Family Roadtrip from SF to LA. 1st time in the USA !

Hi,

My name is Jean-Christophe, I'm 43 years old and I live in Brussels.
My family and I are planning to come next summer between July the 21st and August the 11st. We expect to have a lot of fun but there is so much to discover that we need your advices to do the right choices.

My major concerns are about the trip it self. Is it faisable ? Do we have enough time to really enjoy the places we go thru ?

We've made the choice to avoid the Sequoia NP so we could drive across the Tioga Pass and do the road 395 straight to LV in one day.

Is it a good idea ? I don't know but I need to win time somewhere to stay at least 2 nights in LA. Or I wonder if it won't be smarter to visit Zion and Bryce the same day and spend one night in the Death Valley in place of 2 night in the Zion Park?

The second thing to deal are the choice of the place to spend the night. We are looking for average budget places but always adapted to the place we are visiting. It may be as much motels, camper camp as little hotels...

Another important thing to keep in mind is the obligation to stay at least 3 nights in Sacramento to visit my far away family (grand cousins) that I haven't seen in about 20 years.

Here is the idea:

D0 (fr): BXL/SF arrival (4h30pm), Night in SF but where ?
D1 (sa): visit SF, Night SF but where ?
D2 (su): visit SF, Night SF but where ?
D3 (mo): road SF/Sacramento (4h), Night in Sacramento
D4 (tu): Family meeting Sacramento, Night in Sacramento
D5 (we): Familuy meeting Sacramento, Night in Sacramento
D6 (th): road Sacramento/Yosemite (4h), Night Yosemite but where ?
D7 (fr): Visit Yosemite, Night Yosemite but where ?
D8 (sa): road Yosemite/???? via Tiago Pass, Night ??? but where ?
D9 (su): road ???/Las Vegas thru the Death Valley, Night in Las Vegas but where ?
D10 (mo): road Las-Vegas/Zion (3h00), Night in Zion but where ?
D11 (tu): Visit Zion, Night in Zion but where ?
D12 (we): road Zion/Bryce (2h), visite Bryce, Night Bryce but where ?
D13 (th): route Bryce/Page (3h), Night in Page but where ?
D14 (fr): Visit Antelope, road to Monument Valley (2h00), Night in Monument Valley but where ?
D15 (sa): road MV/GC (3h), Night in GC but where ?
D16 (su): route GC/Kingman ?? via road 66 (4h), Nuit Kingman ?? but where ?
D17 (mo) road Kingman/LA via Joshua Tree (6h), Night in LA but where ?
D18 (tu): visit LA , Night in LA but where ?
D19 (we): visit LA (Universal), Night in LA but where ?
D20 (th): visit LA + Flight LA/SF (arrival 7H50 pm) = Night in SF but where ?
D21 (fr) SF + FLight to BXL, Night in BXL.... home ;-)

It amazing how your website is a really mine of ideas and I hope you will help me to find the best.

Best regards,

JC

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

The exactly where to say questions are difficult to answer and is something you need to research some more to see how it suits your budget and balance that with how close you want to be to the attractions, as staying in or close to the National parks often come at a premium. As you are arriving late afternoon I would consider staying in an airport hotel with a free shuttle bus system and head straight there.

SF is not really a car friendly city, so you may be better off picking one up when you depart for Sacramento. In SF there are some budget friendly options around the Lombard/Gough St area but the more central the higher the price it seems. You would have the option of staying in your airport hotel and using the free bus to and fro to the airport and using the B.A.R.T rail system.

For Yosemite, staying in the park is amazing but there are lodgings in surrounding towns, Groveland, El Portal, Mariposa etc and if you don't mind rustic lodgings search 'Yosemite Bug'.

Mammoth lakes or Lone Pine would be good choices before continuing to Vegas.

Zion you should check out the town of Springdale. You may pay a bit more but you can get the free shuttle bus into the park and not have to worry about parking.

Bryce canyon. There are a few options near the entrance, Rubys Inn being a popular one. The town of Tropic will have a few options more budget friendly.

I would not try and visit both in a day Zion and Bryce in the same day but you could visit Bryce and continue to Page on day 12. So if you stayed in Springdale on night 10 and then east of the park on night 11 having spent most of the day at Zion. There is a Best western[ Thunderbird lodge] by the Mt Carmel junction.

Monument valley. You should have time to check it out from Page and get to the Grand canyon, or at least nearby. Look up the Cameron Trading post near the east entrance to the south rim.
For your night after GC you could find lodgings in Williams to save a few miles.

If it were me, I would look at returning the car at SF airport and completing the loop rather than be hanging around airports for a short flight, but that's me. To be honest I would much rather enjoy a couple of days checking out the seaside towns along the coast highway than I would in LA, but it's your trip to make it the way you like it.

Check out the Roadtrip Motels link to the right of this page where you can search lodging options and get an idea of costs.

You may like to consider reversing your trip, so that when driving the Pacific Coast Highway, you drive it from North to South - San Francisco to LA.. That way you not only have the ocean on your side, but it avoids having to cross over on-coming traffic each time you turn in and out of the many viewpoints and overlooks.

Lifey

Hi Dave,

And thank you for this fast and helpful answer.

The idea for day 12 is quite good.

What about the crossing of the Death Valley in 1 day ? Does-it seem too much for you ?

I must admit that the road N°1 seems to be a real gem but I still hesitate.
My children are 10 and 16 and I wonder i they would not be disappointed if we don't stay at least 2 days in LA.


Take a look at this one:

D0 (fr): BXL/SF arrival (4h30pm), Night in SF but where ?
D1 (sa): visit SF, Night SF but where ?
D2 (su): visit SF, Night SF but where ?
D3 (mo): road SF/Sacramento (4h), Night in Sacramento
D4 (tu): Family meeting Sacramento, Night in Sacramento
D5 (we): Family meeting Sacramento, Night in Sacramento
D6 (th): road Sacramento/Yosemite (4h), Night Yosemite but where ?
D7 (fr): Visit Yosemite, Night Yosemite but where ?
D8 (sa): road Yosemite/???? via Tiago Pass, Night ??? but where ?
D9 (su): road ???/Las Vegas thru the Death Valley, Night in Las Vegas but where ?
D10 (mo): road Las-Vegas/Zion (3h00), Night in Springdale
D11 (tu): Visit Zion, Night in Zion in Mount Carmel
D12 (we): road Zion/Bryce (2h), Night in Page but where ?
D13 (th): Visit Antelope, road to Monument Valley (2h00), Night in Monument Valley but where ?
D14 (fr): road MV/GC (3h), Night in GC but where ?
D15 (sa): road GC/Kingman ?? via road 66 (4h), Nuit Kingman ?? but where ?
D16 (su): road Kingman/LA via Joshua Tree (6h), Night in LA but where ?
D17 (mo) visit LA , Night in LA but where ?
D18 (tu): visit LA (Universal), Night in LA but where ?
D19 (we): visit LA + road N°1, Night on the road N°1
D20 (th): Road N°1 + Night on the road N°1
D21 (fr): Road to SF + FLight to BXL, Night in BXL.... home ;-)

Best reagards,

JC

Your trip is perfectly doable so it's just a case of 'fine tuning' to suit your needs. After a visit to Yosemite you could stop in Mammoth lakes after sight seeing over the Tioga Pass. That will leave you plenty of time to get to Vegas via Death valley, remember DV is extremely hot and you won't be hiking in July, so it's a case of driving through while stopping briefly at some attractions/ viewpoints for photo opportunities. If you wanted to make up time to be able to drive the coast highway, [you would need 2 full days] you could leave SF late on day 2 and have your first night in Sacramento then and arrive to Yosemite a day earlier. Then you have the option of staying just outside of LA on day 18, perhaps Santa Monica or Malibu beach and then heading to Cambria day 19 and up the coast via Monterey on day 20.

Hello,
We will spend 2 nights in the area of the Yosemite NP.
Should we stop the first night in Oakhurst for instance and spend the day after in the park ans sleep the second night in Lee Vining or is it too tight ?

Thank you

JC

From Sacramento Oakhurst is the other side of Yosemite to the south but it does have a range of lodgings. There are options at El Portal and Mariposa and the Yosemite Bug as I mentioned previously. It's a case of you finding something to suit your budget and needs, ideally staying in Yosemite NP for one night would maximise your time there. You seem to have 'lost' a night for Yosemite from your original plan ?

Hi Dave,


I realize how difficult it is to organize this kind of trip. From now on the different lodges inside the Yosemite NP are already sold out !!, I still have a hope to find something but I still hesitate on the end of the trip between a direct flight between LA and SF en the Road N°1.
Have you any good advice to let me make a final choice ?

I'm holding on my original idea for the Yosemite part:

D6 (th): road Sacramento/Yosemite (4h), Night Yosemite
D7 (fr): Visit Yosemite, Night Yosemite
D8 (sa): road Yosemite via Tiago Pass, night in Mammoth Lake

Best regards,

Quote:

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Have you any good advice to let me make a final choice ?

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It's your trip and it's all about what suits you and whereas we try and help make it as pleasant an experience as we can for you, the ultimate choice is yours and how it all fits together. I know I would opt for the drive but that doesn't make it right for others.

Have you looked at alternative lodgings around Yosemite in places I mentioned ? Have you looked at the Yosemite bug here ? Again it's not for everyone and it's your choice to make.

I think you have a nice trip plan coming together so keep at it and as you put the pieces of the puzzle together and more questions come up, don't hesitate to ask.

The coastal highway between SF and LA is really beautiful, but anything more than a short drive/visit could bore kids and teens. Every new beautiful view can start to look like the last one. Depends on what your kids like/want, I guess. (Full disclosure: I'm a single, childless 36-year-old man whose thoughts on these matters come from a lot of time spent with my 9-year-old nephew and 13-year-old niece.)

I think you could easily have two full days in LA, which is one of those places that tugs at the imagination if you grow up on American movies and TV. A lot of the attractions might be "touristy," but they are the kinds of things (Walk of Fame, Rodeo Drive, Universal, etc.) that are also oddly satisfying to finally check off your list. There are also plenty of other less obvious attractions/nature options in the city: Griffith Park and Observatory (you can ride horses there and it's nature-friendly -- I saw a fox and coyote), Venice Beach, La Brea Tar Pits, Huntington Gardens, etc.

I have a lot of friends in SF and LA, so I visit often. If I'm short on time, I fly between the cities, and I'm a huge nature lover who really enjoys drives like the coastal highway and tries to get out of cities when possible (spent 9 days on horseback in Outer Mongolia last year).

For accommodations in either, I'd look at AirBnb and stay in the heart of the city. Lots of young, mobile, well-traveled people living in expensive homes/condos looking to make a little cash while they're briefly out of town. I don't think it is worth your time to stay outside the city proper and take the train in for day trips. The money you save won't be worth the trouble, and your experience of the city will be limited.

For Yosemite, see if you can find lodging outside the park, but call up every lodge in the park and ask them to notify you ASAP when someone cancels their reservation. I've been lucky enough to catch a break this way. It takes a lot of patience and a willingness to gamble a bit, but people cancel all of the time.

Good luck!