dilemma as we haven't really got the time for a two day trip out to the GCNP.
Based on what you've said is the helicopter tour not worth considering? I guess we're left with the decision now of helicopter trip or miss out the GC altogether - even noting that it's not NP, is it still an impressive trip?
I'm not aware of any flights that stop at the South/North rim - are you? That would be the ideal solution. There's nothing that goes out of the airport from what I can see and all the tours seem to be west rim only.
There will always be choices to be made in any trip. Whether the best option for you is to take a helicopter trip, change your plans to give yourself enough time to drive, or to skip the grand canyon all together, that depends upon you.
I'm sure a helicopter trip would be fun and you'd get to see part of a natural wonder, but it won't be the same experience as standing on the edge, and it will likely cost a fair amount of money. At this point, it just depends upon what is most important to you.
There are no commercial flights to the South Rim (Tusayan Airport) but you may be able to charter a small flight out of Las Vegas. You'll have to do some more investigating on your own about those possibilities.
Ok, thanks very much, this is great to know. I've checked out a few options, taking on board what you've said and I think we will probably go for the flight down to the south rim along with the coach to the main viewing points. This is a day trip and won't offer us the flexibility of an extended period at the south rim but will be a good compromise.
Our trip is now coming together nicely.
Fly into SFO - spend 3 nts.
Day four drive down to Santa Barbara, taking a long day along the coast road. We now need to decide where to stop. We're aiming for Monterey, Santa Cruz and SLO with breaks as and when.
**Would appreciate any other suggestions?***
Spend a night in Santa Barbara and then a full day wine tasting in the Santa Ynez valley.
**Does anybody have any advice on the better wineries/more scenic areas?***
Day six - the long haul to Vegas via Death Valley (though may still change our minds on this one and go straight to Vegas and cover DV as day trip)
Four nts in LV:
Will spend a day at the GCNP as above
Also some other trips to some of the options at
Vegas days out
Day 11 - fly back to SFO for one further day/nt, then fly home.