Honeymoon help - SF/Coast/Vegas

Hi guys, first post from me, John from Kent in UK. We are coming to California next May on Honeymoon and have 2 weeks. At moment we are flying into SanFran, want to take in coast road to Los Angeles (without driving every day) and also LV and Yosemite (3 days SF, 3 days LV). I reckon 5 days minimum on coast road, but don't seem to have time to go to Yosemite and do the drive to Vegas. Is there any public transport that can get us to Vegas from Yosemite (flight/train?) to cut out the 10hr drive!?

Also any help on how to fit everything in, don't want 2 weeks to feel like a rush!!

Cheers

J

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Air service would be the fastest option from Yosemite to Las Vegas, using the Fresno airport. There are a couple of direct flight options, including Allegiant Airlines, which is a discount/charter service based out of Vegas. I've used them on another route, and they are ok, and will probably be your cheapest option. Since they aren't a major airline, they won't show up on the main travel booking sites like expedia or travelocity, but you should look at those kinds of sites too to see how the other airlines compare pricewise.

Las Vegas isn't served by passenger rail service.

Having said that, we get lots of people planning this kind of drive in much less than two weeks. While I certainly wouldn't say that spending 5 days on the coast is a bad idea, I also think you could spend 3 or 4 days there without feeling too rushed. That might make it easier to make the drive to Vegas, and get in a detour to Death Valley along the way.

Congratulations and welcome,

Are you flying out of Vegas?

If so it would be possible to take the drive from S/F to Yosemite [Possibly leaving in the afternoon of your 3rd day] and head back to the coast [Monterey?] on day five and then head for L/A and fly out of Vegas at the end. In May there is a possibility that the Tioga pass [120] will still be closed due to snow. If this was the case you are only adding 4 or 5 hours to your trip by returning to the coast this way.

Nine days down the coast,L/A and Vegas should give you a relaxed pace, however, if you can find another couple of days, even better ;-)

Have a look at your options and if you have any more questions let us know.

Thanks for the replies guys....Yes, am flying out of Vegas back to UK. My (rough) itinerary looks as follows - comments from all very welcome....

Mon 11th arrive SF (1700) - transfer to hotel & bar/dinner!
12th&13th SF
14th am Drive to Yosemite (arrive lunch) & pm there
15th Yosemite
16th back to SF and onto Highway 1 - stop...? Monteray?
17th Monteray (17 mile drive etc) onward to.....??
18th/19th Santa Barbara
20th to LA and ditch car - fly to LV - hotel & show eve
21st Grand Canyon - fly/coptor down & boat overnight??
22nd/23rd Vegas
24th fly home

Only fixed dates are arrive & depart (we have booked flights)

Any pointers/suggested changes etc v welcome....

D

Hi,

That looks like a plan !

A couple of thoughts I have,
1] Is there any reason for returning to S/F, otherwise I can't see the point of going through the city traffic again rather than going direct to Monterey/Carmel.

2] I wonder whether it would be worth driving to Vegas rather than flying. By the time you have dropped the rental car off, checked in for your flights, baggage handling e.t.c whether the time saved would be worth the extra expense.

Here's a link that may be of use along the coast. and one with info on the beaches along the way.

Here's a link regarding the scale of L/A.
If you were to drive I wonder if it would be worth the time with only the day here?

I have to say that Dave's idea is an excellent one, and I think the basics of your itinerary are solid. The only two issues I saw were the same ones that Dave brought up. You wouldn't need to go all the way back north to SF, just go directly to Monterey instead, and by the time you fight traffic to the LA airport, drop off your rental car, go through security, etc, you might not save much time flying. Driving direct from Santa Barbara could end up being very similar in time you'll need.

The only other thing is that I don't think any boat trip will be in your plans for the grand canyon. You can take tours of the canyon via helicopter or plane, but aircraft are not allowed to go down into the canyon. You'll have to do a little research to find what tour option will work best for you, but there are a ton of different companies and options to chose from.

What does "fly copter down/boat overnight" for the Grand Canyon mean, exactly? Do you have something already booked?

Except for that point of confusion, your trip looks reasonable.

I don't think I'd go back to San Francisco after Yosemite. I'd just want to avoid the traffic. You're not going to miss such key stretches of beach by going a bit farther south of San Francisco to start your CA-1 drive that your trip would be ruined. I would drive straight to Monterey or, if you want to drive more of Monterey Bay, maybe Watsonville. I think Santa Cruz is the closest to San Francisco I'd go.

On your way down the coast, you might enjoy a stop at Hearst's Castle near San Simeon. Very cool place. And you might want to stop for the night at a place that's more mid-point to LA. Maybe Morro Bay or in that general vicinity.

I have seen the confusion regarding the Grand canyon tours many times.

There are a host of companies that sell these tours from Vegas where you can fly to the canyon, get taken down to the Colorado by helicopter and then for a raft trip.
The thing is, I think of Grand canyon "proper" to be a few miles either way from the South and North rim and these tours as rightly said are not allowed in this area. However they can land in the Hualapia indian reservation to the West. A lot of the raft trips actually start from the Lake Mead area and get as far as Black canyon or so.
So technically they are Grand canyon tours, but the Skywalk is about as far in to the canyon area as they get.

Guys, sorry for confusion! Yes trailfinders have a vegas add on with many packages/day trips to GC. This one was stated as a flight over hoover, mead and western GC, then at west rim transfer to helicopter for "a thrilling 4000ft decent to the canyon floor" then a boat trip on the colorado.....happy to hear of any other options as far as tours go.
How far/long a drive is the SantaB-LV leg? Anything to see on the way which we would miss with the flight option...?

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Originally Posted by dixon

Guys, sorry for confusion! Yes trailfinders have a vegas add on with many packages/day trips to GC. This one was stated as a flight over hoover, mead and western GC, then at west rim transfer to helicopter for "a thrilling 4000ft decent to the canyon floor" then a boat trip on the colorado

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We just want to make sure you know what you booked with this flight... Like Southwest Dave mentioned above, that helicopter flight is prohibited from flying into the "popular public areas" of the national park area of the Grand Canyon -- your flight will be in air space of the Hualapai Reservation and so you will see the western section of the Grand Canyon (but this is not the aerial view that most people think of when they say "Grand Canyon") -- it will still be a great ride though. And the boat trip is more lake than river -- since it too, is not in the deeper gorge sections of the Grand Canyon.

It's going to be a great trip -- but we always think it is helpful to seperate marketing hype from facts when we can.

Mark

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How far/long a drive is the SantaB-LV leg? Anything to see on the way which we would miss with the flight option...?

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A direct run will be in the region of a 7 hour drive by way of I-15. Death valley or the Mojave N.P are popular detours, but other than a long day these are better served with a stop over. You may find Calico ghost town interesting just East of Barstow for a place to take a break.

That sounds great. Does anyone know of any recommended Grand Canyon tours from Vegas? Either in a day or an overnight..ie which ones are good/go to the right places etc

Almost all the Grand canyon tours from Vegas have the same or similar offerings and I believe a lot of them are just agents. The only way I am aware of flying over the Grand canyon N.P. is to first land at Grand canyon airport. We used Papillon helicopters and was very pleased with them, but we went direct to G/C airport, as opposed to flying from Vegas.
I would search and see what they have to offer but to see the famous images you may have seen of the Grand canyon, you will not get a tour that will take you there, land and raft through it as you are after, these all take place away from the main area.

I'm planning to go to San Francisco in early April, we have just under two weeks, and were planning around 5 nights in San Francisco, 2 nights in Yosemite, 1 night en-route (any suggestions welcome, Death Valley??), and then 4 nights in Las Vegas. We probably wouldn't want to drive more than 5 hours a day and would prefer something relatively scenic. Do you think this is feasible?

I haven't booked flights yet, but we are coming from the UK and will probably fly into and out of San Fran so will probably need a cheap internal flight from Las Vegas back to San Fran.

Any suggestions would be more than welcome!

Thanks in advance!!

Hello werena and welcome to the R.T.A forums.

I would say your plans are very feasible and should give you a relaxed time.
A very popular option is to cross the sierra's on route 120 [Tioga pass]from Yosemite to Death valley but it will still be closed due to snow in early April. You will need to head south from Yosemite towards Fresno and Bakersfield to get to Vegas, but you can still divert across Death valley by heading North on the 395 and the 190/160 across D/V. An overnight stop around Lake Isabella/Kernville is a possibility.
To do this and not wanting to spend to long on the road it might be worth spending an extra night between Yosemite and Vegas, but I personally think seeing D/V is worth a night, possibly taken from your S/F stay.

Here are some useful links that maybe helpful and you will find lots of other info using the search button on the forums.

Let us know if you would like any more details.

Thanks very much Southwest Dave, that's really helpful. Sorry to be a bit dense...

So the suggestion would be, if we have time to, go from yosemite to lake isabella/kernville to death valley then onto Vegas? stopping overnight in lake isabella/kernville and death valley is that right?

How long approx is the driving time when the tioga pass is closed from yosemite to las vegas? And then how long approx from yosemite to lake isabella/kernville? and death valley?

Thanks so much for all your help!

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Originally Posted by werena_song

So the suggestion would be, if we have time to, go from yosemite to lake isabella/kernville to death valley then onto Vegas? stopping overnight in lake isabella/kernville and death valley is that right?

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Correct. There are lots of options and this was one that will give you time to
see some of Death valley and not be driving for more than 5 hours during the day.

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How long approx is the driving time when the tioga pass is closed from yosemite to las vegas?

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I would estimate between 8 and 10 hours, depending on stops.

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And then how long approx from yosemite to lake isabella/kernville?and death valley?

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Depending on which part of Yosemite you depart from 4-5 hours to Lake Isabella.
To drive through Death valley to Vegas with time for lunch and a little sight seeing I would allow 7-8 hours otherwise you will feel rushed in my opinion, there is plenty to see. That's why I suggested another night here, you could have more time to explore and keep under your 5 hours.
Furnace creek is a popular spot in D/V for lunch or a night. [Not to many to choose from]

From your first post;

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I haven't booked flights yet, but we are coming from the UK and will probably fly into and out of San Fran so will probably need a cheap internal flight from Las Vegas back to San Fran.

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Have you considered flying into S/F and out of Vegas? I am not sure how much [if at all] extra this will cost, but it will cut out the time and expense of returning to S/F. Worth checking out.

And you are welcome, don't hesitate to ask if you need more info.