Suggestions welcome - Southwest/CA

Hi everyone... My boyfriend and I are in the beginning stages of planning a road trip for May of this year. At this point, we're just collecting information and trying to plan an itinerary. We would like to visit a lot of places, and don't know if we can do them all, but any suggestions for a logical order of things would be helpful. We'd like to see:

Sedona
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon
Zion/Bryce
San Diego
LA
San Francisco (if possible, might be too far north)

We have 10-14 days, nothing is set in stone. I would like to go to some of the parks in CA (Sequoia, mostly) but I don't know if we can do both the cities on the coast AND the parks. I know this is a tall order to fill. Do you think it is too ambitious? Any suggestions would be VERY helpful!!

Welcome to the RoadTrip America Forum!

One thing to think about is how much time do you want to spend in each park? Are you planning only a day in each one, or are you thinking of getting out and doing a little bit of hiking here and there? Also, where will you be starting from?

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Probably the easiest way to do the trip would be to start with a loop from Vegas, going out to the Grand Canyon, up and around to Bryce and Zion, and back to Vegas.

From there, you'd head to California. Death Valley would be an obvious stop on the way, and then hit Sequoia and/or Yosemite as you go to San Francisco, and then head back down the coast to LA and San Diego.

Now, if you can do all of that is going to depend upon your desired pace, if you have 10 days or 14, etc, but that's a starting point for how it could come together.

The trip you are describing is basically the most popular topic on this forum with thousands of posts full of ideas, so you can get a ton more information just by spending a little time browsing around. As you get more questions and come up with a more detailed plan, we can certainly provide additional help.

Thanks for the quick replies!! I like the idea of starting in Vegas, heading up north and back down the coast. I never would have considered that. The trek from Vegas to San Francisco has to be quite the trip. That would probably take at least 2 days, in order to stop and take in some of the sights along the way.

We aren't sure whether to start in San Francisco or Arizona. I read that its a lot nicer to drive south down the coast of CA so the ocean is on your right, and that idea really appeals to me.

In terms of exploring, we would like to do some, but not a lot. I would love to get out and do a hike in Zion and/or Bryce, but nothing too long or crazy. Same goes for Grand Canyon. I think we would be happy in most parks with a few hours of good photo ops, and moving along.

Also, Michael, in response to your suggestion to do the Vegas loop, we would like to avoid traveling the same road twice and double backing. So rather then heading back to Vegas, we'd like to shoot over to CA. Think that would still work?

Thanks for your suggestions!

That's the thing with doing a loop, you are going in a circle, and not backtracking. In this case you'd leave vegas to the South past the Hoover Dam, and come back from the North via I-15 from Utah.

But yes, you could skip the return to Vegas, and shoot over to CA from Utah, going through tonopah, but there are a couple problems with that.

First, it would take you north of Death Valley, if that's something you'd like to see.
Second, since your trip is in May and Tioga Pass is likely to still be closed (it typically opens in late May or June), you're going to have to go south around the Sierras via Bakersfield, in which case, you're not gaining anything by going straight to CA. You could also go north to Tahoe, I suppose, but then visiting Sequoia or Yosemite would be a bit more difficult/time consuming.

I personally think you will need all of 14 days to get a taster of the places on your list and it would be more comfortable and relaxed without San Diego and Sedona or San Fran, but that's the kind of stuff you need to work out with the time available and pace you want to travel at. With San Fran you could 'catch' Yosemite and the coast Highway around Big Sur to LA. If you wanted to do a complete loop you could start from any of the City's on route, but for instance LA and then either > San Diego > Sedona > GC > Bryce > Zion > Vegas > LA [possibly via Death valley]. Or LA > GC > Bryce > Zion > Vegas > Death valley >Yosemite > SF > LA via the coast.

As Michael suggested, have a look around and see what appeals to you and as k questions 'as' and 'when'.

Thanks, both of those posts make a lot of sense. A complete loop is not necessary. We were planning to fly into one place and out of another, just to save time in driving in a circle.

I agree that bypassing San Francisco is probably a good idea, it's just too far out of the way. We have family in San Diego and Sedona, so those would be the obvious preference (save money on hotels!!).

We will be doing a lot more research and when we plan a more definite route and time frame, I can come back with more specific questions.

Hi everyone... thanks for all of your input on my original post, it helped in the planning process. I have done a bunch of research and I think we have a solid plan. Nothing is written in stone and we need a LOT of help filling in the gaps. We don't want to spend a fortune, but also don't want to "rough it." No shared bathrooms in the hotels!! We have family in LA and San Diego, which is why we're devoting a little extra time to the cities. Any suggestions would be helpful. So far this is what we have:

Day 1:
-Fly to San Fran early AM
-tour around a bit (Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Golden Gate, etc.)

Day 2:
-Alcatraz tour in the AM
-Drive to Yosemite in the afternoon (approx. 4 hours)
-Hotel: ?? can't afford Ahwahnee! any other suggestions?

Day 3:
-Spend the day at Yosemite (will most things be open? Not counting on seeing Glacier Point, but would like to get to Mariposa Grove and some other scenic points!)
-Drive back to the Pacific Coast in the late afternoon, probably stopping in Monterrey, or other suggestions (approx. 4 hours)
-Hotel: ??

Day 4:
-Spend the whole day driving the Pacific Coast Highway to LA
-Drive time: 6 hours + exploring
-Hotel: staying at my uncle's house in LA

Day 5:
-Explore LA, no nailed down plans yet

Day 6:
-Exploring LA in the AM
-Afternoon drive to San Diego, approx. 2 hour drive
-Hotel: staying at a cousin's house in San Diego

Day 7-9:
-Spend time with family, explore San Diego/Tijuana
-Day 9 afternoon: head to Vegas, drive time approx. 5.5 hours

Day 10-11:
-Las Vegas sites, including Hoover Dam during one of the days

Day 12:
-Leave Vegas EARLY to head to Zion, drive time approx 2.5 hours
-Spend the morning in Zion, scenic points, maybe a trail, lunch
-Drive to Bryce to get there for sunset, if possible, drive time approx 2.5 hours
-Hotel: Ruby's Inn if available, if not, Best Western Grand

Day 13: (a LONG day!)
-explore Bryce in the morning - planning on doing the Navajo Loop and Queen's Garden Trail, should take about 3 hours.
-head towards Grand Canyon via Page, AZ, drive time approx. 3 hours
-Antelope Canyon Tour for a driving break, 1.5 hour tour
-Drive to Grand Canyon, drive time approx. 3 hours
-Hotel: unsure - suggestions?

Day 14:
-Grand Canyon sunrise, explore the canyon!

Day 15:
-Drive back to Phoenix via Sedona for a flight home!


Thoughts?? Please, let me know if I am being too ambitious!! We are 23 and 27, so we can handle a packed schedule!

Questions I have, specifically, are:
-Any hotel suggestions in Yosemite, Grand Canyon (if El Tovar is too pricey!)?
-Will things be open in Yosemite? I know the Tioga Pass will likely be closed, but we'd like to see Glacier Point, Mariposa Grove, the Tunnel View, etc... All of the pictures look BEAUTIFUL, I'm really looking forward to this stop!
-Is Monterrey a good place to spend the night before heading down the coast? Is there somewhere else maybe a little cheaper that will do the job?
-Is Day 13 just too much for one day? We want to see Zion, Bryce and the GC, but don't need to spend a TON of time in each. Definitely more time to devote to Bryce than Zion.


Thank you so much for your suggestions!!!
Alyssa

Your plan to drive from Monterey to LA along the coast in 6 hours is simply not based in reality. The drive along of that highway is going to take you at least 10 hours, before you do any sightseeing. Trying to do the drive in 1 day is going to be a beast, and you just not have much time at all to do anything but drive.

If you're spending a half day in Yosemite before driving back to the coast, the Monterey is your best bet for lodging although you might save a little money looking in Salinas.

Most everything in Yosemite will be open, but Glacier Point may not be one of them. That typically reopens roughly the same time as Tioga.

I do think you are rushing too much in Zion/Bryce - specifically thinking that you'll be able to see much anything at Zion and have time to see the sunset at Bryce is optimistic to the point where you'd have to be constantly watching the clock at Zion.

Unless you stay in Curry Village, you are going to have to stay outside the park at Yosemite to find anything affordable. Oakhurst will probably be the most reasonable cost closest to the park, it has several hotels.

I don't think you will be able to get from Yosemite to Monterey in 4 hours. I also think trying to drive from Monterey all the way to LA on the coast road is a bit too much for one day. There are some very reasonable motels and hotels in Monterey, I just pulled up a whole bunch on hotels.com in the $50 to $70 range.

Days 12 and 13 are just way too much. You can't drive from LV to the GC and see all you want to see in 2 days. That's more like 3 or 4 days.

Thanks for both of your responses to our plan. I agree that the Zion/Bryce leg of the trip is too compact. Any suggestions as to how to revise it? We can add another day in there to ease up the rush. Where would you add it?

Also, how would you revise the Yosemite - Monterey - LA leg, also assuming we can add another overnight? I do want to be able to see all of the things there are to see on the drive along the coast. Where should the second stop be?

Thanks again for your suggestions as we revise the plan further.

What you could look at might be spending the night in Merced or Los Banos on your way out of Yosemite if you get out too late to make it to Monterey. Then I'd add a night in San Simeon, Cambria, Cayucos, Morro Bay, or San Luis Obispo.

If you can add a day between LV and the GC, you could spend the first night at Zion and the second night in Kanab, or the first night at Bryce and the second night in Page.

GLC,

Thanks for your response. I have taken into consideration your suggestions and we have put together a revised plan that I think will work out much better. Rather then driving from San Diego to LV, we decided instead, to save money on the car rental/gas, to drop the car off upon our arrival in LV, and hop on a flight to San Fran, where we can pick the car up on our way out of the city. This will save us 4-5 days worth of car rental money since we don't need a vehicle to get around in either of those cities (I don't think). So, we reversed the order, added 2 more days in the desert and along the CA Coast, and this is what we've come up with:

Day 1: Arrive Phoenix, drive to GCNP South Rim
Day 2: Explore GCNP, drive to Page, AZ
Day 3: Explore Antelope Canyon, drive to Bryce
Day 4: Explore Bryce Canyon, drive to Zion
Day 5: Explore Zion, drive to Las Vegas
Day 6-7: Las Vegas
Day 8: flight to San Fran in the morning, San Fran sites
Day 9: Alcatraz in the morning, drive to Yosemite in the afternoon
Day 10: Explore Yosemite, drive to Monterey
Day 11: Drive down the coast to somewhere in the middle - Cambria?
Day 12: Cambria to Los Angeles
Day 13-14: Los Angeles, drive to San Diego
Day 15-16: San Diego
Day 17: Fly home

I think this makes a bit more sense. Although we are adding on 2 days, we are ultimately saving money on not needing the car for so long. Please let me know if this makes more sense in terms of timing. As long as this plan makes sense, we can start setting up dates and making reservations.

Thanks!
Alyssa

You need to research car rental charges carefully - you may wind up paying two one-way dropoff fees that way.

The revisions look a lot more relaxed.

My brother-in-law is a manager at Enterprise in NJ. We are going to talk to him and see what he can do for us then go from there. Hopefully it will work because I'm really excited about this current itinerary!

Just a word of warning, that Enterprise is often among the worst when it comes to one way drop fees. It's just part of their business model - they often have some of the best rates for round trips. Certainly see if you can get a deal, but even your b-i-l may have difficulty getting a good deal based on how they typically do business.

I will say, however, you might look at starting in Vegas and just doing a loop rather than flying into Phx. Your travel time to the South Rim is not that much different.

You can usually find deals where the one way fee is waived for trips from SF to LA.

Hi all,

I had posted last week about a possible CA/Utah Canyons trip, but we have since decided that we can't do it all. So, we decided to skip the Canyons this time around and focus our trip to Cali! I have taken all of your advice and this is our revised trip. My boyfriend's mom has a ton of Marriott points, so that's why we focus on Marriott's for hotels in the major cities. Here's the plan:

Day 1 & 2: San Francisco
-See all the sights! Golden Gate, Alcatraz, the Piers, etc.
-Hotel: Marriott Fisherman's Wharf or Union Square - which one is more central??

Day 3 & 4: Yosemite
-the boy wants to do Half Dome, I'm unsure. Any experience there?
-Hotel: Cedar Lodge in El Portal unless there are openings in the park

Day 5: Monterrey
-Hotel: Monterrey Marriott

Day 6: Pismo Beach (just to break up the drive)
-Hotel: Sea Venture Hotel

Day 7 & 8: Los Angeles
-Walk of Fame, Studio Tour (which is best?), Muscle Beach
-Hotel: uncle's house

Day 9 & 10: San Diego
-San Diego Zoo, possibly Tijuana, etc.
-Hotel: cousin's house


Thanks for your feed back!! :)

Union square is located in the heart of downtown and it doesn't get much more central then there. However, if your main focus is on visiting Alcatraz, Pier 39 and Golden gate then Fisherman's Wharf is the place. It isn't difficult to get between the two places either way so take your pick of Hotel.

I haven't done the Hike up Half dome but would certainly like to. You can find all the info and get an idea of how strenuous it is [or isn't depending on fitness] at Yosemite nps.gov. It's meant to be very rewarding and worth the effort when [or if] you make it to the top, but with a couple of days in Yosemite [less with travel time] you won't be short of things to do and you will have to sacrifice some things for others.

Your trip looks pretty relaxed and you should have a great time, I'm not sure Tijuana would be on my itinerary though with the ongoing drug cartel wars and warnings for visitors. At least keep updated with the current situation when travelling.

I'll first start with asking that you stop creating new threads about your trip. This is the second time we've had to merge them. Even if you are making significant changes to your plans, knowing the complete story of how your trip has evolved will allow you to get better and more complete responses.

As far as your most recent plan goes, that seems like a very well paced trip. For lodging in SF, the Wharf is closer to the places you've listed, but I'm sure either would work just fine.

You cannot hike Half Dome without a permit, and it may not be open yet in May. You will need to apply for your permit at exactly 7am Pacific Standard Time on March 1.